algae on tank wall

[brad4racer]

i was woundering if you should clean all the algae that grows on the back wall my tank. talk to a couple people and they said to leave it there. just woundering what to do.

 

[scsinet]

It's personal preference.
Most folks start out cleaning it, then get lazy and let it grow.

 

[nick76]

i usually just try to keep the sides & the front clean, its quite a pain to get to scrape off the back wall around all the rock.

 

[julie853]

I clean it all off just because I dont like the look of it.
It won't hurt to leave it though if you want to.

 

[big]

It is preference like said above. If it is green algae, eventually purple and green Coralline algae will take over if there is adequate calcium levels...
Here is a thought for you being that this is a new tank...
What I did was start gluing patches of Green Star Polyps (and some other things too) to mine...You can see a new patch glued in the upper left.The ones in the middle have spread to the back rocks so that no back "seam" is visible.

 

[fraggle rock]

Its personal prefrence, I will clean any when I do my monthly cleaning, other than that I just keep the front and sides clean.

 

[salt210]

here lately my turbos have been keeping it clean

 

[king_neptune]

will the turbos eat the longer stuff? I had one, but it died after a week(it was suggested it was starved, since my parameters are perfect). I have plenty of longer algae on some of the rocks, but no one seems interested in eating it.
Ive been doing water changes, and have a turf scrubber going. The algae is thinning out, but I would like to have something in the tank that will eat the longer patches that remain.

 

[big]

Sounds to be Hair Algae. One of the banes of newer tanks.. Search threads on the subject........There are critters that eat it, but sometimes they are hit or miss. Plus them you need to keep feeding them or they will eventually starve. Fixing the issue is best.
First thing I always tell folks to try is cutting your lighting way back for several days..... Even leaving them off for a few days is no problem even for corals...Secondly is Phosphates, high levels of it act as a fertilize for the Algae feeding the stuff.....
The idea is the Algae has a high light demand, by cutting way back for a while you starve it to death..........Warren

 

[saltyjewell]

I scrub it off the best I can and the Mexican Turbo Snails help keep it in check.

 

[king_neptune]

theirs only a couple rocks at the top that have it. ill pull them out and use a tooth brush. then Ill water change %10

 

[flower]

I love the green star polyp method...it looks really good....

I leave algae on the back and sides of my tank...my critters graze on it all the time. I now have xenia started up one side...I may try the star polyps..I have a nice crop of that too.