Algae Scrubber Basics

[milkman55]

I built a simple scrubber similar to the one in post 1615. Feeding 200 sq inches of screen with a Mag 9 pump on my 200 gal reef system. Here is my turf buildup after two months of use. It has been building steadily the whole time and the display is now virtually clear of algae a frustrating 8 month battle. I have also noticed by protein skimmer production has dropped off the last couple of weeks.

I plan to make some improvements to the design now that I have a little experience with it.

I was thinking about putting one on my 200 gal broodstock system of 8 tanks and a 75 gal sump. Any reason this would not work on a FO setup to keep the algae buildup on the glass down?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It's a one sided system. And I suppose it IS possible to think of my system as high nutrient for the last three weeks while the ATS was running as I simultaneously double fed the tank. But I still kind of doubt it.

As you indicated, it could be an LED thing. Or rather an outcome of the particular LEDs I used, plus the geometry I'm using them in.

Also, FWIW I borrowed a PAR meter, and my screen is getting around 525 PAR on most of it, with hot spots spiking to over 900. Primarily low 500's though.

I know someone with a PAR meter and I'll see if I can borrow it and look at the light from my T5HO setup for a comparison. I just found out he has one (don't know how good it is).

Single sided screens have their negatives. You may be seeing one (algae detaching). If I remember right you don't feed your screen directly from the slot, rather it 'dumps' out of it, so you may get away with 1/2 of the 35 GPH/in, the general rule is always 35 GPH/in, single or double sided. But your screen is kind of an anomaly.

I built a simple scrubber similar to the one in post 1615. Feeding 200 sq inches of screen with a Mag 9 pump on my 200 gal reef system. Here is my turf buildup after two months of use. It has been building steadily the whole time and the display is now virtually clear of algae a frustrating 8 month battle. I have also noticed by protein skimmer production has dropped off the last couple of weeks.

I plan to make some improvements to the design now that I have a little experience with it.

I was thinking about putting one on my 200 gal broodstock system of 8 tanks and a 75 gal sump. Any reason this would not work on a FO setup to keep the algae buildup on the glass down?

This is great to hear every time I hear it. As for the reduction in skimmate, at this point there isn't a for-sure answer why. It's one of those things that we would need a Coulter XL cytometer to really measure (I just read an article about those). If anyone has a spare one cheap, I'll take it.

As for the application, algae is a naturally growing organism so using it in any aquatic setup, even FW, will keep DT algae down. You may still have to clean the glass now and then, but it should help keep it down. Not to mention provide tons of pods for food and allow you to overfeed and grow out fry fast.

 

[Enjoy]

Here are some updated shots taken today (day 17) of my ATS system from post 1615.

I obviously need more flow, and I am going to cut my screen size down to something that fits this overstocked 35g system more appropriately.

Any advice? Anything I can improve?

Thanks in Advance

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

It appears that you did not rough up your screen. It needs to be cactus rough. Yours looks rather smooth.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Video of my tank and scrubber. Great 3D growth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIyOwAjEl0s

 

[Enjoy]

I did rough up the screen on both sides using a holesaw like mentioned in this thread. The first one I did I roughed up to the point where it started to rip, and create voids in the screen.
This last time, I used the holesaw and was very aggresive but tried to not rip the screen. It is very prickly, and the algae so far seems to be holding.

On my next cleaning I will make sure to look it over for any smooth spots I missed. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

In your second pic in the upper left there is a section where the screen doesn't look rough at all. That's what rose the red flag for me. Roughing the screen up it pretty key, you want it to be as rough as possible, almost borderline falling apart.

When I roughed up my screen I ripped/snagged it at the edges in a few spots and that's when I knew it was rough enough. One rip here and there won't matter, but a huge section torn out might.

 

[srusso]

scolley, in this pic, I see a couple of silver-dollar shaped bald spots (that have grown back). Those are usually the result of a 'black algae' (which is really a very dark slime) that lets go. It is a sign of a very high nutrient system, what happens is that the really dark/black algae blocks light to the 'roots' underneath and they lose strength and detach. The solution is to clean the screen very well every 3 days so that the dark algae is gone, and doesn't block light to the lower layers. Also it helps to dial back the flow a little bit so that the black algae doesn't tear away.

Still, you're having success it sounds. Keep it up. Watch the screen for the changover from the slime to hair algae, and keep it clear of the dark slime. Even if you have to take it out back of the shed and give it a good whoopin.

EDIT: just in case, the 3 days is if you are getting black slimy stuff. If it's more brown, then still 7 days. I looked again and it looks like you have clumpy growth that could be detaching. Until you get a good sheet of hair algae growing consistently I would watch it for bald spots and do a cleaning when you see one, and monkey with the flow rate to keep them at bay. Once you get good consistent thick green hair crank up the flow and clean every 7

I disagree, these bald spots are from copepods. Besure to clean the screen under tap or RODI water

 

[srusso]

I built a simple scrubber similar to the one in post 1615. Feeding 200 sq inches of screen with a Mag 9 pump on my 200 gal reef system. Here is my turf buildup after two months of use. It has been building steadily the whole time and the display is now virtually clear of algae a frustrating 8 month battle. I have also noticed by protein skimmer production has dropped off the last couple of weeks.

I plan to make some improvements to the design now that I have a little experience with it.

