Hello veteran turtle owners. Last week I introduced a piece of Mopani wood into my 37 gallon tank. The tank had been set up and running for 1 month; Thursday I did a 90% water change and filter carbon change. The Mopani wood had been soaked for 4 days and then I boiled it for 15 minutes per surface area since it had be be rotated in the pot several times. All surfaces received at least 15 minutes of boiling. I put the wood into the freshly cleaned tank and noticed today that a brown wispy and flowing fur was growing on part of the wood. I have read in several posts that owners would soak their wood for up to several weeks or months to reduce tanins. Since some owners reported that tanins were mostly just a problem with discolored water, I chose to introduce the wood without further soaking. I did, however, take Steve's recommendation to boil the wood to kill bacteria.
Does anyone know if the wispy brown fur is a result of not enough boiling or possibly something else? I am very willing to boil it for longer if that helps to eliminate the wispies but would prefer not to soak it in room temperature water if that just reduces water cloudiness. The turtles have been loving the piece of wood so I want to make a decent effort. If no amount of boiling will fix this problem, then I will find another "junge gym" for them to play on.
I currently have a sand bottom, water is 78F, Fluval 406 filter, 37 gallons tank filled to approx 32 gallons full, red heat lamp with 91F basking area, UVB bulb over basking area as well. I've removed the Mopani wood and put it in room temp water to soak until I hear from some folks with additional wood experience. Thanks in advance!
