Algae Scrubber Basics

[wildman926]

It looks like it is one piece, but with clear acrylic/plastic for the back window. The lights and screen just slide in, but aren't structural.

You can't form acrylic with those hard edges. Look closer at the second pic that does not show the LED's on.

You can see the seams here between the main body and the lip overhang. Download the pic yourself and blow it up, and you will see it clearly -

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Yes is it definitely hand-made, heat bent acrylic and solvent welded. Definitely not injection molded. Might be a stock HOB that was modified.

 

[Chris Abbott]

Can't speak to the quality of this unit, but if reputable vendor made it I would be all over it for a few smallers tanks.

 

[wildman926]

I have circled in red where the seams are visible....

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Don't forget the far back corner. The vertical walls are made from one piece, bent with a line bender at 3 points, then solvent welded on the 4th corner.

The bottom edge would then be sanded flat, bottom bonded on, flush trim, add the rest to the front & back.

I'm guessing the lid is meant to also cover the LED chamber, which means condensation could find it's way back there. Bad design flaw.

You can see the rough-cut edges of acrylic on the lid and the top of the guide rails inside the box, which is fine, just indications that these are added not molded in place.

 

[Buzz1329]

Sorry, but I’m calling shenanigans on the alleged correlation between cubes of frozen food and size/design of an ATS. How in the name of Donn the Dark Lord of the Gaelic underworld can anyone determine what nutrients a cube of frozen food contains? There are dozens of brands and within the brands there are dozens of different formulas.

Even assuming that one could determine the contents of an average cube of frozen food, how the heck could anyone say that this ATS/filter/reactor/skimmer can capture the excess nutrients of a hypothetical cube of food within a 24 hour period? It’s preposterous. Res ipsa loquitur. The silliness of the thing speaks for itself.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

You're correct. There really is no way to account for every scenario. I've made this point before elsewhere as well, maybe not the same way exactly.

For instance I feed a DIY food out club makes that is very "dense" and one commercial food maker told me he thought it would "overload your filtration".

The guideline is meant to get you in the general range of where you need to be. There are a few "guideline" factors that fall into this category.

Also, just to play devils advocate, if I feed 2 cubes/day on a consistent basis and I don't have any measurable N or P over a long term period (years) and the scrubber is my only filtration, literally the only filtration, and I harvest > 60g/wk of algae, and each feeding is about 6g (2 cubes or so)...pretty much exactly what you're saying is shenanigans is actually happening.

I have 2 tanks in this exact situation. I have another smaller tank like this also, which I feed proportionately the same.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

About that turf scrubber on eBay I had almost bought one but thought it's too small for 40 gallons total. It's probably like 4" long by 3" wide screen. That's pretty tiny, but would rock for a tank 20 gallons or less. If he makes them with a screen size 10" by 8" I'd buy one even at 150$-180. As far as the Santa Monica ats I personally think they are too much money and require stronger plastics. But I must congratulate Santa Monica for getting the enthusiasm up.

My question is how does an ats out compete algae in the tank? They don't? I assume snails gotta keep the tank clean.

 

[SantaMonica]

can anyone determine what nutrients a cube of frozen food contains?

Can anyone determine the nutrients in 100 gallons of tank volume?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Algae Scrubber Basics

My question is how does an ats out compete algae in the tank?

By providing a location where algae grows better, faster. That algae outcompetes the tank algae for it's source of growth.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

By providing a location where algae grows better, faster. That algae outcompetes the tank algae for it's source of growth.

Thanks that makes sense. Why doesn't chaeto work the same way? I've got mine that was the size of a baseball a month ago now the size of a basketball, has not removed the algae from my display tank? Phosphates are completely clear via salifert. I don't understand this. It's growing under 10 3 watt led 7red 3 blue.

Maybe it's the fact it's more efficient?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Basically, yes. It's a matter of which algae can get to the nutrients first, fastest. A lot depends on your specific situation/tank.

Chaeto can work in many situations, but sometimes there just is not a fast enough nutrient exchange and the tank algae gets a crack at it then.

With a waterfall scrubber, a thin fast moving layer of water ensures good boundary layer penetration. With chaeto you don't necessarily have this throughout the entire area. If you really want to maximize your chaeto efficiency, you have to prune it almost daily and either keep it moving or rotate it often. Anything that is not exposed to water flow and light is doing nothing, and can actually be dying (from lack of those 2 things) and feeding itself or the tank algae.

 

[SantaMonica]

Photosynthesis (filtering) is a function of Light X (air/water flow) X attachment. Chaeto is very weak on all three.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I don't know guys it all seems very strange thinking that an ats can stop the tank from growing algae and my chaeto has stopped growing. I even dose iron. I suspect ats uses co2 more efficiently somehow. Or my chaeto is lacking something. Potassium kit arrives next week. Let u guys know.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Well, algae can't really grow without NPK. So if your tank algae is growing and chaeto has stopped, harvest the chaeto to get rid of the shaded parts and let water flow through it better. One speaker I heard said you have to prune a refugium very, very frequently

 

[boxfishpooalot]

We'll that sucks. Maybe I'll try the waterfall turf scrubber. Thanks.

 

[fit]

I had a few weeks with my scrubber offline. Then 31 days resulted in 220 g of twice squeezed algae, small clumps as hard as I could. I did another 32 days and harvested 175 g. On my third go now. I am using a commercially built unit rated at about 3 cubes a day.

You're correct. There really is no way to account for every scenario. I've made this point before elsewhere as well, maybe not the same way exactly.

For instance I feed a DIY food out club makes that is very "dense" and one commercial food maker told me he thought it would "overload your filtration".

The guideline is meant to get you in the general range of where you need to be. There are a few "guideline" factors that fall into this category.

Also, just to play devils advocate, if I feed 2 cubes/day on a consistent basis and I don't have any measurable N or P over a long term period (years) and the scrubber is my only filtration, literally the only filtration, and I harvest > 60g/wk of algae, and each feeding is about 6g (2 cubes or so)...pretty much exactly what you're saying is shenanigans is actually happening.

I have 2 tanks in this exact situation. I have another smaller tank like this also, which I feed proportionately the same.

You're correct. There really is no way to account for every scenario. I've made this point before elsewhere as well, maybe not the same way exactly.

For instance I feed a DIY food out club makes that is very "dense" and one commercial food maker told me he thought it would "overload your filtration".

The guideline is meant to get you in the general range of where you need to be. There are a few "guideline" factors that fall into this category.

Also, just to play devils advocate, if I feed 2 cubes/day on a consistent basis and I don't have any measurable N or P over a long term period (years) and the scrubber is my only filtration, literally the only filtration, and I harvest > 60g/wk of algae, and each feeding is about 6g (2 cubes or so)...pretty much exactly what you're saying is shenanigans is actually happening.

I have 2 tanks in this exact situation. I have another smaller tank like this also, which I feed proportionately the same.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That growth is crazy. Did you let that grow for 30 days? It looks like you could have blocked both drains with that amount of growth! What flow rate are you running it at, and what is your daily photoperiod?

 

[wyattroa]

well this looks like a project I want to take on. I only have 2 chambers I can put the ATS in. My 3rd chamber is taken up by my ATO. My first chamber will end up having the skimmer back in there and the middle chamber just has my return pump. The overall tank and sump will be around 65 gallons. Ill have around 5-8 fish in the tank and will be bare bottom. How large will I need to make this, or can it be a relatively small ats?

 

[SantaMonica]

I posted a size-by-feeding guideline about a week ago here.