treesprite September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 I have an interest in learning about these things, and am wondering if there is more than just one type of these things. Appreciated would be pictures of your setups and your experiences. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 I have an interest in learning about these things, and am wondering if there is more than just one type of these things. Appreciated would be pictures of your setups and your experiences. Thanks. Someone recently had a DIY thread with their design. PaulB has had one for ages, apparently - he described it as a 'trough' on the back of the tank that used spillover light to grow the algae. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 Someone recently had a DIY thread with their design. PaulB has had one for ages, apparently - he described it as a 'trough' on the back of the tank that used spillover light to grow the algae. bob Picture dump time! These are all Turf Scrubbers being used as the ONLY means of filtration. MudShark on the MASA site Captevo on the Algae Scrubber site, with a nano setup AdolfoRuiz on the AR site Calunga on the AR site CesarRosh on the AR site: JJavier1976 on the AR site Labperck on the AR site Mario_Mendoza on the AR site Saulhs on the AR site Renman303 on the ARC site Aaarr on the Algae Scrubber site http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v489/JAr...AaarrOnAS-1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 OceanRock on the Algae Scrubber site MT1071 on the FF site Darb on the FL site Huhhhhh on the MB site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 SimonSKL on the MD site Sl1me on the NZ site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 Lighting Wattage: Your goal should be to get at least 0.5 watts of CFL (compact flourescent light) for each gallon of water, for medium filtering. For high filtering, get 1.0 watts per gallon. And don't use incadescent bulbs... they are much too hot and use too much power. The biggest CFL bulbs you should use should be 45W. If you need more, use extra bulbs, not a bigger bulb. Be sure not to run bulbs 24 hours. If you have cyano on your screen, you need more flow and/or more light. If you smell any kind of "algae" smell while the scrubber is running, you need more flow. If your tank has gotten rid of the nuisance algae, but cyano seems to be increasing, this is normal. Cyano does not eat nitrate and phosphate like algae does, so after your scrubber has starved the nuisance algae, the cyano has more room to grow. But if you keep your scrubber running strong and proper, the cyano will fade too. If you have rubbery green algae, it means the flow is getting cut off and the algae is baking. The best current spectrum for the bulb is 3000K (550 nm). This is yellowish-greenish, and it fits right in the middle of the red and the blue peaks of photosynthesis: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 Easy in sump and bucket http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/mega-po...thin-51120.html I have an interest in learning about these things, and am wondering if there is more than just one type of these things. Appreciated would be pictures of your setups and your experiences. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 Pipe: Slots deliver much more water than drilled holes. Keep this in mind when figuring out how much flow you need. Sump growth: Some people have open bulbs which light up the sump, and they are growing algae there. You don't want this to happen, so you need to use reflectors, or even foil, to block the light. Coralline: Since phosphate will slow down coralline growth, you will start seeing more coralline as your phosphate drops in your water. Advanced DIY trick: For those who can build such a thing, if you could build a top-off device which would shut off the flow to the screen, and then run your FW top-off water on it, then switch back to the regular flow, you would be able to extend the time between cleanings because the pods would be kept in control. Dead fish: Scrubbers handle dead fish wonderfully; since ammonia is algae's favorite food, when a fish dies the algae will consume as much of the ammonia as it can, which could save your tank if the fish dies overnight. A skimmer, however, does not remove ammonia at all. What equipment comes first: With regard to scrubbers, here are a few points to consider when planning which device should come before which other device (if you use them): Skimmer: It should come before the scrubber and after the display, so that it does not remove the pods that come from the scrubber (if you need pods). UV: Also should come before the scrubber and after the display, for same reason. Mechanical filters/socks: Same as UV and skimmer. These trap food and pods (which rot and add Nitrate and Phosphate to the water), and thus should be the first thing you should stop using unless you change/clean them daily (but then you are removing the food for the corals.) PO4/N03 removers: Really doesn't matter because N and P are the same throughout the system. Fuge LR/LS/Macro: Doesn't matter, as far as nutrient removal is concerned. Bio Balls (!): Should be removed slowly, unless you have massive amounts of fish, and little rock/sand. Screens: I will be selling ready-to-use screens soon. But until then, it's best to use two layers of extremely-rough plastic canvas, using a hole-saw (and about an hour) to rough up all four sides of the two sheets: This information has been compiled from a few sources, the text is mainly from SantaMonica on the SWF forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 (edited) I've been considering adding a turf scubber in my sump ever since I saw one in one of our members set ups. Here's another very good and simple artcle with pics from Wet Web Media. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...sa%3DN%26um%3D1 name='treesprite' date='Sep 9 2009, 03:55 AM' post='279118'] I have an interest in learning about these things, and am wondering if there is more than just one type of these things. Appreciated would be pictures of your setups and your experiences. Thanks. Edited September 9, 2009 by Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 I had set one up when I first started and it was great. The problem was I set it up pretty lame and it kept falling over, dropping in the water, plumbing wasn't right etc. I am a very POOR DIY-er. But the thing grew algae like crazy and my tank was clean. Does Rob use an algae scrubber? If I could buy one, i would get another... Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 (edited) Mine is a simple arrangement which uses no power at all. It is a plastic trough which is a 4" Home Depot PVC fence post sliced in half to make a trough. It hangs on the top of the tank slightly under the main lighting on a slight angle so the water drains back into the tank. It is fed from the output of the skimmer on the higher end and the water flows 5' to the lower end which is just touching the water. There is a plastic window screen in the trough which I smeared wet cement on, algae loves cement. Another advantage besides using no power is that it shields the rear of the tank fro light giving me a black background which I prefer. If too much algae grows in the trough, I can roll up the screen to remove and clean. No algae grows in my reef, it all prefers the trough. You can see that the rear of the tank goes black Edited September 9, 2009 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBoy98 September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 I've thought about doing this in the past but my Foxface and several other fishes keep the DT pretty much clean of algae considering I feed a ton. There are alot though in the over flow and it happens to be Aptasia heaven there also. I just collect it every so often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Camaron September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 here is a link that has pretty much all different variations and results to the turf scrubber. http://www.reeferscafe.com/reef-discussion...everything.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan September 9, 2009 Share September 9, 2009 Hmmm, I wonder if I can set one up in my overflow. I've got light, flow and loads of algae. I've thought about doing this in the past but my Foxface and several other fishes keep the DT pretty much clean of algae considering I feed a ton. There are alot though in the over flow and it happens to be Aptasia heaven there also. I just collect it every so often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite September 10, 2009 Author Share September 10, 2009 Wow, thanks for the responses, lots for me to mull over! I didn't know plastic canvas could be used for this - I have a huge stack of it in with my craft junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k September 10, 2009 Share September 10, 2009 (edited) I recommend that you read "Dynamic Aquaria" by Adey and Loveland. This is the definitive book on natural filtration systems. You can also build a dump bucket style of ATS similar to the one that is in use at Fins and Feathers. They are much more efficient, are sleeker, and easier to build, light, and clean. Edited September 10, 2009 by zygote2k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Lazar September 10, 2009 Share September 10, 2009 There are also some good discussions at Eric Bournman's forum at Marine Depot. He's pretty big on the science of ATSes and marine aquaria in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b October 12, 2009 Share October 12, 2009 I was wondering what this slimy stuff was in my algae trough and of course, it's algae. Slimy, long hair algae. The thing is doing it's job because there is absolutely no algae in my tank. just in the trough. Cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv October 13, 2009 Share October 13, 2009 Here is a link to the turf scrubber that I have been running for over a year now. It is a very simple design that works well and is in the sump. http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...5&hl=bbyatv Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b December 31, 2009 Share December 31, 2009 To update the algae trough, it is now full of hair algae looking stuff and is practically clogged. I need to clean out some of it so it does not overflow. There is not a bit of this sticky looking algae growing in my reef so I am happy that the thing is doing it's job so well. I want the benefits of the algae in my water because algae is one of the best water purification plants but I would rather not see too much of it in my reef. I don't remember when I installed this thing but it has been a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k December 31, 2009 Share December 31, 2009 I found another angle about the debate of algal system vs skimmed system. If the end result is the same; ultra low nutrient systems capable of growing sps, which one takes the least amount of time and money? Also, which system has better benefits to living organisms? One of the maintenance tanks has a serious battle with bryopsis going on and it is a primarily skimmed system with a small fuge. It grows sps at an amazing rate. On the other side of the coin is my home system which is algal and DSB based. It grows sps at a good rate too. I have bryopsis, but only in the 'fuge. I do have a Valonia issue though, but maybe everyone has Valonia. If Laura (Sharkey18) sets her 120 as an algal system, I'd be very interested to know how quickly it can grow sps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE December 31, 2009 Share December 31, 2009 Got no valonia here, I'm happy to say!! That stuff has been a pain in the A$$ in past tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 January 1, 2010 Share January 1, 2010 I am setting up the 120 as an algal system and I'm interested too! Laura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b January 1, 2010 Share January 1, 2010 (edited) I found another angle about the debate of algal system vs skimmed system. I use algae, and a skimmer. but maybe everyone has Valonia. Luckily, that is something I have never had. Edited January 1, 2010 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k January 1, 2010 Share January 1, 2010 I use algae, and a skimmer. Can your tank grow SPS? What happens when you take the skimmer offline? Can the algae trough handle the additional load? I suspect that it can. Why use the skimmer at all then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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