Algae Scrubber

[Lateralus_]

Anyone have any experience with these. I did a search and read wildly mixed things, anywhere from "Its a terrible idea" to "They work so well I removed all other equipment".

Thinking of trying a DIY one.

Thoughts?

 

[ca1ore]

As with most things in life, the 'truth' lies somewhere between the extremes. I have run an ATS on my reef tanks for many years, but I would not rely on it as the sole form of filtration. It can work really well, but as a complement to a skimmer, GFO, GAC, etc.

 

[Lateralus_]

Some guy at a pet store once told me they never recommend them, not because they don't work but because it would put them out of business if everyone used them. The electric car of reefing, lol.

All kidding aside, I'm going to build something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGLnBvDkaO0

I'll test it out and post some pics in this thread as I go. I currently have a hair algae problem, not a mystery, I skip too many water changes or am too busy sometimes. Hoping a solution like this will require less water changes in the long run. I plan on keeping my skimmer, etc running during the test.

 

[Lateralus_]

Easy DIY, just a desk lamp with a 15w LED 3000k bulb, used epoxied magnets to secure it, coated the magnets in epoxy to prevent rust. Super silent, though my tank lid keeps the bubble sounds in. The top lip is just above the water line to prevent micro bubbles from blowing around in the tank. 1 day in and there is already some algae forming.

 

[pyithar]

i also had a diy hang on glass scrubber. but algae grew after a few days on glass between light source and canvas. if i don't clean the algae off the glass every few days, canvas won't get as much light as it should. i'm a lazy person so in the end, i switched to waterfall scrubber.

 

[Crusinjimbo]

Love my ATS. It takes a bit of time to dial it in but they can definitely be effective at removing nutrients and, unlike most filtration elements, you can see it working as you harvest 120g of squeezed green algae every week or so. Don't know how much NO3 and PO4 plus whatever else it takes to make it but it is definitely not in my tank any longer.