I have a 29 gallon GLASS aquarium... i know how to avoid algea so please dont answer with that... i also have an algae Chinese algae eater but i was told he only eats "brown algae" i also have a algae scraper from wall mart but that only gets loose new particals... i know i should use it every time i clean it but the fact is i didnt and now there is algae stuck on the glass. i dont mind it in the back (actualy its kinda nice in the back) but its the front that has some thick spots of algae and i need it to go. does anyone have something that gets the tough stuff. i was thinking like steel wool or somthing but i dont want it to scratch... im sure someone else has gone though this... also im up for water treatments that actualy work i really want to find a good answer here or i will have to drive to my local fish store... any ideas please!!!
2007-12-23 15:26:58 · 5 answers · asked by kevin t 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
That hard green dot type algae is natural in the tank. It's not there because you did anything wrong or didn't clean enough. It's common in tanks with bright lights. Since you have a glass tank you can remove it with a straight razor blade. I get it in my acrylic tank and just scrape it off with my fingernail each time I siphon the gravel. I don't know about steel wool, never tried that. I would be too worried about it scratching the tank to risk it. Good luck!
2007-12-23 15:38:04 · answer #1 · answered by Corinne 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The algae you describe is caused by UV light, limit the amount of time that the hood light is "on" to no more than 6-10 hrs daily, consider a timer. don't use a motion sensor that goes on when YOU enter the room, the fish would get sick from sporadic lighting schedules. As for removing current algae use as recommended above(new razor blade). For preventative maintenance use a magnetic felt scraper every few days or so. (the idea here is to limit entering foreign material into the tank, such as oils from your skin too often). BEST OF LUCK --IC
2007-12-24 10:03:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I just did the same thing (scraping the hard algae colonies) today using a credit/gift card... It worked wonders on those hard-to-get-off diatom algae colonies! Also, chemical algae killers should be your VERY last resort because they are harmful to plants and just cause general trouble with inverts.
Soop Nazi
EDIT: Algae cannot use ultraviolet light to photosynthesize, and there is very little UV light emitted from aquarium lighting...
2007-12-23 23:31:23 · answer #3 · answered by nosoop4u246 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Use a new razor blade. Be careful near the silicon, don't go too close.
2007-12-24 00:51:13 · answer #4 · answered by Ryan N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if it was me i would break down the tank clean everything well and start over always use an algaside in the tank in the future to prevent this it relay will work i use it on my tank and it sure saves a lot of work do you backwash your tank to keep your tank clean////best prevention is attention
2007-12-24 02:39:23 · answer #5 · answered by BAREBEAR 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