Reddish stuff on my glass.

[SaraJames]

I've got this reddish brown stuff that I just can't seem to get rid of. I am scraping the front and sides of the tank every other day and if I miss a spot it is back by the next day. I don't have access to the back of the tank with the scraper (I'm short).

I scrubbed it out really well about a month or so ago but it was back in full force within days. When I cleaned it out it was on the sand as well. Now it seems to be sticking to the glass. I don't have a microscope but I can tell you that when I scrape it it seems to come off in sheets not break up into little pieces.

I really don't want to break the whole thing down again to clean it. Last time I did it wrong and lost a ton of fish.

Also, the tank is about 4-5 months old and from what I can tell it is within all parameters. I only have an API test set right now. I plan to get a better one next month.

Is this just the uglies?

 

[pudge]

I clean my glass (acrylic in my case) with a magnet cleaner minimum 2 times a week. Actual mileage will vary depending on nutrients, light strength etc but I think that is fairly typical. That looks like normal algae build up to me.

Not sure there is anything bad about it at all beyond obstructing the view. Maybe a better or stronger magnet cleaner would make your life easier. Many reefers let the back go and eventually get covered in coraline algae.

Best of luck.

 

[SaraJames]

Thanks. I have a magnetic cleaner that has a scraper edge. It's the best! It's so much better than my old one. Thanks for the info.

 

[Paul B]

It is perfectly normal, leave it alone. My reef is decades old and I can't see through the back of my tank because of that. If I don't clean my front glass every 2 days, it will look like sheet metal.

 

[W31Olds]

If you can adjust your lights for more white and not Blue and then take another Pic. This could be the Start of GHA, Cyano, or Dynos. Also, some pics of your rocks and sandbed.
@ReefSquad

 

[SaraJames]

If you can adjust your lights for more white and not Blue and then take another Pic. This could be the Start of GHA, Cyano, or Dynos. Also, some pics of your rocks and sandbed.
@ReefSquad

View attachment 20260410_113516_6B352203-72D8-41B6-9192-23B7788262EA.mov
Does this help?

 

[Paul B]

Looks perfectly normal to me.

 

[Uncle99]

Does this help?

Yup, looks new, normal.
Work towards ensuring the most stable environment possible and manually remove where possible…..until the tank matures up a bit and it will go.

 

[W31Olds]

I never cleaned my back glass much except when I really had bad GHA. I never clean it now because my Tangs and Lawnmower Blenny graze on it all day long. Your Tank looks pretty young so expect GHA next.