# Can anyone ID white stuff at base of plant?



## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

If you zoom in attached photo (or look closely) can you see this fluffy white stuff at the base of the Anubias? It looks like cotton candy 

The only thing I can think of is perhaps it's got something to do with using superglue to attach it, but I didn't use that much. 

I planted it four days ago. TIA.









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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Does it feel slimy? Like snot? If it does it is most likely a harmless fungus. I've only had it on new tank wood; not on plants. Does the tank have plenty of agitation/current? Or is it still-water?

Others might have differing ideas when it comes to plants.


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## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

Well how bout that. I don't know what it feels like 
I'll reach in there tomorrow. 

The tank has a HOB that's baffled but still produces a pretty good current.. it moves the frogbit around and I can see the newly planted bits swaying. 

What's interesting is the Spiderwood took a good 2-3 weeks of being submerged in a bucket before it was waterlogged, and no fungus.

This fungus appeared after the tank was planted which included gluing mosses and rhrizomes (Buce/Anubias) to the wood (what's supposedly miniature weeping Moss is so cute) let's see if it shows up in a pic. 

I think it's just a coincidence that I'm noticing it around that one plant I'll check more when the lights are on tomorrow.

I'm glad it's not a big deal - ummmmm I believe you said it's no biggie? If it's slimy I should assume it's this fungus? Will it resolve on it's own? 

Thanks for solving the mystery! 

p.s. well ok I just zoomed in on this little moss and you can see where I glued it there's more white fungus - how weird. 











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## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

I didn't have time to dig around there this morning but according to Dr. Google snails like to eat the white fuzz. 

I wonder what kind of snails I can put in there that #1 won't turn into multitudes and #2 can tolerate ammonia although since I seeded the filter media from a mature filter I'm not expecting to have the problem much longer. 

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## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

@RussellTheShihTzu so I tried to feel for the slime but discovered the base of the plant (under the fuzz) was rotting so I pulled it out - Ewwwwwwwww the smell :/

I was late in planting and storing the plants in a 5 gallon bucket (under a light) and I noticed the Anubias weren't doing that great when attached to the wood so perhaps they were doomed. 

Oddly the Crypts seem to be ok. A had to chop some outer leaves off the small swords but so far everything seems fine accept the two Anubias go figure.

The white spots under the moss seem to be where it's glued no slime nothing rotting. 





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## Rana (Apr 27, 2013)

I can't quite tell, but how much glue did you use on your Anubias? It looks to me like you more-or-less covered the rhizome in glue, which is not good for the plant, and could have made it start to die- hence the rot, and the fuzz would then probably be a type of fungus. Personally I found using a bit of sewing thread to hold down my plants to be easier than glue, anyway.

In general I would say that fuzz on/near a wood element is normal, even if it's been soaked in water before it might not have started breaking down in the right way to fuzz over until it was in the aquarium. Some snails will eat it, but it'll also go away on its own and AFAIK isn't anything to worry about health-wise.


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## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

Thanks for your feedback. Actually I was wondering the same thing. Given the location tying it with thread would have been too hard, and I was trying to be careful to use just a little dab but that doesn't mean I didn't screw it up and inadvertently get it all over the rhizome. 

Unfortunately it was already having some kind of melting and/or rot issue going into the tank (I threw half of it away). Not sure how that happened but I've got some Anubias that's just floating in a different tank and the roots have grown down pretty long it'll be easier to tie.

I also glued about three different little Buce around and they're fine. That still doesn't mean I didn't screw up with the glue somehow. 

I wonder if there's a better plant adhesive than superglue? 

I've used fishing line and zip ties too...



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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Anubias do suffer from rhizome rot. If you bought other Anubias from the same place, are any of them showing signs? Even if not, I would lift from the tank and smell the rhizome.

I tied an Anubias too tightly to some Cholla and it got rot. Look very healthy but when I opened the lid of the tank I could smell a distinctive odor. Lifted four healthy Anubias until I found "the one." Ugh...what a smell.


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## Phish Head (Jul 23, 2019)

Yes - two Anubias came in the same order and both had some kind of issue before planting. I'll have to look at the list and see who the vendor was. Oh that smell was potent YUCK. I thought it was a fungus till I took a sniff. 

I didn't realize just tying them too tight could be problematic I'll have to be careful. Actually there's two Anubias in the other tank one on a piece of driftwood and another just floating with long roots. Both are fine.

The root feeders seem to be liking the Aquasoil but the daily water changes in the beginning....

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