Anomalocaris Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Hello! I have a planted tank that's been set up for about 2 months now (no fish yet, just bladder snails and assorted microfauna), and yesterday after doing a water change I noticed this black branch-like stuff that seems to be growing from my driftwood. It doesn't look like algae, so my best guess is it's a fungus? Does anyone know if this could be harmful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyjuliano Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) It’s staghorn algae. Nothing will eat it, no fish will, no snails. It will not harm your fish, but it may be detrimental to your mental state. You have to remove it physically or kill it with Seachem Excel. If not it will eventually colonize your whole tank, some people actually like it (not me!). Edited June 11, 2021 by tonyjuliano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomalocaris Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 Does staghorn algae hold it's shape even outside of water? The reason I ask is that I looked up some pictures online, and what I'm seeing doesn't quite seem to match what's in my tank. Like, staghorn algae looks like it would just droop into a formless clump like other algae when you take it out of the water, but the stuff in my tank is rigid (doesn't move in the current or anything) and has more of a rubbery texture like a mushroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyjuliano Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Yes, it’s firm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 On 6/10/2021 at 7:33 PM, Anomalocaris said: It doesn't look like algae, so my best guess is it's a fungus? That is really interesting stuff! I don't think you have either of the standard red ("black") algae strains: staghorn or black-brush. The coraloid shape on that is absolutely fascinating though! I don't know what it is. You say it is rubbery or rigid, which means you are absolutely correct, it is not either of those alga species. I'm really curious about this, so I hope it is okay if I ask a few more questions. Is it still growing? I'd be inclined, given that you don't have fish you could harm in there just yet, to leave it for a bit and see what it does. It's got a bit of a slime mold fruiting body look to it to me. There are of course aquatic fungi, but the ones I know of don't tend to have reproductive structures like that. Not that they might not exist, I just can't think of any off the top of my head. If you take a bit of it out of the water, does it dry down and shrink much? And, if you put some in a small glass (shot glass or something similar) and add a little H2O2, what color does it turn in a few hours or over night? Again, sorry for all of the questions. I'm really quite intrigued by that organism you have there! Very observant, and a great find! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I am very curious about this, as it reminds me of an aquatic version of a slime mold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 I may be way off base but it sort of resembles some type of freshwater bryozoan colony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomalocaris Posted June 12, 2021 Author Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 1:32 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: That is really interesting stuff! I don't think you have either of the standard red ("black") algae strains: staghorn or black-brush. The coraloid shape on that is absolutely fascinating though! I don't know what it is. You say it is rubbery or rigid, which means you are absolutely correct, it is not either of those alga species. I'm really curious about this, so I hope it is okay if I ask a few more questions. Is it still growing? I'd be inclined, given that you don't have fish you could harm in there just yet, to leave it for a bit and see what it does. It's got a bit of a slime mold fruiting body look to it to me. There are of course aquatic fungi, but the ones I know of don't tend to have reproductive structures like that. Not that they might not exist, I just can't think of any off the top of my head. If you take a bit of it out of the water, does it dry down and shrink much? And, if you put some in a small glass (shot glass or something similar) and add a little H2O2, what color does it turn in a few hours or over night? Again, sorry for all of the questions. I'm really quite intrigued by that organism you have there! Very observant, and a great find! I seem to have uncovered a small mystery! It's definitely still growing. It seems to start being visible as tiny black dots on the driftwood (the only place I've seen it in the tank) but it grows pretty quickly into the branching stuff. I have some fish in a quarantine tank, but it'll be a few weeks until I want to add them, so I might as well see what it does for now. Worst comes to worst, I can take the wood out before putting the fish in. It doesn't seem to dry out or change shape very much when I take it out of the tank. I attached a picture of it out of the water. It looks pretty much the same 4 hours later. I don't have any hydrogen peroxide, but I can see about getting some. Are there any other tests I could do in the meantime? Also, we just had a heatwave where I am, and the tank temperature got much higher than usual for a day or so- I wonder if that might have triggered this to start growing? And I don't mind all the questions at all, I'm very happy to have some help getting to the bottom of this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 I want to grow some of that stuff in my tank. I think it looks pretty cool. If it's not harmful you could sell cultures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 They look like ebony coral, out of this world surreal! Very pretty! