Mopani Growing Fungus

[Hynesy]

Hey Everyone,

About 6 months ago I bought two fantastic looking pieces of mopani wood for my two axies and since then I've had to pull it out of the tank weekly to clean a growth off the surface that looks like fungus. When I got it originally I let it soak for a month after giving it a boil intially but it's not help. I've boiled it a few times since and still no luck.

Anyone have any ideas? They're two beautiful pieces of wood but the fungus looks terrible, probably bad for the axies and getting into the filter and chiller causing me all sorts of grief. I suspect this may be why my axies get the occasion gill fungus too.

Cheers,
Hynesy

 

[EmbryH]

I've had to deal with this before. To my understanding, the fungus isn't actually harmful for the axolotls directly, though it can clog filters and the tannins released into the water from the wood can make your water look murky (though some tannins can actually be good for the axolotls skin).

I boiled my log for a long time, then let it get dried out. It probably dried for 2 months, then I finally tried to put it back in, and finally the fungus had stopped. I was able to use it for about a year, until recently it has started to degrade and I removed it again.

Perhaps it was just the piece I got, but this wood doesn't seem to have a very long shelf life if you want to keep your tanks clear and pristine