algae question

[TriMax]

I have a lot of tiny, about the size of the head of a finishing nail, brown spots on the front of my tank. Is it algae? What kind? In order to get it off I have to scrape it off with my fingernail. The tank is acrylic. Is there a faster way. So far, the snails do not care for it. There is some very light green algae also. It is also hard to remove, not as hard as the brown dots, but not nearly as easy as the dark brown stuff.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[planejane]

Isn't that the normal diatom bloom, that goes away as the tank matures.?

 

[Weetabix]

Sounds like it to me, yeah.
Eddie, just get a magnet scraper made for acrylic tanks and use that to scrape it off daily til it goes away, shouldn't be hard.

 

[cee]

Snails should eat diatoms with gusto, so if the snails aren't touching it, it is likely to be something different.

Dave

 

[ct_vol]

Sounds like diatoms to me... Part of the cycling process... Snails should eat some, but will go away after a while...

 

[fishdoc11]

Do you have an acrylic safe algae magnet? You will likely want to get a good one if you don't as keeping the glass clean is the best way to keep harder deposits from building up on acrylic......which can cause damage upon removal. At least that's my understanding.

 

[TriMax]

You folks got me to thinking. I remembered buying 3-4 years ago, back when I started, a magnet and a scraper. I think the magnet was online and the scraper was from CR. I used one of the many GC that was given to me by my encouraging family. That, and I am really hard to buy for. ( I guess not any more, though) Still have a few of the GC left. They are old though. Do not know if they are any good or not. Will need to ask next time I am in the CR. Would hope, but it was not owned by the same folks back then.

Anyway, only found one half of the magnet. The other is around here somewhere. At one point all the supplies got put in several boxes and stored away. Did find the scraper and the plastic scraper attachment. It worked great.

Thanks for the help folks

 

[ct_vol]

Just make sure no sand gets in between the acrylic and magnet... If you can't imagine what happens, Jeff can tell/show you all about how that goes...

 

[TriMax]

The sand thing was why I had not looked for the magnet yet. I will stay away from the bottom. I was really suprised at how well the scraper worked, especially when I was having to scrape with my fingernail to get it off. Now I am makeing little algea meals for those that do not want to get on the acrylic. Ha! The scraper will be harder to use once I get the canopy built. Magnet time then, I guess.