I was thinking about putting one on my 200 gal broodstock system of 8 tanks and a 75 gal sump. Any reason this would not work on a FO setup to keep the algae buildup on the glass down?

An algae scrubber is very well suited for a FO tank.

 

[srusso]

I disagree, these bald spots are from copepods. Besure to clean the screen under tap or RODI water

Although I do agree with the cleaning schedule for the black algae.

 

[srusso]

It appears that you did not rough up your screen. It needs to be cactus rough. Yours looks rather smooth.

+1 breakout a jar of that elbow grease and get to work.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I realized that I forgot to post my screen growth pic before last Monday's cleaning:

And then here's yesterday (1 week later)

Before I scraped it, I sprayed the screen really good with a 'shower' setting on the hose to clear the diatom algae, saltwater, etc so that I was left only with the GHA. Then I dried it out over some egg crate and now it's good for plant fertilizer.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

And some tank shots

 

[mistaflicksta]

Well I have decided to give the ATS a try. I have been reading this thread for a while and now that I am upgrading to a new 90 gal tank, I will give this a try.

This is what I have so far, I had the 90 drilled with two overflow holes. one will be going directly into the sump (skimmer section), and the other will go into the ATS. Will this work?

Here are some pics to give you an idea of what I am planning here.

Im not a very good artist but I will try to come up with a drawing on paint and try to bring my image to live.

Let me know What you think.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Screen looks rough, but not rough enough IMO. The ped-egg idea is good though! Kind of like a light rasp. But I would think that you would want to shave off pieces of the screen, that thins it out and removes material. I guess it would depend on the way you scrape it. But the hole saw really does work the best, it gets the screen really prickly and leaves pieces sticking up. Sometimes it's hard to take close-up shots, but if you can get a better one that might help. As long as it looks like this:

Then you're OK.

The dual-purpose overflow will work fine. This is one way to allow the ATS to get maximum head pressure. I wouldn't pipe one directly to the skimmer though, just put the skimmer in the sump and let the outlet of the ATS dump in that chamber. Then put an up-turned elbow on the 2nd overflow drain and you have a full siphon pipe to the ATS (which is ideal) and the 2nd is an 'emergency overflow'. It's called a Herbie.

Unless you're not going to run the skimmer on a separate pump. That just occurred to me. If you're wanting to run the skimmer without a pump, then you have to balance flow to the scrubber and flow to the skimmer to get enough flow in the skimmer to form bubbles and actually skim. I've never run a skimmer direct from an overflow though so I'm the wrong guy to ask about that technique.

Which were you planning to do, skimmer with or without pump?

 

[milkman55]

What tool have you found will remove a thick bed of algae from the screen. I have been using a nylon brush, but the algae is winning the battle.

 

[redneckgearhead]

What tool have you found will remove a thick bed of algae from the screen. I have been using a nylon brush, but the algae is winning the battle.

I use an old credit card.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I use a plastic aquarium scraper, like one you would use on an acrylic tank, or one you get at any store to scrape non-stick pans. Or you could probably use an ice scraper.

Check out the pink MASNA scraper I picked up at a local frag fest in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeVQk4jUOKI

 

[mistaflicksta]

The dual-purpose overflow will work fine. This is one way to allow the ATS to get maximum head pressure. I wouldn't pipe one directly to the skimmer though, just put the skimmer in the sump and let the outlet of the ATS dump in that chamber. Then put an up-turned elbow on the 2nd overflow drain and you have a full siphon pipe to the ATS (which is ideal) and the 2nd is an 'emergency overflow'. It's called a Herbie.

Unless you're not going to run the skimmer on a separate pump. That just occurred to me. If you're wanting to run the skimmer without a pump, then you have to balance flow to the scrubber and flow to the skimmer to get enough flow in the skimmer to form bubbles and actually skim. I've never run a skimmer direct from an overflow though so I'm the wrong guy to ask about that technique.

Which were you planning to do, skimmer with or without pump?

I am planning on using both overflow lines. I will not be plumbing it directly to the skimmer. One pipe will just be run to the sump section where the skimmer is, and the other overflow will be directly to the ATS. In theory both overflow lines will have equal amount of flow going through them. I dont plan on taking the skimmer offline. I will be running the same skimmer I am running on my current tank.

Let me know what you think

I will keep asking questions till I get this up and running

Erik

 

[scolley]

I know someone with a PAR meter and I'll see if I can borrow it and look at the light from my T5HO setup for a comparison.

That would be fascinating. Three cautions though.

First - when you use it, make sure the top of the sensor is exactly where the surface of your screen is. If set the domed sensor ON the screen, the sensor will be closer to the light than the screen surface, and make your readings too high.

Second - Just to state the obvious, brightness levels will vary around your screen. One reading in the center of where the light shines will not tell the tale.

Third - For anyone using a PAR meter on light that is skewed blue (like true 20K's or Royal Blue LEDs), PAR meters to a poor job of reporting the PAR from those frequencies - generally under reporting them.

If I remember right you don't feed your screen directly from the slot, rather it 'dumps' out of it, so you may get away with 1/2 of the 35 GPH/in, the general rule is always 35 GPH/in, single or double sided. But your screen is kind of an anomaly.

My original plan was to "dump" the water on the screen. But that did not work. So the one I've been using and showing is indeed inserted into the PVC slot. But one edge is siliconed to the PVC so water only escapes on one side.