Moss instead of mold

hello, its been a while, got rid of the tropical plants that were dieing and probably making the water PH level fluctuate drastically, now i have some elodea which i think should be better, there is some white mold spots starting to appear on the half submurged driftwood i have in there for the fire bellies to climb on, i dont really want this, is it a problem, is there any moss that i can grow on the log instead of the mold? i know that moss requires shade, but i have a UV light in there for the aquatic plants, is there any moss that can grow in these light conditions?

java moss seems to grow pretty good as long as it's wet. i have a 6500k light over mine and it's starting to take the tank over. elodea should work, though i have never used it. without knowing much about the mold i would take it out. better safe than sorry. maybe you can find something different until u find the answers u seek.

Perhaps it's an idea to take out the driftwood and boil it to kill the spores/fungus that have gotten into the wood.

i boiled and baked the driftwood for a very long time before i put it in, it became a battle between me and the brown water, if the water was still brown i boiled it again, ,,,
but, i'll boil it again, and again,,,, and again if i have to,,
i would love to grow some nice furry land moss on it, but i supose this isnt possible, i'm gonna get java moss for the water aswell, so java moss can survive on land as long as i keep it misted?

I wouldn't say that java moss can survive on land if misted. It needs more water than that. Here is an example of how it can grow above water:
http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/pics/plant4.jpg

Regarding the wood, I'd say scrub off the mold and keep it in the tank. Do you know what kind of wood it is? True driftwood comes from lakes or rivers or oceans and has already soaked for ages. It could be that you are using a type of wood made for terrariums and not suitable for keeping in water.

Java Moss will survive on land with it is wet enough. But I have experienced that when Java moss became too abundant, it took all the nurtrition from all the other plant, including the Elodea. But my pothos still survive and grow well with java moss.

one piece of the wood may be designed for terrariums, as i got it from a reptile shop, the other is actually bogwood dug up from a bog, very very old wood preserved in the bog, they are both very similar in appearance etc, do u think if i boiled and baked them for even longer i might fix it?, coz they look really good and are great for the newts

Here is the problem- The water turning brown is not a product of the wood not being properly prepared, rather a result of tanis leaching into the water. Its what wood does in water. Its not going to be a problem for the newts, may make the water more acidic, my snails new offspring seem to have weak shells so its obvious the total alkaline levels are low as well.

But using wood dug up from a bog- thats not exactly recomended. You have boiled it and baked it, but it is still going to become saturated and put stuff in the water that wasn't there before. Wood can be tricky, I have recently found a really nice aqaurium shop that has top grade wood, I would recomend calling around and asking people. I have paid up to 10 bucks for one medium chunk, but it was worth it.

ok, cheers i'll look around for sum better wood,,
another thing, i read a thread somewhere which i cant find again, where someone mentioned oil slicks forming on the surface of the water, this happened to mine, i changed half of the water, but i'm getting some kind of subtle faint layer forming again on the surface which breaks up when u touch or stir it, is this also to do with the logs?

Do you have any filtration or whatnot to disturb the water's surface? Oftentimes without something to break up the water surface a layer of dust will form. All you would need then is a filter or airstone to break the surface tension.

There are a lot of reasons for oil slicks forming on the surface of the water. If you do tank maintenance with lotion or soap on your hand this can cause a slick. Hair that falls in the tank can have the same effect. If you want to test if it is the wood, place it in a bucket or some such and wait to see if this layer forms.

Also, you said you picked up one of your logs from a reptile store? If it's sandblasted grapevine you probably won't have much luck using it in your aquarium. Grapveine usually floats and molds, you can find pictures of it if you google "sandblasted grapevine."

i do have an underwater filter,, both logs are heavy hard dark brown bone dry wood, pretty sure its not 'sandblasted grapevine', i've taken both out anyway, do u think i should boil them to death again and bake them even more, cos i didn't bake them much last time, or should i go buy new ones like someone else suggested?
i'll test them in a buket after,,