Algae Scrubber Basics

[Reefing Newbie]

One question before I go pick up my screen for my ats today. Do you get the screen a little taller than what you actually need to compensate for what you end up shoving in the pvc or is the surface area included in what is inside the pvc pipe? So I need a 10"x12.5" screen, do I get 10"x12.5" or a 10"x12.75" or the like?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Yes, it never hurts to have the screen an inch taller to account for screen inside the tube, and if it's an open screen, another inch for what dips into the water.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Well I will get a 10"x14.5" screen then! Thanks!!!

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Okay so I went to Micheals to get the plastic canvas and the biggest they had was 10.5"x13.5", I need it to be another inch tall would it be possible to attatch two pieces of the mesh together? Or should I find a place online and see if I can get a custom size?

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Ooops double post..

 

[rysher]

Okay so I went to Micheals to get the plastic canvas and the biggest they had was 10.5"x13.5", I need it to be another inch tall would it be possible to attatch two pieces of the mesh together? Or should I find a place online and see if I can get a custom size?

are u going by the old sizing?
i suggest to go with the new sizing guideline.

 

[langtudatinh01]

i think everyone that still cycling their rocks and tanks should start up a ATS. you know sooner or later the algaes will show up during the cycle, then why not give them a place to grow. plus, this will help to mature your scrubber early before the fish come. i completely redo my 40B with the ATS from beginning, i barely see much algae on my display tank but i now have a mature ATS. i relocated all my fish and add another one without any issue. the dead rocks i use bleach quite a lot of phosphate back into the water, but the ATS has handle the issue like a cham. i do not see much algae on my display. everything is green like grass down at the ATS. i am very happy so far.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

are u going by the old sizing?
i suggest to go with the new sizing guideline.

I only know of the 1 square inch per gallon of DT volume when lit on both sides, I didn't know there was a new one. What is it?

 

[rysher]

use the new guideline,
if you feed 1 cube per day, sizing is
3x4 square inches total of 12 sq inches, using 12 watts total.
so thats 3x4 inches, with 6 watt bulb each side.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I have no idea on how many cubes I will be feeding... So I only need a 3x4 peice of plastic canvas for my tank? It seems like a more confusing guideline. Is there a more recent summary other than posts 2001-2010?

 

[rysher]

I have no idea on how many cubes I will be feeding... So I only need a 3x4 peice of plastic canvas for my tank? It seems like a more confusing guideline. Is there a more recent summary other than posts 2001-2010?

New Scrubber Sizing Guideline (Sept 2011)

Scrubbers will now be sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

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)

High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

HORIZONTAL screens: Multiply the screen size by 4, and the wattage by 1.5

Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.

Clean algae off of screen every 7 to 14 days, so that you can see the white screen material.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I am going to say that I will be feeding one cube of food frozen, 10 pinches of flake, 5 square inches of nori, .1 dry ounce of pellets per day. Would I need to muliply the 3"x4" by 4?

 

[SPotter]

So I am designing my filter system for my new tank that will include an ats and I am wondering if i need to have space for a fuge or not. Are you guys still using a fuge with sand in it?

 

[redneckgearhead]

So I am designing my filter system for my new tank that will include an ats and I am wondering if i need to have space for a fuge or not. Are you guys still using a fuge with sand in it?

I have a DSB in my fuge at the moment but my plan is to remove the DSB and move some of my rock down there to open up my tank some. I run my ATS as part of the nutrient removal system and if you use and like running a DSB in your fuge then by all means go for it. Is it necessary as a nutrient sink? I wouldn't think so, but I'm no expert on DSB, but they do offer some other advantages so its a toss up really. Maybe Floyd can give you a more scientific answer to your question.

 

[JohnnyB in SD]

I'm still using one only because it was there before the ATS and I'm not going through the effort to try & get it out. I, like you, plan on utilizing the space for other use on my next build. In fact, I plan on having a 70gl "sump" tank that will be more of a secondary display for creatures I don't want in the main one up top.

Hey Steve,
My T5 ballast is cr@pping out, thinking of spending the money on LEDs instead of fixing it.
How many / what colors would you recommend for a 7x18 screen? What source you recommend?

 

[SPotter]

I was thinking that its redundant to have the dsb in addition to the ats. I am really trying to think thru everything since I have time to plan this out. I really want to maximize the sump area but still have the option to add a fuge later on. I have read that traditional fuge's in a sump set up really dont have a deep enough sand bed to make a difference and its suggested that you set up a remote sand bed which I could always do at a later time.

Johnny,
I just added 4 more red to my screen for a total of 14 now--7 on each side (8 red and 6 white) on a screen that is 8 x 8. I'm really not sure what the right number is or color combination. I have had very good results with mine and I am anxious to see how floyds tests come out.

My plan for the new ats I will be building for my 280 will be 20 leds on each side...still not sure of the color combination yet.

 

[sharkman121]

hey guys Im building my ATS today, i bought two 23 watt 6400k cfl bulbs. My question is, is this wattage enough and is it REAL wattage because i saw it mark on the package that its equivalent to 185 watt or something.

Also. is the 6400k too much as i saw the suggested output for the ATS should be 2700 to 3000.

This is for a 130 gal tank

Thanks in advance guys

 

[pskelton]

An unplanned experiment...

While attempting to get the dishes done, the kids in bed, and the algae screen scraped, I made a mistake. I forgot to plug the scrubber pump back in after cleaning and I baked my screen good and dry under the lights for about 24 hours. Now for the experiment, I have never been able to grow green algae on my screen. The tank had sky high nitrate when I first started the scrubber and even after nitrate finally went to 0 ppm the algae was still the thick black stuff. It will be interesting to see if the algae on the screen changes while the screen restarts....

 

[pskelton]

hey guys Im building my ATS today, i bought two 23 watt 6400k cfl bulbs. My question is, is this wattage enough and is it REAL wattage because i saw it mark on the package that its equivalent to 185 watt or something.

Also. is the 6400k too much as i saw the suggested output for the ATS should be 2700 to 3000.

This is for a 130 gal tank

Thanks in advance guys

You will want to design your scrubber round the actual Watt rating of the CFLs not the equivalent. For a scrubber designed to run on a 130 gal tank (vertical screen lit from both sides) you will want to have approximately 130 watts of CFL lighting (65 watts each side of your screen). the 6400K bulbs will work but 2700K-3000K bulbs have more red spectrum so they will work better.

I highly recommend that you post your planned design on here and ask for feed back.

 

[sharkman121]

thanks ill post my plan here. I need to go return the bulbs for a higher wattage and lower kelvin rating first.