Change Of Wood - Fish Suffocating Within 24 Hours

[peteus2002]

On Friday I bought five pieces of azalea root (also known as spider wood) from Maidenhead Aquatics to replace the equivalent amount of three year old 'Sumatran Driftwood' that had become a tad too rotten for my liking. (My aquarium has been running for about eight, features driftwood and a lot of suspended Anubias plants of various varieties, and is meticulously maintained). Previous research lead me to believe that, although a bit slow to sink, azalea root wouldn't cause issues. I cleaned/scrubbed the pieces in fresh water and made the wood swap the same day. Perhaps a touch naive in hindsight, but I wasn't expecting issues.
 
Heading home from a business trip on Saturday evening, I got the frantic phone call that every fish-keeper dreads. I rushed back to find my fish gasping for air at the surface. The water was cloudy, and it didn't look like wood tannin. I didn't have time to take water readings, just jumped right into doing a, near enough, 100% water change. I noticed the filter (external Eheim canister filter) flow rate was well down (having the previous day been completely normal), so the canister got a cleaning too (in tank water). I noticed a lot of thick dark crud in there (the sort that would build up if you didn't clean the canister for about a year -- it was cleaned less than a month before).
 
After the water change (and a subsequent 50% water change yesterday morning) things have, seemingly, returned to normal. The azalea root is out, soaking in a tub in the garden. I have put some of the old 'Sumatran Driftwood back in to re-balance things. Somehow, I've not lost a single fish. (10 Golden Tetra, 10 Ember Tetra, 6 Salt & Pepper Cory in a 22 Gal). I plan further water changes today and tomorrow to be on the safe side.
 
My theory (and this is pseudo science at best) is the new wood caused a ph crash which caused some kind of an algal bloom. That's the only thing I could think would block a filter so quickly. NB: I live in the South East of England. Our water is extremely hard with ph sitting around the 8 mark (not really tetra territory, I know, but these captive bred versions seem extremely robust).
 
As I'm not confident in my theory, I thought I'd draw on the expertise and of those more experienced (and perhaps science-minded) than myself. I'd be grateful for any advice or thoughts you can throw my way. Sorry this post is a bit wordy.

 

[Mark Z.]

Strange! Can you put the azalea root in an empty tank and see what happens? Testing the water and watching the results without a danger to the fish? 

 

[Byron]

I have gone through this, and know of others too.  The wood should be discarded, as this is due to a fungus within the wood.
 
I know the wood termed "grapewood" is notorious for this.  I've no knowledge of azalea root.
 
In my case, the water within a few hours became cloudy, and fish began respirating rapidly, some at the surface.  I assumed this was connected, as I had done nothing except add one piece of grapewood to the running tank, so I pulled it out and did a 75% water change.  I scrubbed the wood (in my case, there was a white slimy sort of fungus on the wood itself), and put it in a tank without fish; after three months, I saw nothing, so it went back into another tank.  The fungus reappeared after a couple of weeks, so out went the wood.
 
A couple of weeks later, I happened to be in a local fish store and overheard a customer relating a very similar experience, only he lost all his corys because he didn't realize in time what was occurring.  And I have had members of forums relate similar experiences.
 
Byron.

 

[Akasha72]

I think I might have had something similar in my 110 litre last year. It constantly leeched a brown dust but it didn't seem to affect the fish - not that I noticed and I would have noticed the symptoms you describe for sure.
 
This piece of wood came from M.A too but they didn't tell me what it was. I'm now wondering about throwing it away or using for some other purpose other than aquatic
 
This was it 
 

 

[Mark Z.]

Is there a way of preventing this? Boiling the wood? Soaking it over time? Makes me nervous about adding bogwood now.
 
I have a piece of bogwood soaking in my quarantine tank now, but just to get most of the tannins out. I had boiled it prior. I have noticed fungus-like growth on it and also, it leeches a lot of brown dust, also.
 
By the way, nice tank, Akasha!

 

[Byron]

Is there a way of preventing this? Boiling the wood? Soaking it over time? Makes me nervous about adding bogwood now.
 
