redneckgearhead
Active member
I think it looks fine. It will get better with time. It took mine about 4-6 weeks to really grow some good algae.
Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
Jason.Wright
New member
I have a 120 gal DT. From what I understand, I need: 12x10" lighted screen, 420 gph flow (12" screen span), 120 actual watts CFL (60 each side). Is this correct? My Mag will double the flow rate. Will that cause problems? I'm not too excited about the noise, though. But, I don't want to do a drain based ATS at this time. I can throttle back with a valve if necessary.
I noticed that SantaMonica changed his recommendations for ATS sizing. It's based on feeding instead of tank size. Based on feeding, I would need to feed 10 of any of the below:
1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen)
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen)
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen)
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen)
10 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen)
5 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen)
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen)
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)
I don't feed that much right now. Especially since having to put my eel up for adoption. He ate two triggers
.
I noticed that SantaMonica changed his recommendations for ATS sizing. It's based on feeding instead of tank size. Based on feeding, I would need to feed 10 of any of the below:
1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen)
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen)
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen)
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen)
10 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen)
5 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen)
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen)
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)
I don't feed that much right now. Especially since having to put my eel up for adoption. He ate two triggers
.i'm currently running the revised ATS sizing.
benefits is faster green growth.
clean only every 10-14 days
lights go to 6 mos instead of 3.
save on electric bill since lighting is only 9 hrs instead of 18.
i think i have better growth with the revised sizing than the old one.
benefits is faster green growth.
clean only every 10-14 days
lights go to 6 mos instead of 3.
save on electric bill since lighting is only 9 hrs instead of 18.
i think i have better growth with the revised sizing than the old one.
or that side of the screen has more flow.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I haven't even had time to take them out of the box
JohnnyB in SD
New member
Steve, you started with LEDs and have never used anything but, right?
Last edited:
JohnnyB in SD
New member
Steve looks like he has plenty of time, shipem over to him :jester:
SPotter
Active member
Correct. Im finally starting to get some really thick growth now. Im going to try putting optics on the leds that are on the edges because a lot of the light coming from those is being wasted i think.
Steve
JohnnyB in SD
New member
I think the ATS I'm going to make for the 180gl "my kid is getting for xmas" will use LEDs
SPotter
Active member
My wife refers to this hobby as the other woman.
Whens your 180 going to be ready?
Steve
Need Help
Need Help
so, i revised my ATS to the new sizing guidelines, i have been getting good growth, the problem now is i'm having a diatom bloom.
my sand is full of diatoms, i tried the 3 days lights out but it came back after i turn on the lights.
my water parameters is 0 everything.
sg= 1.026
dkh= 9
ca = 460
mg = 1300
do i need to vacuum the diatoms or shall i just leave it as it is and it will disappear by itself. i have never had a diatom bloom so i dont know how to deal with this.
i got 3 small fishes about 3 inches, and i feed 2 cubes a day + some pellets.
vacuum or leave it as is?
shall i stop feeding for a couple of days?
Need Help
so, i revised my ATS to the new sizing guidelines, i have been getting good growth, the problem now is i'm having a diatom bloom.
my sand is full of diatoms, i tried the 3 days lights out but it came back after i turn on the lights.
my water parameters is 0 everything.
sg= 1.026
dkh= 9
ca = 460
mg = 1300
do i need to vacuum the diatoms or shall i just leave it as it is and it will disappear by itself. i have never had a diatom bloom so i dont know how to deal with this.
i got 3 small fishes about 3 inches, and i feed 2 cubes a day + some pellets.
vacuum or leave it as is?
shall i stop feeding for a couple of days?
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Rysher, diatoms could be the result of changing the configuration of the scrubber. Any change you make in a stable system will result in a change of the 'set-point' of the system, and something will likely get thrown out of whack. Since and algae scrubber does the majority of the filtration, the system does not necessarily rely on the bacterial colony to perform that duty. When you make a change, even a little one, this could temporarily upset the 'order of things' in the system.
