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Glass cleaners/scrapers for hard to scrape algae

L

L/B Block

Supporting Member
BARcard
What is everyone using for glass cleaners?
I have a flipper -which is ok but I have now some algae areas that the flipper fails to get off.

I have heard about the ceramic blades -anyone care to comment and any other scrapers people can recommend that won’t scratch the glass.

Thanks

Lawrence
 
Kensington Reefer said:
For glass…
I just use a razor blade
But only for glass


For acrylic
Old credit cards or the plastic blades that come with the tools

But
Both can scratch
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Erin left out the best acrylic tool ever, the dobie pad. I learned this one from him.


For glass….you have the luxury of using pretty much whatever you want. Big ass magnet with metal scraper. I’d stay away from the ceramic blades though lots of folks have scratched their glass with those.
 
I have the tunze strong+ and it come with both metal and plastic blades. After reading a bunch of reviews for scrappers that would accommodate 3/4 inch glass this was the best one in my opinion. It has worked great so far the magnetic is very strong and it is easy to work around corners because it floats as well.
 
Feel like I bought all of them out there, Tunze (all sizes), Flipper (all sizes), 4D ceramic with Tunze, and now have the Mighty Magnet (corrected) as recommended by @Coral reefer - and I wish I bought this before all others, even though it was rather expensive. Feels the safest to use, ceramic is super effective but use at your own risk (I scratched my glass due to misshandling, probably).
 
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Alexander1312 said:
Feel like I bought all of them out there, Tunze (all sizes), Flipper (all sizes), 4D ceramic with Tunze, and now have the Mag Float as recommended by @Coral reefer - and I wish I bought this before all others, even though it was rather expensive. Feels the safest to use, ceramic is super effective but use at your own risk (I scratched my glass due to misshandling, probably).
Click to expand...
Correction, I use mighty magnets, not mag float
I also really like to use the algae cutter sock they have. Much like a dobie pad
 
I use the Tunze strong+ on my 3/4” glass and like it more than others I’ve tried. I strongly recommend buying a second blade part and putting it on the other side, it seems to make both sides work better for some reason. Worthwhile upgrade.

One negative is that to get it to float you need to use the ridiculously bulky foam float thing, but then I can’t maneuver it everywhere. So I take that part off and just deal with the fact that it doesn’t float.

For very tough spots, like coralline built up along the bottom that I’ve been neglecting, every few months I reach my hand in with a razor blade and take care of it.
 
For my 3/4" glass, I use an Algae Free Tiger Shark with a pad for polishing the hazy algae off the panes. Then I have a Tunze Strong+ with a metal blade for detail work around the edges. From my experience, the Algae Free scraper pressure wasn't even so only certain parts of the blade were effective. The Tunze design creates a more even pressure and I love that I can work around the sand without fear of picking it up. To scrape the rear pane, I have a 12" Seachem scraper which has a beefy handle so I can really put pressure to knock off all the coraline.
 
derek_SR said:
Erin left out the best acrylic tool ever, the dobie pad. I learned this one from him.


For glass….you have the luxury of using pretty much whatever you want. Big ass magnet with metal scraper. I’d stay away from the ceramic blades though lots of folks have scratched their glass with those.
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Dobie/Magic Eraser/melamine pads put massive amounts of micro plastics in your reef and environment FWIW.
 
BAYMAC said:
Dobie/Magic Eraser/melamine pads put massive amounts of micro plastics in your reef and environment FWIW.
Click to expand...
Probably wouldn't worry too much, it's a fraction of those produced by car tires, manufacturing artificial fiber clothing, and water bottles.
 
JVU said:
Except that you aren’t doing those things in your tank
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Eh yeah but I've been actively using acrylic in tank scratch removers and credit cards for 20+ years in my tanks (most of the same fish over that time), and dobie pads plus magic erasers for over 10 years. Fish and invertebrates seem to grow and reproduce fine.
 
Darkxerox said:
Eh yeah but I've been actively using acrylic in tank scratch removers and credit cards for 20+ years in my tanks (most of the same fish over that time), and dobie pads plus magic erasers for over 10 years. Fish and invertebrates seem to grow and reproduce fine.
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That’s a good data point, but doesn’t have anything to do with your previous statement about types of plastic in the world.

The point he was making is that magic erasers and the like specifically work by disintegrating themselves as they abrade away whatever you are scratching off. It is not just that they are plastic like a credit card, but that their designed mode of action is to disintegrate into microplastics.
 
Melamine erasers definitely work by disintegrating themselves but that’s not the case with dobie pads. They’re just a very effective abrasive that doesn’t scratch and they last an incredibly long time.

They may also release microplastics, though, who knows. There just aren’t any non plastic alternatives to keeping acrylic clean…and of all the ways to cause harm to your reef tank, this is pretty low on the list IMO.
 
To be fair I don’t know what Dobie pads are, I was picturing this guy:

1719355428254.jpeg
 
JVU said:
That’s a good data point, but doesn’t have anything to do with your previous statement about types of plastic in the world.

The point he was making is that magic erasers and the like specifically work by disintegrating themselves as they abrade away whatever you are scratching off. It is not just that they are plastic like a credit card, but that their designed mode of action is to disintegrate into microplastics.
Click to expand...
Right, sorry to clarify, I was saying that in response to what Gresh was saying re: dobie pads and magic erasers causing microplastics forming in our reefs/environment. I figure their use in our tanks is creating a fraction of what is produced by other sources in the world (tires, clothes, water bottles) and going into the greater environment. Every plastic item I personally use in the tank does wear (3D printed stuff, credit cards, plastic scrapers) so they definitely are shedding as I use them, and there's no question there's a TON of particles created. I just don't see there to be any negative effect to the animals.
 
derek_SR said:
Melamine erasers definitely work by disintegrating themselves but that’s not the case with dobie pads. They’re just a very effective abrasive that doesn’t scratch and they last an incredibly long time.

They may also release microplastics, though, who knows. There just aren’t any non plastic alternatives to keeping acrylic clean…and of all the ways to cause harm to your reef tank, this is pretty low on the list IMO.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, forgot those are the ones you take the mesh off and put on your mag cleaner. They are designed to produce far less though.
Darkxerox said:
Right, sorry to clarify, I was saying that in response to what Gresh was saying re: dobie pads and magic erasers causing microplastics forming in our reefs/environment. I figure their use in our tanks is creating a fraction of what is produced by other sources in the world (tires, clothes, water bottles) and going into the greater environment. Every plastic item I personally use in the tank does wear (3D printed stuff, credit cards, plastic scrapers) so they definitely are shedding as I use them, and there's no question there's a TON of particles created. I just don't see there to be any negative effect to the animals.
Click to expand...

OK you have never seen any issue, but what issue have you not seen? 20 years ago we didn't know a lot about microplastics and issues they cause, its no wonder we don't know what they cause for corals, fish, etc.

None of what you mentioned you use is designed to break into micro particles during use like magic erasers. We know corals can eat plastic, they've used it in studies. A little biofilm, its food.

Microplastics are causing all kinds of issues for a lot of other life forms, why would fish and corals be any different?
 
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