Algae scrubber experiment

[dugg]

Ok, my tank has ran a consistant just under 10ppm nitrate level for some time now. In an attempt to knock out that last little bit, i have decided to try an algae scrubber out. I took the outlet pipe from the skimmer, and ran it around in a square covering most of the sump outer edges. It is made out of 1 1/4 pvc, that has had the top 1/3 of the top length of the pipe cut out to allow light to get to the running water. Inside the pipe i placed strips of needle point backing for a place for algae to grow that can be removed for cleaning. This all runs under the sump light to aid in the algae growth. I am hoping to see this pipe become overgrown with algae that will in turn scrub my water of the final bit of nitrate. It also serves to take out the micro bubbles that the skimmer puts out.

At this point i think i may have to increase the pipe size to atleast 1 1/2 inch to handle the water volume, but so far so good. Any ideas or thoughts on this are welcome.

 

[Paul B]

That is the same idea but a different method of what I did. I used a 4" vinyl fence post from Home Depot and sliced it in half. It sits to the rear of my reef and slightly under the MH lights. There is a plastic window screen at the bottom for easy cleaning. It has been running about a year and I will never run a tank without it. It works beautifully. It is also free to operate since it uses wasted light and return water from the skimmer.
Paul

 

[dugg]

That is nice Paul, i wish i had room for something that large, and could fit it under my halides instead of the sump light. So did it reduce your nitrates drasticly, or just by a little?

 

[captbunzo]

I have heard of these quite a bit, but don't know much what they really are. Could you guys explain in a little more detail for us ignorant folks?

 

[Paul B]

Dugg, I don't really know because I don't test for nitrates but now that you mention it I think I will go look for my test kit. I will get back to you on that.
I installed it mainly to get the algae out of my reef and into the trough which it has done. You can see by the pictures it is loaded with all sorts of different colored algae. My tank is very old and there is trapped dirt all over the place, also I have a very large moorish Idol that I want to feed three or four times a day and he is really messing up my water. The trough was an attempt to keep the Idol happy and not let algae overrun the tank. It is working beautifully. Since the MH lights are about 10" over the tank I have plenty of room for it.
You can see from this picture the other half of the vinyl fence post is the actinic lights in the front. It swings back out of the way. The trough is behind it. It is in a wall so you can't see any of it. The cover is open for the picture.
Paul

 

[captbunzo]

Looks a lot like an upstream refugium....

 

[poke75]

How often do you clean the screen?

Steve

 

[dugg]

After seeing Paul B's setup, i decided to go ahead and up size now instead of waiting. I went and got a reducer for the 1 1/4 and went up to a 2 inch pipe instead.

Paul T. , it is basicly just an add on to the refugium. It is just a channel that all of the systems water has to flow through a bed of algae to further reduce nitrates. The algae should grow here just like on the outlet of an over the back filter, and we all know how good algae grows on those things. The algae will grow on the plastic screens, and the screens can be removed every few weeks so the algae can be harvested.

Here is the new 2 inch setup.

 

[dugg]

I also just changed out my sump light, to a 65w PC 10k light instead of the LOA bulb i was using. This spreads the light out over more of the scrubber area.

 

[captbunzo]

What would the pros and cons be of growing chaeto in this sort of a setup? And while they'd be more for aesthetic purposes, I wonder how you would grow mangroves in something like this...

 

[dugg]

Mangroves would be perfect for this setup. I have some cheato in there now until it begins to get some other algae growth.

I got this idea from an article i was reading on commercial propagation setups. The article said that an algae scrubber was the next step up from a refugium for nitrate removal. Since all of the systems water flows directly through the algae instead of a refugium, where the algaes just sit in the main body of water.

 

[Paul B]

I could not test nitrates, my kits are probably 15 years old and all the liquid is powder. I guess I will have to return them for a refund. :lol:
I brought some water to the LFs to test and although he put his finger over the end of the test tube to shake it It seems that my nitrate is about 10. Not too bad for a 36 year old reef with a RUGF.
I remember testing before the addition of the moorish Idol and it was about 2.
There is no hair algae growing in my tank, it is all in the trough where I want it.
Paul

 

[eddybabyhd]

i used to have a serious algae scrubber/refuge on my last tank. Actually i think it was also considered a DSB as well. It was rumored by some of my friends that i was growing "illegal plant" in the fish room and disguising it as part of my reef. But they didn't quite grasp the understanding of the refuge

 

[Serra]

I have always thought that an algae scrubber is the way to go...using the hair and other unwanted algae as the green in the scrubber. I wonder if using the chaeto actually grabs every nutrients that the lowly hair algae uses.

Do you think placing a screen of needle point backing on the top of the fug area would work as well? Say take out the chaeto and replace it with a screen?

 

[captbunzo]

Man, I love that - that's freaking beautiful....

 

[captbunzo]

I think attempting to SUPPLEMENT chaeto would be effective. But REPLACING it would be less then optimal, I think....

 

[Serra]

Supporting that statment with...????

 

[captbunzo]

Not a lot of anything.... Except that chaeto grows like mad and is hard to beat as far as nutrient export via algae is concerned... Feel free to give it a try - I always like experiments!!!

 

[Serra]

I'm going to experiment. Here is the real deal though...I can't grow chaeto for the life of me. What's that about? I have fug's on both my tanks.

I even put it at the top of my tank with the T5's and it didn't grow...

 

[captbunzo]

Strange - how much do you feed?