What is wrong with my driftwood??

So this weird like light fluffy coat keep reappearing on my driftwood and I’m at a loss



This morning^



Yesterday morning^

I bought this piece online and really like it, so I don’t want to get rid of it if possible. It’s manzanita wood, and this is the page:
Here’s an excerpt:
“Cut to order, these natural manzanita pieces are cleaned and inspected.
They are not treated.
You do not need to soak them, cure them, remove bark, treat them with anything, or dry them to use in your tank.

You can use these directly in your tank or you can soak them for a few days if you are worried about it. You do not need to do that though. It is natural for bubbles to come out of the nodes in the branches and a stringy moss to form there especially if your tank is near a window or you have a strong light source (it looks really cool too). You can also cut these down or shape them any way you like.”

When I received it, I scrubbed it with hot water. Then after I placed it in the tank, it started forming the stuff pictured above. If moved, it’d schluff off in the tank, and I was worried so I dried it for a while in the oven (have done this before). Then I left it out of water for quite a while. Upon replacing it in the water, it regrew the “yesterday” picture in a few days. Again worried, I did a minor bleach dip. This morning it’s right back.
The seller, in the excerpt, mentioned bubbles coming out of the nodes - is this what that is? It does form lower, around the nodes, but mostly up near the top where pictured. When removed from the tank slowly, it doesn’t dissipate in the water, but sticks down to the wood. It is near a window.

Is this something I should worry about? How can I stop it doing this?

 

Its biofilm. Its totally normal and will go away on its own.

If you have any shrimp/algae eaters, they will eat it!

 

It's super common. You can wipe out off, but it's theoretically harmless and will go away on its own within a week or two.

 

You're growing shrimp food! Nyum nyum nyum

 

Its biofilm. Its totally normal and will go away on its own.

If you have any shrimp/algae eaters, they will eat it!

I suspected it was that, which is why I did a bleach dip - that should’ve killed it if the organisms were coming from the driftwood. So I suppose this means the organism is in my water column? If so why does it not affect the other driftwood/rocks/plants in the tank?

And unfortunately I don’t have any algae eating critters - there’s Corys, loaches, and rabbit snails, none of which have showed any interest in it lol

 

It’s not algae, it’s a fungal type thing. It grows on nearly all wood when the wood first goes into the water, which is why it is affecting only the new piece of wood. It is natural and not harmless. It will go away over time (week or two) as the wood water logs and loses any leftover nutrients. You can try to take it off but it will just grow back. Let nature take its course

 

I would like to add that if you take it out of the water and allow it to dry that it basically restarts the process. Or at least my just-cleared spiderwood did when I was having tank problems. So if you need to remove it for a bit, keep it in old tank water if possible.

 

I boiled my spiderwood for a few hours and was spared from the process—one of my tiny pieces showed a bit of gunk for a few days, but it cleared up pretty quick. If you can't handle the sight of it, boiling may be an option.

 

If you are looking for blackwater via tannins, you will remove much of them by boiling it. But maybe that will keep your pH more stable. I am experimenting with blackwater and my KH went to zero and I had a pH crash. I had to give away my three mystery snails because I couldn't get my pH up quickly enough. They didn't really "belong" in a blackwater environment. If I've learned one thing so far about aquariums, it is that it is an ongoing practice in patience.