# Algea on driftwood



## Olivia (May 5, 2006)

Hello all,

I have a 46 gallon tank where the last fish has expired and my husband dreams of a beautiful planted tank. We have a large beautiful piece of driftwood that seems to be the source of a constant algae problem in the tank. I would love to clean the tank and the driftwood so it can be used when we re-set up the tank for plants. Any suggestions on how to rid the driftwood of the algae? I've scrubbed it with a sponge and left it outside in the sun for a couple of days and that did seem to help but not get rid of the algae entirely. I hate to leave it outside longer as it dries out and floats instead of sinking to the bottom. I'm afraid to use bleach as I'm afraid the wood will absorb the bleach and become un-useable in the tank. 

Thanks,
Olivia


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## PHalas (Dec 5, 2005)

Your best off starting from scratch & scrubbing it all clean or/and letting it dry out, then soaking it again. If it sunk before on it's own, it will again...Always takes a bit of patience & time to get the best results.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

You can also soak the wood in Hydrogen Peroxide. Let it soak overnight. That should kill just about anything growing on or in the wood and after a quick rinse the small amount of peroxide remaining in the wood will have no ill effects on anything in the tank.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You can boil all but the largest pieces of wood, which kills everything growing in or on it. I dip my pieces of wood in a 1 to 20 mix of bleach in water, but only for about a minute. Then rinse in clean water and a final dip in water with some Prime in it. This hasn't caused me any problems yet.


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## Olivia (May 5, 2006)

Thanks everyone,

This is a large, spread out shaped piece of wood. No way I can boil it and I don't have anything short of a 40 gallon rubbermaid that it would fit in, and to fill that up with peroxide would be a lot of peroxide. I think I'm going to try to scrub it and then lay cloths soaked with peroxide on it overnight, rinse and then leave outside in the sun for a while. Sound like it may work?

Thanks,
Olivia


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