# Algae or Mold?



## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

I really can't tell. It's white...

Here are some pictures. Please let me know what you all think. This stick used to be in a tank with much more light so I don't understand why it would all the sudden come up when i move it tanks. I took the stick out out of my 75 gallon and put it in the 29 to give the fish some cover.

I have a very low 35W 6500K light over the tank that comes on for 8 hours a day. I could lessen it to 6 hours but would rather not. 

Thoughts? Ideas?


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

It looks like BBA.
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## Super4Ever (Apr 3, 2014)

Isn't BBA generally darker though? This is fairly white.

It could be a fungus. I know you said that you already had this wood in another tank but maybe the water was different enough that it somehow caused a fungus to grow. I believe bacteria play a part in the growth of fungus on driftwood.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

I had some that grow on my spider driftwood, it did have some whitish areas that looked like a fungus. But a got a mystery snail and it seemed to eat it all.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

It's fungus. Tankman, BLACK beard algae is, well, black.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Some new growth of it could be whitish. Plus i said it LOOKS like it, not IS it.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I just don't understand how something black could look like white fungus.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

New growth isnt always the same color.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I can't say I have ever seen new growth on any algae a different color nor have I heard of this.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Okay. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

It doesn't happen, though. Diatoms are brown, hair algae is green, black beard algae is black, they all stay true to their kind/color. 

Back to the original question, though, this is simply fungus due to your driftwood. It'll go away in time or you can manually remove it. It's up to you.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Alright kiddies, settle down! I'm not a mod but I certainly know where to find them!

The stuff on the driftwood is a normal fungus, it will be there for quite a while until the piece is completely coated with the bio-film and then the bio-film will take over. There are many forms of this fungus, so it may go through different stages before the bio-film takes over. Plecos can help aid in getting rid of it or you can take it out to scrub it, but the fungus stuff will come back until the bio-film covers it.

So yes, Super4Ever is right about that, the change of tanks can sometimes cause it since tanks can be completely different even if they come from the same water source.


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## Termato (Feb 21, 2012)

lilnaugrim said:


> Alright kiddies, settle down! I'm not a mod but I certainly know where to find them!
> 
> The stuff on the driftwood is a normal fungus, it will be there for quite a while until the piece is completely coated with the bio-film and then the bio-film will take over. There are many forms of this fungus, so it may go through different stages before the bio-film takes over. Plecos can help aid in getting rid of it or you can take it out to scrub it, but the fungus stuff will come back until the bio-film covers it.
> 
> So yes, Super4Ever is right about that, the change of tanks can sometimes cause it since tanks can be completely different even if they come from the same water source.


Thank you all for the quick replies! The tank I had it in did have two different pleco's in it. A male albino bristlenose pleco that is almost full grown and a full grown l199 zebra pleco (look just like this guy:







) 

They could have been eating it. i was thinking after treating the lovely cichlid for her parasites (that Flint so graciously diagnosed) I can bring in a small bristle nose male into this tank. I'd bring in more covers and plants when I do that of course. The bio load can handle it so I was considering that. 

I'll have to scrub it off for now until she gets better. Will it harm her if she eats the fungus? I've seen her try and eat it but spits it back out.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I don't think it will harm her.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

Double post, sorry.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, it won't harm her. It's like a sludge but it's pretty harmless


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## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

skipping a bunch, ... BBA is a type of red algae.

now if you think the color is really important, you've got more explaining to do than i believe is possible to get people to understand how they would call a red algae black when visible color is the only deciding factor.

perhaps BBA, being a red algae is only a classification & grouping, ... haven't looked into it, but chances are there's dozens of different BBA species out there, hundreds of red algae species out there.

sure what you have is white, ... if you are focused on color then you'll never figure out what it is.

---

while i could be wrong about this.

algae is tough, it doesn't remove from surfaces easily
mold & fungus, not so much.

this is by no means a scientific test


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## Flear (Oct 5, 2012)

Diatoms would also remove easily, (another algae type, brown i think, i dono but can appear white)

add silica, see if it gets worse, if so, i'd side with diatomes - then add a freshwater sponge


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