White film on driftwood

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rosehower

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Mar 29, 2010
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ok so i'm sorry if this is a stupid question. but i havent ever had this happen before ever.
i added some DW and "roots" to a 20 g w nothing in it but "bio-active sand" in it (as far as whats alive). adn with in a few days the "root" had a white filmy ooky-ness on it... is that normal. all other DW i have had in my tanks has been fine, no ooky-ness. so whats going on??? its like the same when i leave a piece of veg. in my planted tank, the nest mornign white gooiness on it, and i throw it out.
is this ooky0ness harmful? what is it??
 
scatz

scatz

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Apr 8, 2009
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as far as i know its not harmful, i've had it before on a couple of pieces of wood.
i've taken them out and washed/ scrubbed them off and put them back in, might happen a couple of times but eventually stops leaching out.
do you know what type of wood it is?
 
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Doodles

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I had it on my redmoor wood in the nano, i scrubbed it a couple of times and its fine now, was a bit annoying as had to dislodge the whole setup. The filmy white stuff even covered the sucker pads for the heater and filter.

Theres no fish in the nano, so i wouldn't like to say whether its poisonous for them or not:dk: but the snails in the tank were ok.
 
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macvsog23

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This white "spongey "stuff is common on "Grape Roots" the long spindaly root stuff sold at the LFS.

A good soak and scrub is always a handy thing to do to wood.

Having said the above I chuck bog wood in my tanks as and when it is needed fortunately it is not for show, but as a breeding aid.
Then I do only use the very soft type of bog wood.
 
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rosehower

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scatz said:
as far as i know its not harmful, i've had it before on a couple of pieces of wood.
i've taken them out and washed/ scrubbed them off and put them back in, might happen a couple of times but eventually stops leaching out.
do you know what type of wood it is?
Click to expand...
its rather weird to me. other regular DW is fine, no ooky stuff, but this 1 rot is getting the ooky stuff. its gross.

I soaked the root and 2 new pieces of DW form the Mississippi river in a bucket full with water and bleach. a few days later i had "white-ish" bleached wood. took it out, scrubbed the white off each piece (HARD TO DO with a brush!!):wb:
so then the last 2 days or so i am soaking the rinsed and scrubbed (already bleached) wood in new clean water. today i replaced the water with brand new water, and treated it with "prime" to help remove some chloramines/chlorine. hope that helps suck all the beach in the wood out.

I will be adding this wood back to a tank wich will either have a colony of L46 zebras, or into a tank with a green opal spot (blue phantom?) and a Royal i think L191?? the royal with the yellow tail. what a cutie!
but since he eats the wood, and the zebs are expensive as HECK! i really want to be sure all that bleach has all come out.

Should i also boil the wood?

Any help greatly appreciated!
Thanks
 
FF MkII

FF MkII

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After you had soaked it with bleach i wouldnt use at all. Bleach can be used to clean certain bits and pieces IE glassware but then they dont soak it up.
 
R

rosehower

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well as far as i have found in refference to soaking dw and roots in bleach, it is OK so long as you are sure to have removed ALL of it entirely before adding it.
I really didnt want to bleach it but i also didnt want my fish to die from eating or being around the ooky stuff.
it was between a rock and a hard place.
 
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rosehower

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read it. thanks.
i also work in a lab.
understood. bleach is a strong chemical.
so is vinegar, and citrus too.
point taklen.
but i still think if it is absolutely positively rinsed beyond rinsed i should be ok. and then i'll soak and rinse and scrub some more, and let soak again, just to be positive.

Thanks everyone for all the help..


now if only some one could explain the weird tank foam i have going on w one tank. it smells like cheese and toes.
i cleaned it and did a 50 w/c. water was coming out very light tea colored.. hadnt seen that in the tank. (only 1 piece of dw in the tank currently (same tank as before).
thought perhaps tanins? but didt seem likely as the wood had been bought from another tank at a store.
so the foam is there on top of the water, and i scooped it out, it didnt pop like bubbles ata ll./

weird. is this ok for the fishies? they all seem oks so far...
 
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dw1305

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Hi all,
Rose I'm not being difficult or funny, but
bleach is a strong chemical.
so is vinegar, and citrus too. point taken.
Click to expand...
is just wrong, they are relatively weak acids, "sodium hypochlorite bleach" is a strong oxidizing agent & biocide, designed to kill all living organisms that it touches.

Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hypochlorite

Again I'm not disparaging your work in the lab, but
weird tank foam i have going on w one tank. it smells like cheese and toes.
Click to expand...
&
other regular DW is fine, no ooky stuff, but this 1 rot is getting the ooky stuff. its gross.
Click to expand...
doesn't exactly fill me with confidence as either a scientist or a fish keeper.

cheers Darrel
 
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FF MkII

FF MkII

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I think there is only one place for the wood. on a fire. I certainly wouldnt put it anywhere near any of my fish.
 
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rosehower

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sorry for all the strong feelings all.

offense taken, but thats ok. i'll live.
i still have a job, so i cant be too bad.
citrus is a stong acid as well, and vinegar contains acetic acid, which in certain forms can eat through solids easily. (glacial acetic, very very bad stuff)
I was just saying that it all is bad. (to ewach there own extent depending on the form used.)

