Coraline to no coraline.

[Marinemom]

This may sound nuts but I have come to the conclusion that all this coraline on the back glass and the sides of my tank is just plain ugly. It is fine to see all the coraline on the rocks but I think having it all over the back wall and the sides of the aquarium is just too much. I want to remove it by scraping it all off but I'm sure this is not going to be easy because there is 89 pounds of live rock in there with five fish, several corals, and some inverts. How do I go about doing this? Can I do this without comprimising the stability of this reef? If I scrape it with the fish, rock, corals, and inverts still in the tank, will this be a problem for them? I think it will be. If I scrape this off, and then do a large water change along with letting the protien skimmer taking care of the rest, is this enough? Will the P.H. or other readings be affected in the tank?

This is a 60 gallon reef that has been set up for nine months.

What do you think?

Marinemom

[Jakaru]

I've heard that acting like you don't want it. I.E. Scraping it off of the glass and such will just make it spread that much more. I think it's a sign of a healthy tank. You could get a star fish to eat it but there is no way to tell where exactly he'd eat it from.

[PatMayo]

I scraped quite a bit of mine off the side of the tank and it made somewhat of a cloud in the tank. Didn't hurt a thing and I have seen no problems. I left the coralline on the back glass as it's too difficult to get off and I am not ripping the tank apart. I am keeping the coralline off the areas that I scrapped by doing it dialy. It will grow back quickly.

Regards,

Pat

[dc]

I use a razor blade. I also leave it on the back. Is your tank glass?

The coraline is already in there, scraping it shouldn't change anything, IMO.

[Marinemom]

The tank is an all glass aquarium. Maybe I wil start with just the sides of the reef and see. I know it will grow back quickly but it can't be much different from scraping the front pane of the aquarium so we can see into the aquarium. Right?

Marinemom

[dc]

Yea, it's the same thing, easier to scrape if you keep it off too.

[mg426]

Its a job thats for sure. I scrape mine about every three weeks. Its way easier if you dont let it go so long, It never hurt my tank and I have scraped it for hours when I let it get thick.

[jessp]

i use razor on the sides and i do the back as much as i can reach above rocks.

[Buster4900]

My black longspine urchin is constantly eating coraline off the glass. He does an excellent job! It is funny he will work on one side of the back glass for a few days, thins it out alot then moves to the other side. Back and forth. Occassionally he will move to the front, but I scrape it every week or so.

[smcnally]

My last tank was covered. With this new one, I clean the back and sides about once a week, and coraline doesn't even grow on the glass. The rocks are still covered though.

[Marinemom]

Having it on the rocks is fine, I just want to get rid of it on the glass. I know that it is all good for the aquarium,but I want it off the glass.

Marinemom