Has Anyone Encountered This While Moving States With Decor?

[Oftensniped]

So, I have moved from North Carolina to Virginia earlier this year and I had to take my 55 gallon apart that was moderately filled with plenty of Mopani wood and dragon stone. To preface, I was not given any sort of time to let things dry out before I had to put all decor, sand/gravel, and so on in heavy duty totes while they were soaking wet because the movers were rushing to get the tank moved, so of course when I open the totes months later after I start setting things back up I noticed immediately these odd growths of unknown (to me) brown web like stuff (see pictures below) all over the wood and rocks and some white patches of what I presume to be mold but I am unsure. Does anyone know what these could be and how I might be able to get rid of it in a fish safe manner so it can be put into the new aquarium I will be setting up soon or is it too far gone to save? Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/12/2023 at 11:05 AM, Oftensniped said:

Does anyone know what these could be and how I might be able to get rid of it in a fish safe manner so it can be put into the new aquarium I will be setting up soon or is it too far gone to save? Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!

Some type of fungus and or mold. It's an organic material, slightly wet in a dark cool place and so that's just nature doing what it does. As far as saving it. People will dip/soak things in hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, or other chemicals to help remove things. You could spray it off with a power washer or strong hose and then soak it with something and keep an eye on it. I always try to add an airline when soaking for longer that a day or two because of not wanting to have stagnant water grow things that I'm going to dump into a tank.

But no, I wouldn't toss it or anything, just clean it and treat it like any piece of wood you just purchased from the shop. Keep an eye on it and see what happens after it's cleaned and treated.

[TOtrees]

The white spots and beige lines are two different things. Can't say much about id of the white mold, but the beige one appears to be a slime mold. The internet is full of cool info about them. They can solve mazes. 😮

Neither would be acutely harmful to your fish/aquarium in the short term (I think), but they're not awesome. We want wood in tanks to be solid and not rotten. The fungus/mold you have WILL be digesting the wood, eventually making it soft and punky. And what you see on the surface will be a fraction of what's growing inside the wood where you can't see it. The fungus/mold will result in the wood breaking down faster in your tank, ie more mulm and detritus. I honestly don't know if it being rotten or punky would make it more or less desirable to xylivores like bn plecos and etc. 

[Guppysnail]

After several months there is most likely an entire new ecosystem that has evolved to that damp dark environment.  I would love to see some under a microscope.  
 

Nothing to worry over. Buy a few bottles of hydrogen peroxide at the grocery and pour it over everything. A brush or toothbrush to scrub stubborn spots and rinse in hot water and allow to dry and you will be good to go. 
 

Air breathing organisms can rarely survive being submerged. However you do not want to kill it by just dropping it in your tank. Some things produce toxins on death that in large quantities would not be good. Also the rotting matter can add to ammonia levels and such in your tank. 
 

I hope you journal your set up and tank. 

[Matt B]

This is different,  but similar.   This is a piece of driftwood that I had in an aquarium for about 5 months. It was covered in several  types of algae. I removed it and set it in an open empty bucket for several weeks and forgot about it....   It eventually dried  and turned an odd purple like color!!    Is this odd or what?    Anyway, I'm planning on putting it  back is some water, maybe just fill the bucket and add an airstone to see what happens. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/13/2023 at 5:14 PM, Matt B said:

It eventually dried  and turned an odd purple like color!!    Is this odd or what?    Anyway, I'm planning on putting it  back is some water, maybe just fill the bucket and add an airstone to see what happens. 

Definitely looks like just about every piece of wood I have dried and makes me want to mess with my wood that I have sitting out!

Looks good. 🙂

On 12/13/2023 at 5:14 PM, Matt B said:

Pleco and oto heaven right there in the "canyon" on the wood. Definitely need to get you a clown pleco!

[Oftensniped]

On 12/12/2023 at 2:15 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Some type of fungus and or mold. It's an organic material, slightly wet in a dark cool place and so that's just nature doing what it does. As far as saving it. People will dip/soak things in hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, or other chemicals to help remove things. You could spray it off with a power washer or strong hose and then soak it with something and keep an eye on it. I always try to add an airline when soaking for longer that a day or two because of not wanting to have stagnant water grow things that I'm going to dump into a tank.

But no, I wouldn't toss it or anything, just clean it and treat it like any piece of wood you just purchased from the shop. Keep an eye on it and see what happens after it's cleaned and treated.

Thanks to everyone for the responses!

It is reassuring to know that it can be dealt without resorting to any extremes or overly harsh treatments since it is already quite cold in my area, so chances to let things cure/dry outside are getting slimmer. I knew when I stored that wet decor I was going to run into some issues since wet + dark = mold in most cases, as you mentioned. I wanted to set everything in the sun to dry before I put them away but I was just not given the time to do so, good lesson going forward!

Also, using an airstone for soaking woods and rocks is a good call as I think it can help pull particulate matter off natural decor quicker as well but I have no proof of that. Even if it doesn't, I try to use an airstone whenever possible regarding anything aquarium/fish related anyways just because I am always cautious about still or stagnating water even if it only sits for a 20-30 minute period.

