Coraline algae

[JimD]

Well Ive let it get out of hand on the front of my 12 gallon clown tank and now I can barely see in the darn thing. How do ya'll get this stuff of of plexiglass without ruining it? Ive tried acrylic scrubbers, credit cards, even tried picking it off wih my fingernails but nothing seems to work, this stuff is TUFF! Any other ideas? Tanks too small for a long spined urchin.

[Tim Marvin]

Unfortunately if you leave it on there too long, it seems to etch itself into the acrylic. It will leave spider web looking etchings all over the acrylic and won't come off. You may end up having to buff it. Greg at 360 has some buffing kits if your interested.

[JimD]

What little Ive been able to remove, so far I havent seen any etching, Id have to get the stuff off before I could buff it anyway.

[Tim Marvin]

Use something plastic then like a CC

[weizer896]

It's just a suddestion,but why not try those razor blades you can buy at HomeDepot that are for getting stickers off of glass. It has worked for me.

[JimD]

If those blades are metal, it wont work, this is a plastic tank. Thanks though!

[Sunhutch]

How bout a plastic ice scraper? Or, doesnt Kent sell a plastic scraper, kinda has a sharp edge like a blade.

[JimD]

Yeah, I have a Kent scraper also,... I might give the ice scraper idea a try though!

[Tim Marvin]

What ever you use, as long as the material is softer than the acrylic you should be ok. If you use a really hard plastic it may scratch also.

[CD]

Jim - if worse comes to worse, since the tank is so small - you could always put the clowns in something else temporarily and do the old vinegar and water soak. That will take it off without worry of scratches. Do you have sand in there too, or is it BB? If it's BB, and you don't have to go through the mess of removing a SB, I would definitely do the vinegar soak. ;) No elbow grease involved either :P

W. :)

[JimD]

Whats up W? I thought about that, if I was to get that drastic, and I may, Ill probably just switch out the Ecipse for a 15 tall glass tank or something similar, gonna try to fabricate a tool out of an old ice scraper first and see if I can make a dent... Ive also thought about nailing the tank with a 250w halide for a week or so to see If I can convince it to disappear. :)

[jaded]

if the coraline mainly on the top you could just expose teh coraline to air for a few hours... that will kill it off enough to chip it off the acrylic

[JimD]

Ended up making a tool out of 1/8" plexiglass, cut a piece 3" x 1" and put a sharp 45° angle on the 1" end with my mitre saw, worked like a charm once I got the hang of it, the trick is to keep the edge sharp, only do a small area at a time and not apply too much pressure.