Algae Scrubber Basics

So I got a prototype running that has a 12 inch screen and the first 3-4 inch of it gets no water. Everything is rushing towards the end of the pipe... Do I need to enlarge the slot at the beginning or something?

I went back and are sure and my slot is really 1/8inch across.
 
Hey need some help, did a diy upflow scrubber, been probably 1-2months on my 4 month old tank. Currently experience heavy hair algae on rockwork and substrate even on the black plastic wall of my AIO.

Right before the hair algae came was having Dinoflagettes problem but that went away and hair algae set in a few weeks back.

Running a mechanical floss, chemipure elite, BM scrubber, purigen and the upflow scrubber.
My nitrates are zero and my phosphates a low(using api test kit hard to tell).
Been lowering light schedule for the scrubber because i have a slight bleach out in the middle of the screen.
Hair algae grows in it but it grows better in my display tank lol.

Tank is a AIO 22g Cadlights

2firefish
2 cardinals
1 clown
cuc: 5 hermits, 2 astreas, 3 baby ceriths

some soft corals for now

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks
 
Oh yeah, duh, I just saw that on your OP.

What you are describing is typical with a new tank setup. Until you get to about 6 months old, there are a lot of processes going on that we don't "see" on test equipment, because what we use is pretty rudimentary for all technical purposes.

Usually about 6 weeks after you change any rock structure or flow patterns, that's when you're going to see a dino outbreak if you have one. It usually last a week or two, depending on the severity of the change and the conditions from which the rock came from.

Then, you can also get a GHA outbreak as the rocks settle in. Not always, but it happens. If it is a phase, then it might go away on it's own. But keep an eye out for the next possibility, which is cyano. Hopefully, also a phase.

My favorite link for this - go to #15

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/

Also your UAS is only 1-2 months old, for any scrubber this is just not enough time to fully mature, and UASs are usually hit or miss on that timeline, a lot depends on the construction and the individual tank. Pics of the scrubber, sump area, DT, etc would be helpful, but to me this sounds like something you might just have to wait out. Keep doing what you're doing, you have multiple forms of filtration so you are accounting for things from all angles so this is good.
 
So I got the new scrubber all setup and running last night.

I have been running gfo in a reactor and it is now 4 weeks old and needs to be replaced. Should I just take it off line so it doesn't compete with the scrubber for PO4 or continue to run gfo?


I am also running gac in a bag; keep running it or remove as well?


Thanks
 
GFO, IIRC, will only adsorb up to equilibrium. So if your GFO is saturated, it will not adsorb any more. It may actually release PO4 back if the water column level gets too low. Can't recall where I read that and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I would leave it, it's not necessarily hurting anything. If you have 0.00 on a hanna Phosphorus meter (the one that measures in ppb) then maybe you would take it out.
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
GFO, IIRC, will only adsorb up to equilibrium. So if your GFO is saturated, it will not adsorb any more. It may actually release PO4 back if the water column level gets too low. Can't recall where I read that and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I would leave it, it's not necessarily hurting anything. If you have 0.00 on a hanna Phosphorus meter (the one that measures in ppb) then maybe you would take it out.
Click to expand...


Ok. Later down the road once I get screen growth would I then want to take gfo off line or continue using it? Or does it not really matter?
 
So the scrubber has been running for about 60 hours now and I have some very small amount of green growth on the screen already.


:)
 
Is this info still correct?





Growth: When new screens start out, they almost always just have a light brown coating of slimy algae (diatoms). After the first cleaning, and into the second week, it usually gets darker, and by the fourth week and forth cleaning it, can get pretty thick. It's important to realize that all algae remove nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) from your tank, so any algae that grows on your screen is algae that can't grow in your tank. As the nutrients in your tank come down, the type of growth on the screen will change. Here are some different types of growth you might experience:

Light Brown Slime: New screens, and sometimes older screens the day after they are cleaned. Perfectly normal.


Black Oil/Tar: Very high nutrients in tank. Screen must be cleaned every 3 days until growth is not so dark. Stronger lights will fix it faster.


Green Spaghetti/Confetti: This is the best type of growth, because the light-green color and open structure allow light and water to penetrate through all parts of the algae.

Also, it is more firm and compact, like a sponge or chaeto, and will not let-go and clog drains easily.


Long Thin Green Hair: This types occurs mostly in freshwater, and filters a lot because the light and flow go throughout the algae. But depending on how you build your scrubber, the strands may get so long they break off or slow down the drain. Adding a bit of Mono Potassium Phosphate to the water, to increase the phosphate, may help fix this and make it growth thicker.



Yellow Rubber or Yellow Slime: Your flow is too low, and is not delivering enough iron to the algae. If you can't increase the flow, then run the bulbs a few hours less each day. You can also try adding iron to the water, such as Kent's Iron + Manganese.


Cyano: Your light is too weak.



Big Bald Spot In Middle: Your flow is too low near the light, or you used spotlights instead of spiral bulbs and big reflectors. If you can't increase the flow, then run the bulbs a few hours less each day. Adding iron may help here too.



Mysteriously Appearing Small Bald Spots: If the growth is thick, but new irregularly shaped bald spots appear each day, then the algae is letting go from the screen. Your screen needs to be rougher. If you can't do this, then either reduce the flow, or clean more often, so it does not get so thick and heavy.
 
Reef Reactor: links posted on RC to other forum sites are generally banned/censored

David: everything there pretty much holds true. My only comment would be on the iron, you can dose iron until you're blue in the face and it will never maintain a measurable level in your tank, so that's a short term fix. The longer term answer is generally to properly size your scrubber.

Also on the yellow algae growth, what that more accurately has to do with is not enough nutrients being delivered to the algae in proportion to the light. So if you have already low nutrients in the system, you would reduce lights, or possibly reduce your scrubber size (because your load won't support the screen). If you have measurable nutrients, then you have too much light compared to nutrient delivery (flow) - so you increase flow. If you have lots of nutrients then your flow is way too low for your light, you would increase flow here again.
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
Reef Reactor: links posted on RC to other forum sites are generally banned/censored
Click to expand...

Thank you Floyd, Iw ill read the summaries you had posted to understand everything well and I will return with my doubts. I have a 220 gallons tank with skimmer but want to give it a try to the ATS.

Thanks !
 
Hi Santa Monica, Thank you ! I already read information about ATS, but any support will be better if I do not understand correctly on this.

Ok, Trying to following the rules to have the size of the ATS for my tank, I have at this moment 26 fishes. My tank is 250 gallons. I feed like 4 cubes per day, then I need a scruber size of 48 square inches? In that case, It will be a 6"x8" ? Light in both sides. I am acorrect? What happen if I add more fishes and then more food?
 
48 sq in double-sided is correct, if built right that should be able to handle at least 4 cubes/day, and depending on your individual setup, you might be able to stretch that a bit by increasing light intensity/period and flow after it is mature
 
Bigger is fine, it's pretty safe to go 2x the size. If you do it in a bucket, and the lights are on top like one of the original SM "scrubber in a bucket" designs, it won't work as well. you want the lights pointed perpendicular to the screen, meaning cut holes in the bucket. Then you have to cover spray issues on the lamps, etc. So just plan it out and you might go through a few buckets in the build process but those are cheap
 
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