I have a piece of bogwood soaking in my quarantine tank now, but just to get most of the tannins out. I had boiled it prior. I have noticed fungus-like growth on it and also, it leeches a lot of brown dust, also.
 
By the way, nice tank, Akasha!

 
There are a great many species of fungus and not all fungus that arises out of wood is toxic, but unfortunately there is no way to know unless you are a microbiologist and can examine it under a microscope.  I now avoid any of the branch type wood.  I use Malaysian Driftwood in all my tanks, and lots of it, and to date have had no issues.  For branches, I head into the local forest and pick up dead branches.  As long as it is hardwood (as opposed to softwood like conifers that are very dangerous) and completely dry dead, it should be OK.

 

[Akasha72]

Is there a way of preventing this? Boiling the wood? Soaking it over time? Makes me nervous about adding bogwood now.
 
I have a piece of bogwood soaking in my quarantine tank now, but just to get most of the tannins out. I had boiled it prior. I have noticed fungus-like growth on it and also, it leeches a lot of brown dust, also.
 
By the way, nice tank, Akasha!

 
 
It was, I broke it down but I really regret it. That was my best attempt at aquascaping yet. Thank you anyway

 

[peteus2002]

Thank you all for your input. Since my original post I have continued with precautionary water changes and another canister clean. Things seem securely back to normal and all fish are doing well. I have contacted Aqua One Australia (who export the root) to see if they can shed any light from their experience of the product. Hopefully I'll get a reply.
 
In the meantime I'll be continuing to research. My current plan is to work out a way to boil the pieces and introduce them slowly (day by day / week by week) and monitor the results. But I won't be rushing into this until I've got a bit more info. I also intend to try a root or two out in similar (but safe) conditions to see if they have a noticeable affect on the water parameters (I'm still working out how best to simulate the conditions).
 
If you have anything to add in the meantime, I'm all ears. Thank you.

 

[Lauren Olivia]

I have just woken up to the same issue with my fish. Added the Azelea root last night after soaking it for a week and water went cloudy but I assumed it was because I’d rescaped and disturbed all dirt in my tank. Woke up just now to my retictulated hillstream loach dead and all neons gasping at the surface. I have done a big water change and added an air stone. What do I do next?

 

[Colin_T]

Remove the wood and do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate today and tomorrow. Then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

If you have any carbon (black granules), put it in the filter after the first water change.

 

[Lauren Olivia]

Thanks, have done that. Is there anything I should’ve done to the wood to make sure it was safe?

 

[Colin_T]

Generally the safest driftwood for aquariums is found at pet shops or in remote country streams where nobody goes and there is no chemical run off.

It's a good idea to soak any new wood or rocks for a couple of weeks and change the water every day. This helps to leach out things in the wood. But some wood can be toxic and even soaking and changing the water each day doesn't stop it killing fish.

Maybe google search to see if the wood has any toxic properties but this can happen to anyone. You add some wood or rock and there is something on or in them, and the fish go belly up.​

 

[Lauren Olivia]

Suspected I had done something wrong as it was purchased from my LFS and can’t remember the brand but it had a tag on and was for aquarium decoration. Thanks for your help and advice

 

[Colin_T]

If you bought it from a pet shop, I would take it back and ask for a refund. You should also take the dead fish in and see if they are willing to replace them.

Any driftwood sold at pet shops should be safe for fish tanks. If the driftwood has been contaminated before you got it, then the place that sold it is responsible.

 

[Byron]

Suspected I had done something wrong as it was purchased from my LFS and can’t remember the brand but it had a tag on and was for aquarium decoration. Thanks for your help and advice

As Colin said, try taking it back, but given that pet stores do sell this wood regularly, you may not have much success. They may even try to sell you more of the same.

If you read earlier in this thread, you will note that this type of wood, which has a few names like spiderwood, graperoot/wood, etc, is nbotorious for having a severe toxic fungus. I had this happen; cloudy water, fish began respirating very rapidly...at such signs I immediately do a massive water change as standard, and here I also took the wood out. Tried it months later after completely drying it and then putting it in a smaller tank on its own...within about a week same thing, so out the wood went.