Mold on Driftwood - safe for tank or no?

[hazyvonne]

Last year I bought a bunch of driftwood for my tank. I used about half of it, and "stored" the rest in a bin in my yard - then I immediately forgot about it. So now it's been out there for a year and of course, there's a bunch of mold on it as you can see in the pictures. I brought it inside and boiled it in a large pot for a few hours (changing position, turning it around every hour or so). But even after boiling the mold is still very visible. I'm setting up a new tank that is currently cycling. Is it safe to put that driftwood in there or should I just throw it out?

 

[enricosonic]

It does not look like mold to me, more like burnt, but you remember what it looked like before you stashed it. I'd take a stiff brush to it then rinse it off and boil again.

 

[Uberhoust]

Definitely a type of black mold/fungus. Used to see a lot of it when I was doing forestry field work especially on cut blocks and more recently on decked wood that is brought into the sawmills. If it is what I think it is, Stachybotrys chartarum, then it is supposedly poisonous to us but not strongly so, depends on person and concentration, I don't know how it would affect fish, but I don't believe it would grow without some exposure to air. If it was me I would wash down the piece with normal hydrogen peroxide, let it dry then put it in the tank. The only caveat to consider would be the hydrogen peroxide might bleach the wood a bit.

 

[hazyvonne]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I tried scraping off a small area with a razor and it did come off and had "clean" wood underneath, so that made me feel better. Later today I'll try hydrogen peroxide. And after what Uberhoust said, I'll also go find that kitchen pot I boiled it in and give that another clean Again, thank you!