Best glass cleaning animal?

[Cerberusfish]

So I KNOW that this is just a part of the hobby and I should just deal with it, but I'm kind of tired of how much algae grows all over my glass throughout the week. I've got a 75 gallon with a few snails (need to add more but the snails I like to use are hard to find near me for some reason) a fox face and a tomini tang for algae control in a 75 gallon, but they just don't do a great job cleaning the glass. The tank is heavily stocked but I don't mind adding something since I plan to upgrade to a 120 or larger soon. What's something that would hang out on my glass and help keep it cleaned up so it doesn't get totally coated in algae a couple times a week? My nitrates and phosphates are low, my rock is totally clean, sand is taken care of by a sand sifting star, it's just the GLASS. If only there were a marine version of ottocinclus cat fish lol.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

A human with a flipper or magnafloat works best in my experience.

 

[Cerberusfish]

A human with a flipper or magnafloat works best in my experience.

Yeah I've got a flipper. But I don't spend as much time in that part of the house anymore and can't move the tank yet to where I DO spend my time. So by the time I actually get over there to admire the tank instead of just feeding it gets pretty bad. Flipper is a gift from god though. I love it.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Yeah I've got a flipper. But I don't spend as much time in that part of the house anymore and can't move the tank yet to where I DO spend my time. So by the time I actually get over there to admire the tank instead of just feeding it gets pretty bad. Flipper is a gift from god though. I love it.

I get it. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a wise butt

 

[James M]

saltwater mollies. Constantly pecking at the glass to eat off film algae

 

[Cerberusfish]

I get it. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a wise butt

I don't blame you. I was a little sad the opportunity didn't present itself to me lol.

 

[Cerberusfish]

saltwater mollies. Constantly pecking at the glass to eat off film algae

I've got 5. I'm not the biggest fan of them as I find them kind of boring. And mine spend way more time picking at my sand than anything else (I have lots of spaghetti worms I can't get rid of and I'm sure not going to stop them doing population control) I was kind of hoping for some kind of starfish that's reef safe and not too difficult to care for. I was thinking maybe a formia or linckia but don't really know much about any stars other than the sand sifting star I have.

 

[James M]

I've got 5. I'm not the biggest fan of them as I find them kind of boring. And mine spend way more time picking at my sand than anything else (I have lots of spaghetti worms I can't get rid of and I'm sure not going to stop them doing population control) I was kind of hoping for some kind of starfish that's reef safe and not too difficult to care for. I was thinking maybe a formia or linckia but don't really know much about any stars other than the sand sifting star I have.

Your only option left is an algae scraper. Those stars don’t do good in our tank and slowly die

 

[N3mo]

Tunze glass cleaner..

 

[HB AL]

There really is no "animal" that's going to keep your glass clean enough where you don't need to scrape it off. I need to clean mine once or twice a week, so it's really not an issue to spend 5 minutes a week to keep the glass clean. Your flipper is your best and really only option in keeping your glass clean.

 

[vetteguy53081]

For me- Astrea and nerite snails

 

[Cerberusfish]

For me- Astrea and nerite snails

Those are also my number ones, especially nerite, but they are so dang hard to get at stores near me and I don't like ordering things like that online.

 

[Rmckoy]

I've got 5. I'm not the biggest fan of them as I find them kind of boring. And mine spend way more time picking at my sand than anything else (I have lots of spaghetti worms I can't get rid of and I'm sure not going to stop them doing population control) I was kind of hoping for some kind of starfish that's reef safe and not too difficult to care for. I was thinking maybe a formia or linckia but don't really know much about any stars other than the sand sifting star I have.

Any of the Formia stars used to have a very poor mortality rate .
most didn’t last long at all .
I’ve also read acclimating them can be tricky .
something to do with any exposure to air ?
Someone else can clarify or confirm if that’s wrong

 

[vetteguy53081]

Those are also my number ones, especially nerite, but they are so dang hard to get at stores near me and I don't like ordering things like that online.

My LFS- 5 for $6 and plenty of them

 

[Rmckoy]

My LFS- 5 for $6 and plenty of them

There is a fish or invert that only eats them .
they can be hard to find

 

[jaganshi066]

My LFS- 5 for $6 and plenty of them

I get 10 for $5

 

[s_spowart]

You could try a herd of Urchins, I think those long spined ones are meant to be ok if you dont mind a new hole in your finger every time you put your hand in the tank lol. The only thing that seems to work for me though is once a week I use a magnet scraper. Only takes 5 minutes. The snails often get in the way, but they dont pollish the glass clean enough to easily see through.
You could also try a uv steriliser as that will kill off free floating algae spores, and slow down the growth, although it wont affect what is already on the glass.

 

[Rmckoy]

Jumbo Mexican turbo snails .
they get roughly the size of a crab apple ,
Work amazing

 

[Fishinabarrel]

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has worked well for me.
I buy that, feed it to my spouse and she cleans the glass.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has worked well for me.
I buy that, feed it to my spouse and she cleans the glass.

Mine used to love cleaning the glass. But it was a novelty once upon a time. Now she hates it. But she also tries to tell me what to put in the tanks, how to scape them, etc etc. but she won’t help pay or help clean. He guidance is largely ignored. Entirely ignored.