I have a new piece of driftwood in my tank. I boiled it a lot to remove some of the tannins and have now placed it in my tank. Within about 4-5 days, it has begun growing an algae. I'll have to describe it as I don't have access to a digital camera right now. It's very fine looking, almost like the mist rising off of a pond in the morning - it sort of barely floats above the wood but is obviously originating from it. It appears more whitish but has a very slight green tint.
I removed the wood yesterday and scrubbed it with a brush under tapwater (well water, so no chlorines) and returned it to the tank. The algae growth is back.
Any suggestions how to erradicate it?
Tank info:
* 10 gallons
* sand substrate
* young immature live plants (bronze crypt, java fern, java moss, hornwort)
* two other pieces of wood that I bought from Petco that were in a goldfish tank - boiled and scrubbed before placing in tank - no algae on these pieces.
* stocked with about 10-12 young cherry shrimp
* no fish yet (cory cats and microrasboras arriving on Wed next week hopefully)
* Originally cycled with established tank media from my 5 gallon
* Tank parameters are 0 ammonia /0 nitrites / 12.5 nitrates
* water changes once or twice a week
* AquaClear 20 filter
* tank temp 73-74
Would boiling the wood in a strong salt solution kill the algae? (I am thinking of this because last summer my husband emptied the water from the bottom of a salt based water softener in the lawn and within 30 mintues the plants were brown and dying from the salinity.)
I removed the wood yesterday and scrubbed it with a brush under tapwater (well water, so no chlorines) and returned it to the tank. The algae growth is back.
Any suggestions how to erradicate it?
Tank info:
* 10 gallons
* sand substrate
* young immature live plants (bronze crypt, java fern, java moss, hornwort)
* two other pieces of wood that I bought from Petco that were in a goldfish tank - boiled and scrubbed before placing in tank - no algae on these pieces.
* stocked with about 10-12 young cherry shrimp
* no fish yet (cory cats and microrasboras arriving on Wed next week hopefully)
* Originally cycled with established tank media from my 5 gallon
* Tank parameters are 0 ammonia /0 nitrites / 12.5 nitrates
* water changes once or twice a week
* AquaClear 20 filter
* tank temp 73-74
Would boiling the wood in a strong salt solution kill the algae? (I am thinking of this because last summer my husband emptied the water from the bottom of a salt based water softener in the lawn and within 30 mintues the plants were brown and dying from the salinity.)
