algae on back glass

[labnjab]

I recently noticed that algae has begun to grow on the back glass on my 55 goldfish, shortly after i add a 4 foot shop light with 2 ge plant and aquarium bulbs. Its not in direct sunlight and gets around 8-10 hours of light. Would a black mystery snail take care of this or are mts better at it?

[Drip Loop]

Your best bet is a little known species (handicus scrubifer). While it may look like a hand in the tank with a sponge, I assure you its really a sophisticated algae eater. Really.

[cocoa_pleco]

if its not baked on algae, i would get a mag-float. its a magnet scraper that has 2 sides, you move it from the outside of the tank and the inside part moves because theyre magnets and scrubs the algae. all my saltwater tanks have them. theyre good in FW too, i dont use them in FW because i never get algae problems

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I use a metal scrapper on a stick and it gets my hard to get off algae that grows on the glass.

[CAllain]

Do you know what type of algae it is?

I have an "algae pad" - basically a thin green sponge that I scrub the algae off with, and I find it's the best algae remover for me... I have a multitude of snails eating away at it but they just can't keep up

[Lady Hobbs]

I just wipe my glass off in the same manner. We tend to ignore the glass back more so it might get worse there. Sometimes I just wipe it down with a paper towel. You have a new set up so might be experiencing your diatoms which is normal in new tanks. If not, all tanks get a bit of the white scum and comes off easily.

[Abbeys_Mom]

I was recently told MTS don't eat algae unless there is nothing else to eat in the tank. Mine have left little trails in the algae, but no remarkable change. I use a flat plastic card to scrap mine (which I just did last night). I always do the front glass, but often leave the back green. I don't have a background on my 27g and I find the green to be nice. It is was also a nice indicator as to whether or not my pleco was still alive.

[labnjab]

Its green, and i have a background so it can be seen pretty eaisly. I suppose I'll put some elbow grease into it. Thought i could feed something i have. Lol. The tanks been up and running a few months and it just showed up within the past few days, and just on the back glass. Doesn't bother the goldfish, they don't care, just me. Thanks for the suggestion. "handicus scrubifer"...lol, i get a kick out of that good one drip loop

[Commodore 64]

For snails that eat algae, I'd go with nerites, although they can be hard to find. You'll most likely have to get them online from private sellers or some place like azgardens (www.azgardens.com) or planetinverts. (http://www.planetinverts.com/) The nice thing about nerites, which unfortunately also leads to their paucity, is that they won't produce viable offspring in your tank. They are very difficult (or impossible) to breed in captivity. So you won't get overrun with them.

If you added a shoplight, you've probably got about 80w over your 55g. Do you have any live plants? If not, somethings got to use that light and excess nutrients...and that something is algae. So get a scraper. I prefer the acrylic kind. (http://www.aquariumguys.com/kentproscraper4.html)

[Wheelman]

I use a metal scrapper on a stick and it gets my hard to get off algae that grows on the glass.

elaborate please :c3:

what type of metal edge are we talking? putty knife, razor blade, metal ruler edge?

[PUNISHER VETTE]

elaborate please :c3:

what type of metal edge are we talking? putty knife, razor blade, metal ruler edge?

I got the Tom Magical Cleaning Rod 34"Long
They sell it in smaller sizes. 3 different attachments, 1 soft polisher, 1 scoop, and 1 with a metal edge that's GREAT on the hard to scrape off algae.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18374/si1382847/cl0/tommagicalcleaningrod34long

[cocoa_pleco]

Ive got a TOM too, works great for stubborn algae. I got the smaller $5 hand one, come with metal scraper for glass and plastic for acrylic tanks

[korith]

I ended up getting a cheap glass scrapper around $3-4, seemed to work fine.