Starting to get coraline on front glass - leave it for now?

[Scoot]

Since I added a 4x65w hood, I'm getting some really strong growth of green coraline, with patches of pink/purple here and there, on the very bottom of my front glass - its faintly covering the bottom 2" or so, almost all the way across.

There's also some growing on the back glass, and the sides, and on my overflow box. Pink/purple patches are appearing everywhere.

Should I leave this alone on my front glass, until its got a good growth on the back and/or sites and on the LR? It doesn't look great, but I don't want to hamper its growth elsewhere in the tank by removing it. Or would it *help* the rest of the tank to remove it from the front glass?

 

[Feron]

I'm interested in a response to this too!
I've got a tank that's viewable from the front and back, so for the past 6 months I've been scraping the coraline off both sides.
Lately I've been less inclined to do the back of the tank in hopes the more that exists in the tank will promote more growth on the rock.
I'm being patient on the growth.. I know it takes a long while for the system to 'bounce back'... but it's been 7 months..
I will admit that I have some sort of plating coraline that is doing well and spreading over a certain rock. (kinda a putty colored.. I think brendan posted a picture of some at some point)
But the deep reds and purples seem to be very slow growing despite me keeping calcium levels good and good water quality.

Does coraline use spores to spread or what?

 

[MT79]

You can turn off your skimmer and remove any mechanical filtration for a couple hours, then scrape the coralline off in order to spread the "spores" through out the tank. Coralline tends to grow faster on smooth surfaces like glass or plastic. It just needs some more time to cover your rock.

 

[seaham358]

Scrape it while you can, if you let it go too long it can be hard to remove. The ends of my reef are covered and it is almost impossible to get it off, I wish I never let it go so long..

 

[Hara]

I would not leave it. Scraping it off will help reseed it elsewhere.

 

[MT79]

it is almost impossible to get it off,

A none serated knife blade or metal scraper will take it right off. I removed over a years worth from my back glass in about 15 minutes. HTH

 

[Scoot]

You guys are right, its not easy to get off, not at all. The magnetic cleaner isn't doing it at all, I'm going to have to get something else - I've got some one-sided razor blades that would probably do the trick just find.

How about the back glass though? This isn't viewable from both sides, looks like, from pics, most people let it grow there, unhindered...

 

[Civicman86]

Razor blades are what i use.

Razor Blade=1
Carraline=0

 

[ckmn101]

Up and running less than 3 months. I've been scraping it all off the glass and all my rocks getting any light are covered in green with purple spots here n there. I did have a large piece of lr very covered to start with.

 

[seaham358]

letting it grow on the back IMO makes the tank look nice... Some people don't like it on the glass and just want it on the LR. ITs your choice.

I have a 3" blade for cleaning floors and it is super sharp and I still have problems cleaning the year old plus coraline. It is work and it makes the tank a pink mess, so stay on top of it is my advice.

 

[revhtree]

Yes I would scrape it.

 

[dianeww]

I use a single-edged razor blade (pharmacy -razor style, not aquarium-based type) on mine (glass, not recommended for acrylic) about once a week or every other week. I keep the front clear, and I only clear the sides to about halfway back, where I have rocks close to the glass. The back wall is on its own, and mostly purple. All the scrapings go floating into the tank, where they attach wherever they want!

 

[melosu58]

I scrape as much as I can off.

 

[lando]

I use a razor blade and scrape it off of the front and sides (sometimes). I the back.

 

[Fluff]

I use a kent pro scraper with the stainless steel blade and it comes off easily.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4072&N=2004+113162

 

[abnmojo]

Danger Will Robinson!

Metal blades can do two bad things to your tank. If you get the metal blade up into the caulk in the edges of the tank, you could weaken and maybe even cut through the seal that holds it together, so caution is advised.

More probably, you will scratch the glass. I have a 75 in the garage that I used the Kent metal scraper on - if you want to swing by my house you will see what it can do to your glass. If you nick the blade on the coraline algae, or fail to hold it perfectly, you WILL put a scratch in the glass. I had that tank up for maybe 2 years and the front is nasty looking with little scratches here and there, all over it.

I recomend the plastic blade from Kent that fits into the same holder thing. It is made for acrylic tanks, but works fine on the glass ones. I have NO scratches in my 100 gallon tank from it, after one year of heavy use, maybe once a week, but you need to replace the blade much more often. I get about 6 months from a plastic blade before it is useless.

The longer you wait the harder it is to get off.

 

[Scoot]

I'm going to try a (unused) spackle spreader thingy - basically a plastic putty knife. I think the magnetic cleaner would remove what I have, eventually, but I don't want to spend a day working on it

I really didn't suspect it would be so hard to remove, even the more prevalent, greenish type.

Oh, and is the blue-ish green spots coralline also? I have a few small spots, mostly under the sand level, on the front glass. Not really blue, but more bluish than the typical flourescent green color thats so common.

 

[abnmojo]

that's a great idea! I bet you could buy 3 plastic spackle knives for the price of one kent! I have those purple circles growing on my glass, and they grow FAST. Those magnet things will get them off, if you spend an hour a day on them.

 

[Fluff]

Abnmojo,
I've been using these scrapers for 4yrs and they have never scratched my glass or that is noticable. Also, common sense would tell you with any kinda of scraper not to use it around the silicon. I guess it depends on who using it and how your using it but to each their own.

Scoot, the putty scraper should work. Be prepared to replace it every so often though as those plastic scrapers have a tendency to get nicked and rough edged. I have used them on my fw tanks. And even with a plastic scraper you have to be careful not to scratch the glass when getting sand caught between it and the glass. Your algae below the sand is normal and I would just leave it. Good luck.