White Algae/fungus Growing

That sounds identical to what happened when I put a piece of wood, purchased from my LFS, into my tank with x-ray tetras. The remainder of the wood was quite slimy, and the surface of the tank developed an oil-like film.

The advice given by the LFS was to scrub it with something quite rough like a scouring pad - I did this every few days with an aquarium scouring pad.  After 6-8 weeks, it eventually subsided and stopped completely.  It had been subsiding for a week or so when I introduced some pygmy cories who nibbled on the remnants - and then it eventually disappeared and never came back.

I believe that some people boil the wood and that this can help reduce the length of time this fungus-like growth lasts for.

Don't boil the wood, it causes the fibres to degrade and the wood falls apart earlier than it would if it isn't boiled. But pouring boiling water over it is fine, it's sitting in the pan of water while it bubbles away that does the damage.

I've had a kind of translucent white jelly on all the redmoor wood I've bought. Before they got killed off by the camallanus worms or the med to treat it, my honey gouramis and amano shrimps ate it.

I never risk medication anywhere near shrimps. Or snails either.