# Fungi, Green mold, white hair growing in New Tank??!!



## Guest (Feb 13, 2006)

Hello all. 

Does anyone know why mold and fungi, and a string/hair like mold is growing in a new setup. All brand new wood, coco/tree fern substrait. This is my first time using grape wood. It seems to mainly grow on the wood, but it is also grown on a piece of vine (I got from black jungle) in another new tank. When I spray the tank down it rinses away easily, but grows again the next day. I know it will eventually go away, but what is it and where does it come from?


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

It is coming from spores either associated with those materials or transferred to those materials from the surrounding environment. Being saprophytic (a saprophyte obtains its nutrition from assimilating organic matter) in nature, it is feeding on the dead material(s). You likely have several different species competing at once.

I'm under the impression that grape wood molds quite well in wet environments and probably won't hold up long term. No direct experience in that regard however.

Bill


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

elmoisfive said:


> It is coming from spores either associated with those materials or transferred to those materials from the surrounding environment. Being saprophytic (a saprophyte obtains its nutrition from assimilating organic matter) in nature, it is feeding on the dead material(s). You likely have several different species competing at once.
> 
> I'm under the impression that grape wood molds quite well in wet environments and probably won't hold up long term. No direct experience in that regard however.
> 
> Bill


I've heard the same thing many many times.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I have also heard grape would will not last long in a humid tank. I will say that in many cases the mold will go away and is common in new tanks.


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## back2eight (Dec 19, 2005)

Yes, a new tank does this. It should level out and be fine after a while. I have only set up two, but both did this at first.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2006)

I too have been told grape wood molds.

Matt


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

While the molds and algae themselves are a normal part of the cycling, especially noticeable in a newly set up tank, any soft wood such as grapewood, will deteriorate rapidly in a humid vivarium. It's fine for xeroscapes, however. You need a very hard, dense wood, such as Osage orange, swamp cypress root, mountain mahogany, manzanita (branches and roots), Madrone (if available), and of course cork bark, although not dense, is resistant to moisture and rot. Molds will form on these, too, but will remain superficial and the wood won't deteriorate too rapidly to be useful for a number of years. I use Mountain mahogany even under water in a paludarium as an egress for frogs that fall in to the aquarium, and it has remained quite stable for over 6 years. Everything will of course, eventually deteriorate, but so do we. 

I've often wondered about the skeletonized cacti. Is this what is called ghost wood in the trade? These are branches of different large cylindrical Opuntias that have an open network, the main structure being preserved. Since cacti utilize a lot of silicone in the spines, I wonder if they do so in the main skeleton, as well. If so, this might make them useful, as well. I tend to ramble, so perhaps this is taking the thread away from the original direction.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> such as Osage orange


Great wood to use. I've used it in many tanks, the longest being three years and was still quite solid upon removal. In fact I plan to reuse that piece at some later date. Now I just wish I could find more of it. :?



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## Thinair (Aug 27, 2005)

> Everything will of course, eventually deteriorate, but so do we.


Beautiful sentence.

The ghost wood, such as Black Jungle sells, is a hard wood, not sure of the tree it's from... The 'skeletonized cacti' I've always thought of as cholla: nasty stuff to walk into in the desert.

Car


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Yes, the chollas are also a name for the cylindrical Opuntias. 

I just saw a photo of ghost wood, and it is not the same thing, as you point out. Is is another name for cypress root, perhaps?


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