Water at bottom of ATS bucket

[TankTinkerer]

I run the aquarium water from the Over-The-Shoulder Overflow Box to the ATS to the input of the Wet-Dry Filter. Because of the specifics of my wastebasket-shaped ATS and the height of the input of the Wet-Dry and the space I'm working in, I had to cut the hole for the outlet bulkhead from the ATS about 2 inches above the lower edge of the trashcan. As such, there is always about 1.5 inches of standing water in the bottom of the wastebucket that surrounds the ATS plastic screen. After about 17 days of using the new ATS, the plastic walls of the trashcan are starting to form a layer of red and brown algae.

Do I need to clean that algae off the sides of the bucket when I clean the algae off the plastic screen?

[SantaMonica]

For best filtering, yes, clean the bottom when it gets thick.

Also, if you have live rock, you can remove the wet dry.