Anybody ever use one of these before?

[Masterderrull]

It's a piece of filtration hardware that comes after the display and before the sump; called a "aiptasia scrubber", "algal scrubber", "sediment chamber", and "raceway culture". It looks pretty simple to build from the illustration that I have, but I've never heard of it or seen one in action. Are they practical? Do they work? If it's called an aiptasia scrubber, how do you keep the atip from multipling all over your display tank?

 

[SirusX1721]

I know for the turf/algea scrubber it's by giving the algea an ideal place to grow with proper lighting and plenty of air. As for an Aiptasia I'm not sure. I'm trying to read more up on this one...

 

[raynist]

Bob Nell in the club uses algae scrubbers on his tanks. I think the aiptasia scubber sounds like trouble.

 

[Masterderrull]

Bump, anymore info?

 

[Rostr02]

Are you referring to an algae turf scrubber, I would hope so as I do not want to even consider growing that many aptasia to make it a viable source of filtration in a reef tank. If you are referring to an ATS I can help you out as I built one for my 90 gal DT.

Bob

 

[Spyder_78]

I have an algae scrubber, they are very simple to set up but there are mixed opinions about their effectiveness.

 

[Masterderrull]

Spyder is your algae scrubber the kind thats in a bucket or did you build a seperate basin for the screen, lights, pumbling, ect.? If possible do you have a pics you'd like to share.

 

[Masterderrull]

I have been reading and there are people who use aiptasia scrubbers, but usually these are only used in large applications, like at a zoo. Or so I have come to conclude. I did hear that some people who have algal scrubbers find them turning into aiptasia scrubbers too, if they don't have the proper air circulation for algae. I'm thinking of building an algal scrubber to complement my refugium by using a small submersible pump to pump water from the skimmer section of the sump to a spraybar positioned above the algae screen, then letting gravity feed it back into the fuge section of the sump. Any body see any problems, conserns, or plain old wrong ideas at work here?

 

[Rostr02]

How wide do you plan on having your screen? What is the GPH rating on the pump you are planning to use? How are you planning on lighting the screen, for example I am using t5 fixtures for my scrubber. I also would like to tell you that depending on your design these can get messy real quick. My scrubber is self enclosed for that reason.

Bob

 

[Spyder_78]

Spyder is your algae scrubber the kind thats in a bucket or did you build a seperate basin for the screen, lights, pumbling, ect.? If possible do you have a pics you'd like to share.

No plumbing to speak of, it sits in a slight downward angle in my sump and works by way of gravity.

In the pic there is a 3500k and a 5700k light, I have since replaced both with 2700k lights and it works much better.

 

[Masterderrull]

Hey thanks for the info and the pic spyder. One more question for you though; since yours is right in the sump do you have any problems with gunk building up on other parts of the sump thus requireing extra cleaning? I'm thinking of algae and sediment.

 

[Spyder_78]

Having the scrubber set up in this fashion slows the flow through center section thus causing most of the debris to settle in on spot of the center section. Since my sump is bare bottom it makes it really easy to siphon out with my weekly WC.

As for algae growing else where there are two spots it grows in the sump that require me to pluck it out about once a month.

 

[Masterderrull]

I'm planning on using a rubermaid container or a cheap acrylic tank and doing something simular to this guys design. It's at the bottem of the page, and I'll conect mine to a quite-one 4000 with a valve, then empty the scrubed water right back into the sump. http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=197

 

[Spyder_78]

Just be careful with that design, as you can imagine it can be quite the shock hazard.

 

[Masterderrull]

yeah I thought about that, and your right in saying that I should probably give some more thought to that. lol

 

[hybridazn]

yeah I thought about that, and your right in saying that I should probably give some more thought to that. lol

not trying to go OT on the thread up i am diggin' the pic of the puffer for your avatar!! is it a blue spotted?

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

How hard is it to clean the screens? I have a sink in the room next to my den where my tank is. I'm not sure I would want to spray all that down the drain though.

 

[Masterderrull]

I think the best way would be to get all that nasty stuff outside. I was planning on taking mine out of my basement, to the backyard and spraying it off with a hose into a bucket, then pitching it into the woods beside my house.

 

[NaClH2Opgh]

I was thinking the same thing and that is the one thing that I don't want to have to deal with over the winter months.

 

[Spyder_78]

I keep a plunger next to the utility sink, sometimes the stuff that comes off is very thick but it is really easy to clean. I use a common scrub brush, it takes about two minutes if that.