Algae Scrubber Basics

[acts4me]

nice before and after pics.
are you feeding the same as before?

Actually alot more I used to feed only twice a week because I was afraid it would make the algae worse. Starting this week I have been feeding every other day. I can not believe the change already. I am cleaning my screen once a week. I have not had real heavy growth yet but by the time I clean my screen it is fully covered with green algae. I clean it off everytime all the way I use a pressured hose to spray it off(LOL) It is truely doing the job for me.

 

[phillyfishguy]

thats cool I am still looking into it but I am leaning towards making some sort of water fall that can be taken off line and cleaned.

 

[acts4me]

thats cool I am still looking into it but I am leaning towards making some sort of water fall that can be taken off line and cleaned.

Good luck post some pics when you get it running. I remove mine to clean it. I plumbed it in with unions and a valve so I could take it out of line if it did not work. So now I just shut the valve off and unscrew the unions and take it outside to clean it. Simple.

 

[phillyfishguy]

I have two 1.5 inch drains to basement that I am building now. I have plenty of room to design something cool. I wanted one drain to go to the skimmer and the other drain to go over some sort of waterfall made out of cement and sand. not sure if I want to dump that into the sump or go to a seperate tank to over flow to sump to take off of line. or should I just go to the water fall to sump. When I clean it I would just plumb it to turn it off to another line that drains into the sump so It wouldn't change flow rate. Just don't want issues with water clarity at all.

 

[srusso]

Actually alot more I used to feed only twice a week because I was afraid it would make the algae worse. Starting this week I have been feeding every other day. I can not believe the change already. I am cleaning my screen once a week. I have not had real heavy growth yet but by the time I clean my screen it is fully covered with green algae. I clean it off everytime all the way I use a pressured hose to spray it off(LOL) It is truely doing the job for me.

I now do 3 large feedings a day! Still no nitrate or phosphate! I cant over feed! I have no skimmer or other filtration of any type.

 

[fppf]

So a.... guys.....

What do you do when your algae scrubber starts growing Coraline algae?????
I think I'm seeing a very slight decrease in the patch of turf algae in the DT. However I'm still seeing cyano growth. The scrubber has been growing diatoms mostly with maybe a touch of something green but to soon to tell what it is. I'm starting to see pink coral algae growing for sure on the screen. Go figure.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

fppf...this is from post # 151

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18370689&postcount=151

Again same document, explaining intro growth...

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.

EDIT: hit 'submit' by accident...About coralline algae, if you're getting that, it's a sign of low phosphates. But you shouldn't be getting it on your screen, because with regular cleanings and good GHA growth it just won't get a foothold. However it may grow inside your ATS box, this is exactly what happened to my first model. I don't think it's necessarily bad as long as it doesn't interfere with GHA growth.

 

[srusso]

Thank you for digging that one out again. There have been a few questions about intro algae growth and I haven't had time to dig that one out for people.

 

[fppf]

Yeah, coralline is not on that list

Its not a lot, but within a week I have specs of it for sure.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The entire bottom of my original ATS box was encrusted with coralline after 3 months. You can see it in this picture

I still have the old box, and it still has dead coralline on it that I couldn't scrape off. I wouldn't worry about it...

 

[srusso]

So a.... guys.....

What do you do when your algae scrubber starts growing Coraline algae?????
I think I'm seeing a very slight decrease in the patch of turf algae in the DT. However I'm still seeing cyano growth. The scrubber has been growing diatoms mostly with maybe a touch of something green but to soon to tell what it is. I'm starting to see pink coral algae growing for sure on the screen. Go figure.

Not for nothin'... I have never seen coraline stop hair algae from growing were it wants too... That's if your talking about it growing on the actual screen. Anyway, a picture will help answer a lot of questions. Also what is your magnesium test showing?

 

[Coral C's]

I am going to attempt to build one for my tank and I was wondering why the light on both sides? Does this promote better growth? Also why change the bulbs out every three months, do they diminish in light strength?

 

[srusso]

I am going to attempt to build one for my tank and I was wondering why the light on both sides? Does this promote better growth? Also why change the bulbs out every three months, do they diminish in light strength?

Lights on both sides creates double the surface for the algae to grow. So doubles the filtering capacity.

CFL bulbs lose most of their intensity by the end of the third month.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The lamp replacement is based on real-world experimentation. The algae grows best in a specific wavelength. There is a spectrum shift and lumen drop that occurs over time, which is why you have to replace your lamps over your DT once a year (every 6 months for planted FW aquarium is what serious plant growers recommend). The shift is great enough in 3 months to slow algae growth significantly, such that lamp replacement results in a dramatic growth increase. In order to maintain maximum filtration capacity, 3 months is the approximate correct time to replace the lamps if you use them 18 hours/day.

T5HO tend to last slightly longer than CFL I guess, but I still replace every 3 months.

 

[fppf]

CFL bulbs lose most of their intensity by the end of the third month.

Is there any real scientific proof to this, or is it just opinion based on observations?

I still can't believe that the output of these bulbs would drop that much only 15% into the rated life. Cfl are really no different then a t5 bulb other then being curled up.

 

[Coral C's]

So even though the bulbs shouldn't be used for the ATS they can be still be maybe donated and used for a regular light rather than throwing them out?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Is there any real scientific proof to this, or is it just opinion based on observations?

I still can't believe that the output of these bulbs would drop that much only 15% into the rated life. Cfl are really no different then a t5 bulb other then being curled up.

T5s do have higher effective output - because they are linear, there is no light that is directed back onto the lamp tube itself. This is especially the case with the spiral CFL.

So even though the bulbs shouldn't be used for the ATS they can be still be maybe donated and used for a regular light rather than throwing them out?

Absolutely, they should be used elsewhere.

 

[srusso]

So even though the bulbs shouldn't be used for the ATS they can be still be maybe donated and used for a regular light rather than throwing them out?

+1 I have replaced all bulbs in the house to CFLs, using the old bulbs that once where used on my ATS.

 

[srusso]

Is there any real scientific proof to this, or is it just opinion based on observations?

I still can't believe that the output of these bulbs would drop that much only 15% into the rated life. Cfl are really no different then a t5 bulb other then being curled up.

The difference is easy to see if you put an old bulb next to a new one. The new one will be much brighter. These life ratings your referring to are set by the manufacturer. Its not based on lumen output but actual life of the bulb, when it no longer works at all.

 

[salty joe]

The difference is easy to see if you put an old bulb next to a new one. The new one will be much brighter. These life ratings your referring to are set by the manufacturer. Its not based on lumen output but actual life of the bulb, when it no longer works at all.

That would not be a good comparison. Brand new fluorescent lamps produce a higher intensity until they are "broken in". I can't remember if it's 10% or 15% higher or what. Also cannot recall the "break in" period. 10 hours or 100 hours, don't remember.

As far as spectral shift, is it assumed that these lamps always shift toward producing less PAR? Maybe a higher percentage of light shifts towards PAR. I'd imagine that different lamps shift differently.

It is my understanding that turning fluorescent lamps on and off multiple times ages them quicker than leaving them on 24/7. IIRC, the given lifespan is a number derived from running them 24/7.

When I get my unit running some day, I'll use my cheap lux meter to get a reading after a week or so and use that to compare with lux output as the lamps age. PAR meter would be nice but money is tight.

I have tried to get the spectral graph of the PlantMax T5 3000K and 6500K, but I'm not getting anywhere.