Algae Magnets...

[Danny Boy]

I have quite a lot of brown algae in the tank, and as I haven't got anything in the tank that'll eat it.

I have a powered gravel vac, but as prevention is better than cure, do these algae magnet gizmos work?

 

[rdd1952]

They do work pretty well. Getting to the back glass is the hard part though. I can't get my hand behind my tanks to use it on the back. I usually use a cotton mitt. I got my mitt at Petsmart. They're relatively cheap and do a good job. If you do go with the magnet, be advised that they can be dangerous on acrylic tanks. If you get a piece of sand or gravel between them and the acrylic, it can scratch pretty badly.

 

[KentBlokey]

rdd1952 is right! I have a nasty big scratch because sand got caught in the magnet, and that's on glass

 

[Danny Boy]

Oh I seeeeee...I understand now. I assumed they were actually an 'algae magnet', as in something that was more attractive to algae than substrate/rocks/glass.

Are they in fact just a glorified scraper? I have one of those already...

<stupid icon>

 

[rdd1952]

Are they in fact just a glorified scraper? I have one of those already...

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Close to it. Magnet on inside and outside. You just slide it around the tank. Works good for quick cleanings but as I said, I prefer the mitt for my normal weekly maint.