Algae On Driftwood

[paprwrk]

A friend of mind gave me a piece of driftwood from his tank to add to mine, but it has an abundance of hair algae on it. Can anyone tell me the most effective, yet safe way to remove the algae before adding this to my tank?

 

[TFFKes]

Bear in mind I'm a complete noob at this, but I'd scrub it off with an old toothbrush, and then boil it before I put it in, that'd probably clear it up.

Hopefully someone with more experience can come and confirm if this is a good/bad idea.

 

[JamesC]

Scrub-boil-scrub. 15 minutes on the boil should do it. Will kill off any other nasties that may be on it or in it as well.

James

 

[paprwrk]

...so bleach isn't necessary? I'm hoping not, because I don't want to risk leaving any in the wood before placing it in the tank. Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[SuperColey1]

Bleach would turn the wood very pale and leave it in a very bad way. Also think about how long you have to soak a piece of wood to remove the tannins and even then they still come out weeks and weeks later (Imagine how long the bleach would be leeching out)

Andy