# Fungus!



## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

So I added some wood to my ten gallon and the fish are okay but there is a weird mist like fungus covering the wood every where except the branches near the flame moss. how do I get rid of this forever ever ever ever...:evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

In situations such as these its best to take the wood out and not use it in an aquarium. Fungus spores can be embedded in the wood and will only grow into a visible fungus when conditions allow for it. There is no quick fix treatment for such a thing. Is this a piece of wood bought from a pet store, intended for aquarium use? If so, I would call the store and ask them to refund your money, and tell them why. They should be able to contact the manufacturer that provides them with wood for a refund on their end. 

If this is a piece of wood picked up from outdoors in a "wild" habitat somewhere (like on a beach) then this is to be expected. Wood picked up from outside and added to an aquarium is a bad idea. Fungus, bacteria, parasites, etc. should all be expected to inhabit wood from outside. The treatments that manufacturers put the wood through before selling it as aquarium safe is too expensive for a DIY project. That is why it tends to cost so much to buy aquarium safe pieces of wood... but its worth the expense to protect your tank.

My best advice to you is to get it out of there before it can cause harm to your tank and animals.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I second Dawn's advice. I had fungus appear on a new piece of Mopani wood and the fish displayed signs of difficulty respirating; removing the wood and performing a major water change undoubtedly saved them. The corys particularly were affected. Another aquarist had the corys die from this.

Byron.


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

i always get patches of white fungus on my wood when i add it, my fish pick at it and then it just goes away...

I have read in other places that this white stuff is normal?


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Fungus on wood is not normal if it is wood that has been store bought as aquarium safe, but it can happen. There are a great many species of fungus that can show up on wood, in an aquarium, etc. Some of them may not affect the fish negatively, but the majority will cause some major issues if left alone long term. Fish eating fungus that shows up growing on wood is not something I would call safe or healthy, as you have no way to properly ID the fungus. Fish are a lot like children with putting things into their mouths... just because they eat it, pick at it, etc. doesn't mean they know any better and its safe. Not a good habit to get into and not something to suggest is ok for others.


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## sik80 (Mar 16, 2010)

i had a light grey fungus on my wood but my pond snails went wild for it and cleaned it up pretty quickly


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

I had the same issue with Mopani. I had boiled it for a few hours prior to putting it in my tank. After a week or so it developed that slimy puffy fungus. I scrubbed it all off, added it back to to the tank and a week later, same thing.

It is now sitting in my fish supply closet. Maybe I'll add it to the garden??


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

Christople said:


> So I added some wood to my ten gallon and the fish are okay but there is a weird mist like fungus covering the wood every where except the branches near the flame moss. how do I get rid of this forever ever ever ever...:evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:



Can you get a picture? I had something grow on a ornament that looked just like a puffy white cloud. I asked about it and was told it is just normal "biofilm" (I believe). I have seen something very similar in a few peoples pictures it might help rule out a fungus vs algae.


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

I read somewhere that the white stuff is normal, i always get it from new wood regardless of if it was from a store. My snails love it too, sometimes i get fungus on my substrate if i forget to siphon old food out and all my snails go wild for it... Ive also never had a fungal infection on my fish.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

it is a diy rose wood thing... boiled it for a long time... lie around 10 hours... should I bake it and I will try to post that picture... it is a white cloud thing that also looks lke fog


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

I also had read it was normal and harmless and that a Mystery snail would take care of it. I have that African Mopai wood (not spelled right)  and I got a snail, and it never came back, and if it does he continues to take care of it, and there was no harm whatsoever to my fish.

That's my experience.

Gwen


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

I planned on spawning egg layers in there... plus already have snails


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

There are many types of "fungus" and I can assure you all that some of them are *deadly*. I did not imagine what happened in my tank, solely from white fungus that appeared on a new piece of Mopani Wood after about 2-3 days. Nor did the other aquarist I met in a local fish store who had the same issue and his corys all died within a few days of fungus appearing on a new piece of Mopani driftwood. Plus Dawn has had similar experiences. This is not made up stuff folks.

Fungus that appears on a bit of uneaten flake food is another matter entirely. As is fungus that appears on open wounds on a fish or other aquatic vertebrate. I am not a microbiologist so I don't know how many types of fungus there may be. Some may be safe, some clearly are not. Dawn may be able to offer us more on this. But please do not write this off as some sort of make-believe. There is a definite and real danger with some types of fungus, and it kills fish.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

yes and i will take it out as soon as possible although my killies don't seem to bothered by it


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

well i didnt mean to make it sound like something to just ignore, but experience-wise, my wood fungus has never been an issue for me, never lasts for more than a couple of days. However, mine never presented itself as a "fog" mine was always kinda like black beard algae but white and always in small patches, never in large masses.

