Algae Scrubber Basics

[Jade5051]

Just ordered the HOG 3 from Santa Monica Filtration. Let's see how it does. It's a upward ATS.

Looks like a nice system it should do well. I enjoy the challenge and reward of DIY.

 

[Jade5051]

It is all about the amount of food (nutrients) you are putting in. Here is a guide that may help.
https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=b0tmj6d91ce368ee542aba6b2b670ae00412b

My foot print above my sump is 12x6

Why isn't this spreadsheet working? I put numbers in and it doesn't calculate anything.

 

[Jade5051]

20 fish = 480 in2? Is that assuming some fish/food input ratio?

I think the spreadsheet is recommending 12 square inches of screen lit on both sides for 1x 3 gram cube of food.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

@AZRippster, so one of those chambers is a post-filter, the other is emergency overflow? The other thread @wildman926 tagged says it's a "pre-filter"...very nice build, professional looking quality!

@chagovatoloco glad I could help, it was an educated guess...fixture looks very good!

@karimwassef looks like it is working great, glad to hear you are having good results! What's on the left side of those pictures? Looks like you have a scrubber in 2 places!!

@Jade5051 look in my signature, the 1st post is very outdated. the guideline now is per feeding, not per tank volume.

Time for an update on my Mortar Screen. The quick answer: do it.

Day 0 - 12/8

Day 1 - 12/9

Day 2 - 12/10

At this point, I switched the timer from 24/7 operation to 1 hour on, 1 hour off, all day long.

Day 3 - 12/11

Day 4 - 12/12

Day 5 - 12/13

Day 7 - 12/15

Day 9 - 12/17

 

[AZRippster]

@Floyd -

It's basically a big box that has three lids that sits in the first chamber of my sump. The first lid is where the inlet from tank's overflows go. There is a pipe in there with a groove (you can't see) cut in it that directs the water's force a little more controlled into the box.

The second chamber is where the ATS sits. I can take the ATS out and pop in the lid for servicing, etc. The ATS drops down into this section a bit to assist in keeping salt-creep and such to a minimum.

The final chamber is the pre-filter into the sump. I can't stand buying/washing socks, so I buy the Pinky Filter material and cut pads to the size that can be seen in the photo. I just pop one out and replace it about every 3 or so days. It also catches any loose algae, debris, or small critters (brittle stars and bigger pods) before going into the sump.

I have a Mag 18 that feeds a manifold in the sump that pushes water to the ATS, Chiller, and if necessary a Spectra Pure dual-reactor of GFO/Carbon. I put the Carbon online after heavy fragging and the GFO if Phosphates start to rise due to some heavy feeding. Otherwise, it stays offline.

 

[Johnic]

Looks like a nice system it should do well. I enjoy the challenge and reward of DIY.

I agree about dyi, I just don't have the time lately but dyi is def a rewarding process.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

At this point, I flipped the timer back to 24/7 operation

Day 12 - 12/20

here's what it looked like in the box on 12/20

This one runs top-of-tank so I have a drain restrictor on the outlet to keep bubbles out of the tank, so the box fills up as the screen fills in. Basically the drain is under-balanced so this is what happens, but it works, I just have to keep an eye on it and dial back the flow usually by day 6 or 7, but since this was a brand new screen, it took a bit longer.

It's now day 15 and I don't want to take the screen out and take a pic, I will give it a first cleaning tonight.

The net result here is 15 days to a full green screen, and it's firmly attached because when I pulled out the screen on 12/20, the algae that was in the box (on the false bottom) pulled off, but it didn't detach from the screen itself. After I place the screen back in and fired up the water, there was no algae that broke free and flowed into the tank.

Huge success

 

[jason2459]

Bud could you show a matured screen after you've cleaned it off and before putting back into use? I often wonder if I under or over scrape it.

 

[karimwassef]

Yes. It's great. 70g in two weeks unlit! Well, incidental MH only.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg"/></a>

Xenia hanging in there
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/5F7AA1EF-1B64-442E-B0A0-D8F5B8916184_zpscum5psg3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/5F7AA1EF-1B64-442E-B0A0-D8F5B8916184_zpscum5psg3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 5F7AA1EF-1B64-442E-B0A0-D8F5B8916184_zpscum5psg3.jpg"/></a>

And the export
<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/301BCB95-D9E7-4315-8B4B-F5840DA02A15_zpsmnt2vnei.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/301BCB95-D9E7-4315-8B4B-F5840DA02A15_zpsmnt2vnei.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 301BCB95-D9E7-4315-8B4B-F5840DA02A15_zpsmnt2vnei.jpg"/></a>

 

[karimwassef]

I'm torn. The export is so full of life - pods, worms, starfish, serpent stars, snails.. Even the green water I get from squeezing it is full of life jumping and flicking.

My Chaeto export goes to the fish store or friends, but no one will take GHA export. I couldn't toss it, so I made one of my quarantines into a GHA holding tank while I think about it.

Any ideas on saving life in the GHA?

 

[karimwassef]

Oh, the algae growth on the left is on my clothcrete(TM) DIY rockscape. I used cloth, concrete, PVC and eggcrate to make most of my rockwork.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2391044

This stuff is an algae magnet in the overflow area on top of the weir.

Come to think of it, it's like your masonry covered plastic mesh.... but it's an entire tank of it.

