Flexible Extra Long Reach Bendable Grabber for plucking hair algae

[Ohmegg]

I'm still struggling with this awful cladophora like algae so I was trying to search for something flexible with a retractable claw. So i found one and they are very cheap if anyone needs to pick out algae but it's hard using hands in a small system without breaking something. Just search for Flexible Extra Long Reach Bendable Curve Grabber 

it looks like this image. I think it's purpose is to unclog drains. But it works for me.

 

 

[Woodini]

Grip it and rip it

[mcarroll]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:50 PM, Ohmegg said:

I'm still struggling with this awful cladophora like algae so I was trying to search for something flexible with a retractable claw. So i found one and they are very cheap if anyone needs to pick out algae but it's hard using hands in a small system without breaking something. Just search for Flexible Extra Long Reach Bendable Curve Grabber 

it looks like this image. I think it's purpose is to unclog drains. But it works for me.

 

 

Unfortunately, I doubt it will grip tight enough to rip algae from a rock.  (You want something more like tweezers that can apply more force.)

 

Also you'll have to rinse it THOROUGHLY after every use or it'll most likely rust.  (Hold a magnet to it....if it's magnetic, it will rust.  If not, maybe it won't .)

[Ohmegg]

It appears to work with this very unique algae problem I have. 

[mcarroll]

Wow.  Looks like you could use more than one!

[Ohmegg]

On 8/12/2023 at 11:18 AM, mcarroll said:

Wow.  Looks like you could use more than one!

I know, isn’t it terrible. Nothing seems to eat it. I even bought an emerald crab and I think it died of starvation! It grows right out of the rock, branches and is rigid. Here’s the real kicker…when dropped in a cup of hydrogen peroxide nothing happens…no bubbles, nothing! 

[mcarroll]

When it gets that long it tends to become more unpalatable.  Emerald crabs aren't really dedicated hair algae eaters....I'm not really convinced they're even dedicated  algae eaters at all.....algae just happens to be part of their ecosystem and lifestyle.  IMO a small Damselfish would be the most likely to mess with that algae out of anything I can think of.  In the wild it would be (e.g.) a mob of starving Tangs or something like that.   Something like that in a reef tank means YOU. 😉   Gotta pull it out by hand.  Sounds crazy when you're looking at that much, but it will actually go faster than you initially think.

 

 

Check out his approach in this vid:

 

How do you eat a whale?   One bite at a time.

 

Which is the same way you clean a big algae outbreak....one small spot (bite) at a time.  (Work in 1-2 square inch zones until it's TOTALLY clean.  Then do the next spot.)