Who has stuff on their Glass or Acylic?

[greenstarfish03]

Hello,

Just wondering how often everyone has to clean their glass on their tank to keep it clean? I have a new acrylic tank and for me its harder to clean then my old glass tank. I used to use a razor blade which I can't use on the acrylic. I find my self scrubing alot of stuff off the glass every couple weeks and w/ a 30 inch deep tank that is a pain. I ahve been doing this a long time and this has seemed to be pretty standard for me. figured I would see what other people do? Same issue? or is there away to avoid this? My paramters area all always good, bulbs are new T5s, run carbon and phosban, 120G show tank w/ a 100G sump w/ deep sand bed in the fug. reef octupus extreme 250 skimmer, only 4 fish so my load is never high.

I get a light dusty green / brown stuff that can be dusted off easily every few days probably some diatoms i guess but also a little green algae. Little specs that I have to use a blue scrubby w/ a little force. I would love to not have to deal w/ this anymore::):)

[cg5071]

I got some plastic razor blades in the paint department. They work well. They are sharp but not as thin as a razor. I get the same as you, the dusting and also longer term hard green algae. I let the dusty stuff build of for 2-3 days because my kole tang likes to eat it along with the starfish and snails, when it gets ugly or hard to see I wipe it down. It is funny because you can see lip prints in it from the tang, like a bunch of kisses.

The blade works on coraline too. You can get a little handle deal with them too. It is plastic also. Like 10 blades and a handle for $1.49 at ACE hardware but others probably carry it too as it is for scraping paint off windows. I switched because I would pop off the corners of metal blades in the tank.

[greenstarfish03]

Thanks for the input flounder. Sounds about the same as mine. Maybe someone will tell me how to avoid the green stuff I have to scrape off all together:)

I have just always assumed it was normal so I never asked before now. I get the same lip prints but i assumed they were from the snails. I was in my tank scrapping the hard stuff off last night and it sucked. Its a 120G cube that is 30 inches deep so I basically ahve to go swimming for an hour every couple weeks to get the hard stuff off. The light stuff is easiliy removed w/ a magnet so it doesn't really bother me, but I hate the other stuff.

[MizTanks]

Greenstar, I get the exact same brown film and speckled algae on
my acrylic tank. I use a float mag for the brown film and pray the snails eat the green, so far so good.


Sent from my iPhone while chasing Forest Gump!

[schminksbro]

If you have any nutrients at all in the tank you will get algae on the glass. If you strip the nutrients to the point where no algae will grow then your corals will likely suffer. It is just part of reefing. Your best bet is to clean the tank daily which helps prevent the build up which is harder to remove.

Thanks for the input flounder. Sounds about the same as mine. Maybe someone will tell me how to avoid the green stuff I have to scrape off all together:)

I have just always assumed it was normal so I never asked before now. I get the same lip prints but i assumed they were from the snails. I was in my tank scrapping the hard stuff off last night and it sucked. Its a 120G cube that is 30 inches deep so I basically ahve to go swimming for an hour every couple weeks to get the hard stuff off. The light stuff is easiliy removed w/ a magnet so it doesn't really bother me, but I hate the other stuff.

[Tom@HaslettMI]

Kent makes some fairly long handled scrapers... 24" may be even a 30". I use the metal blades on my glass tank and they work really well. I think the plastic blades are safe for acrylic and are probably similar to the blades greenstarfish03 mentioned (except a lot more expensive!).

HTH,
Tom

[greenstarfish03]

Thanks guys. I figured I wasn't in this boat on my own:) I have been doing this long enough that I figured I was doing all I could, but you never know when something new may come out.

[Sir Patrick]

I have found, your best bet is-

Use an algea scrapper, magnetic or not, that is safe for the type of glass/acrylic you have, and swipe clean every day. After even a few days, depending on your nutrient levels, this stuff can build up to be too much to simply scrape, and take alot of work to maintain.

I like to combine my glass cleaning, daily, with some other method of daily maintanance. Somthing needed daily, and can be done quick too- like dosing, top off, ect.....takes little time and becomes routine in no time. A week of buildup can be tough, aspecially on an acrylic tank, but take care of the issue daily, and its soooo much easier.

I swipe my glass every 3 days or so now, and it doesnt even need it, but a week later and its tough to clean. I had to clean it every other day- just to see through it clear, untill it went through all its cycles, and I dont mean just the nitrogen cycle. If the tank is new/newish, you will have to clean more often. If the tank is "firmly established" and has excellent water perameters, you can ease up on the glass cleaning significantly.

Hope this info helps!

[Myteemouse]

I have acrylic too.
If you have hard stuff get one of these for your magnet cleaner (I use a hammer head)
the algae dozer is the BOMB DIGGITY
http://mightymagnets.com/pads.htm#dozier

[Myteemouse]

AND YES its safe on acrylic and take coraline algae RIGHT OFF!!

[cg5071]

It might be your snails too :) The tang is hilarius to watch though when it starts going to town. I let some stuff build up to feed the critters. I know it doesnt always look pretty but it does have a use. I am trying to breed/increase my populations of dwarf cerith and columbellids, they do the breeding on their own but I want to make sure there is food. lol.

I would probably do it differently if my tank was 30" deep instead of 19.

[greenstarfish03]

Great call on the algae dozer. They work great. By far the best thing I have found. When I took them out of the package I was like how is this little thing going to help me. I don't have a real strong magnet so I used them by hand and they got my tank cleaner then anything previously w/ a lot less work. Simple product but they work good.


I have acrylic too.
If you have hard stuff get one of these for your magnet cleaner (I use a hammer head)
the algae dozer is the BOMB DIGGITY
http://mightymagnets.com/pads.htm#dozier

[greenstarfish03]

Thanks Sir Patrick but I like to clean my class once every 2-3 weeks:) I travel a lot for work so I never get to daily maintenance I'm looking for things to run on auto pilot or some once or twice weekly maintenance:) That being said I broke down and used the algae dozer to clean the glass really good last week. It has stayed clean for the last week just a few specs I took off w/ the magnet. I think w/ this thing I can probably hit it every week or two and keep it looking good. In my case my water params stay pretty good.


I have found, your best bet is-

Use an algea scrapper, magnetic or not, that is safe for the type of glass/acrylic you have, and swipe clean every day. After even a few days, depending on your nutrient levels, this stuff can build up to be too much to simply scrape, and take alot of work to maintain.

I like to combine my glass cleaning, daily, with some other method of daily maintanance. Somthing needed daily, and can be done quick too- like dosing, top off, ect.....takes little time and becomes routine in no time. A week of buildup can be tough, aspecially on an acrylic tank, but take care of the issue daily, and its soooo much easier.

I swipe my glass every 3 days or so now, and it doesnt even need it, but a week later and its tough to clean. I had to clean it every other day- just to see through it clear, untill it went through all its cycles, and I dont mean just the nitrogen cycle. If the tank is new/newish, you will have to clean more often. If the tank is "firmly established" and has excellent water perameters, you can ease up on the glass cleaning significantly.

Hope this info helps!