Best Algae Cleaner?

[JenJ]

I have had an algae issue for the last few months, and I've kind of taken the attitude that as long as it's not harming my fish, it's not that bad. I do clean the inside of the glass each water change quite vigorously, I currently have a scourer type with a plastic handle. That gets rid of the bulk of the 'obvious' bits but I'm getting left with small green splodges that the scourer won't shift.
 
I've had a brief look around and saw a blade type cleaner for £77

 
I think I'd rather have green splodges than pay that much!
 
But can anyone recommend any good, effective cleaners that don't cost the earth, I'm thinking under £10 ish mail order within the UK.

 

[Shelster]

Zikofski has posted this in a thread about cleaning glass with fish in
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JBL-Aqua-T-Triumph-Aquarium-Scraper-/400299953270

Thread:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/417135-cleaning-glass-with-fish-in/

Bit over your £10 budget though, sorry only just read that bit

 

[JenJ]

Ah, thanks. Knew I'd seen something on here, but couldn't remember where!
 
If it does the job well, it'll be worth it. The £10 was more a case of 'a lot less than £77 please'

 

[zain611]

If your looking for small algae eaters get otocincluses they are great fish but are shy though that makes them passive

 

[JenJ]

If your looking for small algae eaters get otocincluses they are great fish but are shy though that makes them passive

Thanks but I'm thinking more of inanimate objects rather than more fish! For once...

 

[Livewire88]

How about trying to get to the bottom of why you are getting so much algae? it would be a better option to address the issue rather than fighting against it. 
 
What tank in your signature is it effecting? 
 
Is the tank near a window?
How long are your lights on?
Do you have any plants?
Are you dosing ferts?
Do you do weekly water changes?
Is your filter cycled?
Have you got decent flow round the whole tank?
 
Since I started this hobby I have been lucky not to have suffered with algae problems, there s always a reason why it is growing out of hand so lets try and find out why so you can address the issue. 
 

 

[snazy]

What type of algae is that? Different fish/snails/shrimp eat different types of algae. Depending on the other tank inhabitans, it's either good to have some of each or just get the ones that particularly eat the algae your tank has.

If your looking for small algae eaters get otocincluses they are great fish but are shy though that makes them passive

Thanks but I'm thinking more of inanimate objects rather than more fish! For once...

 
Oh, sorry. I got confused by the name of the topic too.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Elbow grease is usually the best solution but it would definitely be a good idea to answer and think about the questions Livewire has put forward
 
Prevention is better than cure after all!
 
Personally, I just use a washing up scourer which has only ever been used for my tank. Not the metal type, the yellow and green ones...

 

[JenJ]

What tank in your signature is it effecting? 
 
Is the tank near a window?
How long are your lights on?
Do you have any plants?
Are you dosing ferts?
Do you do weekly water changes?
Is your filter cycled?
Have you got decent flow round the whole tank?

It's on my two bigger tanks, started noticing it when I added my swords a couple of months ago.
One is in a windowless basement, the other well back from a window
Lights are on for 9 hours, I know that wont help but it suits my 'viewing' hours
Both tanks have just swords in
No ferts - I did start using ferropol when I first got the swords, but didn't want to maintain the cost long term - the fish are my interest
Yup, weekly changes of 30-50%
Yup, both cycled, both started with used media and consistently showing 0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrate varies but usually less than 20 (low due to being under stocked and with big water changes)
Flow quite good, outlet at top of tank to move the surface, use duck outlet in corner with flow in two directions

I'm not overly bothered by it, as long as it doesn't harm my fish, it's just that when I cleaned the tanks yesterday, I got bad arm ache (and I'm strong for a girl!) from scrubbing with the scourer and yet the glass is still spotty.

 

[Joshwainwright]

From that, I'd say reduce the hours that your lights are on but if it's going to mean you can't see your fish when you want to and you aren't too bothered about the algae, then there's no point. 
 
The only other solution would be adding algae eating fish such as otocinclus which has already been suggested and of course, extra scrubbing. Maybe get the 'scrubber' Shelster has linked you to and see if that works...
 
I've heard of people using toilet brushes and credit cards too

 

[zain611]

I like to just use a wool pad when i compared it to how a magnetic algae cleaner performs and its great but at the moment im just seeing if my otos are getting the work done by cleaning the glass

 

[Steffyboy]

I've had great success with plenty of sucking loach.
They love the algae so get plenty of them.
My tank was spotless with them in and i never had to clean it once, they even kept all the ornaments spotless too!

 

[Zikofski]

its always good when people quote me in other posts YAY
 
okay yes you can use anything JenJ people can use those rough green pads on the end of a stick, if its cheap you can just use a CLEAN washing up pad with that green rough stuff on from Tesco or ASDA so to speak, with the bladed one thats the best bet pretty much one hard sweep and its gone rather than the green pad needs some elbow grease but works just as good.
 
one thing i have not tried is the magnetic scrappers not sure if they work tbh but when i clean my tanks i need quite a bit of force to scrape the algae off so unless the magnets are really strong then i cant see them working to well,
 
also on the lines of fish, Pleco's are the common fish to buy but in my experience they only do a good job when they are babies and only if the algae is not growing fast i have just bought my self 12 siamese algae eaters who are as it says in the name eat algae BBA which is the algae i am getting, killing of the algae is one thing but ID'ing it and then solving the problem that is causing it is the best option 
 
my best bet is shop around, ebay amazon are your best bet's that JBL scrapper shelster recommended is the big one there are others and ones far less expensive possibly under 10 quid
 
good luck

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The cheapest and best algae scraper for glass tanks made:
 

 

 

[scotty]

I've had great success with plenty of sucking loach.
They love the algae so get plenty of them.
My tank was spotless with them in and i never had to clean it once, they even kept all the ornaments spotless too!

please don't buy these fish,as they become more aggressive as the get older and in some cases might attach themselves to you other fish and cause damage