Algae Scrubber Basics

[bheron]

So today my ATS is 6 weeks old. This is how it looked last week when I did a tic-tac-toe pattern and this is how it again looked this week:

So I decided to scrape the whole thing on one side. I used a plastic blade. I was surprised when pretty much all of the algae scraped right off pretty easily. And it seems like the holes arent clogged.

So did I do something wrong? shouldnt some of the algae have stayed on and the holes stay blocked?

 

[outy]

So did I do something wrong? shouldnt some of the algae have stayed on and the holes stay blocked?

No.

Maybe later they will have roots, if a light is to blocked by growth [a good thing] the roots will die off.


Dude clean and enjoy

 

[outy]

On a side note.

I added a 30w 6500k to the backside of mine.

I also moved my lights close to the screen as flyod recommends, mine were further away and I had growth but not good growth.

 

[wildwilly1]

i have gotten a small outbreak of red cyano in one corner of tank . is this normal. was going to run a dose of chemi clean to get rid of it . wasnt sure about ats it has been running 4 weeks this sunday getting some pretty good growth on it . whats thought on this thx in advance

 

[AZRippster]

i have gotten a small outbreak of red cyano in one corner of tank . is this normal. was going to run a dose of chemi clean to get rid of it . wasnt sure about ats it has been running 4 weeks this sunday getting some pretty good growth on it . whats thought on this thx in advance

Suck it out with a water change and ride it out. In time your ATS will pull the excess nutrients out and your cyano and unwanted algae should dissipate to the levels you want.

 

[wildwilly1]

ok thx i will give it a try

 

[iced98lx]

Finally getting mine online:

 

[silentscream]

Finally getting mine online:

Did you weld a piece of acrylic in the corner to support the pipe/scrubber? I like that idea.

 

[iced98lx]

There was actually a shelf type setup (complete with hole) there already, I opted to utilize it to mount the ATS since I couldn't come up with a better way.

 

[Myriam]

There was actually a shelf type setup (complete with hole) there already, I opted to utilize it to mount the ATS since I couldn't come up with a better way.

Wow! It's so compact! Did you make the lights?

 

[iced98lx]

It's actually a commercial unit available.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

By whom may I ask?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

What is the best way to keep the algae from clogging up the holes above the screen? It seems like I am having to run a needle in the holes every other day to get the flow back

I'm trying to figure out what part you are running the needles through...? You actually want the screen holes to fill in with algae - that's where it grows back from. Otherwise I'm not sure what you are referring to...the holes above the screen...need more info, and a pic!

So today my ATS is 6 weeks old. This is how it looked last week when I did a tic-tac-toe pattern and this is how it again looked this week:

So I decided to scrape the whole thing on one side. I used a plastic blade. I was surprised when pretty much all of the algae scraped right off pretty easily. And it seems like the holes arent clogged.

So did I do something wrong? shouldnt some of the algae have stayed on and the holes stay blocked?

Nope, it sometimes takes a while to really fill in well. It looks like for your screen, you have enough maturity to support a nice green mat of growth, hard to say exactly why the holes are not filling in. It could be roughness of the screen (deep in the holes), or just the tank conditions not being perfectly amenable to algae attachment (hard to explain - basically that means "it's gonna take longer")

 

[jason2459]

His ^^ I'm guessing. Turbo Aquatics. Looks like the newest model? Kick@55 Scrubbers.

By whom may I ask?

 

[iced98lx]

By whom may I ask?

Hi Vinny- it's a Turbo Scrubber (revision 4, the latest one) I found it here: https://www.algaescrubbing.com/threads/introducing-the-new-turbo-algae-scrubber-rev-4.731/ Hopefully it works as good as it looks!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Thanks Chris.

 

[iced98lx]

You bet, I'll be sure and keep this thread up to date on my experiences good / bad on it. I have a decent amount of GHA in my DT along with some cyano sometimes (it's currently blooming) so we'll see. it seems to be very well thought out / engineered anyway. I just started running water through it today so we'll see how fast I get growth and if it impacts my other issues long term.

 

[FullBoreReefer]

Wow those are expensive!

 

[SantaMonica]

That's because there have been no improvements since 2008 (see sig). The new improvements will start focusing on very low cost, in order to help everyone start scrubbing. Applies to DIY too, of course; almost too easy to make.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That's because there have been no improvements since 2008 (see sig).

Whatever.