So I read this in one of the Beginner stickies and it got me thinking:
Food Collecting on All Surfaces in the Tank-- Another form of biomass occurs when suspended organic material in the water column collects on everything in the tank including walls, bottom, decorative items (artificial plants, rocks, etc..) and everything else in the tank. This form of biomass is different than gravel substrate because water circulation is available to allow the organic material to decompose. Control of this biomass is accomplished by removing the decorative items and cleaning them outside the tank, and then wiping the sides and bottom of the tank clean. This loosens the biomass and places it in suspension where water changes remove it from the tank. A pretty good test for assessing this biomass on decorative items is what I call the "sniff" test. Remove the item from the tank and place it close to the nose, a biomass will exhibit a foul odor. This test can be used as a pretty good indication of how often it should be cleaned. My recommendation for cleaning decorative items is to place them in a bucket and add a 8 to 1 mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide (3%). Hydrogen peroxide can be purchased in the Wal-mart pharmacy for under $1 per quart. It is non toxic and can be rinsed off after letting it set overnight in the bucket. Does a wonderful job of removing algae. My recommendation is to clean this form of biomass not less ten days for adult discus, and more often for juveniles.
If I have a piece of driftwood covered with algae and take it out of the tank, then leave it out of the tank for a month to dry off, does all that algae/biomass die or decompose? Am I more or less sterilizing it from any more biomass on it?