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 If it's not harmful, I totally agree with some of the others- that stuff is NEAT!!!! I'd leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 7:44 PM, Anomalocaris said: I seem to have uncovered a small mystery! Without question! On 6/11/2021 at 7:44 PM, Anomalocaris said: Are there any other tests I could do in the meantime? Essentially I was curious what it would bleach to. It can reveal pigment information. Your description and photo on the paper towel were excellent! It seems more rigid than what I think of slime mold structures to be in most cases. I'm at a bit of a loss. I might send the photo to a colleague of mine if that's okay with you. On 6/11/2021 at 2:50 PM, Guppysnail said: I may be way off base but it sort of resembles some type of freshwater bryozoan colony So, I will say it does have things in common with marine byrazoa, but the freshwater lineages I am familiar with are quite different looking. That's just to say the ones I am familiar with though. It is very possible there are others out there. However, I will say that I now want to find FW bryazoa for my pseudo-saltwater tank. So, thanks for the inspiration at the very least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomalocaris Posted June 12, 2021 Author Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 10:24 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Essentially I was curious what it would bleach to. It can reveal pigment information. Would using sodium hypochlorite instead work or would that be too strong? Because I do have some household bleach On 6/11/2021 at 10:24 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: I'm at a bit of a loss. I might send the photo to a colleague of mine if that's okay with you. Absolutely! Let me know if there's any other information that might be helpful! On 6/11/2021 at 9:59 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: If it's not harmful, I totally agree with some of the others- that stuff is NEAT!!!! I'd leave it. It is pretty interesting! If it doesn't get too out of hand and it turns out to be harmless, I'll probably leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/black-branches-growing-off-of-driftwood.403868/ This is literally all I could find about this stuff, and they didn't have any answers, either! It looks the same as yours. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 10:24 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Without question! Essentially I was curious what it would bleach to. It can reveal pigment information. Your description and photo on the paper towel were excellent! It seems more rigid than what I think of slime mold structures to be in most cases. I'm at a bit of a loss. I might send the photo to a colleague of mine if that's okay with you. So, I will say it does have things in common with marine byrazoa, but the freshwater lineages I am familiar with are quite different looking. That's just to say the ones I am familiar with though. It is very possible there are others out there. However, I will say that I now want to find FW bryazoa for my pseudo-saltwater tank. So, thanks for the inspiration at the very least! That’s why I think I might be way off base the freshwater ones are more often than not rounder in shape but the “foot” attachment and structure as well as texture description is a match for a marine colony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameisnobody Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 8:52 PM, DaveO said: I want to grow some of that stuff in my tank. I think it looks pretty cool. If it's not harmful you could sell cultures. That’s where my brain went immediately. If proven as some sort of spore that grows on random driftwood that isn’t harmful to fish, plants, or water parameters, then you may actually be on to something. @Anomalocaris You could see what happens when you wedge it into another piece of driftwood in a much smaller tank, would it reattach and grow? Pretty fascinating stuff, please keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 10:00 PM, Anomalocaris said: Would using sodium hypochlorite instead work or would that be too strong? Don't know. Never used that for the purpose. I have no experience to guide you on that. Sorry. On 6/11/2021 at 10:27 PM, laritheloud said: https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/black-branches-growing-off-of-driftwood.403868/ This is literally all I could find about this stuff, and they didn't have any answers, either! It looks the same as yours. Thanks! Looks like the color was stable with alcohol. Can take a while with that, which is why I like H2O2 for the job better, but probably not worth trying it at this point. I agree this is the same stuff. Fascinating! On 6/11/2021 at 10:00 PM, Anomalocaris said: Absolutely! Let me know if there's any other information that might be helpful! Thanks for your kind permission! I'll try to send it off this week. I'll say he's a great guy, very knowledgeable, and a good friend, but not the quickest to reply most of the time. I think we all have friends like that - and during the pandemic there have been long stretches where I have morphed into that being. 