[Oftensniped]

On 12/12/2023 at 3:24 PM, TOtrees said:

The white spots and beige lines are two different things. Can't say much about id of the white mold, but the beige one appears to be a slime mold. The internet is full of cool info about them. They can solve mazes. 😮

Neither would be acutely harmful to your fish/aquarium in the short term (I think), but they're not awesome. We want wood in tanks to be solid and not rotten. The fungus/mold you have WILL be digesting the wood, eventually making it soft and punky. And what you see on the surface will be a fraction of what's growing inside the wood where you can't see it. The fungus/mold will result in the wood breaking down faster in your tank, ie more mulm and detritus. I honestly don't know if it being rotten or punky would make it more or less desirable to xylivores like bn plecos and etc. 

 

On 12/12/2023 at 6:33 PM, Guppysnail said:

After several months there is most likely an entire new ecosystem that has evolved to that damp dark environment.  I would love to see some under a microscope.  
 

Nothing to worry over. Buy a few bottles of hydrogen peroxide at the grocery and pour it over everything. A brush or toothbrush to scrub stubborn spots and rinse in hot water and allow to dry and you will be good to go. 
 

Air breathing organisms can rarely survive being submerged. However you do not want to kill it by just dropping it in your tank. Some things produce toxins on death that in large quantities would not be good. Also the rotting matter can add to ammonia levels and such in your tank. 
 

I hope you journal your set up and tank. 

Nature truly is interesting!

I just recently got rid of the microscope I had growing up during our move or I would have snagged a piece off the wood and examined it just for curiosity's sake!

I have a few Oto's so they were definitely a concern I had with using anything too harsh on the wood, but I am sure wood/algae eaters like them would most likely be more enticed by the wood if it was more rotten since they help aid in the breaking down process of the wood itself. However, I wonder if they be attracted to these pieces at all if they were simply added to water as is since the bacteria and molds were grown outside of water which I assume, is not typically the same types of bacteria they eat within water. Not that I will do that since I am concerned with ammonia toxicity as Guppysnail said but it is interesting to think about all the same!

Again, thank everyone for their advice! I am going to try and catalog my progress as I clean everything back up and begin tank setup since I have new things I am trying and aquascape plans I am workshopping for a 29 gallon and maybe a 20 gallon or two 10 gallon column tanks I have seen at petsmart recently.

[Oftensniped]

On 12/13/2023 at 8:14 PM, Matt B said:

This is different,  but similar.   This is a piece of driftwood that I had in an aquarium for about 5 months. It was covered in several  types of algae. I removed it and set it in an open empty bucket for several weeks and forgot about it....   It eventually dried  and turned an odd purple like color!!    Is this odd or what?    Anyway, I'm planning on putting it  back is some water, maybe just fill the bucket and add an airstone to see what happens. 

I have never seen wood look like that before, the little patches of green throughout that piece are interesting looking and shows that nature is still at work here. On another note it definitely looks like it got hit with some purple rain 😂.

[Oftensniped]

As an update of sorts, I have been slowly working toward getting everything cleaned up. Yesterday I poured peroxide over everything and let it sit for 10-20 minutes then I hosed it off and began scrubbing each piece with a firm toothbrush till I thought I got everything off, then soaked them in water, Today, I noticed that there was still some of the brown mold webbed across many pieces still, so I got more peroxide set the affected pieces in a bucket then poured it on. I plan to let that sit much longer than before, maybe overnight if possible. The brown mold has proven to be very resilient thus far so the battle still continues.

On another note, while I was doing all this I came across an co-op sponge filter that was sitting in a tote that had substrate with standing water in it and it looks like it could have white patches on the sponge and most likely the air stone in it as well, would I use peroxide on this as well or would just soaking it in clean tap water be sufficient to clean it? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/17/2023 at 3:13 PM, Oftensniped said:

On another note, while I was doing all this I came across an co-op sponge filter that was sitting in a tote that had substrate with standing water in it and it looks like it could have white patches on the sponge and most likely the air stone in it as well, would I use peroxide on this as well or would just soaking it in clean tap water be sufficient to clean it? 

you can yes.  As it's a hard surface soak it for a little bit in some bleach diluted in water works as well. drain the water, then add in fresh water with dechlorinator and then let it run. no biggie.

On 12/17/2023 at 3:13 PM, Oftensniped said:

Today, I noticed that there was still some of the brown mold webbed across many pieces still, so I got more peroxide set the affected pieces in a bucket then poured it on. I plan to let that sit much longer than before, maybe overnight if possible. The brown mold has proven to be very resilient thus far so the battle still continues.

it might "loosen up" if you hydrate it first with some water for a few days and then try to treat it after that.  If it's really on there it may just take a lot more effort. (Think like you're trying to clean a baked on lasagna pan... soak it, then scrub it)