Algae Scrubber Basics

[Floyd R Turbo]

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....

ouch! Not the first time I've heard of this happening if it helps. I have a fish get stuck on the intake pump and cut off 95% of the flow and lost 1/2 the screen 3 months ago. It took 3 months for the 'dead' part of the screen to really come back to full strength, because the surviving part of the screen basically did the majority of the filtering (and grew dark) and prevented the rest of the screen from coming back as fast. At least that's what I figured out.

If you have always had dark/black algae, even with low nutrients, you may have to up your lighting. Keep us posted.

 

[scolley]

I've kept quite on this thread for a while, so will provide a brief update...

Started my little LED driven ATO 4 to 5 months ago. Its covered with nice green hair algae that I remove 1/2 of each week. I don't even bother to check NO3 or PO4. There's only so many times you can get Salifert to say "Zero" before you decide you are wasting tests.

Though I scrape a ton of algae off my mat each weekend, my skimmer still pulls stinky grundu out of the water at about the same rate as before I set up my ATO. So my opinion remains that believing ATOs eliminate the need for a skimmer is a bunch of hokum.

There was never much algae in my tank before my little ATO. Pretty much a wee bit to be scrubbed off the glass each week. Now I go weeks without scraping glass, and then all I scrape off is coraline dust.

I'm really a planted tank guy, and know enough to know that the algae I clean off my matt every week is composed of CO2 from the ambient air, potassium in the water, and nitrates and phosphates in the same. And I'm thrilled to be pulling that N and P from my water column. I'm building a replacement tank now, and the ATS is definitely coming with it, and I'm retiring my DSB.

My only regret is that it is NOISY. Not right after cleaning, then it is quiet. But within a day or two the PVC begins to clog with algae, and flow is impared in some areas, and the flow increases in other spots and it gets loud. But I plan on installing a light shield that will keep light off the area where water exits the PVC. I'm pretty sure that will eliminate that problem.

IMO this is a spectacular addition to my filtration. Many thanks to all supporting this thread, and wonderful, natural filtration method!

Happy to provide pics for any doubting Thomas's.

 

[mrbncal]

^^^^

My name is not Thomas but I'd love to see some pics . . .

 

[scolley]

^^^^

My name is not Thomas but I'd love to see some pics . . .

Sure - Whatever the name. I'll snap a few when I clean it this weekend. I've got a really crowded sump, where it's installed, so I'll have to take the mat and splash guard out so you can see them better. But it's easy to explain now...

The whole thing sits it my sump. The mat is about 6" wide, and I only have water running down one side, because I only have room to light one side. And its powered by my return, so I don't want to waste flow. The water that could be flowing down an unlit side is better used returning to my tank. The mar is shoved up into your traditional piece of PVC tubing with a slit carved out. But the mat is permanently attached to the PVC to keep the water coming only out of one side. The unlit side has a bead of silicone adhering the mat to the PVC, preventing water from coming out that side. The PVC is attached to a union that I can unscrew to remove the mat/pvc combo for cleaning.

I light the mat with a 9 star mount LEDs on a heatsink, primarily 3 watt Crees, with a couple of reds mixed in. That light is hung on the back of a stand door. So with the door closed it points toward the back of the stand, that it would illuminate if the mat weren't 5" or so in front of it. And to protect the LEDs from splashing of the ATO, I've created a simple, clear acrylic splash guard that hangs from hooks at the top of my stand, and is between the mat and the LEDs.

Pics will make it more clear. I'll do an FTS also, just so you can see, that while my tank is pretty humble at the moment, it is - at least - free of even a spec of nuisance algae.

 

[calvin415]

Haven't post any updates in a few months, but that's because I haven't touched my tank in over 2 months. I did a water change the other day, cleaned off the coraline and figured I'd take a few pics... For a testimony of how well the ATS is working for me, I went 2 months without touching my tank including cleaning the glass, I had more pink than green/brown on my glass! As for my skimmer, after not cleaning it for 2 months I only had about a cup of tea colored water, that's about it. ATS took care of the rest!

If anyone is not familiar with my ATS Setup, I use a 7x7 screen lit from one side 24/7 on my 18g ADA 60-P. Here are a couple setup shots:

Typical results:

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Calvin, great setup, thanks for sharing the success story! I do miss your super long tank though.

I was going to say that you shouldn't run the scrubber light 24/7, but hey, it works for you. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else - still need down time. Have you tried running it 18 on / 6 off?

 

[calvin415]

I haven't, only because I didn't have another extension cord and timer, and after 6 months, I figure if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

 

[1Sik1500]

Thats a good setup. It looks very simple which i like. How do you feel about the excess light showing in your stand? that is a concern of mine. I would like to cut down on the amount of excess stand light.