One thing that i just noticed was that christople said he boiled it for "10 hours" which is a extraordinary amount of time to boil anything. Even for things like wood, boiling for that amount may have softened up the wood making it prone to rot, which would explain the fungus. I would pull up the wood and see if the fungal areas are soft. If it is, then the wood is rotting and is no longer aquarium safe.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I have had similar expieriences with mold or fungi on wood before despite boiling,rinsing.
Can't say I could contribute it to fish death's (too many other variables in my view), but if it is a concern,, remove it.
Will say that Mopani wood seems more prone to produce this fungi as opposed to Malaysian wood.
In the past when I expierienced this mold or fungi, I simply removed the wood,gave it a good scrub,and returned it to the tank.Trumpet snails seem to love the stuff.
Always a good idea to soak wood in a container for a week or more, and then boil it before introducing it to the aquarium.Works for me and I have nearly thirty pieces of wood in tanks both at my house and sister's aquarium's as well.(Doubtful that sister will give them back):roll:


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Byron said:


> There are many types of "fungus" and I can assure you all that some of them are *deadly*. I did not imagine what happened in my tank, solely from white fungus that appeared on a new piece of Mopani Wood after about 2-3 days. Nor did the other aquarist I met in a local fish store who had the same issue and his corys all died within a few days of fungus appearing on a new piece of Mopani driftwood. Plus Dawn has had similar experiences. This is not made up stuff folks.
> 
> Fungus that appears on a bit of uneaten flake food is another matter entirely. As is fungus that appears on open wounds on a fish or other aquatic vertebrate. I am not a microbiologist so I don't know how many types of fungus there may be. Some may be safe, some clearly are not. Dawn may be able to offer us more on this. But please do not write this off as some sort of make-believe. There is a definite and real danger with some types of fungus, and it kills fish.


Byron is correct. There is no way to pinpoint the exact species of fungus growing on a given piece of aquarium wood (unless you want to spend months working with the Smithsonian Institute sorting it out). What we do know is that fungus growing on anything in an aquarium housing fish poses some risk to the animals, whether directly visible or not. 
Try to think of it this way... a person out in the woods searching for berries, finds something they don't recognize... do they eat it or leave it? Should they risk the potential for getting sick, possibly dying from eating something toxic? To me this falls into the category of "just because you can doesn't mean you should." 
There are a number of species of fungus that are not directly toxic to the animals, but rather feed on or utilize something within the water chemistry, something the fish/animals need to survive. In some cases this can be oxygen, some cases could be specific minerals. Fungus doesn't grow if conditions are not perfect for it, but has the ability to lie dormant for years, awaiting just the right situation to allow it to thrive. There are fungus spores in the air we breathe, all around us, and even inside of wood. Baking wood can trigger the growth of some species of fungus, as can boiling it, because its a matter of temperature that sets the right environment for it to start. 

I have been keeping wood in my aquariums for over 20 yrs. Very few pieces have ever given me a fungus issue. When working at the store we had wood in over 100 tanks, and again, very seldom a fungus issue. Of all my fish keeping friends and colleagues over the course of 20+ yrs, fungus on wood is not "common" in most types of wood, and we tend to avoid those few types where it is. Why? Because we know the dangers to our animals, the risk involved. 

And one last comment about identification... unless you're going to put the fungus under a microscope and do the work do properly identify it as fungus, algae, cyano bacteria, etc. there is no way to know positively if it is safe or not. For those who claim its common and "no big deal" I would have to say you are very lucky, but luck is known, at some point, to run out. I hope for your sakes that it doesn't run out at a critical moment and kill your fish.

The best thing to do with wood that is growing fungus that doesn't go away with a good scrubbing in some clean water, is to throw it out, find another use for it, or take it back where you bought it from and ask them to replace it for a healthy piece. Knowing that certain types of wood are well known for it means either taking the risk of wasting your money or avoiding those types of wood.


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## Christople (Sep 7, 2010)

well baked it and the fungus went away and have it in my 38 because it would be harder to efect them there and so far no growth... yet. When I said ten hours was a bit longer then actual but around 7-8 and I will check the places it looks soft and just squeeze it


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