Green Algae

[AngieM357]

Hi, all! New member here. I recently began finding a lot of petrified wood on a nearby riverbank. Some of the really interesting specimens have been sitting in water for a little while and have that pesky green algae on it. I used regular temperature water and a toothbrush to start with, but it became pretty clear that ,with some of them, some very severe scrubbing was going to be involved if that's all I did. At this point, I'm trying to decide if it's stained or if I can get it off. I have no intention of polishing most of them, as I really like the look as-is. Do y'all know of any safe way to try to remove the algae and, in the process, determine if it's stained? I've seen everything from apple cider vinegar to hot water to peroxide. I'm really hesitant to use anything like Dawn or Simple Green because I just don't know what it will do to the color, texture, etc. I HAVE been told that Simple Green is a great place to start, but I thought I'd ask y'all first. I searched the forum first but didn't find anything that seemed to be a similar question.

 

Thanks so much! I really look forward to reading as many more posts as I can besides what Google has already presented me with. There is so much good information here and, I have to admit, I'm pretty envious of some of the finds!

[DPS Ammonite]

Welcome to The Fossil Forum. Try soaking the rock in a 50 50 mixture of household bleach and water until the algae disappears. Then soak in water until bleach smell is gone. Don't forget to show show us some of your Texas fossil finds.

 

John

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Welcome on this fabulous forum.

 

To remove seaweeds on a stone, you can try to soak it in the bleach diluted for a few hours and then you rinse well with a brush. The bleach "eats" all which is organic. If you are afraid of the result, try with a small unimportant part and see what it gives.

 

Coco

 

 

Arf : DPS was faster than me...

 

Coco

[Fruitbat]

Welcome to The Fossil Forum!  I'lll echo what DPS Ammonite and Coco suggested.  Try the diluted bleach first.

 

-Joe

[Darktooth]

Welcome to the forum from New York!

[Fossildude19]

Welcome to the Forum.  
Regards,

[Missourian]

I've had success using bleach on gastropods in Pennsylvanian limestone:

 

[AngieM357]

I'd like to thank you all for your input. I found some larger pieces in another creekbed the other day that were decomposing when petrified. There are lots of nooks and crannies that a toothbrush didn't get to, so I'm sure the bleach mix will come in quite handy. Thank you so much!

[AngieM357]

Because I'm a wimp and scared to death to possibly change the color of any of the pet wood I found, I finally figured out a solution that works really well. If anybody else has this same issue, go to the pet store and get some AlgaeFix or similar product used in aquariums. If your specimen is small enough to put in a container of any size (like maybe a cooler), you can fill it with water and use a few milliliters of the solution per gallon to kill the algae. It kills it and then scrubs off quite effortlessly without compromising the color of anything. This apparently works on all types of material; plastics, wood, rocks, fossils, and pet wood. 

 

Just some info in case y'all are having similar issues.