Eyebrow brushes

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

I consider myself a thrifty gal but sometimes I do things that completely blow myself away
Been battling GHA for the better part of 2 months now. See pics below. Unholy hot mess in the nem tank lol
So I thought, what could I use instead of a toothbrush to get the algae off the rock to suck up? oh! Eyebrow brushes! They’re small, can get into all the nooks and they’re like 10 cents a pop. So I buy a pack of 100 from amazon (like $10).
GUYS....
Ive never had a more brilliant idea in my entire life.
I’m trying to brush and suck and it’s not coming unstuck from the brush. I’m getting frustrated and going through water
Then I realized...it’s not coming unstuck. At all.
Light bulb moment.
I used about 50 of these things to twirl the algae right off the dang rocks. Not a spec of algae in the tank (except what I can’t reach).
Mind. Blown. Pics are before, after, and the eyebrow brushes after
Moral of the story, get yourself disposable eyebrow brushes.

Auquanut · Jan 2, 2020

Never occurred to me. Can't imagine why. Of course, I'll have to get my wife to buy them for me if I need them.

GabeM · Jan 2, 2020

I will have to give it a go - have you tried soaking them in acid like vinegar to dissolve the algae so that you can reuse them?

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

GabeM said:
I will have to give it a go - have you tried soaking them in acid like vinegar to dissolve the algae so that you can reuse them?

No way, I don’t use means like that. Not that it’s bad I would just prefer not to. Peroxide is about as much as I would do. I just feel like acid is a nuclear bomb lol plus I wouldn’t want to use them right away after acid.

GabeM · Jan 2, 2020

ahiggins said:
No way, I don’t use means like that. Not that it’s bad I would just prefer not to. Peroxide is about as much as I would do. I just feel like acid is a nuclear bomb lol plus I wouldn’t want to use them right away after acid.

Thats an interesting take on it, some people dose vinegar straight into their tank!

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

GabeM said:
Thats an interesting take on it, some people dose vinegar straight into their tank!

The solution to pollution is dilution (old chem prof would be proud lol)
Straight vinegar on something is a lot different than dosing a tank with things you want to keep alive lol
Again not that it’s a bad idea or won’t work, I just prefer the not so nuclear approach

Although I am working with vibrant so maybe I’m full of crap
On a side note, I totally believe that the elimination of phos allowed them to be pulled off so easily. I’m going to keep small dosing but again, those brushes worked so well.