Any tips to Reducing Alagae on the glass?

[shiftline]

On my current tank i find my selff giving the glass a quick clean every few days. My future project will be a paniincila that will repalce the the banister at the top of the stiars.. im realizing it will be a PITA to try and clean the glasss on the stair side.

Is there any tips/tricks/stratagies to reduce alage on the glass? Less light, but then corals wont be quite as happy.. now i could go wider and have more dipper dead space but then I worry about adding to much weight on a second floor for of the house (Tank will be 5.5-6' long x 18-20 x 18-20) Lighting will be 3x XR15 Pros.

Is there any other preventive or things i can do to help prevent algae on the glass?

 

[-Logzor]

Not sure it's a good solution but vodka dosing will reduce algae growth on the glass.

 

[shiftline]

I have read up on vodka/vinegar dosing a bit. .. But still need to dive into it more to fully understand the pros /cons

Is there any downside to dosing it?

 

[Keepswiming]

I have read up on vodka/vinegar dosing a bit. .. But still need to dive into it more to fully understand the pros /cons

Is there any downside to dosing it?

Yes cyano, don't start carbon dosing just because you have some algae on the glass ( this is normal ). What are you phosphates at?

 

[Keepswiming]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

 

[jcdeng]

cleaning the glass every few days is not bad at all, if your tank doesn't require cleaning to the glass at all then all your corals might bleach and die due to no nutrients in tank.

 

[twilliard]

cleaning the glass every few days is not bad at all, if your tank doesn't require cleaning to the glass at all then all your corals might bleach and die due to no nutrients in tank.

Agreed!
There is a fine balance to maintain.

 

[shiftline]

I'll check phosphates tonight.

I don't mind cleaning the glass I can reach haaha. It's the stuff I can't reach that il worried about?

 

[Keepswiming]

I'll check phosphates tonight.

I don't mind cleaning the glass I can reach haaha. It's the stuff I can't reach that il worried about?

No its ok to have a little algae on the glass. This is a small reef, not a swimming pool

 

[shiftline]

Haha it's more where I want to put it

Do those Robo snails work well? Is there any risk of them getting to close to sand and scratching the glass?

This is the side I'm worried about!

 

[DrBoxedWine]

Vinegar dosing doesn't give you cyano problems, is my understanding. I started about a month the ago... Besides it being an additional task to take care of, I'm aware of no downside.

 

[reefwiser]

Just get an algae scrubber to take care Po4 way easier than dosing carbon

 

[Larry L]

You can also think about your lights and whether they are throwing a lot of light to the sides onto the glass. E.g. if you are using something like a Radion, you can swap out the 120 degree lenses for the 80 degree lenses, and that will direct more of the light straight down instead of to the sides. Or with strip lights, you can tilt them toward the center of the tank instead of pointing straight down.

 

[shiftline]

I ace never really looked at alage scrubbers. Interesting concept. Are they a lot of maintenance?

I'm thinking you are right on the narrow lens. Less light = less algae!

I will be using 3x radion xr15 pros

I suppose making the tank a tad wider - maybe 20" would let less light but the glass as well

 

[reefwiser]

No algae scrubbers just need cleaned from time to time

 

[shiftline]

I think having less light is the only really hope for it

 

[bnguyen714]

http://www.robosnail.com

 

[shiftline]

Only works up to 1/2". May not work if I go with 5/8.

 

[Pete polyp]

You can glue a mag float to a telescopic pole used for a paint roller and clean it that way.