Scratches on the glass - looking for advice - Tunze Long & Ceramic Blades

[Alexander1312]

I need your help - I now have at least three visible scratches on the glass of this 6-month-old tank (urchins, haha), and I would like to stop the fire.

One of them is outside (!), so this is on us, but the other scratches could be from the algae scraper (or other reasons?).

I have the standard Tunze long with the ceramic blades. I know Telegraham believes that the ceramic blades scratched his glass, so he stopped using them, but I cannot think the steel is more reliable.

I'm curious if you were able to keep your glass scratch-free and how you were able to achieve this.

 

[Coral reefer]

Mighty magnets with the algae cutter sock

 

[derek_SR]

Steel is quite a bit softer than ceramic - so should be much less likely to scratch your glass.

 

[TMK112]

My brother swears by these and is very OCD about tank scratches. He never leaves the magnet cleaner in the tank. Things can grow on it or near it causing scratches or other issues.

 

[Thales]

Ceramic blade can absolutely scratch ceramic, the 4d aquatics blades for the TUNZE should not if installed properly (and it is hard to install them improperly). I have five of them in service and no problems, but using a ceramic blade on its own, yep scratch.
I have 5 of them because I leave them in the tank, but I don't use them without making sure there is no snail under it. You can also scratch with the metal blades, snails, sand, and almost anything hard - but not nearly as easily as acrylic.

I think Jim scratched his the same way I did, but I'll ask.

 

[Thales]

Yep, jim was using it by hand and the corner grabbed. The 4d aquatics blades have rounded corners to help combat this

 

[JustinBolton]

I have had good luck with not scratching using the tunze metal blades, 3 years on my Red Sea and the only scratch is outside the tank.

 

[richiev]

I use the tunze with plastic blades. I occasionally go over the glass with a metal razor blade as a touch up. I still somehow have a couple scratches though.

 

[nano7g]

My vote is for neither, but a trusty used plastic gift card.

 

[SupraSaltyReefer]

I use the Tunze Strong on my tank with two of the 86mm stainless steel blades on each end to make cleaning the glass faster. According to Tunze directions it’s best to only use it length-wise so if sand/debris gets stuck between the plastic blades it can fall out easier. I only use it vertically at the bottom of the glass. Like washing a car, always start from the top and work your way down. The closer you get to the bottom the higher the chances of getting sand stuck between the blades. Also, always remove it from the tank when not in use so spirorbid worms don’t grow on it which can cause scratches.

 

[JVU]

I use the Tunze Strong on my tank with two of the 86mm stainless steel blades on each end to make cleaning the glass faster. According to Tunze directions it’s best to only use it length-wise so if sand/debris gets stuck between the plastic blades it can fall out easier. I only use it vertically at the bottom of the glass. Like washing a car, always start from the top and work your way down. The closer you get to the bottom the higher the chances of getting sand stuck between the blades. Also, always remove it from the tank when not in use so spirorbid worms don’t grow on it which can cause scratches.
View attachment 56324
View attachment 56325
View attachment 56326

Same here