"Michi Henning" wrote in message
...
"F_P" wrote in message
...

Now I have to decide what to do. Taking the wood off is the most
obvious
choice, but it implies a mayor change to the tank set-up, which is
rather
difficult in its current location. Considering that the wood wasn't
completely "green", I'd like to know your opinion on the following
course
of action:
1) add activated carbon to the filter, to remove as much organic
matter as
possible
2) do large (30% - 50%) weekly water changes
3) dim the light
All this waiting for the plants to grow enough to starve the algae of
any
nutrients.

I strongly suspect that your chances of getting your wood to go back to
normal are just about zero. I can't think of any way to stop that decay
that wouldn't also kill everything else in the tank. You best bet would
probably be to get rid of the wood you have now and get hold of
some proper driftwood that won't go into decay on you.

I agree with Michi. Dried for a couple of years makes it suitable for
your fireplace, but aquarium driftwood should be completely dehydrated,
and that takes many years in dry conditions. I've used less than perfect
wood before, and sometimes I get away with it, and other times it goes
into rotting mode and I need to pitch it.

The fish would signal distress by the usual signs: loss of appetite,
atypical behavior, hanging around the top or bottom where they wouldn't
normally be, rapid respiration etc etc. Note that Neons are very poor at
providing symptoms for analysis. Their sick stage is usually quite
short, going from frisky eating well to dead in a few hours. Very few
diseases (ie: NTD) take a long time to kill Neons. Poisoning also
usually happens very quickly, but in your case, it might be gradual or
not at all, but the elevated potential is there, and Neons are somewhat
fragile due to their low body mass.

Preparation of that wood would be boiling, then microwaving, then coating
with epoxy, and even then, your results might vary if the fibers have
softened. I'd pitch it and wait a while before introducing new wood, as
the established fungus/mould/algae spores might have a go at whatever you
put in there for a while.

NetMax


Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com