 

[calvin415]

It is in my basement so I don't really see it. As it is, you can only see the light spill through the cracks at night. If I was really concerned, I would consider turning the light onto a light cycle that has it off when it bugs me, or I could work on sealing the doors better.

 

[SPotter]

I can only dream of growth like that. I'm 2.5 months in and not getting anything like that. My nitrates are 0 and phosphates have been steady at .0125 so I shouldnt complain but I would still love to see some growth like that. I am not totally convinced LED's is the way to go anymore.

 

[redneckgearhead]

I can only dream of growth like that. I'm 2.5 months in and not getting anything like that. My nitrates are 0 and phosphates have been steady at .0125 so I shouldnt complain but I would still love to see some growth like that. I am not totally convinced LED's is the way to go anymore.

Don't blame your LED's yet. I have the CFL's and am struggling to get growth even close to that.

 

[JohnnyB in SD]

I had good success with CFL's but too much heat. Am struggling to get my T5s to produce in the new unit I built a month ago. Went from green growth almost like Calvins with the CFls to black snotty goop and detectable nitrates. Kinda freakin out.
Moved the T5s as close to screen as possible and upgraded the ballasts per Floyd's suggestion. Early indications are his advice is the correction I needed.
Here are pics of ATS v2.0 before I modded the lights.

 

[sharkman121]

Hey guys, i got a whole lot of info from this thread so i got a few stuff in preparation to begin my own ATS.

i really roughed up that screen, so much so that it tore a couple times in the process.

i have 4 x 26 watt cfls 2700k cool temp bulbs

the screen is a 13" x 11" and the tank is 130 gallons


Here's a quick photo of the sump area its supposed to go in. I decided not to attempt any clean up at all for the photo since its usually this untidy 75% of the time :hmm3:

i have a maxi jet 600 which i plan to use for flow.

im not totally sure how i plan to do the design as yes, i actually have two screens so i have the option for going with a double screen if the wattage would suffice.

Any input from you guys would be appreciated. :beer:

 

[sharkman121]

Pic of tank that has become grown with algae from high nitrates and phosphates. I guess this can serve somewhat as a "before" pic as im confident that the ATS would correct my parameters.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

You want warm white lamps, 2700-3000K preferably. Cool white will work, but not as well

 

[SPotter]

need feed back on sump with built in ATS

need feed back on sump with built in ATS

So I am kicking around two different filtration system ideas for my 280 build that I will be starting very soon. One idea is to use rubbermaid stock tanks and the other is to have a custom acrylic system made. With this I would create a compartment for the scrubber and wanted to get everyone's feed back to see what problems you think I might run into.



If I go this route, I would more than likely go back to using clip on cfl's for my lighting and I would build an acrylic box similar to Floyd's box with two bulkheads that would drain into the scrubber area.

Thanks and I am looking forward to everyone's thoughts.

 

[Nammy]

Done, that was allot of reading!

 

[JohnnyB in SD]

Hey guys, i got a whole lot of info from this thread so i got a few stuff in preparation to begin my own ATS.

i have 4 x 26 watt cfls 2700k cool temp bulbs

the screen is a 13" x 11" and the tank is 130 gallons

i have a maxi jet 600 which i plan to use for flow.

im not totally sure how i plan to do the design as yes, i actually have two screens so i have the option for going with a double screen if the wattage would suffice.

Any input from you guys would be appreciated. :beer:

13" needs 455gph.
You could use a Maxi 600 to get started but you'll probably find it won't be enough flow for the long term by the time you factor in head pressure.
No way to feed your screen with overflow / gravity and not have to use a pump?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

SPotter, it would probably be a lot simpler to make baffles from front to back and make everything flow from one side to the other (much easier to build = less labor = less $/time). Otherwise it becomes a complicated build. Also I don't really see much of a reason to separated the ATS from the main sump compartment. Why not make the first compartment the fuge, second compartment the filter sock/probe/scrubber compartment, then up/downs, then the return? Also if you are running external pumps the return section can be pretty small.

Just some food for thought.

 

[SPotter]

SPotter, it would probably be a lot simpler to make baffles from front to back and make everything flow from one side to the other (much easier to build = less labor = less $/time). Otherwise it becomes a complicated build. Also I don't really see much of a reason to separated the ATS from the main sump compartment. Why not make the first compartment the fuge, second compartment the filter sock/probe/scrubber compartment, then up/downs, then the return? Also if you are running external pumps the return section can be pretty small.

Just some food for thought.

Excellent suggestions....let me play around with that. I would not be the one building this so ease, time and labor is not so much of a concern however $$$ is. I already got a quote for the layout I posted and its about twice as much as using stock tanks.