# Greyish White Algae on Wood



## apro (Jan 25, 2006)

I have got some greyish white beard algae type thingy growing on my driftwood, this can be moderately removed by brushing agianst the wood and the when I brough the wood out of the water it smelt really bad any ideas guys. Plus can you guys give me a link to a site with a detailed algae ID guide please?


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## ShortFin (Dec 27, 2005)

It might be mold. Here's the algae link.
http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

You can also use the AlgaeFinder in APC.


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## apro (Jan 25, 2006)

ShortFin said:


> It might be mold. Here's the algae link.
> http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9


How do I get rid of the Mould then please?


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## ShortFin (Dec 27, 2005)

I have no experience with mold on driftwood before, but you can do what you've been doing and eventually it will go away. Or take it out and bake it in the oven or boil it and put it back.

Perhaps another member can chime in.

What kind of driftwood is it?


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## apro (Jan 25, 2006)

ShortFin said:


> I have no experience with mold on driftwood before, but you can do what you've been doing and eventually it will go away. Or take it out and bake it in the oven or boil it and put it back.
> 
> Perhaps another member can chime in.
> 
> What kind of driftwood is it?


Its actually mopani wood. Any advice would be appreciated!


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## tundragirl (Feb 15, 2006)

A friend of mine bought a piece of grapevine driftwood and the same thing happened. when he did water changes he would brush a lot of it off and then siphon it out. LFS where he got it said it was some kind of algae and that it would go away on its own. :icon_eek: After about a month it went away. snails will eat it his went nut for it.


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## salth20 (Mar 6, 2008)

apro said:


> Its actually mopani wood. Any advice would be appreciated!


 I have had this twice now. I like the look of Mopani. The first piece developed this white, almost cotton type stuff on it. I pulled it, scrubbed it, and it was fine. 6 weeks later, I added another piece of Mopani to the other side of the tank. It is now doing the same thing. Odd....


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## Riley (Jan 24, 2006)

I believe it is a fungus of some sort. Ottos love to eat it.


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## Craigalanche (Mar 8, 2008)

I've got some of this on my Mopani wood as well but only in certain fissures. It kind of bubbles up then seems to die off without me doing anything. I was brushing it out with a toothbrush but it kept coming back. Whitish in color, my oto's avoid it though. Maybe a calcium deposit? Could be something different than what you've got, mine isn't really fuzzy, looks like more of a slime. I'm no expert but if it is a fungus/mold maybe marycn would help? I'd try this in a different tank though, no need to medicate all the occupants if they aren't sick.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Just out of curiosity, do you guys boil your wood first and still get fungus?


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## moogoo (Dec 7, 2007)

I have mopani driftwood in my tank. I boiled it for close to 6 or 7 hours using a new batch of water every hour or so. I still got this white substance on the driftwood. It concerned me at first because it kept getting worse and worse. I would vacuum it during water changes and brush any loose bits off, but I couldn't do much without ripping apart my scape.

With some research, I found mixed information identifying it as mold, fungus or bacteria. Some say otos eat it, other say they don't. In the end, what worked for me was to vacuum the loose, dangling bits of it and wait it out. It has been just about 2 months since my tank setup and most of the white stuff is either gone or on its way out. Not sure if the otos eat it, but they don't spend much time there. My cherries do, but I haven't seen them actively eat it either.

In any event, the bottom line is it is not harmful to your water quality for plants or fish and shrimp. It is just ugly and nasty looking. Just vacuum the dangling extra bits of it as it "grows" and wait it out. It should eventually disappear. This was also an advice I came upon while researching and it has become true for me.


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## Omar EAZi (Aug 5, 2015)

It's normal, this white slime thingy coming out of your wood won't harm your fishes, actually it'll help cycle your tank if your tank is new, I remember reading somewhere that it's actually bacteria adding up on the wood trying to eat whatever is left on the wood, which should make you happy that the bacteria is alive and kicking in your tank, eventually it'll go away. When I do the weekly water changes I rub the piece of wood if it's still producing this slimy stuff, after a month or so it goes away completely.


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## Dman911 (Nov 24, 2016)

lauraleellbp said:


> Just out of curiosity, do you guys boil your wood first and still get fungus?


Yes it can happen depending on the wood you may boil and it can come back. Its a fungus that feeds off the cellulose released by the decaying wood and the longer it soaks the less it will produce and it will eventually go away. It is harmless and some fish/inverts have been reported to eat it. Its very common with certain types of wood and newly added wood. Some people report its less of an issue if they boil it and then dry for a couple weeks in the sun or oven until it is bone dry to the core. I wouldn't worry about it, if you want you can remove rinse every couple days until it goes away or just manually remove daily in the tank. 

Dan


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