corline algae and plexiglass please i need some help

[Blakeup295]

ive been getting coraline algae kinda fast bc ive slowed down on my water changes and on one side its gotten all over my magnet wont do anything and i have a scrub thing but after useing it for awhile i realized it would take days to get it all off. any1 have any tips???? id really like to get this stuff off..

[Sisterlimonpot]

for an acrylic tank I would suggest an old credit card and some elbow grease. once you get going and get a good edge on the coralline it will flake off fairly easy.

Good Luck.

[RiffRaff]

I use a razor blade on the flat sides

[MandM]

I use a nylon pan scraper, they have them in kitchen shops for cleaning baking stones.

[Amp2020]

If you are skilled and have some power tools it's easy to make your own scrapers. Take some acrylic sheets and cut a few 3"x8" rectangles and use a belt sander to smooth out the edges. He small edges need to be perfectly smooth and try to make the corner edges as sharp as possible. If you sand the acrylic too fast, it will begin to melt and cause the surface to become very bumpy. Stop, let it cool down and then try again if it starts to melt. Polycarbonate works really well and lasts a little longer than an acrylic scraper.

Please don't use a metal blade on acrylic. Unless you are really careful and have the patients. It will lead to scratches and possibly dig into the sides of the tank. Kent makes little red plastic blades for acrylic cleaning that work well but dull quickly with coraline algae removal.

[Friday Night]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiypASQXoo0

[sslak]

Originally Posted by RiffRaff

I use a razor blade on the flat sides

On acrylic? I would only suggest that for glass.

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by Friday Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiypASQXoo0

Thats cool. Who sells that?

[Sugar Magnolia]

As mentioned, for acrylic, an old credit card or a nylon baking stone scraper work quite well. For a few more dollars, you can buy a scraper from Kent that is specifically made to scrape acrylic tanks - http://www.marinedepot.com/maintenan...ubbers-ap.html

[mike_cmu04]

credit cards work very well for me also

[Fizz71]

Mighty Magnet:
http://mightymagnets.com/

..hands down the best algae scraper I've ever owned. The pads are replaceable (and removable to rinse) unlike the Mag Float. I loved my Mag Float when I had a glass tank, but my Acrylic Safe Mag Float was useless on anything but day old diatom/algea.

MightyMagnets have different pads, all acrylic safe. The white one that comes with it is only slightly better than a Mag Float but is what I use day to day. The brown one gets a little better on tough algea but not coraline..I've used it a few time, but it wasn't enough of an improvement for me. The mesh bag (Algae Cutter Sleeve) will take early coralline off really easy, the tougher stuff takes a few scrubs. The Algea Dozer is the equivalent to a razor blade mod for a mag float--only acrylic save...all hail the dozer!

I use the white one first, then the sleeve or dozer in spots that need more....but the white is enough if you hit it daily.

You just need to be really careful (especially with the dozer) that you're not dragging sand in front of the "blade". I do have a good deal of scratches (most of which have been around since I bought the tank used) and some day I'll pony up the $'s for their underwater repair kit.

Anyway...my "glowing product endorsements" are limited...this is one I'm happy to offer. And oddly it's a very tough product to find outside of their website! ...which is where we get our supplies.

[Blakeup295]

the credit card worked still was a little hard just cause tank size haha but who said itd be ez

[Lemeshianos]

Does the cashier give you a funny look when you hand them your credit cards?

[Jstdv8]

credit card here too.

[Beanfish]

I use a nylon paint scraper from a hardware store. A credit card works fine as well.