Green algae on glass!!

Sregnar35

Sregnar35

The Man, The Myth, The Legend
Aug 21, 2003
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Upstate NY
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I have some spotty green algae growing on my front glass that is extremely hard to get off!! I clean my glass every 5 days or so, but these spots of green turn up, and I need to take the end of my cleaning brush off the rod, and use my hand to get enough pressure to scrub this stuff off, it's crazy. It takes me 30 minutes to scrub it off and it comes right back in days??
 
Could be a form of coralline algae--it's not all purple. Can't really think of another green algae that would be that hard to remove...But, you can get steel tips for many scrapers, and they work wonders on most hard algaes. I rinse mine in FW and let it dry, and it's lasted for over a year now.
 
I have a metal scraper too, but I'm afraid of scratching the glass up, is that a legit concern? As to the coralline question, this same green was on my side glass that I don't clean, and it is now turning purple as well as spots towards the bottom of the front glass I never quite reach. I think coralline can start one color and turn to purple right? Will coralline regenerate on my glass in a matter of days? If so, that's pretty good that it's spreading so fast right, because the purple coralline is awesome looking!
 
I've never seen mine change colors, but there's not a reason why it couldn't. With metal scrapers, you have to be careful. I've had worse scratches from a magnet scraper and some sand, but you have to make sure you use the flat edge---it's mostly the corners that can cause problems. And, don't use it on corners! Metal will peel the silicone away like a banana. Bad news. I have a small holder for mine, so I can use it for a few small patches, while the hard plastic one gets used for most everything else.
 
Thanks for the help Oriongirl. I'll tell you though, whether it's a the scrubber or scraper, what a pain in the butt! This stuff is stuck on the glass like superglue and it's back every 4 or 5 days! I'll just keep cleaning and hope it's a growing pain of my tank...
 
I use a brush on the easy stuff and an old credit card on the stubborn algae. It works like a dream and I don't think that it can scratch your glass either. I'm not so sure about the growing pains though I've had a tank up and running for over a year and I still have to scrape. However that's a fowlr next to a window so... Other wise if it's not a reef if you cut back your photo period it might help you out some.
hope this helps
chris
 
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