Is it bad to clear every side of glass? I heard you shouldn't clean the back of the class because some of the bacteria but I have a black background and it's pretty ugly now after about 3 or 4 months. I have brown algae it looks like all on the back. Is it ok If I clean all of it off at once or at all?
Is it bad to clean all sides of glass?
- Thread starter RobDeanH
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Skyjacker07
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
It's fine to clean it all if you want, I always leave the back glass alone, just so algae doesn't come back worse.
ScotJudd
Aquarium Advice Addict
The amount of bacteria on the glass is tiny compared to the bacteria in your filter so you can clean away.
I tend to leave mine, it's not been cleaned for 3 years. It finds its own balance and in a heavily planted tank looks quite natural. My snails, shrimp and Plec also graze it down a bit.
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I tend to leave mine, it's not been cleaned for 3 years. It finds its own balance and in a heavily planted tank looks quite natural. My snails, shrimp and Plec also graze it down a bit.
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Stacey W.
Aquarium Advice FINatic
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- Dec 22, 2014
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I rarely clean my back glass due to the fact I have 4 otos and 6 nerite snails.
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fishenthusiast
Aquarium Advice Addict
There should be no problem with this. As long as your herbivores/algae-eating fish get their nutrients from food, they'll be fine. If you have Otos, I'd keep some algae on the glass.
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The problem I had after I painted the back of my tank black was that I had a ton of algae caked on it that I didn't really notice before. When I scrapped all of it off I shortly after had some nasty algae blooms.
In my case 5' by 2' tall full of algae all cleared out at once wasn't good..but nothing you couldn't manage.
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In my case 5' by 2' tall full of algae all cleared out at once wasn't good..but nothing you couldn't manage.
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RackinRocky
Aquarium Advice Addict
The above reasons are why I never glass the back glass on any of my three tanks. Also, I have nerites and shrimp, and I think they benefit from me not cleaning it. The nerites did clean most of the algae off quickly, but then just as quickly replaced it with little white eggs! Can't win for losin'!
ImACoolguy
Aquarium Advice Addict
I clean the front and side panels of my tanks weekly. I leave the back to grow whatever for the natural look it brings to the tanks.
Caleb
Caleb
