Problem with a trunk

Hi!

I am arranging a DIY aquarium (800l) for discus. The tank is still empty (filled with tap water, actually).

I got a big trunk (the root of a tree, perhaps an alder) from the sea side. The trunk has been for a long time submerged in the sea water.

I cleaned and prepared the trunk as follows:

-I cleaned de trunk with an hard brush to remove the rotten wood and dirt.
-I let the trunk in flowing fresh water for two months, brushing it once a week.
-I boiled the entire trunk in a big metallic keg three times, each time about six hours. I let the trunk a week in fresh water after each boiling.

Now, I have the trunk into the tank filled with tap water. At this moment, there is no filtration or water changing active in the tank.

After three or four days, the trunk gets covered with a very delicate layer of something like mould. This “mould” becomes evident after a week, when I empty the tank and refill it again with new tap water.

This mould is white/grey colour. The thickness of the layer is about 1 cm (aprox. half inch) and the fibres are so thin that they almost can’t be seen.

I don’t know if this mould is really mould or not. I don’t know if it is some substance coming from the wood. I neither know if this could affect the health of the fishes and plants.

The pH of the water seems not to be affected by the mould and it is about 7,5 (to be corrected before putting in the fishes, of course).

Can anyone help me with this problem? Thanks in advance.

Inigo

Welcome to DF.com Inigo,

I am thinking it is just a result of stagnant water... I see this quite often on most of my pieces when I soak them in a tank and they sit there for anything up to a couple of weeks, they get really slimey and have an unpleasant odour as well...

Give the wood a rinse with clean water, then put it in the tank with some basic type of filtration... that should stop the mould/residue coming back.

HTH

I get mould growing on freshly collected wood as well, throw a bristlenose in and it'll eat the mould!

Regards

Richard

i used branches i collected myself from the seaside here and ditto to your comment of the white mold - and ditto to the bristlenoses having a field day on it! it won't last once there's a biological system in place.

justin