Salvaging driftwood from black brush algae (BBA)

[Thirteen]

Hi all,

I've got 2 driftwoods which i finds of aesthetic value. But it's a pity since they've been sitting inside a pond, they're heavily infested with BBA and who knows what else

anyone has any way of salvaging them?? please help!

Thanks!

[ccs]

encounter the same case as you. What i did was soak the affected DW with dilluted bleach after which i rinse it with water. After that the BBA should be dead.

[Wackytpt]

Alternatively you can get hydrogen peroxide to kill them

[CK Yeo]

Many many ways... easiest and cheapest and safest is take out and use boiling water on it.

Biological method can try common pleco. Chemical warefare can use bleach, seachem Excel, H2O2, gluteraldehye, etc.

ck

[Biotopeshop]

Alternatively you can get hydrogen peroxide to kill them

We second to that, since H2O2's by-product is H20 (water), it is pretty safe. We have treated driftwoods, some with termites, some with algae using this method. No smell, no fumes, only lots of oxygen bubbles during their oxidation (treatment) process.

Regards

[marle]

bro, u might want to try this method if you do not want to remove the driftwood from the tank. Use a sucker(unsure of the name), suck in afew drops of seachem excel, then apply the excel directly onto the bba. This will require a few attempts to kill off the black brush algae.

[Thirteen]

I think i'll try out the H2O2 method. So i submerge the DW in a pail of water and load in the H2O2? My DW is not inside the tank, so it's pretty ok to try any method. Just hopes the BBA doesnt 'revive' after i place it back into the tank Any idea where to get H2O2??

[marle]

I think i'll try out the H2O2 method. So i submerge the DW in a pail of water and load in the H2O2? My DW is not inside the tank, so it's pretty ok to try any method. Just hopes the BBA doesnt 'revive' after i place it back into the tank Any idea where to get H2O2??

Guardian pharmacy might have what you need. Price is less than a green colour note.

[Shadow]

boild the wood, cheaper solution assuming no plant on it.

[Thirteen]

Didnt managed to buy H2O2..Tried soaking it in bleach and it starts to bubbles a little. BBA starts turning greenish. Currently sitting in boiled hot water. Will see what happens tomorrow. Hope the dead BBA will be easy to brush off. Any idea what will happen if i put it into my tank without brushing off the dead BBA?

[heeroyu16]

We second to that, since H2O2's by-product is H20 (water), it is pretty safe. We have treated driftwoods, some with termites, some with algae using this method. No smell, no fumes, only lots of oxygen bubbles during their oxidation (treatment) process.

Regards

No surprise there when I visited the shop last week, some of their tanks has driftwoods affected with BBA

[bossteck]

Oh man... you already used bleach?

I think the problem of using bleach is how do you get it out after that?

Make sure you soak the wood in water loaded with lots of anti cholrine once you're done.

Unlike using bleach on stuff like diffuser and other decorative items in your tank, you can't be sure that your wood would not absorb some of the bleach. I am just being overly cautious here.. but remember, soak in anti cholrine, when you place them in your tank eventually... maybe want to add a bag of activated carbon for a few days just to be safe.

[Shadow]

finegar might help, that what people did when they make decapsulate brine shrimps egg

[TheDane]

What do you do if you already have two pieces of driftwood in the tank with BBA? Any biological or chemical methods or will they have to come out of the tank? (needs to be safe for fish and plants).

If you haven't guessed - I got this problem at the moment

[Shadow]

Use seachem excel on the infected area. H2O2 also work, actualy H2O2 work faster but excel probaby safer. You can use syringe.

[Thirteen]

I'll try soaking in vinegar..To neutralise it i suppose? by the way, wouldnt injecting H2O2 on the driftwood that is already inside a tank change water parameters?

[wasabi8888]

I do this and it works all the time...

Buy the peroxide system that is used to soak contact lenses. Those who want the brand can PM me... brush the driftwood with that solution using any brush... 2 times at 5 mins interval. The BBA will turn red after 2-3 days and disappear after that....

[Thirteen]

Hi all, soak the woods in a pail with water loaded with Anti-chlorine. I suppose that should neutralise any remaining bleach in the wood. Brushed them and the BBA that turned green came off pretty easily. Now it has abit of an aged look since some green tint cant be remove. Will rinse them again with water before adding to tank. Thanks all for ideas! Hope this thread be useful to all who want to salvage any hardscape from BBA.

[JT]

My stand - avoid chemicals if possible. Perhaps you can suntan the driftwoods out of water? Soon it will dry up and can be easily remove with a toothbrush

[REDDOT]

boil water and pour onto the driftwood several times
cheap and safe