# Driftwood Rotting ?



## Zensational (Jun 26, 2017)

I purchased some Cedar roots from my LFS here in the Seattle area, and after I flooded my tank 4 days ago, they’ve grown some white slime on them, looks really gross and I’m sure it isn’t helping with my ammonia / Nitrates. Is the wood rotting? Was I supposed to do anything to treat the wood? Is this a type of mold/ algae? 

The same thing happened with a piece of Spiderwood in my mother’s tank.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

That's normal for new wood, it will go away on its own. It's either a mold / bacteria forming on the new wood. 


I've also read that cedar is a no-no in aquariums.... something about the sap releasing toxins of sorts....


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I do find this is pretty common. The best info I've seen says there is a bit of some nutrient, sugar suggested, in the wood and that sets up just the right situation for the white slime but doesn't last long before the "food" changes and it goes away. No harm and some fish do eat it!!! Just not what we are trained to call nice? We don't think like fish and sure would not eat a worm! 
Cedar is one of those things that may not be a real exact name for things as different parts of the country have different plants that we call cedar. In Central Texas, "cedar fever" is a big allergy thing but the plant is actually juniper. So what winds up in the shop as cedar my or may not be cedar and how it effects the water is also a question. Cedar, fir, juniper and the other softwoods tend to hold sap much, much longer than other species so they have the rep for being bad as that sap may last longer and can change the water PH, KH, GH or may bleed tannin/color into the water much more than expected. So it can be bad in water that has low GH/KH to buffer or resist the change. I have lots of hard alkaline water that resists change so I am able to use cedar much more easily than others might. But if the local shops find it okay to sell, there is a good chance the product is okay for the local water. Yet to be decided but something to keep in mind? 
Much of the written info comes from each coast where the water does tend to be soft with little buffering so that the written info doesn't meet what much of the rest of the country has in their water. One of those quirks in geology that affects how we think.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

Zensational said:


> I purchased some Cedar roots from my LFS here in the Seattle area, and after I flooded my tank 4 days ago, they’ve grown some white slime on them, looks really gross and I’m sure it isn’t helping with my ammonia / Nitrates. Is the wood rotting? Was I supposed to do anything to treat the wood? Is this a type of mold/ algae?
> 
> The same thing happened with a piece of Spiderwood in my mother’s tank.


normal, common and harmless. the slime will go away by itself over the next days.


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## Colin Wrexham (Mar 24, 2017)

Amano shrimp and flying foxes eat it. Looks horrible but its tannins still coming from the wood that form this bacteria slime. It does clear away on its own or you can remove it with a tooth brush and syphon. Easier to let it run its course

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk


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