Cleaning Acrylic Tank?? Tough ALgae

[MatthewLaw]

Greetings All- I have some tough algae on my acrylic tank. How can I remove it? If can get streaks of it gone with my nail but otherwise ones of those magnetic cleaners isn't strong enough.

What about a razor blade? my concern is this is an acrylic tank which can scratch easily.

Thanks!

 

[DEERE G]

Kent Marine plastic scraper.

 

[MatthewLaw]

nice. thanks for the recommendation

 

[albano]

another piece of acrylic will easily remove coraline, do not use razor blades

 

[MatthewLaw]

will another piece of acrylic scratch the aquarium?

 

[DEERE G]

I have also witnessed a credit card used to clean acrylic. That also seemed to work well.

 

[albano]

will another piece of acrylic scratch the aquarium?

NO...another RC member advised me of this trick, and it works great!




My 450g acrylic build
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/63397-hundreds-corals-fish-free.html

 

[MatthewLaw]

oh cool. i will try that.

 

[troylee]

All the things mentioned above will scratch the inside of a acrylic tank...the best thing to use is the white scraper pads and elbow grease....the kents scraper does some damage....I learned this after I drained my big tank...the scratches are invisible when it has water in it but the minute you drain it be prepared....hth..

 

[MatthewLaw]

what white scraper pads?

 

[albano]

the scratches are invisible when it has water in it but the minute you drain it be prepared....

Am I missing something? If the tank turns purple without water in it, who cares? "the scratches are invisible when it has water in it"
FWIW, I have used acrylic 'scrapers' on empty tanks (as well as full), covered in coraline, which are NOW filled with water, and they look great

 

[troylee]

not here to argue...just state facts... i do acrylic for a living and i try my best to give the best advice i can.....with that said it is'nt a big deal if there is water in it but what about down the road when you go to sell it???? when you drain the tank and it is scratched to crap????then it comes to a very big deal....a tank worth a grand is now worthless to most, when they walk up on a tank, and it is full of scratches....just my 2..... these work best...
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4063

 

[terri_ann]

+1 troylee...I have a 90's acrylic tank. Only use acrylic scrubber pads (white) and elbow grease. Once cleaned, use an acrylic mag float daily ;-)

 

[mkenny1818]

NO on a RAZOR!!!!!! yep the red kent marine blades work well. Also the old style handle with a white acrylic pads work well with some effort.. just be careful about a piece of sand getting in there.. you wont even notice it until its to late

 

[squidy3]

Plastic on plastic...

 

[hebygb]

I have used both the red plastic scrapers as well as the white pads. Both work.... but I agree with Troylee... use the pads, then be more regular with the magnet cleaner.

 

[Amp2020]

I'd love to see someone clean the back of my coraline algae covered tank with nothing more than a white scrubber pad. If I had a 150 gallon tank there is no way that I'd even consider using a white pad instead of an acrylic scrapper.

Make it easier on yourself. Use an acrylic scrapper for now and buy a buffer and some Novus before trying to sell it. A 75-120 gallon tank can have those fine scratches removed in about 1-3 hours with a car buffer and Novus compound. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

 

[troylee]

with regular tank maintence its a piece of cake....if you let it get out of hand then it becomes problematic....when i drain tanks i soak them in vinegar and blast with the hose it all comes off no need for scrubbing...

 

[mcoomer]

I use an algae free Tiger Shark magnet with the white pad on the interior magnet and a microfiber cloth under the exterior magnet. I also have a sandpaper kit that I bought from algae free that attaches to the inside magnet and can be used to remove scratches without draining the water. Grits run from 1500 up to 6000 and I no longer have a single spot of algae on the inside of the tank. No scratches either. Kit costs $55 and comes with 4 1500 grit pads and 2 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, and 6000 grit pads. I just finished doing the entire front pane of my tank and it looks great. I plan on keeping it that way by running the magnet with the white pad to remove algae and the6000 grit pad to polish as necessary.

Mike

 

[saf1]

I think it was Troylee that gave the single best piece of advise so far and that is to honestly stay "REGULAR" on your "TANK MAINTENCE". Speaking from experience here on both "irregular tank maintence" and acrylic equals scratches, more work, and total frustration.

If you have a sand bottom then you REALLY need to be careful as pointed out above. The white pads several people pointed out already along with weekly maintence you shouldn't have any issues. Just allow yourself plenty of time to work around whatever substraight you have so you don't get anything caught in the pad. Same with any magnets you may use. My nephew in his younger days played with mine and got some sand in between which scratched my tank majorly It happens.