Electric toothbrush

[InspectorGadget]

hey everyone! I was wondering if anyone has used an electric toothbrush to help remove hair algea on rock? A normal one just doesn't cut it. I would think that the turning of the brush would help rip it off the rock. Has anyone tried one? Did it harm the fish or corals in any way? Some are waterproof from the research of had done, just want to verify before I put an battery operated device in my tank.

 

[NickNiz]

Before resorting to an electric toothbrush, try a turkey baster. They're especially effective against hair algae! Just jet water onto the covered rock and either siphon the floating algae or let inhabitants/filtration take care of it.

 

[InspectorGadget]

I will try that out, thanks.

 

[Richard Hercher]

I will try that out, thanks.

Any chance you broke down and tried it? Tbh, I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. There are low cost kids electric toothbrushes (got one for my 2 year old). What I might try is pick one up, fill my waste water bucket with tank water on my next change, set a heater in it, and drop the kiddy brush in it for about twenty minutes.

Visually, you can tell there are some exposed metal pins in the toothbrush, but it’s built to be put under running tap water and fall in a sink full of water. If it’s still running after the 20 minute submersion, I would say that’s ok for a single use application for algae removal. And it’s be cheaper than a bottle of Vibrant. Either way, I wouldn’t do anything until I get a water polishing set up. A syphon hose, a small return pump, and a filter sock/holder. Turn off pumps, Scrub the algae off, place soo k and pump in waste bucket, syphon water into sock, let it filter through the sock, pump clean water back into tank.