Algae Scrubber Basics

[jason2459]

i would also be curious what your potassium levels are at. I haven't hit any limitations there and are in NSW range but you're pulling a lot more algae.

 

[karimwassef]

I don't actually export.. I feed my algae all back

My tangs also love bananas! You should check out my youtubes

 

[jason2459]

I don't actually export.. I feed my algae all back

My tangs also love bananas! You should check out my youtubes

I knew you refed your fish but from what you typed above I was reading that you pulled some out too. Just my misunderstanding. Bananas I found out from PaulB and him feeding his Moorish Idol.

 

[karimwassef]

I recycle all unless someone wants some to start their culture. It's a swirling mass of life and I just can't throw it away.

I think bananas are the new secret coral food

 

[bks2100]

If you don't currently dose iron, outside of anything in new salt and foods fed, I bet your algae could create a nuclear fallout.

You can google search
DIY the DIY FE++ Ferrous citrate supplement

for what I've done and made based on Randy's formula.

How could not dosing iron result in the algae creating a nuclear fallot? I googled what you said and found your thread on another forum and a bunch of recipes and substitutes for Randy's recipe, but nothing that talked about anything nuclear going on.

I recycle all unless someone wants some to start their culture. It's a swirling mass of life and I just can't throw it away.

I think bananas are the new secret coral food

I'm confused, if you feed all of your algae back to the tank, how do you control nutrients? I would think after weeks of throwing the algae back into the system that there would be too many nutrients in the water.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

How could not dosing iron result in the algae creating a nuclear fallot? I googled what you said and found your thread on another forum and a bunch of recipes and substitutes for Randy's recipe, but nothing that talked about anything nuclear going on

I think what he was saying that is if he isn't currently dosing iron and he's getting that much growth, that if he then started dosing iron, his growth would explode.

 

[jason2459]

I think what he was saying that is if he isn't currently dosing iron and he's getting that much growth, that if he then started dosing iron, his growth would explode.

Yes

lol

 

[karimwassef]

I control nutrients by sequestering instead of exporting. I don't need to add iron because I don't take anything away

By the way, sequestration and food chain recycling is how nature cleans things up too.

There's no net export on the reefs. In open waters, dead animals do fall into the deep and some may eventually turn into oil... LOL

Let me add this - my reef and my algae garden/scrubber are both key to each others' survival. In my future tanks, I plan to fully cultivate my algae gardens way before I light up my reef. The algae is the solid base of life, not just an export tool.

 

[Crusinjimbo]

Karimwassef, you comments on nutrient sequestration have potentially condensed 385 pages of ATS discussion into a simple concept. Do you not feed "other" nutrients? Thanks for the thought stimulating discussion.

 

[karimwassef]

I do. I like feeding bananas and my kids like it when I feed flake food or coral food. But the majority is the algae.

So where does it go? My algal biomass has been growing over the past year but I set up a large system to handle it. In my next tank, the algae setup will be as big or bigger than the reef tank. When I started recycling, I could go 2-3 weeks and let it build to the size of a 5 gallon bucket of algae. As the biomass grew, it's regeneration accelerated so I get a 3 gal bucket every week. I can let it go for two weeks without issue but then it's a chore.

If I were disciplined to only feed the algae, it would stay constant, but I just really enjoy other foods. So it's my fault

So what do the fish and corals eat during the week - between algae feedings? It takes the algae eaters ~three days to eat the algae. The rest live off the pods that float in from the scrubber. I will feed meaty foods to triggers, etc... and the secret food is the fish poop.

I said that in another thread and the person thought I was making fun of him (actually got angry) but I'm totally serious. The mountains of poop are coral food or become coral food through the action of worms and pods. No skimmer - that would just remove the golden goodness from my system. No filters or socks either - that would trap the food and pods.

I guess I'm kind of a farmer. My friends are poop and worms and algae makes the world go round.

Downside - if you like a perfect glass tank with zero particulates and slow coral growth, this would be terrible. When I snorkel in crystal clear water, the food in the water is insane. That's what I have. Little specs floating to feed the coral constantly and a lot of flow to keep it suspended. But my corals suffer by growing out of the water and into each other constantly. That means more work and I'm a lazy reef gardner.

 

[homer1475]

This is my first week with the ATS, and first cleaning. I only just ran it under water and brushed it off with my fingers. The algae was slimy and most came off.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[jason2459]

My new turbo's aquatics rev4 L8

Made a bracket for it to sit on

My diy diy Iron on a doser to feed the algae

Algae already starting to attach after a few weeks

 

[Horace]

This is my first week with the ATS, and first cleaning. I only just ran it under water and brushed it off with my fingers. The algae was slimy and most came off.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

Did u rough up the mesh? That looks very smooth to me....you need to really rough that up good, like 10x more

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[homer1475]

Yes I roughed it up quite a bit. Used the hole saw, then a wire brush on my drill.

I think it's just the picture that makes it look rather smooth. If you look above the sharpie line(Where I didn't rough it up) looks the same as the rough part.

I'll see how it grows, if I don't get any attachment I'll rough it up some more. :thumbsup:

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I would go brush, then blade. Saw blade is better. Mortar coating is good but not necessary, gets things started faster though.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxlWkBf_oUA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[homer1475]

OK significantly roughed up the screen. First shot is the top unroughed up, the second is the middle roughed up.

Sent from my STV100-1 using Tapatalk

 

[karimwassef]

I used a drill bit - round steel brush - for cleaning off rust from metal.

Went so fast, I needed to slow down a lot or it would eat right through

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I defer back to the wire brush crimp bit followed by the saw blade, as shown in my video above. I've made over 400 screens. This is by far the best method, and I've tried coming up with a better way.

 

[karimwassef]

Anyone used these? Looks like it could be cheaper than my DIY so I'm curious

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06Y4K7V3H/ref=psdcmw_14252961_t3_B01L1Q4YC6?th=1&psc=1

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

No water rating, not dimmable, otherwise looks like a workhorse.