How do you manage algae on lids from bubblers?

[Gannon]

Water flicked up by bubblers causes algae and buildup of other gunk on my lids, I'm not the best at cleaning and keeping up with all of it, how have you all managed this issue or have you had the issue at all? Or do you just scrub it more often than me? For me it gets this bad very quickly! I scrubbed it all very clean yesterday and will be tracking how long it takes. 

[Macready]

My light sits directly above the sponge filter. So I have this issue. 

I put some electrical tape on the top of the lid which seemed to help reduce the light and thus the algae. I still have to scrape it during monthly maintenance.

I also noticed a decrease in the lid algae after I bought a riser for the ACOOP light off of Etsy.  This got the light directly off the lid and seemed to help. 

The Easy Flow addition to the sponge filter really seemed to help, more than the tape, it makes the bubbles go horizontally across the water surface instead of popping all in one area  

I still get some algae to scrape/wipe off the lid but it is finer and more spread out now.  

 

[Gannon]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:26 PM, Macready said:

My light sits directly above the sponge filter. So I have this issue. 

I put some electrical tape on the top of the lid which seemed to help reduce the light and thus the algae. I still have to scrape it during monthly maintenance.

I also noticed a decrease in the lid algae after I bought a riser for the ACOOP light off of Etsy.  This got the light directly off the lid and seemed to help. 

The Easy Flow addition to the sponge filter really seemed to help, more than the tape, it makes the bubbles go horizontally across the water surface instead of popping all in one area  

I still get some algae to scrape/wipe off the lid but it is finer and more spread out now.  

 

I can't afford to compromise too much on lighting for the sake of the plants, but I ought to at least try a few of these things thanks!

[Dacotua]

Clean your glass, drain a little water out of the tank so the bubbles water splashes dont touch the lid.

Another option which I'd also recommend, buy the easy flow kits for your sponge filter from Aquarium Coop. You can divert the water and bubbles so it glides across the water.

 

Edited February 15 by Dacotua

[Gannon]

Absolutely, just not a fan of the look with a lower water level so if thats the tradeoff ill live with scrubbing a little lid algae haha. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I just ignore it until I can’t anymore, and then I scrub it kinda clean, and then I ignore it until I can’t anymore. 

[Scapexghost]

Razor blade

[Galabar]

I've got bubbles from a power head that do the same thing.  Any bubblers added to the tank will also result in the same.

[Pepere]

It is simply a part of my weekly tank maintenance.  

Saturday morning I remove the lid, siphon 3 gallons out of the tank, use a melamine scrubby to clean all of the glass inside the tank, trim lrune plants for the week, and then do a 50% water change. Clean and replace lid and clean the outside of the tank..  it takes me about 30 minutes..  First Saturday of the month takes about 15 minutes longer as I service the canister filter and scrub the glass intake skimmer.  Every three months I take down all of the filter hoses and spray bar to scrub out and replace.

I prefer to keep to this schedule as it goes quicker and always looks better and is not at all onerous compared to letting it get bad.  Doing monthly canister maintenance, it never looks anything like those unpleasant filter cleanings I see on youtube where people go 6 months between cleanings…

Cleaning the lid weekly I never have green slime covering the lid.  At most, I have a little string of green slime I get out with a q tip where the glass and the hinge meets.

I would rather do less work every week than an onerous chore every 3-4 weeks.

[Guppysnail]

Use a clear plastic take out cup lid.  Run the airline through the straw hole. Keep that just above the water line.  It stops the splashing against the lid.  It’s clear so does not interfere with lighting and usually is unseen due to the top rim. 

[Gannon]

On 2/15/2024 at 7:43 AM, Guppysnail said:

Use a clear plastic take out cup lid.  Run the airline through the straw hole. Keep that just above the water line.  It stops the splashing against the lid.  It’s clear so does not interfere with lighting and usually is unseen due to the top rim. 

This is a phenomenal idea, I'm going to try this.