"Fungus-y" driftwood?

[Leopardess]

Alright, I don't know where to put this post, but I assume here will do...


I got a big peice of driftwood for the 55g around two or three months ago. When I bought it, I soaked it in diluted bleach for a couple of days, then dechlorinated it and soaked it in water for a week.

Well, I put it in my tank and noticed that one particular area had grown a fuzzy patch (5"x 5") of brownish-gray stuff growing on it. So, I took it out and scrubbed the spot with bleach and a toothbrush and then resoaked it and put it back in. WELL, looking again over the past few days, it has grown back yet again. It does not seem to be spreading, and my java fern is growing into it, so it would be a pain to take out again. Should I just leave it in and accept the fact that I have some kind of fungus infested driftwood? Or do you guys think that I should take it out and try yet again to remove it?

 

[depthC]

Well the fungus must be deeper in the wood than you can reach to scrub. So im assuming its a larger piece of driftwood so try to boil that area in water. Ive boiled my driftwood and have had no problems and was suprised by the junk that came out of it when i looked at the boiled water. So boil the area or the whole thing if possible and that should kill off any bacteria and take out some of the tannins that could enter your water.

- depthC

 

[Leopardess]

yeah, that is what i did with my other two peices, but this one is large and very oddly shaped...i wish i had my camera here so i could show you what i mean....any other ideas?


and do you think it would be bad to just leave it?



edit:

maybe i should read more closely...um, you think pouring the boiling water over the area would really help? and my tannins are pretty much already leached and I have carbon in right now and the water is nice and clear....but like i said, im very reluctant to take the wood out because the java fern is attached to it and I would have to uproot some plants

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

Yeah ... avoid soaking porous materials like driftwood in bleach ... the bleach can be absorbed far deeper into the wood than you might think, and can come out slowly or suddlenly depending on circumstance.

But, I digress ...

The fungus is normal. I usually boil my driftwood proper, and still get some fungus. Keep picking it off, and after a while, you should notice it start to slow down. Eventually, it goes away. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's never been that persistent for me.

 

[Leopardess]

hey thanks backdraft, (again). when i soaked it I used rather diluted bleach and soaked it for many days in heavily dechlor-ed water. I bleached it because I couldn't boil it darn thing.


I will leave it and see how it goes...if I wake up one morning and the fungus has wrapped its little tentacles around my little fishies, I guess I'll know that I should have taken it out.