Back when I first set it up, it was an entire tank ATS - LOL

In the beginning

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/FD5D86D4-104F-4652-AB51-48F7FF0CB240_zps14dy2uzr.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/FD5D86D4-104F-4652-AB51-48F7FF0CB240_zps14dy2uzr.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo FD5D86D4-104F-4652-AB51-48F7FF0CB240_zps14dy2uzr.jpg"/></a>

Greening up

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/06E64819-EDAC-4854-A980-12398F097E39_zpsxkldjn5t.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/06E64819-EDAC-4854-A980-12398F097E39_zpsxkldjn5t.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 06E64819-EDAC-4854-A980-12398F097E39_zpsxkldjn5t.jpg"/></a>

Full on metallica ATS hair

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6B45E405-2D99-4567-BA54-0EB3459E2FBB_zpstqn9z1bq.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/26532538-44BB-4D16-B66D-4A7FA4E52623_zpsonywxzyo.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/26532538-44BB-4D16-B66D-4A7FA4E52623_zpsonywxzyo.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 26532538-44BB-4D16-B66D-4A7FA4E52623_zpsonywxzyo.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/2C7E8740-3044-44B3-AAEA-C85FCF36333C_zpsinqdoq6l.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/2C7E8740-3044-44B3-AAEA-C85FCF36333C_zpsinqdoq6l.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2C7E8740-3044-44B3-AAEA-C85FCF36333C_zpsinqdoq6l.jpg"/></a>

Since then, the tank rocks have cleaned up.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/850A35CE-1F56-4B20-A61B-895AE10EF164_zpsgjsbdlgi.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/850A35CE-1F56-4B20-A61B-895AE10EF164_zpsgjsbdlgi.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 850A35CE-1F56-4B20-A61B-895AE10EF164_zpsgjsbdlgi.jpg"/></a>

But the overflow lips stays verdant... too hard for fish, snails, urchins and crabs to get to

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/693B134C-3547-48C1-869C-87FB2027B305_zpsiwuqb6ex.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/693B134C-3547-48C1-869C-87FB2027B305_zpsiwuqb6ex.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 693B134C-3547-48C1-869C-87FB2027B305_zpsiwuqb6ex.jpg"/></a>

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Ah yes, now I recall the discussion about the algae up at the top, near the lights...veyr good. And yes, likely similar composition (mortar)

 

[Johnic]

What's if any are the downsides to an ATS? Up flow or waterfall, just any ATS system in general.

 

[AZRippster]

From what I've experienced, nothing from it's function. If you want to be nit picky, I guess you could say the electricity for the LEDs/lighting and pump if you don't have a manifold setup already. Well worth it for me.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

What's if any are the downsides to an ATS? Up flow or waterfall, just any ATS system in general.

Go back to post 7318 from 2 weeks ago

 

[Johnic]

Go back to post 7318 from 2 weeks ago

Im looking for the pros and cons of an ATS in general. IE: do they strip the water of too much nutrients, Do they yellow up the water, do they neg affect the hard corals ?

My problem is, I've never feed the tank the proper food in fear of creating a algae tank like my last tank so my corals are starving from what i see. I'm hoping this will allow me to feed and get the nutrient export. Skimmers dont do enough.

 

[karimwassef]

well - to be fair - skimmers and scrubbers are complementary, not competing.

Skimmers remove dissolved organic compounds and excess food particles. They also oxygenate and balance pH.

Scrubbers remove nutrients in the form of inorganic P and N.

They're preceded by the scavengers and detritus eaters (worms, crabs, etc...)

The last member of the group is bacteria (sand, rock, etc...) that pushes the N cycle forward into the form that the scrubber can use.

So... Scavengers -> Skimmer -> Bacteria -> Scrubber

That's my basic view, anyway.

 

[Johnic]

well - to be fair - skimmers and scrubbers are complementary, not competing.

Skimmers remove dissolved organic compounds and excess food particles. They also oxygenate and balance pH.

Scrubbers remove nutrients in the form of inorganic P and N.

They're preceded by the scavengers and detritus eaters (worms, crabs, etc...)

The last member of the group is bacteria (sand, rock, etc...) that pushes the N cycle forward into the form that the scrubber can use.

So... Scavengers -> Skimmer -> Bacteria -> Scrubber

That's my basic view, anyway.

Great info.
I can't wait to get my scrubber up and running. I've been lacking a good nutrient export to balance out the tank.

 

[Jade5051]

...@Jade5051 look in my signature, the 1st post is very outdated. the guideline now is per feeding, not per tank volume....

So, I read nearly everything, especially the big changes parts. It doesn't say how many 1 watt leds you need for a 12 square inch screen. It says one 3 watt on each side for every 12 square inches. So, is the assumption it takes 3 1 watts on each side for every 12 square inches?

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good 1 watt or 3 watt fixture for say a 3 cube screen?

The link below is a fixture with 24x1 watt leds on a 7"x5" mounting plate. Way more light than what I believe is recommended. Can this light be used for an algae scrubber or is there a better one on the market?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/24W-Red-660...211306?hash=item3ab32d91ea:g:5SgAAOSw0HVWEqH7

 

[hkgar]

So, I read nearly everything, especially the big changes parts. It doesn't say how many 1 watt leds you need for a 12 square inch screen. It says one 3 watt on each side for every 12 square inches. So, is the assumption it takes 3 1 watts on each side for every 12 square inches?

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good 1 watt or 3 watt fixture for say a 3 cube screen?

The link below is a fixture with 24x1 watt leds on a 7"x5" mounting plate. Way more light than what I believe is recommended. Can this light be used for an algae scrubber or is there a better one on the market?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/24W-Red-660...211306?hash=item3ab32d91ea:g:5SgAAOSw0HVWEqH7

I would caution that I do not see any indication that the LED's are mounted on a heat sink? I would be interested in hearing if the 1 watt per LED would be sufficient power?