I Have Some...organisms

[mnemonik23]

About a week ago I picked up a drift stump from LFS. It was in their aquarium. I liked it and thought that since it was in the water for some time I won't have to deal with soaking it before I put it in my tank. (Btw, I'm about 10 days into fishless cycling, temp is 86F, bacteria growing, have some nitrites already and ammonia goes down every day...)

15 minutes ago I've noticed that stump is covered in lots of these small "plants". The majority of them are brown, but there a few cloudy white.

Is this an algae or I'm in trouble?



and

 

[Colin_T]

The black fluffy stuff in the first pic is probably black beard algae, and the white stuff in the second pic looks like fungus. The black stuff could be fungus too but if it was in a shop tank then it is probably algae.
The fungus grows on rotting material, (the wood breaking down). You can take the wood out and hose it down. That will help remove most of it. If the black stuff is black beard algae then you want to cook the wood at 150C for an hour. That will kill the algae off. Hopefully it hasn't released any spores into the tank because it is a horrible algae to get rid of once it's established.

 

[mnemonik23]

The black fluffy stuff in the first pic is probably black beard algae, and the white stuff in the second pic looks like fungus. The black stuff could be fungus too but if it was in a shop tank then it is probably algae.
The fungus grows on rotting material, (the wood breaking down). You can take the wood out and hose it down. That will help remove most of it. If the black stuff is black beard algae then you want to cook the wood at 150C for an hour. That will kill the algae off. Hopefully it hasn't released any spores into the tank because it is a horrible algae to get rid of once it's established.

So much happiness for a nice piece of wood...

I just removed it, vacuumed the gravel where it was. I have no idea if this stuff was there for a day or more. What do I do now? Should I treat water with some sort of algae treatment? Don’t want to kill good bacteria, please advice.


Thanks!

 

[raptorrex]

though i have never had it. it is an oft asked question during a cycle, "Whats the white fluffy stuff in my aquarium? never really found out what it is, but it seems, often, to go with water changes and time. the green stuff is almost deffo algae, perhaps of a more common form than mentioned by colin, and may simply be the result of the tank getting more "daylight" than shop kept wood would normally get. anyhow i would follow colins comments, though i would use a pressure cooker for 15 minutes.

 

[mnemonik23]

though i have never had it. it is an oft asked question during a cycle, "Whats the white fluffy stuff in my aquarium? never really found out what it is, but it seems, often, to go with water changes and time. the green stuff is almost deffo algae, perhaps of a more common form than mentioned by colin, and may simply be the result of the tank getting more "daylight" than shop kept wood would normally get. anyhow i would follow colins comments, though i would use a pressure cooker for 15 minutes.

Could be true! For the past 2 days I was leaving light on (aquarium light on top) for a whole day. I got some duckweed so decided to give it light...
So no water treatment required?

 

[Colin_T]

You can drain the tank and refill it with clean dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature and PH to the tank. This will help remove any spores that might have been released. As long as the new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp, doing a complete (or near complete) water change won't affect the filter bacteria.
Unfortunately there will probably be some in the filter and the only way to get rid of that would be to wash the filter out too. But this will probably mess up the filter cycle.
Perhaps just do a big water change (75%) and gravel clean each day for a couple of days, and then wait to see if any black beard algae shows up. If it doesn't appear after a week or so then you are clear. If it does appear you could try using an algicide at double strength. It will knock about any plants you have but because there aren't any fish in the tank, you can dose it up pretty high.
The algicide should not affect the filter bacteria.

 

[carlos840]

Hi, i think i had the same white stuff on my bog wood when i started, i didnt boil my wood and only soaked it a few hours and after a few weeks it was covered of this white stuff!
I just took it out twice sine it was put in and brushed it with a tooth brush in the sink rinsing it in hot tap water.
Its been 3 weeks since i did it last and it hasnt come back.
Hope this helps.

C

 

[mnemonik23]

You can drain the tank and refill it with clean dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature and PH to the tank. This will help remove any spores that might have been released. As long as the new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp, doing a complete (or near complete) water change won't affect the filter bacteria.
Unfortunately there will probably be some in the filter and the only way to get rid of that would be to wash the filter out too. But this will probably mess up the filter cycle.
Perhaps just do a big water change (75%) and gravel clean each day for a couple of days, and then wait to see if any black beard algae shows up. If it doesn't appear after a week or so then you are clear. If it does appear you could try using an algicide at double strength. It will knock about any plants you have but because there aren't any fish in the tank, you can dose it up pretty high.
The algicide should not affect the filter bacteria.

Oy... what about ammonia? do I add it every day after each water change?

 

[Colin_T]

yep you will have to add more ammonia after each water change. In fact you will have to add ammonia each day until the filters have cycled anyway

 

[raptorrex]

You can drain the tank and refill it with clean dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature and PH to the tank. This will help remove any spores that might have been released. As long as the new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temp, doing a complete (or near complete) water change won't affect the filter bacteria.
Unfortunately there will probably be some in the filter and the only way to get rid of that would be to wash the filter out too. But this will probably mess up the filter cycle.
Perhaps just do a big water change (75%) and gravel clean each day for a couple of days, and then wait to see if any black beard algae shows up. If it doesn't appear after a week or so then you are clear. If it does appear you could try using an algicide at double strength. It will knock about any plants you have but because there aren't any fish in the tank, you can dose it up pretty high.
The algicide should not affect the filter bacteria.

i still think this action is making a mountain out of a mole hill. i see little in the tank that would need such drastic action! the choice is up to the OP.