White Fluff on Bogwood

[Benson87]

I have notice some white fluff patches growing on the bogwood in my 125l tank.

I have two pieces of different bogwood and both have patches on them. See photo (sorry it’s not very clear was hard to get a good angle)

Is this a fungus? And is it safe for the fish?

I currently have a Betta in a quarantine tank following a spell fungus growth on his Caudal Fin which resulted in him losing the entire upper half of the fin - after treatment he now appears to be back to his happy old self (less half a fin). And I don’t want to put him back into the main tank if this “fluff” could be harmful to him.

Main tank parameters;
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10
pH = 7.4

Fish in tank:
10x Espe’s Rasbora
1x Betta male (currently in quarantine)

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[Byron]

Yes that is a fungus. As to whether or not it is safe, difficult to say. Most wood fungus is safe; snails will generally eat it, some fish might too (plecos like Bristlenose, whiptail, Farlowella). [But don't run out and buy a fish as this can be more trouble than benefit.] Common small snails like pond, acute bladder, and Malaysian Livebearing Snails will graze on this.

There are dozens of species of fungus, and it takes a microbiologist to determine the species. There are some that are toxic to fish, I had one several years ago; fish were respirating much faster than normal, especially the cories, and the tank water slowly became hazy. I removed the wood, did a major water change, and saved my fish; I know of other aquarists not so fortunate. Cories seem especially sensitive to the toxic fungus, maybe due to their natural habit of browsing surfaces. The wood I had the problem with turned out to be grapewood which others told me is especially dangerous for toxic fungus.