15 Best saltwater fish tank cleaners (2024)

FAQs

What is the best saltwater fish tank cleaner? ›

Having an in-tank clean-up crew that continuously focuses on algae removal can be a big help in keeping that algae problem under control. Crabs, snails, starfish, urchins and sea cucumbers along with utilitarian fish like blennies and tangs are your best defense against nuisance algae.

Surgeonfish make great reef tank glass and rock cleaners. Being herbivores, they eat only algae and leave your corals alone. However, some tangs can get too large for small tanks.

Granular ferric oxide (GFO) adsorbs phosphate from the aquarium water, starving the algae and causing it to die back. Replace the GFO every 2-3 months to keep the phosphate level low.

Remove excess amounts of algae by hand, siphoning or filtration. Adjust the lighting intensity higher or lower, depending on the type of algae present (with green algae - use less light; brown algae - use more light). Remove excess nutrients (DOCs) through protein skimming. Reduce nitrate and phosphate.

Chemical filtration for aquariums. Chemical filtration works by absorbing or adsorbing things from the water. Activated Carbon is by far the best known chemical filter media and is widely used to get crystal clear aquarium water.

As a general rule of thumb, use one clean-up crew member for every 3 gallons of water in a new tank and two clean-up crew members for every 3 gallons of water in an established tank. However, stocking levels can vary depending on the tank's footprint and the tank inhabitants and bioload.

For a 20-gallon tank, I typically start with 10 snails, one cleaner shrimp, and two hermit crabs. Five snails are herbivores and will clean the glass and rock, and the other five snails are detritivores and live in the sandbed and eat extra food and fish waste.

The most commonly offered for the job are the blue-legged hermit crab (Clibanarius tricolor), scarlet hermit crab (Paguristes cadenati), blue-knuckle hermit crab (Calcinus laevimanus), and red-leg hermit crab (C. tibicen). They will all eat microalgae and filamentous algae, in addition to leftover fish foods.

Suckermouthed catfish like Common and Sailfin Plecos, Bristlenose and Otocinclus all graze algae and will “clean” the tank of it, but they do also need food in their own right if they are to grow, stay healthy and thrive.

Which Goby is the best for sand sifting? ›

The Tiger Watchman Goby (Valenciennea wardii) (also known as the Ward's Sleeper, Ward's Tiger, or Tiger Sleeper Goby) is a favorite among reef tank enthusiasts. The Tiger Watchman Goby stirs the sand as it sifts through it, straining out food.

The mild acid in the household staple can help lower nitrates in your tank by boosting the growth of the beneficial bacteria living and thriving within your little ecosystem. Those bacteria then chomp down on the nitrates. Dosing small amounts of vinegar slowly over time acts as food/fuel for beneficial bacteria.

The most important routine maintenance chore—the partial water change—should be completed once every two weeks or, at the very least, once a month. In heavily populated tanks or tanks containing large specimens that excrete on the heavy side, weekly water changes would be even better.

Well, diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. They can cover sand, rock, pumps, glass, you name it. Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.

Chlorine is still one of the most effective killers of algae so doing a super-chlorination of 10-20 ppm of chlorine can go a long way towards wiping out the algae. Liquid chlorine is an ideal shock for algae because it is fast acting and does not add cyanuric acid (CYA) or calcium to the water.

Barley straw is another plant product that destroys algae growth. This solution takes time, but it is completely harmless to fish and uses no chemicals. You place the barley straw in the water and it decomposes over a few months, depending on the temperature of the pond water and how oxygenated it is.

Grab a brush and some baking soda. Bicarbonate, the active ingredient in baking soda, is an effective spot treatment to help kill the algae and loosen it from the wall. Make sure you really get every last particle free; black algae has particularly long and stubborn roots which makes it a persistent strand.

Algae are plants and thrive in environments rich in water, light, and nutrients. This makes aquariums the perfect breeding ground. Too much light or too many nutrients in the water will cause algae to grow rapidly.

The best way to tackle algae is to actually get your hands in the tank and manually remove as much as you can. Use an algae pad or algae scraper on the glass daily, and brush plant leaves and decor too.

Nutrient Imbalance

For most algae that means nitrate and phosphate, which typically come from fish food and fish waste, but they can be in tap water as well. Overfeeding and/or having too many fish for your tank size or filter capacity also lead to a build-up of nutrients.

What is the best crystal to put in a fish tank? ›

Rock crystals such as Quartz (including Rose Quartz, Smokey Quartz, Apricot Quartz, etc.), Jasper, Citrine, Jade, Ametrine, Tiger's eye, Amethyst, Agate, Black Tourmaline, and Petrified Wood are all considered safe additions to your aquarium.

On top of removing organic matter, protein skimmers do a great job aerating the water.

At this point, we'd recommend removing some of the tank water and replacing it with clean saltwater. You could also increase the supply of dissolved oxygen through your air pump. This is a quick and safe way to reverse the cloudiness in your marine tank.

When Should I Introduce my Cleanup Crew? If you are cycling your saltwater aquarium with live rock (as most saltwater aquarists do) then you will want to add the cleanup crew right after the cycle is complete (before you add fish).

Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, select Disk Cleanup. If prompted, select the drive that you want to clean up, and then select OK. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box in the Description section, select Clean up system files.

Trochus and Cerith snails are the best inverts to purchase to eat it, most other crabs and snails will not touch this bacteria. But, these two will quickly clean a light bloom and keep your tank looking clean while you work to find the problem.

If your tank is full of fish and corals, you have a heavy bioload. A moderately stocked tank is considered a medium load and a tank with only a few fish would be considered a light bioload.

The cycling process usually takes six to eight weeks.

