Algae Scrubber Basics

[Scrubber_steve]

About 10 days....on new screen. Clean?

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The spray bar is different, & looks cool, but, look out for the holes getting clogged with detritus, and / or, algae growth clogging them up. :thumbsup:

 

[Wally.B]

I'm back again, but for another ID question TO THE ALGAE EXPERTS.

I started a FRAG TANK. It's couple of month old.
Not much in there yet. 4 Frags, and I had a Cowrie in there cleaning green Algae out.

Cowrie was move into separate section since he eats corals.
So I started feeding PURPLE Seaweed (NORI) to COWRIE to keep him alive, and I heard NORI poo is great for SPS Corals.

Then my FRAG TANK started getting this RED FILM.

First I thought it might be Cyano. But no bubbles, not stringy. Really different.

I thought it might be a Red Coraline. But it's soft and scrapes off with a razor blade kind of like GREEN FILM Algae on Display Tank. Not Hard or crystalline.

I pulled out the USB SCOPE to check.

Scaped off some with RAZOR Blade.

50x MAGNIFICATION (WHILE Stuff is WET) (GREY STRIPE Is Blade Edge)

500x MAG (After it semi dried) (Blade Edge Again)

When it really dried, it just become crumbly, like powder.

IS THIS ALGAE?
What KIND?
SAFE for Frag Tank?

Maybe Cowrie will eat it too?

 

[Horace]

The spray bar is different, & looks cool, but, look out for the holes getting clogged with detritus, and / or, algae growth clogging them up. [emoji106]

Yep. Ive had to clean it once already. The bars come out super easy. They are not glued

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[Floyd R Turbo]

Hi Floyed,



I put your Rev 3 L2 on my aquarium 6 months ago and connot get it to take off.

How many hours/day are you LEDs on?

What intensity are they at? Look at the jumpers, the default/startup configuration should be with all jumpers in "œparallel"

What is your flow rate?

 

[Wally.B]

I'm back again, but for another ID question TO THE ALGAE EXPERTS.

I started a FRAG TANK. It's couple of month old.
Not much in there yet. 4 Frags, and I had a Cowrie in there cleaning green Algae out.

Cowrie was move into separate section since he eats corals.
So I started feeding PURPLE Seaweed (NORI) to COWRIE to keep him alive, and I heard NORI poo is great for SPS Corals.

Then my FRAG TANK started getting this RED FILM.

First I thought it might be Cyano. But no bubbles, not stringy. Really different.

I thought it might be a Red Coraline. But it's soft and scrapes off with a razor blade kind of like GREEN FILM Algae on Display Tank. Not Hard or crystalline.

I pulled out the USB SCOPE to check.

Scaped off some with RAZOR Blade.

50x MAGNIFICATION (WHILE Stuff is WET) (GREY STRIPE Is Blade Edge)

500x MAG (After it semi dried) (Blade Edge Again)

When it really dried, it just become crumbly, like powder.

IS THIS ALGAE?
What KIND?
SAFE for Frag Tank?

Maybe Cowrie will eat it too?

OK, I proved my THEORY. It is NORI that I've been feeding the Cowrie and it seeded my FRAG TANK with Purple Algae.

It put a Wall in Frag Tank (since Cowrie loves SPS polyps)

Let the Cowrie loose on Left side.

And to prove he ate it, I put Timelapse Web Cam on Area.

https://www.youtube.com/

Yup, it was him.

This is good news since NO Cyano, and NORI poo is good for Corals.

 

[SaltyMeloni]

Is there a preferred method to preparing and feeding prime algae back to display for my tangs.

 

[hkgar]

What do you mean by prime algae? I feed my Tangs a leaf of Romaine lettuce each day plus 1/2 sheet of Nori. I use an magnetic algae clip for the lettuce and this for the Nori.

 

[SantaMonica]

Probably just means the best growth from a scrubber.

 

[vikinglord13]

I've seen people fold it into flexible eggcrate-mesh

 

[Wally.B]

For Feeding Nori Sheets, I discovered this (MAGENTIC FEEDER/GRAZER) a while ago, and will never go back to Elastic Bands, Clips ,etc.

https://www.marinedepot.com/Innovative_Marine_AUQA_Gadget_Gourmet_Grazer_Fish_Food_Clips_Feeding_Stations-Innovative_Marine-0I05086-FIFDFECF-vi.html

The fish, snails, crabs have to peck at it to get their meal, but little/none gets out. You can place it low to allow your crabs to get to it, or high for Fish/SNails only.

I have 2, and to me worth every penny since it contains the NORI well, so no loose stuff floats around your tank POLUTING IT, or unsightly stuff swirling in current..

It wastes a tiny bit at the Pinch points, but I just rinse it off and refill.

Never tried it with Macro Algae but I figure it will work if you squish some in, and then wrap a elastic around the Flap.

But don't expect to fit much since its a flap designed for thin Nori sheets.

 

[karimwassef]

My $5 version

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

 

[jalisco]

Hi Floyed,

I put your Rev 3 L2 on my aquarium 6 months ago and connot get it to take off.
45gal DT
20gal Sump
2.5 liters Siporax
Radion XR30 Pro (haven't turned on to let ATS get going)
Open flow minimum real reaf rock
1 cube per day
Yasha Goby
Helfrichi Fire Fire
Tanaka Possum Wrasse
2ea. Scarlet hermits
2ea. Dwarf Blue Leg hermits
1ea. Pom Pom crab
1ea. Randalli Pistol shrimp

Having trouble loading files right now. I'll try again shortly.

The first photo is three months ago at 18hrs a day with the lights in the factory delivered setting. The photo is a litter greener than in person where it is more of a dead yellow/grey color. After that photo I changed the lights to 12hrs on 12 off per a recommendation you made to someone else.

