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RE: Driftwood and Algae



> Well you simply added more plants. The driftwood had displaced the space
for
> plant mass. If you have algae issues etc, adding more plants will often
take
> re of the problem.

Compared to the mass quantities of other plants in there,  the ones that I
added were a very small percentage.   For one thing they were small plants,
(a Crypt and a small sword) in a 70 gal.
 
> I use to be a driftwood freak, not as bad as the plant thing but not too
far
> off I never used any "light weight" or rotting wood. I always cut any rot
> or soft stuff off. I soaked it good in a trash can for a week or longer.
> Then cut, sandblasted etc anything else off.

See I think this is where my problem was,   I cleaned it off well but I
don't think I got enough of the soft material off to slow the rotting
process down.   When I took it out of the tank,  it was quite soft which is
what triggered my memory of the algae and driftwood article I read in the
archives.   It was not bad at all when I put it in there but I believe it
was quite farther along in the decay process than what I thought

> My favorite wood is redwood and coastal live oak that has fallen in the
dry
> most desert like grass/woodlands in CA. The redwood is found along creeks
> d is well washed. Never ever take live wood. Redwood roots are very nice.
> Mandrone oak is nice also but is heavy on the tannins(more a reddish
color).
> I often set the pieces I liked in a stream and place a big rock on top of
it
> and noted location. I come back in a month or so and the water has removed
> the rot and the tannins. Hopefully the rains hadn't washed it away when I
> came back.

> Reservoirs are particularly good places due to the water level flux due to
> seasonality to look for driftwood.
    
>> 1.  In certain circumstances,  there are pieces of driftwood that can
cause
>> major algae growth in a tank.

> If it's rotting.

Even if it wasn't that bad of shape when you put it in there, it will
continue decaying which is what I think caused my problem.   I'll know when
I leave this tank alone for a while.  No matter what I have done to this
tank in any way shape or form,  this is the first time I have spent any
length of time without continuous algae growth.  The next piece of driftwood
I put in will have NO soft spots on it anywhere.    I like the sandblast
idea.

In the future,  I shall be much more careful when choosing driftwood,  the
reservoirs sound like a good idea,   We have one close by I may look around.
 

>> One of the symptoms was that it would really cloud up when the lights
were
>> on,  when they were off for the night,  it would clear back up again.
This
>> should have told me right then what it was,   but since I had never delt
>> with it before,  I was hesitant to believe it.    I did a lot of water
>> changes which really helped it but over 2 or 3 days it kept getting
worse.

>Think your going to starve an algae huh?

It looked white,   It took me a while to decide it was algae and not
something else like part of a Jobes Stick loose somewhere.   Besides that,
If I'm going to starve it,  I'm not going to do it with water changes.  NO3
in my tap is about 12 mg/l and Phosphate is around 2 mg/l (which BTW both
drop to 0 within hours after a water change).   Once I am convinced that
I've got the algae under control,  I am going to start experimenting with
adding higher amounts of nitrates and some phosphates.   Not making any
changes for a week or so just to make sure it is stable.   

>No, try again. All that disruption and removal of the deep substrate where
a
>large reservoir of NH4+ is from the sword removal. you did that yourself.
>The transported plant had nothing to do with it. I've moved plants from a
GW
>into a number of tanks, no GW. The spores are already there. They just hang
>out till there's some NH4 and light. Once they start your SOL on trying to
>starve them.
>Try doing a nice big water change right after the big hack or sword
removal.
>This will prevent this in the future.

I'll by that,   Since setting this up,  I never have disturbed the substrate
much which is probably why I've never experienced it before.

> Now,  Since it is obvious, that the above removing of the driftwood was
not
> the ONLY thing I did during that period of time,   I will post later if my
> hair algae makes a comeback but based on ZERO growth in the last two
weeks,
> even with the green water problem,  I don't think this will be a problem.

Just keep up on maintenance and nutrients. If you do a big hack etc, use the
magnums to clean up afterwards along with a water change.

Thanks for your input Tom,  it is quite helpful.

Ken, in NW Arkansas, USA where there is sunshine and 29 degrees outside.