Yes, they count. All light's count...... Clean the glass, I am sure there are a bunch of ways. However, I clean the outside the same way I clean my TV screen. I use Windex, spray it on a rag/paper towel and wipe the outside down and the follow with a dry rag/paper towel. I don't spray either directly from the Windex bottle for different reasons.
Don't want the fluids to run down the front of the tube and get in or on any electronics and don't want the peripheral mist of the Windex getting in the tank water