Too much coraline algae

[joeman205]

Hi all.

My name is Joe. I have a 40g breeder tank and a 45 cube.
In my 40 breeder tank I have a ton of coraline algae covering almost the whole side of the tank. Obviously I have not been scraping that side so it has built up over two years.

My question is - Would it be ok to scrape off all the algae off the wall at one time so I can see in that side better? Or should I do it slowly, like a little every few days. Does anyone have any experience getting rid of a lot of coraline while your tank is still running? I think the best way would be to scrape it before it got this bad.... too late for that side of the tank.

I am including pics of the side I want to clean off. The pics are attached

Thank you to anyone who responds. I would like some advice on what to do.

[Reef264]

I scraped mine all off a while back, all at one time, then did a 50% Water change to suck out the coralline chips.I turned off the return line and all flow in the tank, and was very careful not to scatter it around.Its a good forearm workout too! :thumbsup:

-Ray

[D-Nak]

You can scrape it off an not really worry about it. It'll populate the other areas of your tank. Worse case it is dies -- it's mainly made of calcium (unlike other algaes) so it'll just turn white. I don't know if it can be re-absorbed but I've not heard of dead coralline causing problems.

[Gsxr600]

kinda makes a mess so you might want to siphon it, but if not i dont think it will be detrimental to the tank.

and as said above, your forearm/wrist/hand/fingers will hate you lol

[bobt2]

scraping it with a standard aquarium scraper will be a pain. when it gets bad i use a clean 1" chisel on my glass tanks. the regular scrapers will bend

[Handil]

I used a razor blade on mine recently. I didn't scratch it up, but I would advise great care if you go this route. And as mentioned, a great forearm workout ;-)

[maR1o]

razor blade worked for me as well.

[stingythingy45]

Stop procrastinating and get scraping......yeeesh.

[joeman205]

Thank you all for responding to my thread. I am just going to scrape about 50% of it off that wall the same day I do a water change. I will use a plastic scraper, or if its really stuck on there (some of it is Im sure) a chisel. Then I will try to siphon some out when doing the water change.

again, thank you all for your responses! Joe

[ReachTheSky]

If you have a Mag Float, buy an Easy Blade and glue it on top. That thing cuts through coralline like it's no bodies business without getting a drop of water on you. It'll be the best $8 you will ever spend.

[Gsxr600]

if its a glass tank, you want a metal scraper (easiest will probably be a razor blade). i dont see you getting very far with plastic