This might sound like a REALLY dumb question

Hey guys.
Quick, and maybe stupid question.

So on my AC110 the out-spout (if you will) grows vibrant green algae.
I try to clean it once a week, sometimes once every 2 weeks.
While i am cleaning it, i take the net and try to catch all of the bits that would otherwise fall into the tank.


my cichlids then attack the hell out of the algae floating. they seem to really like it..

Is it ok for them to eat the big chunks of algae that i scrape off of my AC110?

Yes, and why scrape it? Just leave it, it benefits the water, and the fish. In the wild the fish graze on insects and algae.

madness wrote:Yes, and why scrape it? Just leave it, it benefits the water, and the fish. In the wild the fish graze on insects and algae.

In all honesty.


I scrape it off because it makes the waterfall "not perfect" i hate looking at 12 inches of spout room, and only a 7 inch waterfall coming out.

When the spout is clean the water hits the tank water and its not silent, but it has a nice peaceful sound to it.
where as, when its dirty it sounds like someone with a hose pouring into a bucket from a foot or 2 up.


i dunno its just me lol...


i ALWAYS scrape my filter spouts to keep them clean.

Sounds like you will continue to have this problem. 2 suggestions. 1) if filter is in the sun light, get it out. 2) remove filter and completely clean it, soak it with bleach and rinse.

I am running 8 AC110's and they have been running for 2 years plus, and I have no algae issues on any of them.

madness wrote:Sounds like you will continue to have this problem. 2 suggestions. 1) if filter is in the sun light, get it out. 2) remove filter and completely clean it, soak it with bleach and rinse.

I am running 8 AC110's and they have been running for 2 years plus, and I have no algae issues on any of them.

The filter used to be in the sunlight on my old 50 gallon.
with the new 125G its no longer in the sunlight, but i suspect some of the algae lived during the switch and is continuing to grow.

i have little to no algae growth IN the tank. just on the filters.
seems kinda normal to me

I'm with Madness on this one, I view it as apart of the bio-filter process. I do, however, scrape once in a blue moon but more often then not if I'm worried the flow being impeded by gunk on the other end of the hob in the intake. I clean those once a week cuz I got power heads moving most of the poop into my filters!

Adonijah wrote:I'm with Madness on this one, I view it as apart of the bio-filter process. I do, however, scrape once in a blue moon but more often then not if I'm worried the flow being impeded by gunk on the other end of the hob in the intake. I clean those once a week cuz I got power heads moving most of the poop into my filters!

i need to invest in a powerhead.

My moms tank gets that on her filter spout, slimy green that comes off in a sheet of algae when you wipe it. My filter has never been in natural sunlight but my grow bulbs are at a light angle which is causing it. I just wipe it off every water change.

Ratlova30 wrote:My moms tank gets that on her filter spout, slimy green that comes off in a sheet of algae when you wipe it. My filter has never been in natural sunlight but my grow bulbs are at a light angle which is causing it. I just wipe it off every water change.

Ok i am in the same situation, i have my T8 bulbs about 2 inches in front of my AC110.
that has got to be the reason for the growth. i scrape mine every water change aswell. sometimes i skip it once and hit it ever other change.


unfortunately, my T8 fixture doesnt have a long enough cord so it has to sit way back on the tank. besides, i like how it lights my tank.

im starting to wish i had cleaned my filter parts more often. took apart my 55 that was for africans for the longest and man is it covered in crusty salty goodness.

AE86-Danny wrote:

Ratlova30 wrote:My moms tank gets that on her filter spout, slimy green that comes off in a sheet of algae when you wipe it. My filter has never been in natural sunlight but my grow bulbs are at a light angle which is causing it. I just wipe it off every water change.

Ok i am in the same situation, i have my T8 bulbs about 2 inches in front of my AC110.
that has got to be the reason for the growth. i scrape mine every water change aswell. sometimes i skip it once and hit it ever other change.


unfortunately, my T8 fixture doesnt have a long enough cord so it has to sit way back on the tank. besides, i like how it lights my tank.

I didn't wanna spend money buying small screw in florescent bulbs for the strip light that goes to my moms tank(or course it take take the tube bulbs, because I had spares of those!) so I took the hood off of my 5gal galaxy tank(light is built into hood) and took the strip off the 15gal and put the 5gal hood on the 15gals hood. The 5gal hood is so deep that the back of it sits on top of the filter making the angle. It's unsightly but the plants grow like mad in her tank so I just kept the hood. At least that type of algae stays confines to the filter. The the 5gal hood was on my 5gal tank that type of algae would grow on the sand and you could actually pick the sheet of algae off of the sand.

I have my light on an automatic timer and have slowly decreased light to a point where I dont have a lot of algae growth but still get to enjoy my fish.

If your not growing any algea in your tank, but are in you filter. Then you have something like a refugeum going on. So the wildlfe will benefit from the algea, but its not blocking your view. And if its not clogging your filter, I would not suggest taking it apart. I would keep it just the way it is and if it bothers you, continue to scrape it. I fear that if you erradicate the algea, you will probably have a outbreak in your tank. Of course nobody can be certain this would happen, but honestly I wish I culd have algea growing in my filters and not in my tank.

I don't wipe it all off, just the part where it starts to get thick and messing up the water flow.