Should I use magnets?

[the caretaker]

I have a light covering of algae thats appeared on the front of my tank i have an 8" pleco but he's about as good as a choclate tea pot when it comes to eating algae, so do I buy a magnet thing or should i just go buy some green scourer and get in there? is there a way that is best in this regard?

 

[mwm]

I had the same problem. I just bought a Hagen Magnet Algae scrapper for $10 and its really good. One down side is it doesnt float but o well

 

[phil]

Hi Caretaker

I`ve used magnets from day 1 - I`ve found that they are not brilliant but do help. I think it`s better to use the magnets rather than putting your hands/arms in the tank to scrape the algae and possibly stressing your fish.

Phil

 

[RamJet]

The magnet always falls to the bottom of the tank and you end up having to go in any way. I use a green scruber now, seems like I can do it faster than pissing around trying to keep the magnet from falling.

 

[daza]

I also use a magnet. It's good for getting brown algae off the front and sides. I can't get to the back with it and green algae seems harder to get off. Worth having one I'd say.

 

[Fiori]

I use Aqua magnets, which float really well. Never had much of a problem with the back ( so far) - think the snails must keep it down.

 

[Jen]

i have a magnet, but find it doesn't really work well in my tank. I prefer to scrub it off right before I do a water change. The fish will already be stressed from the change, so another 2 minutes isnt going to kill them

 

[the caretaker]

I went and bought a floating magnet and WOW what a difference its made. and not like the old days when you pulled it too quickly it fell off and always ended about half way to the back of your tank. The secret is not to let the glass get too dirty, before you give it a scrub with them Thanks

 

[ripvan]

We have a golfdfish tank at work that gets brown algae.The best thing I have found for scraping the tank is the edge of an old credit card or similar.Just run it up and down the glass -edge on.The algae rolls off easily.The fish then go mad for the pieces of algae it's all gone in minutes.The best thing is the scraper is free!!

 

[Fishy411]

My Magnet Works really well. It doesnt float but it doesnt really need to. The two sides are tied together with string so if they fall apart u can yank the string

 

[smithrc]

If its a glass tank - use a razor blade on a stick.
Its dead easy to get any algea off in one swipe (even the hard green spot algae)