Strange mold (VERY prolific & robust) growing on water that has activated carbon in it
So I had about a quart of activated carbon that was used to filter a few gallons of a sodium acetate solution. It was fresh carbon that was boiled
before use for filtering and then washed with about 2 gallons of boiling water after filtering then drained in a strainer (spun water out, covered
with large coffee filter and allowed to dry).
I wanted to use it for filtering some more sodium acetate so I decided to wash it/hydrate it before use so I put it in a freshly washed stainless bowl
(3L) and flushed with very hot water (couple gallons), drained in strainer, then put back in bowl and filled with water to about 2" above carbon (it
all sank to the bottom, all floating carbon had been previously skimmed off). I set it on a shelf where I do crystalizations and let it sit till I
was ready to use it (couple days).
36 hours later it looked as it did when I placed it on the shelf, then 12 hours after that, I came back and it was solid grey on top. I thought it
was light reflecting oddly so passed it off and came back 6 hours after to use it (54 hours after filling w/ clean water & sitting aside) and this
is what I found:
It was a solid layer but I stuck my finger int eh middle and scraped to the edge. It pulled a VERY thick layer of mold (or fungus??) that has some
carbon floating under it & attached to it as well. the layer was 2-3mm thick, which I think is pretty thick!
The second pic is of a ring around the edge which is VERY thick at maybe 5-8mm which is about 10-15mm above the water line.
I think some of the carbon started floating for some reason even though none of it did when I put it on the shelf - why this happened, IDK, maybe
bacteria growth creating gases causing it to rise? The carbon on the side is what was left from when I stirred everything when I added the water
before setting it on the shelf - there wasn't really that much.
Now I had flushed this carbon after my initial filtering by dumping a gallon of boiling water into the funnel and allowing that to filter through, so
that water picked up some acetate. This water sat in a 2 gallon plastic container for about 3-4 weeks, exposed to the air and only in the last couple
days did I start to see some kind of mold growing (looked like grey fuzzy cotton in one spot, about the size between a nickel and quarter) - another
more concentrated washing before the 1 gallon one (about 1 qt) produced a pink/orange mold of similar physical appearance and size. Both only
appeared in one spot and never got much bigger. After these washes I explained above how I cleaned the carbon and stored it until the current issues.
I'm sorry I have no pics of the first 2 molds, I didn't think them important and never thought I would see what I do now.
Anyone have any idea what kind of mold I'm dealing with? I dont' know what it is growing on, nutrient wise, as there should be virtually no sodium
acetate left in the carbon and IDK if it can feed on carbon itself. The water was very pure filtered snow melt so I doubt there was nutrients in
that.
 
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