😬 On 6/12/2021 at 4:00 AM, Guppysnail said: That’s why I think I might be way off base Oh I hope I didn't sound too dismissive. I thought it was a great idea! I had to rack my brain to think of some of the lineages to rule them out. It was kind of fun. I suppose I could find my key to North America somewhere and dust it off to try to be more sure. But that's regionally specific and so only so helpful anyhow. This is fun. And made vastly more fun by getting to bounce ideas around with others! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 (edited) Im surprised nobody has figured this out yet....It was very evident to me. An alien came down mated with the wood in the tank and this is its offspring starting to form so they can grown in our atmosphere and take over the world....Duhhhh 😱 Edited June 12, 2021 by ARMYVET 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomalocaris Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 On 6/11/2021 at 11:27 PM, laritheloud said: https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/black-branches-growing-off-of-driftwood.403868/ This is literally all I could find about this stuff, and they didn't have any answers, either! It looks the same as yours. Oooh, it is the same! Too bad they didn't manage to figure it out. Nice to know someone out there has run into this before lol On 6/12/2021 at 6:58 AM, Manny said: You could see what happens when you wedge it into another piece of driftwood in a much smaller tank, would it reattach and grow? Pretty fascinating stuff, please keep us posted. If I had any spare tanks or driftwood lying around, I'd try that, but I only have this tank and my quarantine unfortunately... On 6/12/2021 at 9:28 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said: Don't know. Never used that for the purpose. I have no experience to guide you on that. Sorry. Well, I don't know if this will tell you anything useful, but I was curious so I dipped a bit in some bleach anyway. The colour that ran out of it was sort of brownish. Here's what it looked like after a minute or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 I saw this stuff in the movie - The Black Broccoli That Ate Brooklyn. Don't make it mad. 1 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 On 6/12/2021 at 8:51 AM, ARMYVET said: mated with the wood in the tank Solid edit! So what you are saying is that the Weekly World News has been right all along, aliens are having babies on Earth. Just with driftwood. Sounds like they have themselves a new headline. Hold the presses! 😄 On 6/12/2021 at 8:26 PM, Anomalocaris said: Well, I don't know if this will tell you anything useful, but I was curious so I dipped a bit in some bleach anyway. The colour that ran out of it was sort of brownish. Here's what it looked like after a minute or so. Interesting! That certainly did bleach it. Unfortunately, that's about all the deep insights I can glean from it though. As I mentioned, I don't know what to expect with bleach. I can send that information along too though. It might be useful for those who know more about such clades than I (which is a long list!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarina Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 This may be a type of freshwater sponge. I've seen them in lots of different formations and they usually grow on driftwood. They're usually green or an off-white color, but the fact that it's rigid and has an attachment point that is similar to coral makes me think that this is some type of multi-organism structure like a sponge. Honestly I'd love a sample of it, but it may not travel well and my water parameters are quite different from yours. I'm a little envious, I love seeing weird things like this! Keep us posted on if more grows back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomalocaris Posted July 23, 2021 Author Share Posted July 23, 2021 So I'm back with an update on this! I ended up taking out the driftwood about a month ago, and replacing it with a new piece, this time Mopani instead of Spiderwood, thinking that a harder wood might be more resistant to the stuff growing on it (and I ended up liking how it looks better anyway, so that was a win). I was wrong though, because today, I saw a couple of small bits of this mysterious black organism growing on my new wood. So I guess whatever it is, it's in my water, and is here to stay with me! My kuhli loaches have been living in the tank for almost 4 weeks, and as far as I can tell, they're doing just fine. One thing I've learned from this is how really, really hard it can be to identify an organism! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Enjoy the extra life! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetiana Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 (edited) I have the same staff in my aguarium Edited September 18, 2022 by Tetiana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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