Easy Blade Scraper

[CeaHorseMaShell]

I am setting up another seahorse tank and I am having a dilema about how to algae scrape it. The tank is a tower tank, it is 9"X13"X51". With the stand and canopy the whole thing stands exactly 71" tall. It is also acrylic. I've heard about the easy blade scraper and I think it would work if I was dealing with glass. Does anyone know if there is a product like this designed for acrylic? I have everything ready to set the tank up, but I am holding off until I figure out how to clean the thing. I would post some pictures, but I have misplaced my memory card at the moment. I'll try to get some up soon.

Thanks,
Michele

 

[iamwrasseman]

the only scraper is gonna be made out of plastic for the acrylic , no metal blades at all ! no no no no the best way is to clean it daily with a magnetic cleaner .

 

[CeaHorseMaShell]

yeah, I would never use a blade, but I can't find a plastic attachment. I know there must me something out there for acrylic tanks. I want to use a very strong magnet also because I'm afraid if it comes loose it will come up under one of my seahorses and hurt them. I'm still looking online. I haven't found a good enought solution yet.

 

[Der ABT]

I would think that Home Depot or someone would have some form of a hard plastic brush or even the rough side of a dish sponge (obviously not an antibacterial one) could be used with a large magent as long as the magnet is covered in rubber just like a normal magnet cleaner but with a more powerful magnet. I would just coat the outside one in a fabric so that it slides easily on the dry side of the tank.

Just and idea...otherwise the only thing i can think of is a stepping stool and one of the sponges on the end of a stick they sell to scrape off algea, or even one meant for a cars window.

 

[CeaHorseMaShell]

I may have to end up rigging something like that up, I've been thinking a lot about what exactly I want. I did find something last night called a flip mag, which has an acrylic attachment. I don't think it floats though. Has anyone used this product? I am not going to be able to use any type of scrubber on a stick, I literally can't get into the tank because it's so tall and close to the ceiling. I was thinking about trying the flip mag and using some fishing line in case the inside attachement falls. I wish there was something made that had an acrylic attachment scraper and floated.

 

[Virginia Reef]

Be very careful of this issue. I have an acrylic tank and use a mag scraper. Mine doesn't float. When it occassionally comes apart, and they will, I use metal grill tongs to get a magnetic pickup from inside the tank. You could rig something metal on a cord that the mag scraper would grab onto. IMO you should absolutely not try to rig your own scraper. There are acrylic scrapers with replacement pads sold that will protect both the inside and outside of the tank. If you get sand in the scraper pad you will not be happy. The pads need to be changed regularly as well as EVERY time that they contact the sandbed.

Be aware that the mag scrapers do not remove everything unless you scrub ALL THE TIME. Corraline algae and some other growth is hard to remove. I find mysely using the Kent plastic scraper to clean up the tough spots. You would not be able to do this all the way to the bottom of the tank even if you had enough headroom because the handles are not rigid enough to apply the needed pressure at that kind of distance.

Good Luck