Algae Scrubber Basics

Brummie, am I correct to assume the strings in your pic are for added surface area for algae to attach?
Click to expand...

That is a secondary benefit (although they slightly shade the screen below so may prove counterproductive in that sense). The primary objective is to provide varying flow and light environments in which different algae such as filamentous diatoms can attach and grow. These filamentous diatoms are usually some of the first algae to colonies a screen and are usually exported back out of the scrubber by the scouring effect of high water movement. Some call this BIOMIMICRY and allegedly varying growth environments on or around the screen can triple its biomass and therefore export when harvest. Nobody knows why, but W Adeys testing indicated increased biomass and increased algal nutrient content for any given biomass. A bit of a win, win situation.

I wouldn't advise everyone tries this yet, as I don't know if the benefits found in waste water treatment can be transferred to the reef aquarium, but it makes sense to try it.
 
salty joe said:
You are growing algae with only two blue LEDs, is that right?
Click to expand...


No, i'm using the 40w version of the floodlights I linked to with all red LEDs except for the two blue in the center of the fixture. The fixture comes with more blue than I wanted, so I custom ordered a couple with only two blues in each.
 
My LED floodlights:

zu7u6a9a.jpg



Mock-up of how the ATS will sit on my sump:

vuzuju7a.jpg



ATS as it sits in the stand. Picture taken from the back of the stand:

uza4uduq.jpg
 
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elmatth1, when you post anything from Tapatalk that includes any code, such as those that come along with quoting a post or a link to a picture, shows up as the code and the pictures/quotes don't show up correctly. So right after you submit a post you need go in and edit that post, then save it. You don't need to change anything, just "edit" and "save". You only need to do this when you have a quote/pic in your post. Everything will look fine if you are viewing the post via tapatalk, but if you look at it on a PC, it isn't. Just FYI. This applies to all posts on RC done via tapatalk. It's a know bug but it doesn't sound like a fix is in the works.
 
Looks like a pretty good setup, the only thing I would recommend is maybe another piece of egg crate underneath the horizontal piece, turned vertically spanning the sump front-to-back, sort of like an I beam support, just zip tie that in place at the ends. Egg crate can break if you accidentally drop something on it or press too hard in one spot, just a safety factor and a cheap one. Also you could run a couple 1/2" PVC pipes and zip ties, that would be easier.

I would put the lights right against the diffusers. They look like they have a front bezel and splash shield so there is no worry of heat affecting the diffusers. So there is another reason for additional support underneath.
 
The reason I have the lights back from the screen a bit is I am trying to spread the light some and I thought that the light would be too intense on the screen if it was closer. Here's a pic of my last cleaning. It shows up more yellow in the photo than it looks in person. You can see how the ends of the screen aren't getting as much growth as the middle.

erage7up.jpg
 
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A small change in distance can make a big difference. I would back it off just a 1/2" or so, if you back off an inch or two, you might have a pretty big drop in intensity. Alternatively, you could back off 1-2" and take the diffusers off
 
The lights are as far back as they can go without heavy modification. Would decreasing the length of time they are on accomplish the same thing? They are currently on for five hours, off for two, and back on for five more.
 
Sorry for the confusion, what I meant was 1/2" back from the diffusers. All the measurements I mentioned were in reference to the fixture initially being right up against the scrubber/diffuser
 
Ive probably been trying the algae scrubber for more than 6+ months now with no success(no chaeto or any algae was growing though) Few months ago I introduced hair algae into my tank still got no growth, but when I started to dose carbon my screen started to grow.

Slanted DIY HOB screen

January


Yesterday. It has almost doubled in growth area since last week.




The algae has started at the top so Im thinking about letting the screen go longer with out cleanings or just clean 75% of the hair algae until it's covering the whole screen.
 
As long as it's not detaching from the screen, I would let it grow for a longer time period. A few questions:

How often do you clean?

What is your cleaning process? i.e. rubbing, scraping, scrubbing with a brush, etc

What is your light source and how far away is it? pic might help

Any idea on the flow rate?

What is your tank size?

How much do you feed / how often?
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
As long as it's not detaching from the screen, I would let it grow for a longer time period. A few questions:

How often do you clean?
At least once a week some times 5 days.

What is your cleaning process? i.e. rubbing, scraping, scrubbing with a brush, etc

Ive been using a credit card to scrape it.

What is your light source and how far away is it? pic might help
17watt cfl 2700k

I have it more directed at the screen now than how it is in the picture but it's the same distance. About 2-3 inches.

Any idea on the flow rate?
Marinelands site says 200gph

What is your tank size?
37g

How much do you feed / how often?
Click to expand...
I normally feed pellets and freeze dried stuff a few times a week but Ive been feeding frozen every day since I'm trying to fatten up my new fish. But the skimmer has been picking up the extra load.
 
As long as you don't have thick growth that blocks light to the screen, and then detachment because of that, let it grow longer. Since it's slanted and single sided, I would try 10 days. When you clean, rub with your fingers instead if scraping. You need to let it mature so that you have growth in the holes before you start scraping vigorously.
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
As long as you don't have thick growth that blocks light to the screen, and then detachment because of that, let it grow longer. Since it's slanted and single sided, I would try 10 days. When you clean, rub with your fingers instead if scraping. You need to let it mature so that you have growth in the holes before you start scraping vigorously.
Click to expand...

Alright Ill try that out, thanks.
 
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