White "fur" on drift wood

[BlakeyBoyR]

Let me start by saying I have no doubt that this is my fault, and it is a direct result of my stupidity. Having precursored this thread by saying that, allow me to elaborate.

I am starting my first non-african cichlid tank. It has been cycling for about 10 days. I plan to keep some apistos and have the tank heavily planted. I have had DIY C02 running for a week which brought the tank water down from a PH of 7.8 to 6.8-7.2. After doing some reading I realised this isn't low enough for most apistos so I went out and purchased some Seachem acid buffer (can you see where this is heading yet?).

I added a small amount, roughly a quarter of a tea spoon to see how far it would drop the pH. After 24 hours there was no change. I decided to add another 1/4 of a tea spoon, and yet again very little change.

Late one night I came home very tired and decided that I'd drop that pH if it was the last thing I do, and proceeded to add 2 teaspoons of the stuff to my tank. Before anyone says it, yes I know it was insanely stupid of me and I should've known better (which I should have), but alas I was a little out of it and I did it.

The next day I tested the pH and it was as low as the test kit could go, which is 6.0, however the bottle of buffer says it can go down to 5.0, and I wouldn't be suprised if that's exactly where it is sitting.

Clearly 5.0 is too low for most fish, however that is not what my question is about. Since the pH bottomed-out, a strange white translucent fur has developed over my driftwood. I am not sure what it is. If anyone has seen a fighting fish (betta) with a fungus infection, that's sort of what the white stuff looks like. Obviously the pH drop has something to do with it, although what exactly I have no idea.

If anyone can give me a hint as to what the heck is going on, I'd be very appreciative.

One more thing that occurred to me though, can a pH drop like that kill the bacteria in my filter? And can using the impeller of the AquaClear as my C02 reactor also kill the bacteria as the C02 passes over the media?

I carried out some tests and saw that there is still nitrate and nitrite in the water so hopefully that is a good sign my bacteria aren't dead. I then did a large water change to try and raise the pH back up a little. I figure I will leave it for a little while and re-test the water.

*sigh* I should've stuck with africans!

[grungefreek]

white translucent fur has developed over my driftwood

My driftwood got that wehn i first put it i. Cant remeber if its a bacterial or fungal growth. Anyway, just celan it off, doesnt do any harm to anything.

And can using the impeller of the AquaClear as my C02 reactor also kill the bacteria as the C02 passes over the media?

Hundreds of people use this method, and ive never heard anything bout it affecting biological filtration. Not that it maters in a planted tank anyway, the plants are the biological filter. the Ac is purely for mechanical filtering.

Grunge

[BlakeyBoyR]

This stuff is everywhere on the wood. Its gross and I want it gone. I could never possible clean it all off save for taking the wood out of the tank and scrubbing it with a tooth brush or something. Maybe thats what I will have to do. I could always leave it until some bristlenose get into the tank and hope they take care of it, or get some fungus cure and give it a go.

Hmmm ... too many options

Thanks for all your advice grunge, youre a champ