Algae on driftwood

I gave a search on this issue, but maybe my keywords weren't adequate. Mods, if there's another thread, I apologize - just point me in the right direction.

That said, I got this great piece of driftwood for my tank. I don't have an algae probelm, but I do have algae growth - enough that I need to wipe down the insides of the glass weekly and semI weekly I take out my large rocks and wipe those off as well. However, this isn't going to work with the wood - its got too many rough edges.

So I need to find a relatively small - 4" or less - fish to put in there who'll be diligent about keeping the wood mostly clean (I like some algae, just not too much), but can happily subsist on wafers since I don't have a lot of algae in the tank. Hypostomus/Plecostomus seem to get too big to do the job. The other catch is that I have a nice school of 6 corys and I want someone in there who won't harass them too much.

I was thinking of Ancistrus, if I can find one of the sub-species that stay small.

I'm sure that Otos will come up immediately. Do these guys munch on wood?

 

Yep Oto's would be your best bet with the 4" limit. At 2" max each you could get 2 and they would be quite happy (well they like 3 or more but they should be fine with just the pair as they aren't aggressive at all) and they won't bother the wood or any live plants you have either. Just be sure to look at some pictures of them before you go to the pet store, because some less reputable stores will try to pass off Chinese algae eaters as oto's because they look similar as juveniles. Here is a photo of an Oto and here is one of the Algae Eater (which gets VERY aggressive as they mature).

 

I do want someone around who will mess with the wood. I keep the algae clean enough in other parts of the tank, but I don't think I'll be able to keep the wood looking woody.

Are there any other alternatives I might be missing?

 

What I meant was that they will eat the algae off the wood, but won't hard the wood while doing it. Unlike a pleco (think it was a pleco???) that will actually gnaw on the wood.

 

although plecos rasp at the wood, they don't munch on it so you'd notice. I have bristlenoses and driftwood and although they spend a lot of their time on it, the wood doesn't look like they've gnawed at it, but it is algae free! I still think otos would be your best bet though due to the space limitation. tan

 

I think plecos do "munch" on the wood, just not a lot, I had a pleco, and the wood in that tank would noticibly get smaller near where it liked to have it's head.

I think otos would be great. they'll keep the wood clean. I havn't noticed much wood munching from the otos, but they do keep my driftwood clean

 

Thanks!

 

I have a piece of driftwood that grows black algae on it whenever I put it in water. How can I get rid of the algea?
Beeboy

 

Boil it. The driftwood that is.

 

...and it may still grow algae. Algae usually depends on extra nutrients in the tank and light.
Heres some interesting articles on algae

carol

 

Thanks for the info. I was worried I would have to get another piece of driftwood.

Beeboy

 

Is it black brush algae that you have?

 

Black brush algae

I had black brush algae appearing on my driftwood for a while - though I think it was linked to some ich treatment I had to carry out. It seems to be slowly going away now that the ich treatment has been stopped, I think this is because my bristlenose/pleco are eating it and no extra stuff is growing. Getting a bit of green algae on my driftwood now but I don't mind that as it looks good.

 

Well, I'm very glad it's going away You're lucky. My driftwood in my 30 gallon tank had black brush algae. In fact, so much of it, I threw the driftwood away. Replaced it with new one. Also, my rocks in the 30 gallon tank have this type of algae too. Maybe I should boil them or something. I hate this type of algae!

 

I'm currently cycling my 8 gallon tank fishless and when I started I added a piece of driftwood that has been in my house for about 5 years.

It's from the sea, so I don't know what type of wood it is..Probably shouldn't have put it in there? The Algae looks gray and it has long hair like thingies.

One thing that I've noticed with the pH is that it's been very high which seemed odd to me.

Does it look like algae and if so what kind is it? Should I worry about this when the cycle is finished and it's still there or should it just be removed and thrown away?

All answers are always appreciated.

 

That kinda looks more like mold not algae. I def could be wrong. I would wait to see if someone else chimes in to let you know for sure..What did you do to sterilize it before adding it to the tank..If you didn't I would take it out scrub it off and boil it really good. Some wood can't be used in the aquarium because it leaches sap, It might be a good idea to try to identify what kind of wood it is. Hopefully it's harmless. Good luck with it. Driftwood looks great in the tank.

 

That kinda looks more like mold not algae. I def could be wrong. I would wait to see if someone else chimes in to let you know for sure..What did you do to sterilize it before adding it to the tank..If you didn't I would take it out scrub it off and boil it really good. Some wood can't be used in the aquarium because it leaches sap, It might be a good idea to try to identify what kind of wood it is. Hopefully it's harmless. Good luck with it. Driftwood looks great in the tank.

Thanks for the quick reply.

If anything it most likely will be a type of pine we call Casserina down here. I searched for it on-line, but I can't find it anywhere. I think I will take it out, but if it has leeched anything out, what does this mean for my tank?

 

I was just reading about driftwood and came upon some info about the white fuzz.
I don't have first hand experience with it so I can't vouch for the information.....just something for your research.
The article basically said whether it was fungus or mold that it should be harmless and that it will eventually disappear. Scrubbing might help, but the fuzz might also come back.
Here's where I read it.

