Algae Scrubber Basics

travis32 said:
So, any idea on how to fight briopsis? I have reduced my bioload from 8 larger fish to 3 small fish... Cleaner wrasse, starry blenny, and a Sleeper goby (largest of the 3.)

I'm feeding flake for the moment, but, not sure how much to feed since none are agressive eaters.. How do I fight briopsis with this limited bioload and the ATS and skimmer going and more macro algae in my display than I can shake a stick at?

I've gone through and pulled a ton of briopsis and some patches of hair algae.. Was enough to form about a 1/2" - 1" layer in the bottom of a gallon bucket. And there's still a lot I couldn't get to or wouldn't detach very easily. And it just keeps growing in despite the skimmer, ATS, and reduced bioload. I'm tired of fighting this battle. My SPS keep getting overgrown with the stuff and I have a tough time keeping them clean so they can get enough light to grow...

I've heard rumors that the use of Kalkwater may be a huge contributer to briopsis / hair algae. As much or moreso than food and/or leaching rock...

I'm open to suggestions of what else to do. And I'll admit most of my screen probably died in the 24-36 hour power outtage, and it was a fairly new screen as well. :(
Click to expand...

What does your magnesium test read? I herd bryopsis can be eliminated using higher levels of magnesium (1500ppm) and others report more specifically that the Kent Tech M product works well also.
However if your rock is leaching PO4 then the bryopsis will be replaced with some other algae until the trapped fuel source is depleted.
 
Last edited:
jjmill1980 said:
I am currently working on setting up a 56 gallon column with a 16 gallon sump. I have planned out the sump to utilize all of the euqipment I have available and would like to get some feedback as to wether or not I am going over board.

Here is the design:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hqlFm5_HNUCipJM07LTWMXEHSAFkdYM_Rhf0UnVONWY?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QXsqmIpqfIY/Td7W_GYHNYI/AAAAAAAAALg/xHcoi5OPNss/s800/Sump%252520Layout.jpg" height="611" width="800" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104588367590059570910/SumpPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCISYzemxjZaG8AE&feat=embedwebsite">Sump Pics</a></td></tr></table>

With the flow for the ATS coming from the reactor and sterilizer will I still see results from the ATS?
Click to expand...

I know I am a new comer to this thread, heck I have only made it to page 16. I was hoping someone might look past my ignorance and give me some feedback:D
 
You don't want to plumb your scrubber after GFO. It will limit your growth. You just missed Floyd's post two pages back (page 60 post 1492). Also, with a 4x18" screen you may find it hard to light it evenly without waisting light not hitting the screen, but the wider you make it the bigger pump, more flow you'll need. If you end up going wider and need more flow, you may want to try to plumb it off your drain, you have a lot of flow there.
 
jjmill1980 said:
I know I am a new comer to this thread, heck I have only made it to page 16. I was hoping someone might look past my ignorance and give me some feedback:D
Click to expand...

Too much going on there IMHO...
A lot of the issues with your setup will be odvious once you read through the thread.

Things that jump out to me:
The maxi jet will not be enough...
You don't want to plumb GFO online with scrubber...
GFO will limit the effectiveness of the scrubber, IMHO...
UV should not be run full time...
What kind of lights do you have for the scrubber?
As bucks said, your scrubber shouldn't be so long...
Don't see the need for so many baffles...
Chaeto isn't needed if you do the algae scrubber right...
Make sure you do tons of research on DSB before doing it, you will be happier in the end...

Most of all, please read through the thread, it's long but around page 30 - 40 it's a lot of the same questions over and over. :lol2:
IMHO I wouldn't use filter soxs, but you can I'd you want...
 
jjmill1980 said:
I know I am a new comer to this thread, heck I have only made it to page 16. I was hoping someone might look past my ignorance and give me some feedback:D
Click to expand...

+1 on GFO, plus your chaeto will get out-competed, unless you purposefully make a weak scrubber. Even then it may not do very well.
 
I will try the Kent Tech - M. I've kept MG between 1300 and 1500. Raising it to around 1500 just this past week. A few chemists said briopsis wouldn't be affected by straight MG until around 2000ppm. Which is detrimental to most CUCs and may inadvertantly damage corals, etc... Tech-M sounds promising, as it's an additional ingredient or the mixture of ingredients that supposedly damages briopsis. I'll try that.

On the plus side. I'm not sure how this happened, but I have red/ purple kelp growing in. It's probably trippled in size when over the past 3-4 months. It just started growing on a rock. I don't want to do anything to kill it. I'm not sure what the conditions are for growing kelp, but, it looks awesome and no fish bother it. So, I'm hoping to see it grow much larger.. ;)

If it's the kelp or the briopsis, then, I want the briopsis to go and will do anything to have a clean tank again. Well, short of dismantling it....
 
Kelp? Cool! How did you manage to end up with that? I guess if you can find a way to get rid of the bryopsis and run a scrubber without killing the kelp, that would be a new one for me (the kelp/scrubber combo).

Pics of kelp??
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
Kelp? Cool! How did you manage to end up with that? I guess if you can find a way to get rid of the bryopsis and run a scrubber without killing the kelp, that would be a new one for me (the kelp/scrubber combo).

Pics of kelp??
Click to expand...


