Algae Scrubber Basics

[homer1475]

I most certainly can get a couple pics!

 

[homer1475]

Pics...


basic box style ATS

Just some plumbing pics with gate valve for fine flow adjustment

Inside of box with slot pipe and screen

Growth isn't much as I just cleaned it off a couple days ago. On the edges you can see where I used to get some lush green growth, but the rest of screen just wipes off the slimy snotty stuff. Nothing attaches on the rest of the screen. Perhaps too much light?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That is a pretty good example of a hotspot - it's not a uber intense one, because you can see some green in the central area, but when you have that "outline" of filled-in GHA, that's a dead giveaway.

Multichip fixture? The one with the reflector/center chip, right?

 

[homer1475]

yes thats the type of light.



I cannot move them away, but perhaps running them on an on/off schedule of some sort? They are hooked up to an apex, so any combination of on/off I can do.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

yes thats the type of light.



I cannot move them away, but perhaps running them on an on/off schedule of some sort? They are hooked up to an apex, so any combination of on/off I can do.

At 15W that's max intensity,,, too much for a new/not matured screen, photo-inhabition looks like. You need to reduce intensity, until at least the screen is covered. An easy way to try this is to use some window tinting, just use clear sticky tape to attach temporarily, or even some black plastic or aluminum insect screen will reduce intensity.

 

[hkgar]

At 15W that's max intensity,,, too much for a new/not matured screen, photo-inhabition looks like. You need to reduce intensity, until at least the screen is covered. An easy way to try this is to use some window tinting, just use clear sticky tape to attach temporarily, or even some black plastic or aluminum insect screen will reduce intensity.

Or move the light further away from the screen. Double the distance.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Or move the light further away from the screen. Double the distance.

But this:

I cannot move them away

At 15W that's max intensity,,, too much for a new/not matured screen, photo-inhabition looks like. You need to reduce intensity, until at least the screen is covered. An easy way to try this is to use some window tinting, just use clear sticky tape to attach temporarily, or even some black plastic or aluminum insect screen will reduce intensity.

You only need to diffuse the lights very slightly, and only right in front of the LEDs. But I would be cautious about placing anything on the fixture or shield, those get hotter than you think.

Instead, place the diffusion material on the scrubber housing. You can try several things but start cheap. Blue painter's tape, or plain masking tape. Just a 1 cm square, right in front of the LED chip.

If that works, then you know that is a solution pathway to go down, and you might try something a bit more permanent

 

[Scrubber_steve]

You only need to diffuse the lights very slightly, and only right in front of the LEDs. But I would be cautious about placing anything on the fixture or shield, those get hotter than you think.

Instead, place the diffusion material on the scrubber housing. You can try several things but start cheap. Blue painter's tape, or plain masking tape. Just a 1 cm square, right in front of the LED chip.

If that works, then you know that is a solution pathway to go down, and you might try something a bit more permanent

Yes good point to be cautious about heat.

 

[homer1475]

Thanks Floyd, I'll give that a shot.



Purely out of curiosity though, Why would it all of a sudden happen? I was getting nice thick growth, then it went to that slimy snotty stuff which cleared the screen in the middle.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Could be a change in tank chemistry over time. That tends to happen when you add a scrubber, so conditions might have been good for growth at the light level you were at, and then over time that shifted.

Have you tested potassium or any other elements besides just N & P?

 

[homer1475]

I have not, besides iron which I started adding thinking that might have been limiting my growth.


The light cycle itself is fine then (23 hours split between the front and back light with an hour of both off)? Just diffuse the light some so it's not such a bright hot spot?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

The light cycle itself is fine then (23 hours split between the front and back light with an hour of both off)? Just diffuse the light some so it's not such a bright hot spot?

I would try that first. You're getting green around the perimeter of the screen, that tells me you don't have an iron deficiency. However Iron is very reactive (depends on the type, but generally...) so many times it's used up quickly. It's difficult to maintain measurable Iron in a saltwater tank. I've personally only dosed Iron a couple of times, way early on when we were using the sqin/gal method, it greened things up but didn't really do anything else epic.

 

[SantaMonica]

It's not intensity, it's something in the water that some tanks just have, or get. I'm working on a mineral supplement to help get through this, and if you'd like to try it send me your address and number of gallons you have.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

It's not intensity, it's something in the water that some tanks just have, or get. I'm working on a mineral supplement to help get through this, and if you'd like to try it send me your address and number of gallons you have.

Interesting. But why would nice green stuff still be growing around the extremities of his screen?
What is this something? tanks get?

 

[SantaMonica]

The light is so weak there that dark slime can still grow.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

The light is so weak there that dark slime can still grow.

actually the green stuff isn't all that nice after a second look.

Can this "something" in the water be removed via a 100% water change,,, or does it absorb into the rock work?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It's not intensity, it's something in the water that some tanks just have, or get.

The light is so weak there that dark slime can still grow.

I'm gonna go with "you're wrong" here. I'll wait for the results but I'm pretty sure you're wrong.

I'm working on a mineral supplement to help get through this

I'm gonna take a stab at it and say this is going to be the World's First Algae Scrubber Supplement.

I'll beat you to the punch here. Take a teaspoon or two of Miracle Mud, mix it with some RODI, and dump it into your return pump chamber and let it blow all around your tank.

^^ do a bit of research on this one and you'll find that people are actually doing this and having some interesting results, and not necessarily with an algae scrubber involved. I'll have to dig up where I read about this...I would read up on it before doing it though. I just wanted to throw this out there.

 

[OllieNZ]

Hi All,
I'm setting up a new 40gal ish AIO tank and want to use an upflow ATS, I'm mulling a couple of designs and could do with some input.

The basic design will be a 4"x4"x14" removable box that will drop into one of the rear chambers. It will be lit via a DIY LED fixture on the outside of the glass (10mm optiwhite if that matters). Water would flow in the bottom and up out the top as part of the main flow through the rear chambers.

First design would use a standard screen (not drawn in the illustration) that goes in the slots and would lift out for easy cleaning, usable screen size would be 12"x3.5" (42"square) and an airstone/bubble making device inside the tube at the bottom to protect it from the light and increase time between maintenance

The second design utilises the same drop in box but instead of a centrally mounted screen it would have the screen mounted around the edges (or the faces coated in crushed quartz) and a 3 sided bubbler, again protected by a tube and would offer around 126" square of growing surface.

What I'm struggling with is choosing the correct sized air pump, and whether I should be using an airstone or other bubble source?
Thoughts on either design?

 

[SantaMonica]

Between those two, the second is much better because the first has a dark side which you don't want. If however you changed the screen on the first one by rotating it 90 degrees and therefore lit both side, it would be better (2-sided is always top priority).

Airstone is ok, and easy, but bigger bubbles are best. 1 LPM would be good with a small screen, and 2 LPM for the 3-wall screen.

 

[OllieNZ]

Between those two, the second is much better because the first has a dark side which you don't want. If however you changed the screen on the first one by rotating it 90 degrees and therefore lit both side, it would be better (2-sided is always top priority).

Airstone is ok, and easy, but bigger bubbles are best. 1 LPM would be good with a small screen, and 2 LPM for the 3-wall screen.

There would still be a dark side on the second design though? (kinda like your hang on ones)