Eyebrow brushes

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

I consider myself a thrifty gal but sometimes I do things that completely blow myself away
Been battling GHA for the better part of 2 months now. See pics below. Unholy hot mess in the nem tank lol
So I thought, what could I use instead of a toothbrush to get the algae off the rock to suck up? oh! Eyebrow brushes! They’re small, can get into all the nooks and they’re like 10 cents a pop. So I buy a pack of 100 from amazon (like $10).
GUYS....
Ive never had a more brilliant idea in my entire life.
I’m trying to brush and suck and it’s not coming unstuck from the brush. I’m getting frustrated and going through water
Then I realized...it’s not coming unstuck. At all.
Light bulb moment.
I used about 50 of these things to twirl the algae right off the dang rocks. Not a spec of algae in the tank (except what I can’t reach).
Mind. Blown. Pics are before, after, and the eyebrow brushes after
Moral of the story, get yourself disposable eyebrow brushes.

Auquanut · Jan 2, 2020

Never occurred to me. Can't imagine why. Of course, I'll have to get my wife to buy them for me if I need them.

GabeM · Jan 2, 2020

I will have to give it a go - have you tried soaking them in acid like vinegar to dissolve the algae so that you can reuse them?

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

GabeM said:
I will have to give it a go - have you tried soaking them in acid like vinegar to dissolve the algae so that you can reuse them?

No way, I don’t use means like that. Not that it’s bad I would just prefer not to. Peroxide is about as much as I would do. I just feel like acid is a nuclear bomb lol plus I wouldn’t want to use them right away after acid.

GabeM · Jan 2, 2020

ahiggins said:
No way, I don’t use means like that. Not that it’s bad I would just prefer not to. Peroxide is about as much as I would do. I just feel like acid is a nuclear bomb lol plus I wouldn’t want to use them right away after acid.

Thats an interesting take on it, some people dose vinegar straight into their tank! :)

ahiggins · Jan 2, 2020

GabeM said:
Thats an interesting take on it, some people dose vinegar straight into their tank! :)

The solution to pollution is dilution (old chem prof would be proud lol)
Straight vinegar on something is a lot different than dosing a tank with things you want to keep alive lol
Again not that it’s a bad idea or won’t work, I just prefer the not so nuclear approach :)
Although I am working with vibrant so maybe I’m full of crap
On a side note, I totally believe that the elimination of phos allowed them to be pulled off so easily. I’m going to keep small dosing but again, those brushes worked so well.