Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
srusso
Active member
(Weeks ~1 - 4)
Your first weeks will be mostly brown slime, under running fresh water, lightly wipe 80% of the brown algae off with your hand every 7 days.
How quickly green hair algae shows up depends on the systems health and age.
Be sure to always clean your screen every 7 seven days.
srusso
Active member
What test kits are you using?
You should never see Ammonia once the tank has been cycled...
How have your normal nitrates readings been?
Something isn't right...
srusso
Active member
No worries man, stay the corse. I can rave all I want about how well it's going to work. In the end we'll be happier when your raving.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Ammonia kits are really hard to read when levels get low. API to me always looks like it reads 0.25 until you do it enough times and get used to what zero looks like. Nitrite of 5 is no concern, in marine systems Nitrite is not toxic, supposedly because of the salt in some way. I was looking for the article that explained it but can't find it...
Add: not saying that you should not be alarmed, because it shouldn't be there (nitrite) but just because it is does not mean you have to do a huge PWC or anything.
Add: not saying that you should not be alarmed, because it shouldn't be there (nitrite) but just because it is does not mean you have to do a huge PWC or anything.
jbannick18
New member
So a 10x10 screen lit on both sides would be slightly oversized for a 75 correct?
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Yes. But you would also need to light it with 100 watts. A 10x10 screen with 75 watts would still be sized properly, as long as it was evenly lit.
jbannick18
New member
With cfl when they only use 13w but are comparable to say "40w" would I use your suggested 75 using the 40 or the 13w? Thanks floyd
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
actual CFL watts only. Do not go by the equivalent wattage. For a 10x10 to get 75W of power with a 40W on each side you would need to use the larger reflector (dome type) but you might end up with problems due to heat/intensity. It's better to use more smaller lamps, like 4 18W-23W with smaller reflectors so you can put the closer together while still pointing them directly at the screen as best as possible.
jbannick18
New member
Ok sounds good I'll go ahead and do 2 23w on each side. Once I have my plans drawn up I'll post them to get critiqued. Thanks again
jrp1588
New member
Day 5, cleaned off the screen for the first time. There was a light layer of slimy brown stuff. Under the brown slime were a couple small spots of, what appeared to be, green hair algae. When I say small, I mean small, about the size of grain of rice.
The 2700K lighting seems to have set of a lovely cyano bloom in my sump, but I don't really care either way about that. Curiously most of the cyano bloom is in the less lit of the 2 sump chamers.
The 2700K lighting seems to have set of a lovely cyano bloom in my sump, but I don't really care either way about that. Curiously most of the cyano bloom is in the less lit of the 2 sump chamers.
jbannick18
New member
With blooms in the sump from the extra light, would any of this possibly transfer to the DT, or would the ATS still out compete this.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
It's possible, but IMO, cyano is one of those things that is always there, it just shows up when conditions are right. So if you don't have it in your DT now, it's not highly likely you'll get it after the ATS is running. That being said, you don't really want to encourage it's growth anywhere in the system, so blocking light to the sump is a good idea.
There is always a chance, no matter what system you run, that you will have a cyano outbreak. It's not predictable, and I can't say I completely understand the mechanism behind it. I successfully battled cyano in one tank, but that tank was in the worst possible condition - N >800, P>5, only bio-ball filtration, not enough LR, no tank cleaning whatsoever in 3 years, old lamps, etc. I did it by attacking it from all angles - physical removal (including top layer of substrate), PWCs, removing rocks and scrubbing them, running a canister filter, Purigen, adding a skimmer, filter socks, and I'm sure I missed something. Eventually it just lost a foothold and I haven't seen it in a year.
Some have experienced cyano blooms after installing an Algae Scrubber, after it wipes out the DT algae and N and P are down, but if your scrubber is built and maintained properly, it's just a matter of time before cyano gets out-competed.
So the safest route is to not give it what it needs - light.
There is always a chance, no matter what system you run, that you will have a cyano outbreak. It's not predictable, and I can't say I completely understand the mechanism behind it. I successfully battled cyano in one tank, but that tank was in the worst possible condition - N >800, P>5, only bio-ball filtration, not enough LR, no tank cleaning whatsoever in 3 years, old lamps, etc. I did it by attacking it from all angles - physical removal (including top layer of substrate), PWCs, removing rocks and scrubbing them, running a canister filter, Purigen, adding a skimmer, filter socks, and I'm sure I missed something. Eventually it just lost a foothold and I haven't seen it in a year.
Some have experienced cyano blooms after installing an Algae Scrubber, after it wipes out the DT algae and N and P are down, but if your scrubber is built and maintained properly, it's just a matter of time before cyano gets out-competed.
So the safest route is to not give it what it needs - light.
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