I would leave everything else alone, vacuum the diatoms if you wish, won't hurt. They'll probably come back until the system stabilizes again.
That's my take on it anyways.
My algae scrubber is in a weird growth cycle, it seems to me that growth is affected by the food you feed. I switched over to a new batch of DIY food a few months ago and the growth has not been very green since, parameters are still good though. I had a lot of clogging of my powerheads in the tank (koralias) and flow was way down, and I ended up with patches of cyano, which are now going away slowly. I would change a few things but we're putting the new tank on the stand today and within 2 weeks everything will get moved back there, so I'm just leaving it alone right now...
I would leave everything else alone, vacuum the diatoms if you wish, won't hurt. They'll probably come back until the system stabilizes again.
That's my take on it anyways.
My algae scrubber is in a weird growth cycle, it seems to me that growth is affected by the food you feed. I switched over to a new batch of DIY food a few months ago and the growth has not been very green since, parameters are still good though. I had a lot of clogging of my powerheads in the tank (koralias) and flow was way down, and I ended up with patches of cyano, which are now going away slowly. I would change a few things but we're putting the new tank on the stand today and within 2 weeks everything will get moved back there, so I'm just leaving it alone right now...
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Hard saying. Too many possibilities/factors. When you start a new tank and get a diatom bloom, it eventually goes away (usually) so I'd put it on a parallel with that, you might be having a mini-cycle, not one that's going to do any harm, just a re-adjustment (probably of parameters usually not tested for without lab equipment)
The good and the bad...
Just realized today I have not seen my turbo snails in a while. I suspect they have starved to death now that my algae has gone away. The good part is the scrubber powered through 3 dead turbo snails with out me even noticing. Nitrate still at a solid 0
Just realized today I have not seen my turbo snails in a while. I suspect they have starved to death now that my algae has gone away. The good part is the scrubber powered through 3 dead turbo snails with out me even noticing. Nitrate still at a solid 0
JohnnyB in SD
New member
I like that one. My wife will start saying the same thing if she figures it out.
Neighbor comes over house last night: "Does that tank take much of your time?"
Wife interjecting before I can answer: "Oh my God! You have NO idea!"
And I thought it's getting pretty good since I started the ATS.
Knowing how these things go from experience, I'm shooting for sometime in March to be transferring livestock into it. Junior will be pressuring me everyday to get it done. He REALLY is the reason I started this hobby, he has been nuts about fish since he caught his first one off a pier at 4 yrs old. Santa brought an FO tank that xmas, morphed into a reef within months. He has absolutely no interest in toys or video games. His idea of going somewhere exciting is to the LFS. I'm down to only 4 tanks in the house right now, it'd be worse if his mother let us..
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Gorgok
New member
I have been only following this for a like a month or two, but the more i do the more appealing this seems. Currently i run bio pellets and dump that next to my skimmer, and while it might be working just fine (i have 3 different nitrate tests give me different readings) i believe in experimenting and not 'leaving good enough alone'.
Of course, i understand abrupt changes are bad, so i was mainly thinking if i added this to everything else going on... Like if i took the outlet of the bio pellets and used that flow for the screen (i will have to measure it of course). Technically it is all the 'same water' so i don't see this being a problem (assuming it flows enough) but any comments on that idea?
The one major issue i still haven't thought through is that my sump/stand are of a very cra(m)ped design so i am not sure how the whole deal would be setup. At least it is a smallish tank (75 or so) and the screen wouldn't have to be too big.
Of course, i understand abrupt changes are bad, so i was mainly thinking if i added this to everything else going on... Like if i took the outlet of the bio pellets and used that flow for the screen (i will have to measure it of course). Technically it is all the 'same water' so i don't see this being a problem (assuming it flows enough) but any comments on that idea?
The one major issue i still haven't thought through is that my sump/stand are of a very cra(m)ped design so i am not sure how the whole deal would be setup. At least it is a smallish tank (75 or so) and the screen wouldn't have to be too big.
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