Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
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silverwolf72
New member
Looking up growth red vs blue leds, I seem to find more evidence to use only blue over only reds.
JustinGr
Clown Pimp
Speaking to one of the heads of the IU School of Biology, the red is good for terrestrial plants. But for marine life, this is a highly filtered light, . He did not doubt that you would get growth with it, his questions was, is it healthy algae? Meaning, it is using light that it was not designed for, the the strength of the species may not be up to par with a counterpart grown in optimal light. He had no data to back up his thoughts, but that is all he had to say.
I had a seasoned Algal Turn Screen with the red/maroon turf algae on it. I removed it from the 6500K PC bulb it was under and placed an AI SOL Blue on it 4-5" above it at 100% all 3 channels. In 36 hours the algae has gone from the maroon/red to a flat green and is spreading. I'll do this for another 36 hours and see it is it dying off, and if so, I'll change the intensity. Then I'll work on color combinations. This is on a 200 MARS retail unit in my shop (garage). The Bio-Wheel was removed and a large dump style ATS was installed in the sump.
I had a seasoned Algal Turn Screen with the red/maroon turf algae on it. I removed it from the 6500K PC bulb it was under and placed an AI SOL Blue on it 4-5" above it at 100% all 3 channels. In 36 hours the algae has gone from the maroon/red to a flat green and is spreading. I'll do this for another 36 hours and see it is it dying off, and if so, I'll change the intensity. Then I'll work on color combinations. This is on a 200 MARS retail unit in my shop (garage). The Bio-Wheel was removed and a large dump style ATS was installed in the sump.
660nm is somewhere around 4x the photosynthetic absorption than a 630nm. Micro algae in high efficiency bio reactors use reds due to the prevalence of microalgae in shallow water, as well as maximizing photosynthesis per watt of power used.
Most likely, a change from red to blue will cause a species shift, towards deeper water type algaes.
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Most likely, a change from red to blue will cause a species shift, towards deeper water type algaes.
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Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Guys, this was all hashed over years ago w/r to scrubbers - the growth results difference back in '08/'09 when shifting from 5000K/6500K T5HO/CFL to 2700K/3000K was very notable.
The marine algae we grow prefers majority red spectrum.
Chlorophyll A absorbs in the deep red and far blue/violet ends of the spectrum. These correspond with high noon sun dominant wavelengths, which are what is primarily used. Chlorophyll B is more of the sunset/sunrise spectrum. Some have theorized that this is sort of a secondary/backup system (that's a non-tech term), which is used when A spectrum is not as available (cloud cover, etc)
I'm with you that experimentation is still needed, and I have plans for semi-scientific testing myself. Just be aware that if you are testing something while it is connected to your system, don't rely on that for filtration.
_shorty_
New member
That's a good point. Thanks Floyd.
So - I am doing a preliminary report on my 36W (8Red:4Blue) LED bulbs (after only a few days running). I am NOT confirming or denying any better or worse growth. Only reporting that the optics shield on the bulb's face is very directional... it's textured in a way that really directs the light at a steap angle.
I am already noticing fairly intense hot spot in the center with okay growth on the edges. I plan to remove the plastic optic shield and replace it with standard thin acrylic hoping to get a wider angle with less intensity right in the center.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
That's a common thing that I suggest to do with the high-power (1W or greater) LED PAR type lamps. Most of these have optics built in to the front, and you can typically remove the cover and take the optics off, which results in a much wider spread. Consequently, this cuts down on the intensity if you leave it at the same location, so you typically have to move the lamp a little closer, until you get the right balance of spread and intensity.
Thats why I reallly like the flood light that I posted, seems like the spread is great and there has not been any hotspotting. Growth has been equal across the screen. I even have a small screen that is at a perpendicular 90 degree angle to the light and it is growing evenly. I have used the par bulbs before, they are too focused. Seems like my light puts out a very wide flood.
I noticed the same, and pulled off the optics as well. Makes a HUGE difference in spread, and "spotlight" intensity.
Hi all, my tank is currently going quite well, acropora's growing, fish happy, cleaning my front glass every 3-4 days.
The only thing that bothers me are some bubble algae and a some cyano algae patches on a couple of the lower rocks.
PO4 is at 0.03 and NO3 at 2.5-5 mg/l. Color of the corals is decent and I am happy with that.
I was wondering if anybody used an Algae Scrubber on a full blown reef tank. I browsed this topic but could not really find pictures of a tank with large acropora corals in combination with an AS.
Do you know of any examples? I am more than willing to make a scrubber to fight the bubbles algae and cyano but not at the risk of harming my corals. Else I will just try the chaeto route but I get the feeling an AS is more efficient.
Thank you for any replies!
The only thing that bothers me are some bubble algae and a some cyano algae patches on a couple of the lower rocks.
PO4 is at 0.03 and NO3 at 2.5-5 mg/l. Color of the corals is decent and I am happy with that.
I was wondering if anybody used an Algae Scrubber on a full blown reef tank. I browsed this topic but could not really find pictures of a tank with large acropora corals in combination with an AS.
Do you know of any examples? I am more than willing to make a scrubber to fight the bubbles algae and cyano but not at the risk of harming my corals. Else I will just try the chaeto route but I get the feeling an AS is more efficient.
Thank you for any replies!
Most definately.
My tank is only 33g, but it is just as much a "full blown" reef tank as any... lots of live rock, sand, around 15 LPS colonies, and over 40 different SPS colonies. Healthy. Colorful. Growing. And have been running my small ATS for as long as I've been keeping SPS - a few years. My only SPS problem is that they get too big and have to be pruned - or sometimes - removed.
So to answer your quetion... yes.
Happy to help. Particularly for my friends in der Nederlanden.
Haha, good to see you know your languages.
Groetjes (greetz)!
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Did you move the fixture closer to the screen? Without the optics, you will get a greater spread of light, which is what you want (better blending, even coverage) but you should also move the light a little closer.
One could argue that this is a "6 of one, half dozen of the other" type of thing. Optics + further = no optics + closer. The only difference being better blending if between different colors of LEDs w/o optics.
One could argue that this is a "6 of one, half dozen of the other" type of thing. Optics + further = no optics + closer. The only difference being better blending if between different colors of LEDs w/o optics.
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