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View Full Version : WHAT is THIS??!!


poler_28
04-05-2009, 03:45 AM
I recently purchase 2 nice pieces of Mopani driftwood at the LFS. (I've never used driftwood in my aquariums, and thought it looked really nice) I boiled them at the same time for a whole day, changing water as needed until it started to get clear. It looked great, no more really dark tannins. Now, it's been in my tank for 4 days and it's got this white slimey, stringy looking stuff all over it. I was reading about algae, but I'm not sure if this is sap, or if it really is some type of algae. BTW- I'm 2 weeks into a fishless cycle, everything is reading as it should: Ammonia 4-5, Nitrite between .50 and 1 (color is hard to decide) and Nitrate is just barely above 0 and not quite 5. I'm keeping my water temp at about 85 during the cycle. My water is cloudy and a greenish brown, although I think that may be residual from my silk plants that I had in there that were deteriorating from the ammonia (I have another post about that), even after doing a 50% water change. Any help is greatly appreciated. Is this harmful? Normal? How should I handle the slime.

As a sidenote: I have a goldfish tank and I placed a piece of the same type of driftwood in there(after boiling, of course) and it did get some of this slime on it too, but the younger goldfish was pecking at it and I think eating it. But, of course my 29g doesn't have any fish yet, so there is no cleanup crew in there. But there is just SO MUCH OF IT!! yuck!

jb300m01
04-05-2009, 04:13 AM
Probably some type of fungus. Most of the wood I pulled from the river developed some fungus. I wouldn't worry about it and it might just disappear after a few days.

AABatteries
04-05-2009, 04:15 AM
That shows up in some new aquariums that have decorations added to them.

cocoa_pleco
04-05-2009, 04:21 AM
yep, normal

poler_28
04-05-2009, 04:33 AM
Oh, well that's good to know. :19: Does it go away on it's own? Do I have to clean it off regularly? How long does this usually last? It's disgusting! The pics actually make it look not so bad, but it's sooooo much nastier in person. Once I am ready for fish, I plan on getting a small school of corys, do you think they will take care of it...if it's still a problem?
Thanks a bunch!!

jb300m01
04-05-2009, 04:36 AM
I think it has something to do with nutrients in the water. Once all of the nutrients that the stuff lives on is used up... it will die off. Correct me if I'm wrong though :fish:

demosthenes
04-05-2009, 04:37 AM
it should clear up on it's own. what's happening is there is a fungus living off of bits of loose organic material on the wood. once the loose material is gone the fungus should go away.

poler_28
04-05-2009, 04:58 AM
Sounds good, thanks everyone!!!