What is best for cleaning algae of the glass

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mdw1974

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
49
I'm new to SW my tank is a 60g and 2 months old and it looks great with all the algae etc on the LR, Sump and sand. I have only so far added 2 bangii cardinalfish, 2 peppermint shrimp a black eye goby and 3 blue green chromis. I want to eventually put a few corals and inverts in as well as some more fish. The glass is starting to get algae on it what can I put in the tank that is reef and community friendly that will eat the algae. Thanks.
 
Are you checking all of your water parameters? That is too many fish to add in such a short period of time. You need to take it slowly. I doubt you have sufficient biological filtration to accommodate that much bio load yet and would be concerned with possibility of ammonia building up and killing your livestock.

How much Liverock?
What do you feed, how much and how often?
How often and how large are your water changes.
Are you using rodi water?
Are you using a protein skimmer?

If you are seeing algae then you have excess nitrates and phosphates in your water. Meaning you are likely over feeding and not removing what you put in via water changes and filtration. CUC(clean up crew) to deal with algae is unnecessary and only temporarily hides the problem.
 
I'm checking all my parameters. Yesturday they where all fine but the ph had gone up a fraction. I needed to top up with RO water in my sump and checked this morning and its come down a tad. I've got about 40kg of live rock in and use a protein skimmer. I have been feeding a large flake of new era food for the fish and been breaking up 2 small new era pellets. I wasn't convinced that the one cardinalfish was eating so the last 2 days I have been feeding 1/2 pellet if frozen food ( mysis) I'm doing this twice a sat and it looks like its all being eaten. I thought that the increase in algae may be because I have increased the length of time my lights are on to about 10hrs.
 
Lighting period does not affect algae nearly as much as excess nutrients. If algae is growing then you have excess nitrates and phosphates.

Edit: for comparison I run my blues for 15 hours and whites for 9.
 
Ok thanks I will retest tomorrow. If all the chemicals are fine. What would you do ?
 
The very best thing to clean algae off off the glass is this-

img_2914172_0_0b2c9d35912d85a15c85246825e3fe65.jpg


Or this--

kentscraper.jpg


No living creature will do as good a job.
 
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