Habitat - Indoor :: Wierd growth on Basking log

[Drake33535]

Hi all this is my first post. I bought a large piece of Zoomed Mopani wood from Petco to use as the basking area (picture below). I washed the log in hot water and let it soak for a day before putting it into the tank. Several days and water changes later mold appeared on top of the log where the water lilne is. I removed the log and bleached it for half a day, rinsed it and then dried it in the oven. I put it back in and a few days later the mold was back. Since then, I have washed the log in the dishwasher twice and still the mold has returned. I have a picture below. I know for certain that it is NOT algae and is accompanied with a musty mold smell. Can anyone tell me what this growth is and how I can fix it?

Note: Yes there is Gravel in my tank but my turtle is not big enough to eat the gravel pebbles yet. I am working on getting river rocks.

[SpotsMama]

Here are some reviews of his wood from other aquarium users:

http://www.petco.com/product/102887/Zoo ... tiles.aspx

The advertising says it's "safe" for aquariums - which is good - but it doesn't sound like it was really meant for aquariums. Note that the one user seems to have had success with it but only after he had boiled the heck out of it and soaked it for a long time before putting it in his squarium. You might try what he's done and see if it helps.

[Chrisbarnett]

Hmm, The white looks almost as if it is just hard water deposits. But I do see some green in the upper right area which looks like algae/mold. It is thriving on the log because of the UVB lighting, and heat allowing for perfect conditions for it to grow.

Also, the pungent smell you are smelling, This usually will happen with any wood that is in contact with water all the time, and is thoroughly soaked, yet being heated all the time. So you are just smelling the hot wet wood odor. Totally normal.

[Drake33535]

Thank you for the speedy replies. It can be rubbed off with a finger so it is not Algae or hard water depostis. It also has a fuzzy texture like bread mold. The UVB light was put in recently to try and fight the growth but has not had any noticable affect yet. I have read on other forums that it will go away in 2-4 weeks but I am skeptical about this solution.
The log is 2 feet long so I unfortunatly can not boil it which is why I put it in the dishwasher.

[steve]

Have you seen or experienced mold anywhere else in your tank?

[Drake33535]

No, The mold only grows on the log but when I lift the log to check the underside I see some clearish stuff floating on the surface. Ive seen it before and assumed that it was do to poor flow in the tank. Ive since placed a small Powerhead in the tank to fix that problem. Now I believe it has something to do with the mold on the underside. Could it possibly be spores? If so maybe a total cleaning of the tank could fix the problem.

[RESnTX]

I get this on my cork bark and on my driftwood in my aquarium. There really hasn't been anything I could do to stop it and it isn't anywhere else in my tank. I just take them out and scrub the heck out of them. I have had both pieces in my tank for about 4 months and have cleaned them about 3 times.
I know the hot, wet wood smell Chris is talking about. lol

[marisa]

Uh-oh---I recently purchased two pieces of Mopani, mainly because it's not supposed to rot and will submerge immediately. I haven't done anything with them yet. I must say, though, that my pieces look a bit different than the one in your pic.

I once tried grapevine in the tank, and I can tell you what mold is like on that (not what I see in your pic) when it was submerged for a while.

I've never had that problem with either the corkbark or driftwood I bought.

If it's being used as a basking area, could the white areas be some type of residue that forms when the dampened wood is exposed to air and warmth?

[steve]

Are there dark spots new as well? I usually notice a little bit of white specs surrounded by dark specs on my corkbark when I'm cleaning it.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Is the "mold" forming on just the parts that aren't submerged? Is it possible that the wood is only intended to be fully submerged, rather than partially submerged?

Maybe you could try not using that as the basking area and using something else as the basking area and fully submerging the wood for a period of time to see if the growth comes back?

[Drake33535]

No I havent noticed any dark spots around the white spots. I cleaned the tank today and replaced the gravel with jumbo river rocks. Thank goodness for Dollar Stores =). The tank got a complete overhaul. A botany grad student where I work suggested that the problem was in the water and not on the log itself. To that, I have replaced ALL of the water and scrubbed the tank out well. The log has been clean and is now drying. I will let you all know whether this all helps or not.