Weird white crap on driftwood...

[Mr Fish]

Ok, so after I got my tank I was waiting and waiting and waiting for my lighting system to come in. I have a 125 Gallon tank, it's dimensions are like 5 ft. (long) by 1.5ft (wide) by 2 ft (tall).

Q: Is 260 Watts enough for most plants?

Anyway, I filled the tank partially and left the sand and some driftwood in the water which wasn't being filtered. About 1.5 months later I get my light and fill her up - but I've noticed a bunch of white crap growing(?) all around some of my driftwood. Is this fungus? What can eat it? Other than removing it and cleaning it, what are my options?

[Brett_Fishman]

Remove the log and clean it.

260W is fine for a low light planted aquarium. On my planted 46 gallon I have over 200W of lighting.

[MyraVan]

I'm not sure I would call 2 WPG a "low light aquarium", but I suppose it is for Brett! Generally 2 to 2.5WPG is what I aim for, as I don't have any interest in adding CO2 and whatnot to the tank, and you generally have to with over 2.5 WPG of light on it.

There are lots of plants you can't grow with 2WPG, but a good variety of things that you can. In particular you'll have difficulty growing colored plants (anything other than green), with the possible exception of red or brown cryptocornes.

[Damon]

It will depend on the type of lighting. N.O. fluorescent will not be as "strong" as PC or T5 H.O. You will be able to grow many plants with good Co2.

[Mr Fish]

I removed the wood and cleaned it. Got some more java fern from petco, they sell it attached to tiny little peices of driftwood. Does it need driftwood to thrive?

[goodie]

It can be attached to rocks also. The roots grab on to the surface of the wood/rock. You could plant it in the substrate, but just make sure that you don't bury the rhizome. It will do much better if you kept it on wood or rock though.

[osteoporoosi]

I have had that in cycling tanks too, it disappears after the tank has matured.