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View Full Version : Has algae spoiled your driftwood?



DiscusBR
07-03-2011, 08:53 PM
Hi all,

I had a setup with nice pieces of Manzanita driftwood, which I presented in another thread with the following YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0AaYNxek90

I just came back from a 32 day trip. A friend of mine did four water changes, but there was no tank maintanence in this period. As a result, the tank was completely taken by brown algae. The driftwood became dark brown, almost black. I washed it with a brush but to my surprise the dark color did not go away. I even tried boiling water, with no results. It looks terrible, especially compared to how it looked before. I assume it is completely spoiled. Any one had similar experiences?

zchauvin
07-03-2011, 08:57 PM
Mmm I have the same problem but I had no idea it was due to algae. Thankfully its only my older pieces. I did notice some brown color on my sand and now I know why!!!! Guess ill be doing some intense cleaning once home from vacation.

Darrell Ward
07-03-2011, 10:46 PM
You can't expect freshly sandblasted manzanita wood to retain it's blond color after being waterlogged under water. It's going to turn dark, nothing you can do about it.

Apistomaster
07-03-2011, 11:25 PM
Darrel is correct. It is impossible to retain the "like new" appearance of some types of wood. I find that the Malaysian Bog Wood doesn't change over time except over a long time it will cease to stain your water brown which is not a bad thing if you are keeping wild Heckels or Green Discus which come from black water in the first place.
I think that algae is not the cause in your case but Diatoms which tend to flourish in dimly lighted tanks. Diatoms are harmless.
For true algae problems I recommend getting a small group of Farlowella(Twig Catfish). They are incredibly effective algae eaters better than Otocinclus and even common Bushy nose which eventually get very large. Farlowella keep plant leaves, glass and wood free of algae and do not take up much space. They are such good algae eaters that they will need supplemental feedings of Spirulina sticks. Don't be surprised if your Discus take a liking to the Spirulina sticks but Heckels are especially fond of them. You never have to worry about Farlowella trying to suck off the sides of Discus as a few Loricaridae species do most notably the Sturisoma species.AKA "Royal Farlowella".

ksikole
07-06-2011, 12:19 PM
I too get a brown film over everything, I change water 100% every week and have to wipe down a brown film on glass , heaters and some of my large flat stones. I had plants but they also became covered. There is no sun light and I only run my tank light 12 hours a day. Any thoughts

mteel7237
07-06-2011, 03:49 PM
I to have a slight problem with brown a. I weekly have to rub it off my plants. I'm doing water changes (50%) two to three times a week. I'd love to hear some feedback on that problem.

Apistomaster
07-07-2011, 02:25 AM
I use 6 Farlowella (Twig Catfish) in my 125 gal planted tank and they control any algae that tries to grow on the glass, wood and plants. They are diurnal fish unlike plecos and do not dig holes as large common Bushy Nose often due. They will eat Diatoms also if that is what is growing rather than algae.

ksikole
07-07-2011, 07:27 AM
How do you clean your plants?