Algae Scrubber Advanced

[Floyd R Turbo]

EDITED

I would first try cutting off (some of) the slip end of the adapter. You can get a lot more extra clearance by doing that vs gluing the adapter in, IMO

 

[MidwesternTexan]

Thought I'd share, no-one on my local board seems to think it's that great- and many of them are now using ATS's

Actually, today is the 8th day since last cleaning,
this is the LED side, the CFL screen (still 'scrubbing') looks about the same:



The flip side, 8th day, LED lit:

 

[SantaMonica]

Seems fine. Could try to spread the lights out more evenly a bit. Or reduce the screen size.

 

[MidwesternTexan]

Thanks, I doubt I'll do either though. This works OK for me now.
I'm using the 30W LED light per side, and the screen in the size it came from WallyWorld.

I'm running 2 of these screens simultaneously, about 6" between then, side by side.
The other screen has my Standard 2700K CFL's with dome reflectors- 2 on one side, and one of the other.

I want to Thank you and Turbo for all you have done these last few years on
the subject and advancement of ATS!

 

[MidwesternTexan]

SM,

I just read your 2008 post from your link.
Again- brilliant, that's why you have the patent rights to this style scrubber I believe?
Not to worry about me, while I'm a DIY'er, I never plan to sell any.

Some of the local reefers have bought your products, and Turbos I think too.
Several have DIY'd like me too.

What was funny- was the things that some of the people were posting about your idea!
I only read the first page of the link so far, but the 'detractors' were hilarious!

Things like:
'Oh, you don't want that stuff to get into your display!' (where my tangs quickly eat it when I feed some to them)
and things like, oh, there's not enough air/water interaction...., etc.
Or the one 'if you want to reduce Phos- you'll have to run GFO'

Oxymoronic comments to say the least!
That bergzy post on the first page was a good one, as were a few others, and yours too of course!

These things work awesome!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

that's why you have the patent rights to this style scrubber I believe?

No one has the patent on the waterfall scrubber, that idea was published publicly for long enough that it is in the public domain permanently

It's the UAS that he has the patent on

Adey has the patent on the dump-bucket scrubber, and the ATS concept in general, but that's also been around long enough that it is public domain

 

[SantaMonica]

Thanks Texan glad you like the info, and having lived in DFW a while, I know the thinking

As for patents etc, there are many different aspects to the many different styles, some old, some current, and some not published yet. The whole purpose of patents is to publish innovations for the public good, rather than hiding them. This is called the "bargain" and it works pretty well; you publish new stuff to help others forever, and the government grants you protection for a short time.

Waterfalls won't be the same.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

So you're honestly telling me that you procured patents at your own expense for the public good?

You can just as easily, and much less expensively (free) publish such information in 1000 places online for the public good, which also helps others forever.

Sorry, I'm not buying it.

 

[herring_fish]

miss print

 

[MidwesternTexan]

OK, lets move on, sorry, I wasn't trying to stir any pots!

So far, judging on my DIY set up, 2 side by side screens-
one lit by CFLS, one by those grow light LEDS-

both sides are growing about the same, without any obvious growth differences yet.

Whats nice is the the LED's take up less space than my CFL in dome reflectors,
and still use less wattage overall too, and will keep their spectrum an eternity longer than the household CFL lights.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Thanks for the continued updates!

 

[Buzz1329]

Thanks for the continued updates!

Hi Bud,

My V3, L3 is now working OT on my 180. Getting very thick growth of green algae on both sides of screen and am seeing significant reduction of green/brown algae and cyano in DT.

Question: I scrape the screen every other week. In the days after scraping, should I reduce flow/photoperiod on ATS for the first week until algae is once again growing thickly on screens?

Or is this not necessary?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I never change flow before/after scraping. I don't change lighting either, once you have a pretty mature screen, and it gets growth pretty consistently from one cleaning to the next, you're in "cruise" mode...set and forget

 

[wildman926]

I don't know about that. My ATS is a life machine. It's a refugium of sorts and generates more food back to the reef.

IMO: If I had an ATS as big as my reef, I think my reef would be even more successful.

Based on your pics above, your ats is fed directly off of your tank, and have a LARGE area within your ATS to remove the majority of the excess nutrients, and act as a "life machine". This works for YOU. Not everyone has that type of setup, nor the ability to set up an ats in that manner for some reason or another. Most ATS's are fed via a pump, from sump water, where there is not as much life as in the DT.

We all work with what we have, and have to find the balance of what works to keep our tanks clean/free of nuisance algae with the proper feeding to successfully sustain our reefs.

 

[karimwassef]

Based on your pics above, your ats is fed directly off of your tank, and have a LARGE area within your ATS to remove the majority of the excess nutrients, and act as a "life machine". This works for YOU. Not everyone has that type of setup, nor the ability to set up an ats in that manner for some reason or another. Most ATS's are fed via a pump, from sump water, where there is not as much life as in the DT.

We all work with what we have, and have to find the balance of what works to keep our tanks clean/free of nuisance algae with the proper feeding to successfully sustain our reefs.

No question that every tank is unique with unique needs. I should have said that an ATS could be a life machine in the right setup.

I guess it's a reef-keeping philosophy and it works better with big tanks than small: the DT is really just a window to the prettiest part of our artificial reefs and IMO should be the smallest part. The real "reef machine" is actually the rest of the system that is intentionally hidden because it's not as pretty. That's where a massive refugium, ATS, DSB, cryptic zone, and skimmer keep it healthy.

Nature does the same. With sponges and worms squirming under the pretty colorful corals and the wide stretches of algae against the warmer shoreline... The shallows creating nursing grounds for some babies and the vast ocean surface acting as a massive solar collector and air exchanger for others...

I think we try and replicate the window to the reef because it's so pretty and we get away with a lot!! But a true self sustaining ecosystem needs the uglier bits and I think an ATS is a perfect part of that.

I'm planning on expanding mine to a dedicated waterfall ATS too with a 300W CFL on a 24" x 36" screen. More algae export would rock!!

 

[salty joe]

I'm planning on expanding mine to a dedicated waterfall ATS too with a 300W CFL on a 24" x 36" screen. More algae export would rock!!

Why not use 660nm LEDs? You'd get a lot more growth/watt.

 

[karimwassef]

I tend to use what I already have (or rather reuse).

All my LED fixtures and chips are part of a major data collection exercise. Until that's done, only the CFLs are available.

 

[MidwesternTexan]

The CFL lit side still growing well! I'm assuming this is what they refer to as '3D' growth.
It's think, with a kinda of honeycomg appearance to it. It also has long stringy bright green growth,
that also gets caught in the cage of a MaxiJet PH I have in the sump to keep the bubbles away from the RP intake.

This is my CFL lit side after ~13 days while it still hangs in the pipe, water flow off for the pic



Here is the bottom thru the sump glass of some of the green stringys



MY LED lit side is also doing well, I'll clean it next week, alternating so each gets cleaned every 2 weeks, one week apart.



** SO, I seem to be getting very similar growth on my screens,
one lit with CFL's
one lit with LED's (30W grow lights)

My CFL side, I really only change the bulbs when they quit working, and they do quit sometimes

 

[karimwassef]

Hmmm.. Ok. I have an extra 400W MH... How large of a screen could I run with it?

Now assume that I have two 400W MHs... How large of a screen could I run?

 

[SantaMonica]

You could use the 1 watt per square inch guideline for that.