Ch0le
Fish Fanatic
Hello everyone. I am worried that the fungus on my driftwood will harm my plants. If so, what should I do?
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Thank you. I will.Take the driftwood out, hose it off, and put it back in the tank.
It doesn't harm plants but apparently some types of fungus can harm fish if they eat it. So just hose it off.
I think my cories may have gotten into it. Iost one last night and the others don't seem too well. My conditions are good and my BHTs are well.
I would do another large water change. The one yesterday would have been better if it had been larger. I drained my 90g tank down to about 4-5 inches of water when I had this issue. The fungus gets into the water and affects the fish. It is not a case of it actually being eaten, though fish that do would presumably have the same issue. But the fungus once it appears leeches into the water. This is how a marine biologist/microbiologist explained it to me.
As for boiling, this is not effective. Nothing is, as this fungus is in the wood itself and can leech out at some point. I did the scrape/hot water scrub and dried the wood. I placed it back in another tank thinking this had dealt with the fungus, and I didn't see any but after several weeks I did notice the fish acting oddly and I discovered thee white fungus had reappeared on the back side of the wood where I couldn't see it. The wood went out into the garden permanently.
On boiling wood...this is not advisable. First, it will not deal with everything possible issue. Second, it causes the wood to rot quicker so it is not going to last and the rotting itself can pose problems. Third, as someone mentioned, boiling does remove some of the beneficial aspects of wood, and while that may not matter, there is no point in removing what is beneficial. There is widespread thinking now about the remarkable beneficial and curative capabilities of organic matter like wood and dried leaves. Some transporters of fish even put dried leaves in the bags to help with bacterial issues.