How long does it take for your glass/acrylic to "dirty" up.

[sfsuphysics]

And in the poll I put "should" because I know where people actually do it, and when they should do it may differ by a considerably amount of time Basically I'm wondering how long is it when you THINK you should clean your glass, whether or not you actually do it

I'm just curious, because for me it takes maybe 3 days or so before I notice a light dusting of brown "fuzz" (i'm going to guess diatoms, but it's definitely not green), usually enough to see "kiss marks" from my kole tang or the back and forth munch of snails before I knock it down because I don't want to let it get to that hard brown dot phase.

 

[JVU]

About twice a week for me. Though it is somewhat variable over spans of months, due to reasons I’ve never really figured out.

 

[iCon]

3-4 days.

 

[Bruce Spiegelman]

If I have a UV sterilizer going I can go 10 days to two weeks no problem.

 

[Coral reefer]

If I have a UV sterilizer going I can go 10 days to two weeks no problem.

This is more “realistic” for me, but usually at about a week there’s is stuff that I could remove with a quick magnet. I’m just too lazy to go get it out of the van.

 

[thanh510]

10 days! I need a UV ASAP (after upgrade)!

I'm at twice a week.

 

[JVU]

I have a UV sterilizer, still about twice a week. Didn’t notice much difference between before and after setting up the UV. But like I said there’s quite a bit of variability that I can’t explain.

 

[rygh]

I am confused by the poll. DO/SHOULD are two very very very different numbers.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yes they are different numbers and open to a lot of interpretation. I didn't want a "scientific" response to this, but when does your glass get to a point where you think you should clean it, and you would clean it if not for other factors such as, but not limited to, laziness. As I explained in the first post

 

[nly04]

It's hard to state. I notice a thin layer every other day so I clean it. I still can leave it for 5 days and still able to see my corals with out issue. But it depend on how people handle it, too.

 

[sfsuphysics]

True, I use to let it get to a point where I start seeing the hard brown spots because hell if I have to get the scraper out I might as well wait until I have to do some serious work... however on my current tank, if I knock it down in the sponge or abrasive pad (Dobbie pads are wonderful!) stage, then I don't need to get out the scraper... well except for damn coraline algae.