# Can you truly treat driftwood for deeply engrained algae?



## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Two other options are H2O2 or HCl.

Dollar stores sell quarts of H2O2 for a $1.
Brick cleaning acid (muriatic) is usually 38% HCl.

Use all 3 for the trifecta effect. :smile2:

Don't mix any chemicals, rinse well and use each as an independent cleaning.


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

Even if you could completely sterilize your drift wood, algae spores exist in every crevice of your aquarium and in every drop of tap water you add during water changes. Algae control is about adjusting the parameters of your tank, not keeping spores out. Quarantine is hopeless.


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## tlarsen (Feb 6, 2014)

Bananableps said:


> Even if you could completely sterilize your drift wood, algae spores exist in every crevice of your aquarium and in every drop of tap water you add during water changes. Algae control is about adjusting the parameters of your tank, not keeping spores out. Quarantine is hopeless.


I do understand that, but the entire tank is algae free except for the driftwood which sprouted the same algae it used to have within just days of being in the tank. I think once it is deeply penetrated into the wood, there's little that can be done to eliminate it no matter what the parameters of the tank are. I have new driftwood in the same tank that has absolutely no algae.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

microwave the bastard. best chemical free sterilization


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## Clinton Parsons (Apr 11, 2016)

Wood is continually breaking down. Your algae are probably feeding off of the organics that are being released from it. Even if it is old wood. All wood will, eventually (maybe not in our lifetime, but eventually) break down from fungi/bacteria that break down the lignin and cellulose, so that's my hypothesis of why you only have algae problems on the wood. You don't have algae spores deep inside your wood, but they are ubiquitous everywhere on the outside and in/on everything in your aquarium, anyway. 


Get algae eaters that will eat it faster than it will grow. Plant epiphytes like anubias that will grow on the wood and shade out the surface. Or just keep dealing with it weekly like you have been doing.


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## tlarsen (Feb 6, 2014)

dzega said:


> microwave the bastard. best chemical free sterilization


Huh, that's an interesting idea. Not sure it will fit in my microwave, but I might test it on smaller pieces. Have you actually done this successfully?

I understand wood is a good substrate for algae, especially as it ages and begins to break down. I still think what I have is growing from spores deep within the wood that the bleach did not reach when I treated it. The newer driftwood placed in the same tank at the same time as the old driftwood that used to have algae has no problems at all.

I've got plenty of algae eaters - otos, amanos, etc. I love watching them graze.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

tlarsen said:


> I have two large pieces of Malaysian driftwood that have been in a tank for about 5 years. Sometimes I would scrape off algae growing on them, but for the most part, I left them alone. By the end, both were covered in a mix of green algae types - hair and thread varieties (of which I know there are many). I wanted to start over with algae-free driftwood. Both pieces were soaked in very high concentration bleach (I forget exactly, but it was higher than the typical 1:20 or 1:5 ratios I have seen suggested) for several hours. Afterwards, I scrubbed them carefully to get any of the visible filamentous algae removed from the wood, then soaked in the bleach again. When all visible algae was gone and the wood had been soaked for about 10 hours in bleach, I rinsed them off and put them through a few baths of dechlorinated water (prime). I then let them soak for 2 days in a tub with lots of dechlorinator.
> 
> As expected, the pieces came out smooth and looking like new, but instead with much of the color bleached out. This doesn't bother me, they are a light grey and still look great in the tank. However, after a week back in the tank under the lights (Marineland plant LED), with lights on for only 6 hours a day, the algae spores from deep inside the wood seem to be regrowing. The wood first began to appear yellowish brown (not just diatoms), and then small but still short hairs grew from this base. I've yanked them out again because I don't want it to start all over and get on everything else in the tank that is algae-free.
> 
> SO.... Is there any way to kill the algae spores that remain deep inside a piece of driftwood? Without cutting the wood apart. I am thinking about extreme heat or cold, but those probably wouldn't do the trick, and might do nothing more than split the wood.


i would do temperature before harsh chemicals. 

let it dry out in the sun, let it bake
freeze it.
boil it
soak it in hydrogen peroxide
bleach it

last resort, make it into firewood.


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