Does This Wood Need Cleaning?

This wood is harboring lots of BB I presume, so I've left it alone except for blowing out the top with a turkey baster where food and wastes may have landed.
But the growth on the outside now has me questioning it's overall benefit to the tank.

It's got green algae and the gray fine, feathery growth shown in the pics. Should this be removed and scrubbed up a bit or what?

I'd love to know if anyone can identify the type of wood this is.

Any tricks to getting the pleco out of a pocket in the wood?

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That’s a piece of wood that’s been in your tank awhile? Not something you just found in a stream? If the first you’ve got a lazy pleco. May want to get a bushy nose some SAE and a few ottos to eat all that algae up. Mine kept my wood free of that. Only thing is a little bba that may be on some. All that algae is harmless. If it’s bothering you yes pull the wood and scrub it off with a brush. 9 out of 10 times the pleco drops out as the wood leaves the water.

Thanks Tom.
Yes, purchased at LFS and it's been in there a couple years.
bba = black beard algae?

Yeah, the pleco always hangs out in a vertical cavity and on the rare occasion I see him elsewhere in the tank, the moment he sees me, he dashes for his hiding spot.
I'll scrub it up a bit and look into more algae eaters. Thanks again!

you can double dose the tank with Flourish Excel and that will help kill the Algae.

Take the wood out of the tank (and anything else you want to clean) and soak it overnight in some hydrogen peroxide. H2O2 is nontoxic and available in the Walmart pharmacy for about $1 per quart. Mix it about 4 parts water to 1 part H2O2. This will completely remove all of the algae inside and outside the wood.

Paul (afriend)

Ok I wouldn’t do the excell thing. And I would take the wood out of the tank and scrub it. H2O2 works but the brush work too.

Thanks guys!