I think it's kelp, not positive though:

Here's some pics, I took two in the dark, and two with lights on. It's so reflective, but here it is, dark ones first:
<a href="http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/?action=view&current=1306775334824.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/1306775334824.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/?action=view&current=1306775324266.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/1306775324266.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Lighted one:
<a href="http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/?action=view&current=1306775261271.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/1306775261271.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Best one I think:
<a href="http://s569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/?action=view&current=1306775205556.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i569.photobucket.com/albums/ss134/SchnauzerWauzer/Saltwater%20Aquarium/1306775205556.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


This just appeared as a little purple thing on the rock, out of the blue... It's approximately 4-5" tall now by about 2-3" wide, color is reddish purple. The best picture shows it's color not too bad in the halide. (No actinics on for the pic...)

I should mention that The green stuff surrounding it is a combo of massive amounts of HA and briopsis.. :(
 
Ok so my first stand didn't go well so I tried going a better non ghetto route this is the stand that will hold the pipe with screen inbetween
<a href=http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/?action=view&current=IMG_20110531_221254.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/IMG_20110531_221254.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

This is of the stand on its side you can see the acrylic hangs out on the bottom of the left and right sides. This is so it can't slide back and forward on my sump ....

<a href=http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/?action=view&current=IMG_20110531_221344.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/IMG_20110531_221344.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

This is how it will sit in my sump you can see it on the right with one of the lights hanging there. I will also be a light on the left side ...

<a href=http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/?action=view&current=IMG_20110531_215738.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/IMG_20110531_215738.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

This is it with the screen in it but I have to redo the pipe and cut the slit again first one is too big

<a href=http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/?action=view&current=IMG_20110531_220648.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/IMG_20110531_220648.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

And one more a little closer up........

<a href=http://s1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/?action=view&current=IMG_20110531_220452.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m640/tman4l/IMG_20110531_220452.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

Ok so that's where I'm At .... gettin there and I will be painting the top inch or so black so no algae grows in the slit
 
Nice! Glass box, right?

You can put those lamps/reflectors pretty much right against the glass, maybe 1/2" or 1" away (for convection)
 
No its acrylic .... can I put the that close? Only reason I ask is cause four inches off the screen is about 2 inches off the outside of the box... another question I had was if I have a hard time getting the light where I want it on the left side its the same style as the one that u see on the right side in the picture now could I use one of the lights like strusso uses on the left and then use the style I have on the right or would one out work the other?
 
Travis1787 said:
No its acrylic .... can I put the that close? Only reason I ask is cause four inches off the screen is about 2 inches off the outside of the box... another question I had was if I have a hard time getting the light where I want it on the left side its the same style as the one that u see on the right side in the picture now could I use one of the lights like strusso uses on the left and then use the style I have on the right or would one out work the other?
Click to expand...
I think you could use the drop light style like strusso uses but you might need two to get full coverage since the reflectors are smaller. And with acrylic I would leave it at 4 inches off the screen.
 
My screen is 10x16 you think id need two of the style light for that width? I never said the size so that's why I'm re asking lol
 
Yes, that would work fine. (edit: srusso's type of lights on the other side)

A word about acrylic and silicone though, that is not a safe bond. It works fine to basically hold pieces together, but it doesn't act like glue as it does for glass tanks. Silicone does not bond to acrylic. Over time (and who knows how much time) the weight of the screen (if you start getting good growth) may cause one of the joints to give way, and it'll go fast. This puts the system and anyone around in in an electrocution hazard situation. This should never be done, no matter how well you think you gooped up the joint.

You need to use an acrylic solvent to make a weld. Making a bond for the simple box you have is very easy and doesn't require it to be 'bubble free'. You just make sure that the cut edge that you are bonding to the side panel is as flat as you can get it.

(edit) Using a razor blade and scraping the edge works well, hold blade slightly off perpendicular and scrape toward the inside angle. Sanding also works but use a hard block.

Then you just hold them together and run Weld-On #3 or #4 along the joint and let it wick in, it sets in seconds and then you let it sit for 24 hrs, then if you want to ensure water-tightness (if the weld joint isn't) then you can run a bead of silicone, which in that case is not structural so it will stay in place OK. Or you can run a bead of WO #16 instead of silicone (better)

The other thing to make sure you know about it which acrylic product you have there. They are not all the same. As long as it is actually acrylic, and not polycarbonate, then just about any product will work fine for solvent welding (plexiglas-g or -mc, acrylite GP or FF, even chemcast or another import extruded or cast product).

Note for those reading, for a watertight box scrubber you want to use a good cell cast product like Polycast (probably overkill for a small box), Acrylite-GP, or Plexiglas-G ONLY. No Chemcast IMHO. Extruded should be OK but Cell Cast is preferred. Since the above enclosure is not watertight, you can get away with less-than-ideal products.
 
Ok! Looked like silicone in the picture. Well my post was good for anyone thinking they could bond acrylic with silicone then:rollface:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

adova
300g DIY Acrylic Tank Recommendations
Replies
5
Views
143
griss
griss
Jyetman
All my corals and live rock now in my scrubber tank
Replies
2
Views
368
Jyetman
Jyetman
D
Can I use Fiji 12 Sump skimmer compartment for cheat fuge?
Replies
7
Views
407
griss
griss
A
Fleece filter bypass problems (Innovitech X filter)
Replies
1
Views
43
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
chemchris
WTS IM 14 Gallon complete setup $800
Replies
0
Views
307
chemchris
chemchris
Back
Top