Fungus Outbreak

[treelo]

help!

i had a slight bit of fungus in my tank for a week or so now, but having come home tonight i have noticed it has started to develop on all pieces of wood/ornaments in my tank

what is the cause of fungus and how to i rid my tank of it?

my tank levels are fine apart from my nitrate going to near 0 at the weekend, and i also dont have my light on for more than 5 hours a day to help the plants grow

am i using the wrong lighting?

 

[Christine1014]

Where did it start, and what did it look like? What kind of wood do you have?
How long has the tank been set up? Did you cycle first? With or without fish/plants?
Having zero nitrates is mostly likely a result of it being consumed by the plants, so that's good. Are you using any kind of fertilizers for the plants?

 

[treelo]

the tank has been set up around 6-7 weeks now, it was fully cycled after 4 weeks and there have been plants present throughout

the fungus is only growing on a ceramic looking piece of wood i bought and bogwood that i introduced about 2-3 weeks ago now after heavy soaking

it isnt growing on any of the coral sand or pieces i have in the tank, and isnt showing any signs of growing on the fauna and i havent used any kind of fertilizer on the plants, they are just buried in coral sand and pieces

 

[treelo]

anyone?

 

[Christine1014]

Was the fungus present before you added the wood?
My favorite-looking wood is an african hardwood called Mopani. I'm not sure why, but for some reason it would get this clearish-white slime on it. I tried a few different pieces. One of them I even boiled for an entire afternoon! It made no difference. Within three days it would be covered in the slimy fungus stuff. I googled "mopani AND 'wood slime'" and got a boatload of hits, so I know it's not just me! My slime never spread to anything else, but then, all I had in the tank besides the wood was plants. I don't know if it would have spread to an ornament if given the opportunity. Anyway, scrub down the ornament and try a different type of wood and see if that helps.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Is your bogwood real? If so some say to boil it in hot water or to wash it in hot water. I've washed my driftwood in hot water, it had grey fungus like stuff growing on it. However after washing it in hot water it seems to have stopped. So I would try doing that with both your pieces. That you are having trouble with.

 

[treelo]

i have one piece of real bogwood that was soaked in boiling water each day for about 2 hours, for about 21 days

the false piece of wood wasnt bioled and is showing less fungus now

all the fish seem happy though, and the fungus seems to be developing more on the wood now, albeit in a lesser state

i dont know what to do TBH, the fish are happy as larry and couldnt care one bit, and it isnt affecting the water levels

could by any chance this be because i have non aquatic plants in the tank?

 

[Christine1014]

Not sure about the non-aquatics. Definitely not a great idea because they will decay eventually, but I don't know if that's what's causing the fungus. Maybe post this over in the planted section?

 

[WILDER]

Remove ornaments hot salty water scrub them, rinse well, let dry out for aday.