The next three photos are after a few months of 12 on 12 off and about a half cube per day. in the third picture I'm trying to show how mealy the algae is when I scrape it in case that tells you something.

The flow rate is about 240gph (based on holding tubing at L2's inlet level and filling a graduated bucket to 2.5 gallons and doing the math). I tried turning the Radion on and it grew the same yellow/grey algae on the DT glass with in a week or two.

More light? Less light? More food?

Thanks for any help.

 

[aiber]

Hello All! I've had my ATS running for around 5 months and still not getting thick algae on it. I am getting mostly bubble algae and red algae. Minimum of hair algae.

I am happy that there is really no nuisance algae in my DT but are there any pointers you can offer to get thick hair algae? Should I be worried about the slime and bubble algae growing on my ATS?

Thanks

 

[hkgar]

What size screen? Flow rate? What type lights? How much do you feed?

Lot's of variables. If you do not have DT algae there is probably nothing to be concerned about but the best way to know if it is doing its job is the answer to this question:
What are the levels of NO3 and PO4- the nutrients?

 

[biecacka]

Just cleaned my screen and noticed something interesting. The 1/2 of he screen closest to the water line was nice and thick in algae, the side furthest away was just slightly brown.
Maybe not enough water flow?

Corey

 

[SantaMonica]

More light? Less light? More food?

Looks like it needs a lot more light, more often cleaning, and a white screen instead of a black one.

Should I be worried about the slime and bubble algae growing on my ATS?

Some is wrong if there a bubbles growing. Probably not cleaning often enough.

The 1/2 of he screen closest to the water line was nice and thick in algae, the side furthest away was just slightly brown

Not enough air/water turbulence. That's what grows algae quickly, and it's only at the air/water interface. There should be no screen too far below the waterline, unless there are air bubbles on it to make the air/water turbulence.

 

[jalisco]

Looks like it needs a lot more light, more often cleaning, and a white screen instead of a black one.

Thanks SM,
I had the light at 18 on 6 off. Should I go to 21 on 3 off or 23 on 1 off? The screen is white I just didn't remove enough algae to show that.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The first photo is three months ago at 18hrs a day with the lights in the factory delivered setting. The photo is a litter greener than in person where it is more of a dead yellow/grey color. After that photo I changed the lights to 12hrs on 12 off per a recommendation you made to someone else.

The next three photos are after a few months of 12 on 12 off and about a half cube per day. in the third picture I'm trying to show how mealy the algae is when I scrape it in case that tells you something.

The flow rate is about 240gph (based on holding tubing at L2's inlet level and filling a graduated bucket to 2.5 gallons and doing the math). I tried turning the Radion on and it grew the same yellow/grey algae on the DT glass with in a week or two.

More light? Less light? More food?

Thanks for any help.

Instead of completely scraping off the algae, I would do a less aggressive level of cleaning. I'm not sure how long you go between cleanings, but what I would do here is is a partial cleaning at around 5-8 days where you just rinse the screen in tap water while rubbing it with your fingertips. You might make a few passes with a soft toothbrush to loosen a bit more, but that almost looks like you are accumulating detritus on the algae (which is not uncommon) and that should easily rinse away.

You could also do a partial scraping, leaving 50% or more behind.

But the biggest question comes down to this - how is your tank doing? Any nutrient or algae problems?

You are not feeding a ton, so the scrubber is a bit oversized so I don't think I would try to push it harder by adding more light or flow, I would leave it where it is and just let it grow more.

Just cleaned my screen and noticed something interesting. The 1/2 of he screen closest to the water line was nice and thick in algae, the side furthest away was just slightly brown.
Maybe not enough water flow?

Corey

This is typically due to a flow differential, either the flow is a bit too much and this is causing it to arc across the screen (heavier on the far end) or it's too low and there's not enough on the far end. Whichever it is can depend on your specific system sometimes.

Either way, it should eventually fill in with the same type of growth across the entire screen, but the screen needs to be mature for that to happen, which can take a while. In some systems, it doesn't matter, it'll just fill in right away. Other systems can take a while.

In your case I'm guessing the flow is on the higher side so the close side is actually getting a bit less flow (the water is arcing). The logic says that for you, at this point, a bit lower flow works better - which can be the case for a new screen. So if you are getting that arcing and the water is piling up on the far end of the screen, reduce the flow just a bit until you get more even flow.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Looks like it needs a lot more light, more often cleaning, and a white screen instead of a black one.

Thanks SM,
I had the light at 18 on 6 off. Should I go to 21 on 3 off or 23 on 1 off? The screen is white I just didn't remove enough algae to show that.

jalisco - do NOT listen to SM's advice here. He has clearly not read your other posts or looked close enough at the pictures you posted.

#1 your screen is not black

#2 you are not feeding enough to warrant more light:

The next three photos are after a few months of 12 on 12 off and about a half cube per day.

^^ 12/12 should really be just fine, and unless you have a persistent nutrient issue or tank algae issue, pushing the scrubber harder just to get GHA growing for the purpose of only achieving "the right type of growth" is not necessarily the right focus.

#3 you don't need to clean more often in the "scraping" sense of the word, see my post above regarding this (interim cleaning, rub & rinse, etc)

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The 1/2 of he screen closest to the water line was nice and thick in algae, the side furthest away was just slightly brown.
Maybe not enough water flow?Corey

Just to be clear, when you say "water line" are you referring to the input water source line or the level of water that the screen is sitting in?

"water line" can be interpreted in 2 different ways. I interpreted this as the input water line, SM interpreted it as the water level the screen is in - so I want to make sure I answered the right question in my previous post. If it's the other water line (level) then the answer is indeed different