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Hi
I have just noticed that the bog wood in my tank has started to grow fur over it!!.The tank is a fairly new set up and @ the moment contains one learius pictus.I soaked the wood untill the tanins had stopped leaching out of it before adding to the tank.Will this fur harm my fish and how do i get rid of it.
Thanks people

That's just fungus growing on the wood. It won't harm your fish.

Ok thanks so its just a case of taking the wood out and cleaning it off?

Yes, although you will never be able to get rid of the fungus completely, and it'll probably grow back again.

This happened to me, currently my ghost shrimp like to pick at it.

It happened to me as well, and i just lost patience, my boogwood is at the moment in d garage gathering up dust. In fact, what type of wood could i use that won't give me thi fungus problems. I have a freshwater community tank, it still in its 4th month so not yet really ready.

i was told that you can paint G-4 on the wood before adding to the tank.!!!!

Although fungus does sometimes grow on driftwood in fish tanks, much more common is hair algae. This is a black, fuzzy growth that can sometimes get quite luxuriant. It is caused -- like most algae problems -- by an excess of nutrients in the water.

I have this problem at times. When it starts to bother me, I just dunk the driftwood in a weak bleach solution (1 part household bleach to 10 parts water), rinse it off well and return it to the tank. In tanks with strong plant growth, I rarely have this problem, as the pants outcompete the algae.

Dinyar

ok thanks for the advice i think that maybe i might add a plec of some sort i will have to be one of the larger species though as l.pictus might chomp it.

I heard that the fungus will stop growing once the bacteria in your tank develope to take care of it. I would just let it be until it cures itself. It may take a while but it doesn't harm the fish. The bacteria that take on the fungus are not the same as the ones that take part in the nitrogen cycle. But available food for certain bacteria will attract them.

Personally, I only came across the problem on some bits of Bog wood when I placed them in my new tank, all i did is took them out while doing a water change and scrubed them with a brush, this cleaned the wood wonderfully! I had to do it a couple of times to stop it growing back, but i must agree I woulnt paint it with anything if i was u.

HI
Thanks for the info il try scrubbing it when i do me water changes and see if that keeps it @ bay

Does driftwood cause the same problems og fungus? i think i'd go for it if it doesnt. Also I realized i need more light in my aquarium, d double of what I have in watts, would a reflector b good enough, or do I have to change light tube?

Another option, especially if there are no fish in the tank, is to just treat with an anti-fungal medication. The fungas (I assume we are talking about the white fungas with a consistancy of snot) will be gone for good. Barbie is correct that you almost never see this stuff in tanks with loricariids. I have never had this fungas appear on wild collected driftwood either. Just the stuff bought in stores.
-Shane

i have this problem also but mine seems to be whitish hairy fungus...

I took the decision to leave it and it must have started to collect tiny bits of debris as my Pencil fish pick at it! My Cockatoo cichlid takes her batch of fry there between meals

I also use Oak branches/root and leaves collected from reliable clean sources too - without harm. i dont worry if a bit of fungus grows.

THIS FUNGUS WILL KEEP ON COMING BACK NO MATTER HOW MUCH U SCRUB OR CLEAN .I HAVE SEEN IT CONTROLLED BUT IT KILLED 4 DISCUS AND MY BEST CATFISH .
NOT HAPPY JAN !!! .
SO LIVE WITH IT AND CHANGE YOUR WATER MORE OFTEN TO CONTROL IT .


THE WALL

Sorry guys and girls about the cap locks.
Water quality was fine and was tested more times then i wished ( from start to finish ).Reason i put in a claim to the company the sold me the product and the instructions that they told me to dose the tank .But at the end of the day, i get my money and i replace my fish and they also have a bad name now !
The fungus was NOT the cause of the problem, the remendy was.
So now just let the fungus grow and control with water changes and amount of light the tank gets.


Wall

So now just let the fungus grow and control with water changes and amount of light the tank gets.

Fungi do not need light to grow, so controlling the amount of light has no effect whatsoever on their growth.

I got white fungus on all wood (bog and mopani) in any new\tanks I set up. I originally thought this was due to autoclaving the wood at my previous employers lab. Without fail the wood could be cleaned by adding a gibby or bristlenose (to tank or adding wood to a tank containing these fish). Obviously given the treatments other people have to resort to, this may only work for some forms of the fur and won't be a good idea if you think the fur may be toxic.