Hi everyone. I'm trying to help my father incorporate an algae scrubber into his mixed reef aquarium and fit it into some pretty difficult restraints and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.
My father has a AGA 72 gallon bowfront with the reef ready overflow that has been up and running for 4-5 years. When he purchased the tank, the plan was to plumb the overflow to the basement but due to a couple of unforeseen circumstances that never ended up happening. We ended up plugging the drain and return holes in the overflow and he's had the tanks set up that way ever since.
He's getting older and water changes and heavy buckets are just one of those things he doesn't really have the ability to do anymore, so we were looking at ways to possibly reduce the amount of water changes (that weren't getting done) needed. We originally thought he could go to the Triton method, take the plugs out of the overflow, run it to a 20 gallon in the stand with the macro and lighting, and just pump it back up. In an ideal situation, that would be my preference but it is going to take me essentially taking the aquarium down to get the glass that has been siliconed to the bottom of the overflow out, then to drill holes in the cap of the stand stat is solid, and possibly to fit the 20 gallon long in the stand.... I haven't measured so I don't know if I could get it in the doors.
So with all of this being said, I had the idea that we could turn the overflow into the fuge to grow the macro. My thought is to put a pump in the bottom of the overflow and run the return over the edge back into the aquarium, pump size could easily determine the amount of water movement. I could use either lights on the back glass pointing into the overflow, or submersible lights actually down in the overflow. At one point he had a santa monica upflow scrubber on the tank that grew amazing amounts of green hair algae but the LED inside died on it twice and those things are too expensive for a plastic box with a light that dies. But with the upflow design there were air bubbles moving through the algae, so in the overflow I could position some type of bubbler well above the return pump if the algae needed it.
So what am I not thinking about? Why will this not work, or what do I need to change to make it work better? Also, any suggestions on lights? I know Kessils are the benchmark but I don't want an overhead light just due to aesthetics.
Thanks!
Bill
My father has a AGA 72 gallon bowfront with the reef ready overflow that has been up and running for 4-5 years. When he purchased the tank, the plan was to plumb the overflow to the basement but due to a couple of unforeseen circumstances that never ended up happening. We ended up plugging the drain and return holes in the overflow and he's had the tanks set up that way ever since.
He's getting older and water changes and heavy buckets are just one of those things he doesn't really have the ability to do anymore, so we were looking at ways to possibly reduce the amount of water changes (that weren't getting done) needed. We originally thought he could go to the Triton method, take the plugs out of the overflow, run it to a 20 gallon in the stand with the macro and lighting, and just pump it back up. In an ideal situation, that would be my preference but it is going to take me essentially taking the aquarium down to get the glass that has been siliconed to the bottom of the overflow out, then to drill holes in the cap of the stand stat is solid, and possibly to fit the 20 gallon long in the stand.... I haven't measured so I don't know if I could get it in the doors.
So with all of this being said, I had the idea that we could turn the overflow into the fuge to grow the macro. My thought is to put a pump in the bottom of the overflow and run the return over the edge back into the aquarium, pump size could easily determine the amount of water movement. I could use either lights on the back glass pointing into the overflow, or submersible lights actually down in the overflow. At one point he had a santa monica upflow scrubber on the tank that grew amazing amounts of green hair algae but the LED inside died on it twice and those things are too expensive for a plastic box with a light that dies. But with the upflow design there were air bubbles moving through the algae, so in the overflow I could position some type of bubbler well above the return pump if the algae needed it.
So what am I not thinking about? Why will this not work, or what do I need to change to make it work better? Also, any suggestions on lights? I know Kessils are the benchmark but I don't want an overhead light just due to aesthetics.
Thanks!
Bill
