How many times are you cleaning the glass.

[john f]

If you use a strong enough magnet cleaner it will remove small coraline deposits. Then as long as you use it every week you will not have to use a razor blade. I have been doing this for months now on my large glass panes with no coraline growth visable on the glass (but everywhere else)



John

 

[Entacmaea]

Glenn- while you are right that weather and turbidity reduces the amount of light reaching the reef, considering the intensity of the sun compared to our lighting, reefs still receive much more light than we can provide- even on an overcast day. So it is still applicable to model our photo period on what plants and animals would receive in nature.

And I don't think anyone in this thread has been ignoring other parameters. Sorry also that you think trying one's best to mimic nature is anal :wink: You caught me then!

 

[reefland]

I clean the glass when I can no longer see in it.

That typically takes 3 to 4 weeks. I'm to lazy to do it twice a week and I think my fish would rather not look back at me anyway.

Even after a month of coralline growth it comes off real easy with a Penn Plax Magna Scraper.



http://www.rl180reef.com/pages/hardware/magnets.htm

See bottom of page.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry also that you think trying one's best to mimic nature is anal

My point was that giving our reef a static amount light day in and day out would be extremely unnatural. Nature is fluid and change is constant. To pay attention to the length of the photoperiod and nothing else was what I considered to be anal.

 

[Dewman]

When I was given my first tank as a child (about 17 years ago ) I was also given a dandy little magnet with 2 razorblades that were always in contact with the glass. I still have them, and used them often in my 29 gal. Now that I have upgraded to a 75 gal, the magnets are not strong enough to hold through the thicker glass.
They did a FINE job of removing coralline algae on the smaller tank though.

Does anyone know where I can find stronger ones, maybe with disposable razors so you can change them out when they rust??

 

[reefland]

Now that I have upgraded to a 75 gal, the magnets are not strong enough to hold through the thicker glass.

Use your old bladed inside the tank to scrape the glass but use a stronger magnet on the outside be it magnavore, MagFloat or whatever.

 

[Dewman]

Makes sense, but I just wish I could find it in a bigger version.

 

[Anonymous]

i clean my glass weekly. usually just before my water change. i also have a magnet and really loved it at first but now i'm sort of frustrated with it as the felt on the outer magnet is starting to peel off. this is a real drag because it tends to smear sticky glue all over the outside glass. i was wondering if anyone could suggest a GOOD quality magnet that won't peel away.

 

[SPC]

Ms coral, I use a Magnavore and have been very impressed by the quality, they are quite expensive however.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I have to clean algae about once every 3-5 weeks. Yes, weeks. FWIW, tank is a 75 running the EcoSystem filter.


John

 

[beerbaron]

whats a good brand of magnet cleaner? do they clear diatoms? ihave always thought that they wouldn't be strong enough.

i have found myself to become an expert at selectivly skipping the argument posts. its getting ridiculous. thereis 2 completly different discussions here, and one has no use or benifit to anyone. its beggining to make reefs.org suck. thanks and sorry

 

[Anonymous]

Ms coral, I use a Magnavore and have been very impressed by the quality, they are quite expensive however.

well, what's expensive? i thought the one i bought was expensive at $19.95. what's worse is i've only had the thing since february. :roll:

 

[reefland]

$100+ is not uncommon for high quality strong magnets. So strong they don't need to float -- they will not come apart. If joined together, they can not come apart without some serious help.

Personally, I don't think strength is everything. I have a magnore VI and it still doesn't remove coralline as well as a $12 scraper I linked to above. (It's actually a little more than $12 since you need a decent strong magnet on the outside).

For your felt coming off, most units can be replaced. My magnavore came with replacement felt pads. Try to rip it off and replace it with some new felt.

 

[texman]

I clean about once per week with a magnet. I have a magnavore 8, but unfortunately, it doesn't even touch the coraline algae through the 3/4" acrylic. I use a Kent scraper to get the coralline algae, but have a hell of a time in the corners and near the bottem. Has anyone used a more aggressive scraper on acrylic. Are there any metal (?aluminum) scrapers which will work better than the Kent plastic scraper without scratching the acrylic?

 

[Anonymous]

I clean about once per week with a magnet. I have a magnavore 8, but unfortunately, it doesn't even touch the coraline algae through the 3/4" acrylic. I use a Kent scraper to get the coralline algae, but have a hell of a time in the corners and near the bottem. Has anyone used a more aggressive scraper on acrylic. Are there any metal (?aluminum) scrapers which will work better than the Kent plastic scraper without scratching the acrylic?

Just out of curiosity, how big's your tank??

-John

 

[danmhippo]

I use "Tiger shark" magnet from "Algae Free", but somehow couldn't find their URL now......??

 

[Anonymous]

danm,

http://www.aquariumcleaner.com/

 

[texman]

Sharkky, my tank is about 500 gallons or so - never really figured out exactly how many gallons - too lazy to use the formula. Tank is 72"X48"X36"

 

[MarkO1]

I scrape mine 2X a week with a razor.
Texman, you have a 538.56 gal. tank.
_________________
Druidism Forum

 

[texman]

Thanks Marko! Did you subtract out the overflow?

Just kidding!