Apparently that makes me a fool...?

I see all are saying my wood is now trash?
thats fine. i can get more wood elsewhere.
no worries.

and i guess if i'm here on a forum asking for opinions i asked for the backlash too.
and some of you think i should just plain not be allowed to care for fish, or for that matter anything else?
well thanks for that.

I have been keeping tanks for about 10 years now. in all this time, i have never attempted planted tanks, (seriously) nor have i tried salt water.
so although i am not new to fish keeping/caring i am new to the other tank "adornments" if you will.
I have NEVER had any kindof foam EVER. i have also NEVER had DW EVER give me any white ooky stuff. these are new problems to me.

Sorry if i am the first person on earth to hit a road block in all my time in this hobby, only to ask for opinions to be shut down as a fish keeper.

Sorry
 
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dw1305

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Hi all,
Rose I'm sorry you've taken offence and you are quite right glacial acetic acid is a strong acid.

FFMKII and my advice is really intended to do the best for you and your fish, were not trolls or horrible nasty people (well I am horrible and nasty, but not all the time) and we really do want what is best for you and your fish (and everybody else who posts on this forum).

If you want to listen to us, but take somebodies advice who has had years of fish keeping experience have a look at MACVSOG23's posts http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/member.php?u=79. Mac (Bob) really has seen it all, done it all and (failed) to buy the T shirt.

cheers Darrel
 
FF MkII

FF MkII

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rosehower said:
sorry for all the strong feelings all.

offense taken, but thats ok. i'll live.
i still have a job, so i cant be too bad.
citrus is a stong acid as well, and vinegar contains acetic acid, which in certain forms can eat through solids easily. (glacial acetic, very very bad stuff)
I was just saying that it all is bad. (to ewach there own extent depending on the form used.)

Apparently that makes me a fool...?

I see all are saying my wood is now trash?
thats fine. i can get more wood elsewhere.
no worries.

and i guess if i'm here on a forum asking for opinions i asked for the backlash too.
and some of you think i should just plain not be allowed to care for fish, or for that matter anything else?
well thanks for that.

I have been keeping tanks for about 10 years now. in all this time, i have never attempted planted tanks, (seriously) nor have i tried salt water.
so although i am not new to fish keeping/caring i am new to the other tank "adornments" if you will.
I have NEVER had any kindof foam EVER. i have also NEVER had DW EVER give me any white ooky stuff. these are new problems to me.

Sorry if i am the first person on earth to hit a road block in all my time in this hobby, only to ask for opinions to be shut down as a fish keeper.

Sorry
Click to expand...
Hi Rose,

No-one is trying to belittle you in any way, shape or form. We dont think you are a fool and certainly dont think you shouldnt be allowed to keep fish (or anything else)

This is a forum and people will give you their opinions, some of which you may not like but may well be true. Ar no point has anyone questioned your ability as a fish keeper so please dont take it personally :thumbup:

Back on topic: I normally leave my wood soaking in a bucket of boiling water for a few hours, then refill the bucket with more boiling water to get rid of any nasties.
 
Tener ds

Tener ds

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rosehower said:
ok so i'm sorry if this is a stupid question. but i havent ever had this happen before ever.
i added some DW and "roots" to a 20 g w nothing in it but "bio-active sand" in it (as far as whats alive). adn with in a few days the "root" had a white filmy ooky-ness on it... is that normal. all other DW i have had in my tanks has been fine, no ooky-ness. so whats going on??? its like the same when i leave a piece of veg. in my planted tank, the nest mornign white gooiness on it, and i throw it out.
is this ooky0ness harmful? what is it??
Click to expand...
ive just noticed that my bog wood has this stuff on it.
looks like frog spawn,looks sickly.
will remove at next water change,tis strange cos myother pice is fine :dk:
 
R

rosehower

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i dont know really, it seems its not uncommun, but there seem to be several approaches as to what to do.
there are some very wonderful users on here who can offer you help.
 
blondeyny

blondeyny

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OK so I have what I would call big piece of driftwood I am going to put in my 25 gal. It has been soaking for about 4 weeks and is almost ready to go into the tank. It's almost what you would call a root piece. Looks like this....

So now that it's been soaking for awhile, some parts of the wood on the outside are soft enough for me to scrape off with my fingernail. I've taken a scrub brush and scrubbed the outside each time I've changed the soaking water. Is that soft wood going to be bad in the tank? It's my first time actually having a piece of driftwood. I have a small piece in the tank now for the BN until this one was ready. Any advice on what to do now to make sure it's tank ready would be appreciated.
 
D

dw1305

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Hi all,
Unless you have Panaques that will eat the soft wood, the best option is to scrape all the soft wood off with a knife or broad bladed screwdriver.

The soft spots are where the sap wood has been partially degraded by fungi all ready, but it looks a very suitable piece of wood, and you should be able to scrape it down until the much more rot resistant heart wood remains.

cheers Darrel
 
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