"Captain Feedback" wrote in message ups.com...
I'd like to remove the coralline algae from the side and back glass
panels of my tank. The algae is growing in sheets which are only
lightly attached to the glass, and scrape off easily.

What I'm wondering is what will happen if I scrape it off and let it
sit in the tank. Will it just break down gradually and be removed by
my protein skimmer, or will it decompose and rapidly increase levels of
harmful organics in my tank? Should I remove it manually? I'd say
about 75% of the back glass is covered with it, and about 90% of my
side panels (this is a 55 gal. tank).

Do not worry about it... I woud pick up larger, unsight pieces or
crumble them in my fingers but I would left the rest of scraping alone.

They will naturally decompose releasing some nutrients into the
water but this is not harmfull and we all do this for years...
Calcium residue will eventualy crumble into fine sand particles.

At least I do scrape them from front and side walls, leaving them
growing untouched on the back - they create nice, natural background...