Fuzzy wood

[rokit_armor]

This wood I picked up at the local lake is driving me nuts, I think it might be causing water quality issues. There's two types of what I would assume is algae on it, and I think it's causing a bunch of excess ammonia to be in the water. One algae is short black 'hairs' the other is white translucent globs. The algae is only on the one piece of driftwood (well, it's two I broke it in half, but it's on both parts of the same branch) and not on the other, nor on the rocks. The silicone edges do have a weird slime to them, not sure if it's related. I was unable to boil the pieces due to their size so I scrubbed them real good and gave them a hot shower before I put them in. Should I ditch them, or wait until the tank is cycled and let my plecos do their job?

 

[Justinw]

I think you know the answer already. If the driftwood is causing problems, take it out. This is an example of why they say be careful going to a lake and picking up driftwood.

 

[knifegill]

It's not the wood. That fuzz is mostly a snack for grazers, it is harmless in a well-filtered system. A large water change or two should be all you need (aside from the usual cycling protocol). If it were my tank and fish, I'd put the fuzzy wood into my pleco tank and let them have at it.

 

[petspoiler]

I wouldn't have pointed splintery wood in with fish, like yours looks. IMO, it doesn't look dense enough to warrant lots of disinfecting work...I tend to be pretty cautious, though.

 

[Chuncan]

I think if its causing problems either get rid of it or bake it. I had a similar problem with my wood but eventually my fish ate all the algae.


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[P.A.NativesBPM]

I also had a similar problem. But you need lots of algae eaters to get rid of all that. I just took the wood out and filled the bath tub with the hottest water possible and soaked it for a while. Then I gave it a good scrub. And all was good.


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[Shenanigans]

that stuff grows on my wood all the time. Plecos will readily eat it. Sometimes when my lil 2" plecos cant keep up with it, I throw in my 7" from another tank. Overnight the big guy cleans it off completely. IMO either ditch it or get more plecos

 

[F1 VET]

Your tank isnt cycled so that is a huge factor!!!!

A bad branch or piece of wood would cause sap or contamination, the white and black algae are likely from high ni/na/ammonia, id do a big wc soon and make sure you have enough bio to house the bb! When sap leaks it looks nasty on the wood also

Do you test your water?

#1 S. Vettel

 

[rokit_armor]

I've been testing the water daily, just tested again. 0 ammonia, 2 nitrite, 5 nitrate. Ammonia just went to 0 yesterday, and nitrite is lower than then too.
I've been waiting to throw my plecos in and see what they do, if they're not enough I'll get some SAE's to take care of the rest.

The branch looked very much like it had been dead a long time, sunbleached and whatnot.

 

[liontammer]

i had the same thing happen in my tank and after a little research i found that it is normal and will go away after awhile