 

Thanks Lucy, but the link there just leads back to this page.

It looks scary to touch haha, but I will scrub it off and smell it to just simply see what it smells like...I don't know why I'm telling you that.

 

Thanks Lucy, but the link there just leads back to this page.

It looks scary to touch haha, but I will scrub it off and smell it to just simply see what it smells like...I don't know why I'm telling you that.

XD I laughed when I read that. Made my day, and makes me want to go smell my driftwood... but my armada of ghost shrimp is hiding in there lol. I don't want to disturb them.

But yeah, I'd def take everyone else's advice on this, because I have non to give lol.

 

I sorta have something like that growing on my heaters suction pad (the thing that stick to the glass) I just rub it of with hot water and it comes of. It's all slimy though.

Also did you boil the driftwood and all that treatment stuff on it?

 

ops: LOL sorry about the link
Here's the correct one:


I also fixed the link in my other post.

 

Ive read somewhere that pine is not a good wood to put into aquariums, as it can leach the sap into the water. I have driftwood from the sea in my freshwater tanks with no problems and its really hard to tell if they are pine or not. Did you scrub and wash the driftwood up real good before you put it into your tank? Do you have any fish that like to eat off wood? I'm surprised how clean my striped raphael catfish keeps the driftwood clean once I added him into the tank. But I agree with others, it will most likely go away over time, but I would personally take it out and do a good scrubbing and either try again or find a non pine wood for the tank.

 

Unfortunately, no I didn't scrub it or boil it first (dumb dumb me) because of how long it's been sitting in my house I thought it couldn't have anything in it.

But I'm going to take it out tonight and scrub it off and boil it for a good 10-15 minutes.

 

Something very weird happened after taking out the fungus ridden piece of driftwood, all of my Nitrates Vanished.

What do I do?

 

I had cypress stumps for a long time. Same thing happened. White algae or fungus on it. I clean it and it came back over and over. I finally decided to leave it alone and it eventually went away on its own.

 

That looks like the slimy stuff that grew on one of my pieces of driftwood. When I took the piece out, the "stuff" was transparent, slimy, and smelly. It got to be about an inch thick. I re-boiled it, but the stuff came back. Then I just scrubbed in tank water, and it (mostly) didn't return. I have seen a few small patches, but nothing overwhelming.

I have also read that pine, juniper, etc. (sappy, soft woods) are not aquarium-safe.

 

I have a 29 gallon set-up right now. It was set up around April of 2010 with no issues. While we were moving, we kept the tank at my in-laws. They fed the fish regularly but never had the light on. Before we moved the tank, we noticed our molly had some spots, assumed it was ick and treated it. I assume we were right because the spots are now gone. However, we have a large piece of driftwood (no idea what kind) with this white fuzz all over it. It is completely covered. We removed it from the tank, but is this going to harm the fish? We currently have 4 gouramis, 2 mollys and a puffer fish. (We know this is a lot and are in the process of transferring them to a 55 gallon) Can we just scrub the log under hot water? Or can we get an algae eater to take care of this and just put the log back in the tank? We aren't sure if it's because the light has been off for so long and it grew mold or they didn't keep the tank up as well as we did and it is just algae. The temp in the tank is about 72 F and the Ph is 7.0. We currently have no algae eaters- we had one but it died because we kept the tank so clean there was nothing for it eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We are pretty new to the whole fish thing. Thanks so much!

 

Hello Jlsp and Welcome to Fish Lore!

The white fuzz you are seeing, I call white hair algae. It is completely natural and will not harm your fish. Some fish may even feed from it.

You can wipe it off if you wish, but more than likely it will return until it has run its course. Don't panic . Personally I would just let Mother Nature take her course.

I hope you enjoy the site!

Ken

 

I think it's normal, my wood had it too for a month when I first set up the tank but it just went away and never came back.

 

Thank you so much for your help! Should we get an algae eater to help it along? It doesn't seem like the fish we have are doing much for it. If so, which kind "work" the best? Thanks again!

 

Good morning,

It's up to you if you want to add some algae eaters. I had some years ago, sorry can't remember which kind but they kept attaching themselves to my fish so I had to rehome them back to the fish store.

You might even try some nerite snails. As long as you keep your pH above 7.0 there shouldn't be any problem with the snails:


I'm sure others will chime in with some algae eating fish that may help. My Pleco, a sail fin does a great job at keeping algae at bay.

Ken

 

Hey guys we have a family tank and our drift wood has algae on it and i'm not sure how to get it off we are cleaning the tank right now so quick help would be appreciated!

 

Can I see a pic of the wood?

 

I'm on the wrong computer so give about 2-5 minutes and I can post a picture.

 

Okay!

 

I clean algae without cleaners, I scrub as hard as possible then leave it in the sun for a day, I think it's the uv that bleaches it, managed to make my rocks look like new without using bleach ect. Good luck

 

It's not working, any ideas?

 

I need a pic first in order to tell you what you can do

 

If you're having problems uploading pics this thread should help
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/how-to-attach-pictures-to-posts.169875/