algae scrubbers

[Serra]

dugg-
Do you attribute your having almost no algae on the front glass to your algae scubber? I know you posted pics of it earlier but can you email me those please along with details of how you built it? Can you draw instructions for the DIY challenged? I want to add this to my new 75. Also I will post it on my DIY page if you don't mind.

I will pm you my email address. Thanks-
Sheryl

 

[dugg]

I can't give credit for the lack of algae to the scrubber since i just set it up. I would say that is more due to my feeding habits. I have a theory that if i feed the smallest of the tanks life forms like the pods and diatoms, they in turn give the fish and corals most of what they need. I probably put less than 3 cubes of food in my tank in a week. I try to keep only fish that can hunt for thier own food. ( clowns, pipefish, wrasses) I have millions of pods in the system and i keep them fed well. They feed on diatoms that i feed by dosing silicates. It's kind of a trickle up theory i guess lol. I have had the scrubber in for about a month now i think, and it has just over the last few days started to get a brown algae film going.

The only place i have the pics of the scrubber, is on my post here. I try to keep my hard drive algae free too lol, so i delete most pictures after i post them. In a few weeks, when it gets some green algae growing in it, i will get more pics to post.

 

[Serra]

how do you get water to the scrubber and returned to sump. I looked at your other thread and the pics there but I need diagrams please!

 

[papagimp]

dugg: I think you may be on to something there, my feeding habits are more along the line of, dump in lot's of food when I'm home (just like a newbie!) but most of it makes it's way to the fuge, where I see my amphipods eating the crap out of left over flakes and pellets. I put about 4 or 5 cubes in a week but I try to get most of that frozen stuff directed towards the corals. I notice my mandarin, 6-line, clowns, coral beauty, and dominoe damsel all searching out pods constantly, the bangaii's wait patiently to be fed now, lazy bums. The only "nuisance" algae I see is some bubble algae that is slowly going by by thanks to finally getting a bubble algae eating freak of a emerald crap. This is all by dumb luck and accident I think, but I may have to look into this whole "trickle up" thing when setting up my 150g.

 

[dugg]

When i do feed, i turn off my return pump and wait until all of the food is gone (usually 20 minutes or so) before i restart the flow. The pods are fed from the diatoms produced by the silicates. I am planning to post some pics in a month or so of the different growth patterns in my clams when dosing and not dosing the silicates. It is just short of amazing. I was dosing silicates daily until about a month ago when i had the PH issue from the kid dropping something in the sump. I stopped then because the GFO media would just catch it all anyway. In the 2 months before that, my clams put on almost 1/2 inch of new shell. In the month since i quit dosing silicates, they have all but stopped growing. I would say maybe 1/16th inch in the last month. I have never had any diatom bloom from dosing yet. I think the pods and corals are consuming the diatoms as fast as they grow. I went ahead and took some pics. You can clearly see the last 30 days growth as the thin extra white rim. The rest of the white section was the 2 months before i stopped dosing. Both are derasa clams.

 

[dugg]

Serra, the water in the scrubber is the water exiting the skimmer. All of my overflow water from the display flows directly into the skimmer and then runs through the algae scrubber. It then enters the end of the sump and flows through about 30 to 40 lbs of liverock rubble. After passing through the liverock, it hits the macro (cheato), then flows through another pile of liverock and carbon bag that is stacked around the return line. There is also a 2" sand bed in the sump. There are no dividers in the sump other then the liverock which catches any remaining micro bubbles left over from the skimmer before they can get into my macro algae.

I am no good at drawing anything but flies lol, so i really can't help you with a diagram. I tried, and it looked like my mom should hang it on the fridge lol.

 

[Serra]

Oh well, I will figure something out. I am pretty good at, well, what is the politically correct way to say jerry riggin'? Who is jerry anyway and why can't I use his name?

I'm sort of a McGiver in drag I guess. I am no good at the techie stuff mainly because I have no tools. Travis keeps stealing them...kidding Trav. I think all you are doing is great.

I have dreams of building my own skimmer for this tank but I will need detailed plans. Today I was putting some trim on the canopy and I had 3 saws out, 4 if you count the tree saw, trying to make a cut without the right kind of saw. I NEED power tools dang it!

I have a great fear of flooding the floor but what the heck...

Sheryl

 

[dugg]

Really all it is, is a piece of PVC pipe with the top cut out of it. It has needle point backing cut to fit and laid along the bottom for a removable and cleanable place where the algae can grow and be harvested from. Then you just need a flow source. That could be the overflow, a skimmer, or a powerhead. It needs to have good flow in it. Mine is flowing about 400 gph through a 2inch PVC pipe.

The best powertool i have for my tank, is a dremel with cutoff blades and rotozip bits. I use it for everything. Wouldn't work real well on the trim, but for plumbing and gadget making you can't beat a dremel.

 

[Wildstar1063]

Here is an interesting Algae Scrubber design, I found while
researching on Google. It uses a rotating drum design. it
almost reminds me of a giant biowheel.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6837991.html

This is a patent site, there is a PDF of drawings down t'ward
the bottom.

Chuck E.

 

[Wildstar1063]

The Commercial application of that patent is available here:

http://www.aquaticengineers.com

There is an old thread here on reef central if you search for ECO-Wheel

Chuck E.

 

[Serra]

Thanks wildstar. I will look for that old thread but I think I like dugg's design better.

I have a pretty good dremel that I use to trim my dogs' nails. I got a great cordless drill (2 chargers) last Christmas and that is probably why my boyfriend dates me. I want a table saw! Of course then he would want to marry me.

dugg- why does the scrubber need to have good flow? I am glad you turned me on to needlepoint backing. I already use quilt batting for filter material so I'm feeling all artsy crafty now.

 

[dugg]

No explaination for why it needs good flow. That is just from the info i found on building a scrubber when i started looking into it. I think it is to keep solids from hanging up in the algae, and because the type of algae that will grow there likes the moderate to higher flow. I'm sure something like an MJ1200 would be fine if you are using a PH.

I use the plastic needle point backing for everything lol. It makes great filter screens to keep things out of your pumps also.