Question: What is this fungus growing in my tank?

[Bbqlol]

This morning when I woke up, I went to check on the axies and saw some strange looking mold stuff growing on one of their decorations, why is this happening? their nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium levels are all great, the pH runs around 7.6 - 7.8, a little high but acceptable from what i've read. Here is a picture of what I see close up, and what it looks like at a distance

 

[Jennewt]

I would bet that this is a fairly new tank, probably less than 3 months since initial setup? I would attribute this to the aquarium version of "growing pains". Some sort of fungus (or other micro-organism, it's hard to say what it is really) has become overly abundant. In a few months, the aquarium ecosystem will become diverse enough that this problem will go away.

In the meantime, test the water to be sure that there is no ammonia or nitrite. If the appearance of this really bothers you, scrub it off. But don't take the whole tank apart and scrub everything, this would be counterproductive in the long run.

The other thing to look at is whether this fake log was made to be put into water. It sure seems like it should be, but some ornaments sold for reptiles are unsuitable to keep in water. Check the tags that came with it.

 

[Otterwoman]

Is that definitely a fake log? I've had something like that grow on real pieces of wood in my tank. Even after I microwaved it, it grew back; I just stopped using the real wood pieces.

 

[Bbqlol]

Yeah, it's definitely fake and is supposed to be in the aquarium. The tank is very new, only a few weeks old. The nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium levels are at the bare minimum, I've checked them twice a day for a few days. Will this stuff hurt my axies though? And will it go away after a while, or is it going to continue to grow and expand through the aquarium?

Also, my tank has quite a current in it, how long will they be ok in the current? I'm hoping to buy a new filter within a few weeks, but in the meantime, i can see their gills being moved by it slightly; could this be dangerous to them over a short span of time?

 

[rich]

Due to the computer I am using I can not load the pictures due to the computers restrictions but if this is a black 'fungus' growing of different fixtures in your tank it sounds like it is a strange form of algae I have found in many aquarium tanks both at college (I was a Animal Management Student) and in Aquarium shops I have visited / worked at. once I am home I will have a look at the pictures but if you are still unsure can u take the log in question to your local Aquarium shop and have them look at it to ease your mind. Or maybe some body will comment confirming my suspicion of algae.