After about eight weeks, your ammonia and Nitrite levels should be acceptable (about trace levels), and you can add more fish. Do not add more fish until the ammonia and Nitrite levels have both dropped.

Sea urchins act as scavengers and will also eat dead algae that they find. Some sea urchins, such as the variegated sea urchin or the red sea urchin, have become popular as pets for home aquariums because of their ability to proficiently eat algae.

Planaria are flatworms in the class Turbellaria; they are found in both freshwater and saltwater environments the world over. They are quite small, but if you can examine them closely enough, you'll see eyespots as well as protrusions on both sides of their widened heads.

What are the white bugs on my saltwater tank glass? ›

Do you have tiny white "bugs" swimming in your saltwater aquarium? You are probably seeing copepods or amphipods. These tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans dwell in marine substrate as adults, but during their larval and juvenile stages, they swim freely through the water.

Algae with softer filaments are eaten by invertebrates like Amano shrimp and most dwarf shrimp species. Even snails like the highly popular ramshorn snails will go after the filamentous hair algae coats.

The shark and remora relationship benefits both species. Remoras eat scraps of prey dropped by the shark. They also feed off of parasites on the shark's skin and in its mouth. This makes the shark happy because the parasites would otherwise irritate the shark.

Perhaps the rarest goby on earth is known from a single male specimen collected by Curasub (a 5-man diving submarine outfitted for reef fish collection and research) between 374–449 feet (114–137 m) in Bonaire in 2013, hiding out in a glass bottle found along a sandy slope well below the usual safe scuba-diving range.

The Yellow Watchman Goby is one of the best fish for saltwater aquarium beginners because they are not picky about their diet and will eat food readily available at the pet store, are inexpensive, and hardy. Goby fish are also popular, so they are easy to find in many pet stores.

When it comes to cleaning the sand bed, the Sand Sifting Starfish, Astropecten polyacanthus, is unparalleled in its effectiveness. Also known as the Comb Starfish, White Starfish, and Sand Starfish, this species works wonders in home aquariums for its sifting and cleaning of the sand.

#6 - Hydrogen Peroxide

Many corals tolerate the peroxide, even directly on the tissue. Some reefers use peroxide as a coral dip to remove algae from frags. At the same time, do your best to avoid spraying your coral. Peroxide will not kill the roots of the algae so it can and will grow back if left alone.

In my experience, I started with using 15mL vinegar per 100 gallons of water volume and had no problems. I increased weekly by 15mL vinegar per 100 gallons up to 45mL per 100 gallons. Perhaps dosing higher vinegar amounts if necessary will work as well. Watch for bacterial blooms in the tank water.

Be sure to replace the filter media at least every three to four weeks and give the filter housing a quick rinse. If any algae or debris has accumulated in the intake tube, clean that as well.

It may take a saltwater tank longer to cycle compared to a freshwater tank. Keep in mind you'll want to allow for at least six weeks for your tank to cycle before purchasing all the fish you will want.

How often should I change carbon in saltwater tank? ›

Carbon will become exhausted, for the most part, within the first week of use inside a reef tank. For this reason, we suggest replacing carbon every 1-2 weeks alongside your regular scheduled maintenance (water changes).

Saltwater/Marine Species that Eat Brown Algae

Trochus snails – genus of marine snails with a conical shell. They are great at cleaning up diatoms on all tank surfaces. They're also a cool species because they can right themselves if they get flipped over, unlike many other snail species.

An algae blenny or a Starry blenny may also be effective, or a combination of algae eaters like tangs, rabbitfish and blennies in large reef aquaria.

While a brown algae outbreak does not mean that your tank is cycled, it definitely means that you're well on your way. For annoying as algae outbreaks might seem, they are a sure sign that things are happening in your tank and that soon enough you will be able to add the fish and invertebrates of your dreams!

As mentioned previously, distilled water and R/O water are preferred. Any advanced reef keeper will attest to this statement. If conditioned tap water is your only option, you may be limited to fewer types of hardy corals and invertebrates.

Generally speaking, Diatoms or brown algae are one of the few algae that are good for your aquarium because they produce oxygen. How do you prevent Diatoms (Bacillariophyta/Brown Algae)? Limit the nutrients in your saltwater aquarium. You may also add grazing snails such as Turbo, Astraea, and Trochus.

The solution is simple: do nothing. Don't add a UV sterilizer or do lots of water changes to remove the haziness; this just makes the bacterial bloom last even longer. Instead, wait one to two weeks, and the water will gradually clear up on its own as the bacteria reestablishes itself again.

A 10% weekly water change is the best schedule, for a 40 gallon tank that means removing 5 gallons of water into a bucket and replacing it with 5 gallons of clean saltwater. Alternatively, you can choose a 20% water change every other week which would require two 5 gallon buckets or 10 gallons total.

The pH shouldn't be too high or low, and it should remain constant. Different fish species may prefer different pH levels — most freshwater fish do best at a pH between 6.5 and 8.5. Saltwater species may require a more alkaline pH, since the average pH of ocean water is about 8.1.

Bottled Water for Saltwater Aquariums

As for saltwater and reef tanks, the only bottled water that can be treated would have to have gone through the reverse osmosis process.

What color algae is good for saltwater tank? ›

Coralline Algae is a type of red Algae in the order Corallinales. It is a desirable algae to have in a saltwater aquarium and its growth is an indication of a properly matured marine fish tank.

Q: What eats bubble algae? A: There are certain fish species that eat bubble algae, including blennies, tangs, angelfish, and surgeonfish. Also, some invertebrates, such as emerald crabs, sea urchins, and turbo snails, will graze on bubble algae.