How Do I Clean Algae on a Fish Aquarium?

Video Transcript

"My name is Ryan Wells. I'm an owner of a local fish store in Lindon, Utah, called Reef Runners. Some of the common maintenance on a aquarium is controlling your algae. You always get algae growth in a aquarium. It's a natural part of keeping an aquarium. Some of the best ways to get rid of algae on your glass, which is the most common algae you will receive is through use of an algae magnet. They come in different sizes, different colors, different forms. The main gist of it is you have two different magnets, one that goes on the inside of the tank, one that goes on the outside of the tank. On the inside of the tank there's usually an algae pad or some sort of scrubbing device. Through the magnets, they clamp together on both sides of the glass. It's real simple. Basically, you just move the magnet back and forth. That's going to clean off your film algaes. There's another type of algae that you commonly get in a reef aquarium, or other salt-water aquariums. This is known as coralline algae. This is a hard, encrusting algae, mostly of a calcium carbonate composite. Usually, most of your algae magnets are not strong enough or abrasive enough to get rid of these different types of algaes. So, these are the two different types of algaes you want to watch for. For your film algaes or green algaes use a algae magnet, and for your calcium algaes or coralline algaes use use some sort of a metallic or an acrylic safe scraper."