Algae magnet brand Flipper has invented a novel way to algae-wipe with the Platinum Scraper. Noone experiences algae like reefkeepers do and the new Platinum Scraper is very worthy of your aquarium toolkit. Most reefkeepers have a host of algae wiping devices from long-reach scarpers to magnets, abrasive pads, and old toothbrushes, but the Platinum Scraper should never leave you wanting for a new blade.
Metal blade scrapers are about the best you can get for stubborn coraline algae and if they combine a blade with a long-reach handle, even better. But those blades do bend, go blunt, and even rust over time, meaning if you don’t have a spare to hand, you risk scratching your precious low iron glass.
Flipper has combined a long-reach scraper with the kind of blade you can find a replacement for – your own, in the form of a bank or credit card, store loyalty card, or just about any other plastic card you are sure to carry in your wallet. Plastic bank cards come in rather handy for scraping lots of things from icy car windshields to fish tanks and as far as aquariums go, both glass and acrylic, they are pretty much guaranteed not to scratch anything. We wouldn’t recommend using smart chip EMV cards in saltwater but apart from that, the world is your oyster.
A top tip from Flipper is that if you use an old bank card you can cut it to your own unique shape to fit into those stubborn corners, but if you want to pimp your Platinum scraper with a platinum credit card, or even an American Express Black card, you can do that too. Those close to us are used to us pulling out the plastic in the name of the hobby. They just wouldn’t have guessed we’d be dunking the cards actually in our tanks.
