Driftwood Problem

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tackful

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Mar 15, 2007
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Sausalito, CA
Hi All,
My tank developed green slime algae about two weeks after I added a large piece of ocean driftwood. It had been soaked for a month and did not turn the water brown, so initiallyI thought everything was alright.
Is salt water driftwood a bad idea, or should I have treated it differently? It's a great looking piece and I would like to make it work.
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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Did you make any other changes to this tank aside from adding the driftwood?

How long do you keep the lights on?
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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More details about the tank, please.
 

tackful

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Mar 15, 2007
637
11
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Sausalito, CA
It's a 29 gal tall w/c02, a 55w cfc, and an 8 hr photoperiod. N=20 ppm, P=1.5. Besides these, I also add K and traces.
I did change out the filter outflow bar around the same time as adding the driftwood. I had enlarged the original outflow holes to calm down the flow a bit, but decided to go back to the original bar a short time before adding the driftwood.
A week ago I did a complete overhaul, replacing the old substrate and dying plants. I now have Flourite, some tall grasses and two leafy plants. Hope this helps.
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Wood is known to cause issues in a variety of ways--lots of the planted tank elite won't use it for that reason. That said...I am not sure you have enough planted mass to really warrant fertilizing. What are the plants? 'Tall grasses' isn't really helpful, and there are a LOT of 'leafy' plants. Some aren't truly aquatic, which will cause further issues.
 

tackful

AC Members
Mar 15, 2007
637
11
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Sausalito, CA
Not able to say what kind of grasses and plants I have, but at present the tank is very lightly planted, in contrast to the former setup, which was very heavily planted and crowded with green. Unfortunately, that by itself was not enough to keep the slime away.
FreshyFish asked about other changes occurring concurrent with the driftwood. The more I think about it, it makes sense to return to the filter outflow with the larger holes that I had been using.
 
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