Cleaning Algae in your tank

So in the past few weeks my tank has received some direct sunlight, as well as some EI every second day, and the end result : a lot of algae.

In the past week, I tried to clean the tank, using those magnetic cleaning tools, they don’t work for me!
I then used a piece of Open Cell Sponge, that worked, just very slow and you need to place some force on the algae to get it off. And that when I started looking around, and I found the solution! I then used a razor blade, and scrapped it all off, tank was cleaned in less than 5 min!

Thought I would share this.

Vez

 

an old credit card works just as well

 

Or your maxed out one, lol.

 

Does the blade not scratch the glass,im struggling wit BBA at the moment.

 

BBA is a B6^&$tch to get off the glass.I'm also using a blade to get it off the glass,just make sure it is sharp.

 

Iv reduced the the the lighting to 4 hours a day when i get home it seems to have halted

 

A "Stanley" blade does work... just use a pair of side-cutters and nip the 2 side points off and you have less chance of those points scratching.

 

If you not careful it will scratch the glass
as wbs, I would use a credit card

 

i think its better if you dont have a glass tank!

 

mind you it also started when i stopped fertilizing,i couldnt find my normal bottle at the lfs,going tomorrow.will try the credit card route tomorrow as well

 

i also had some BBA, not alot, added a SAE, and pooof, all gone!

 

im scared of buying one nd then finding out its a cae

 

PM you now

 

It is like magic.

 

Like the sound of this option, the blade idea gives me the shivers, as I have a tank with rounded corners and no way I could replace the glass if it gets too scratched up. Is the card completly scratch proof, providing of course that there is no grit or sand left on the glass ?

Word of warning, those magnetic cleaners can be dangerous if left in the tank between cleans, as they can easily collect grit/substrate debris especially with a strong current in the tank, turning your magnetic cleaner into 200 grit sandpaper!

 

i dont like them, the hand and a tool works better,LOL

 

fingernails
I cleaned up my nano yesterday and the bits of green on the glass came away easily using my fingertips and nails. to the great amusement of Mr Betta, who had a ball of a time 'attacking' my fingers.

I can speak from experience that the CAE does a shoddy job at keeping algae at bay. rather get some ottos or a small pleco

 

interetsing thread, i use an old movie card, works like a charm, only worrying thing though, is that all one is doing is removing the algae spots from the panel and then it floats in the water, will it not just attch itself to something else in your tank???
and the BBA??? whats this of the BBA going away like magic with the SAE's, i have 2 SAE's, 2 Ottos and 2 ancistrus, and my BBA is just growing, any suggestions as to what i could do about this? what is the minimum photo period i can do daily without doing too much damage to my palnts?

 

do you have true SAE ? i have one, and its doing a good job! and for the algae thats floating, my one molly loves it, as well as my endlers!

 

I UV light will sort this problem out.