Algae Scrubber Discussion

Rcunning8

Rcunning8

Premium member
Hey guys I was thinking about adding an Algae scrubber to my tank, I can't seem to maintain my nitrates at a respectable less than 1ppm level. This is partly due to the fact that my roommate (who is not really a reefer) insists on feeding his fish (a blue throat trigger named steve) multiple times a day. Since I want to keep both my roommate and Steve happy I was thinking about adding an algae scrubber off of the outflow from my UV sterilizer which dumps into the return section of my sump. This is located at the far right of the pic below. The tank is an oceanic 120 with eshopps r200 sump.

View attachment 15337

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The image below shows the exact outflow from my 36W sterilizer that I plan on attaching the scrubber to. Its the one that comes out and goes right down into the return compartment at a right angle

View attachment 15339

I was wondering what experience you guys have with algae scrubbers. What brand do you use? Did you do a DIY setup, if so do you have a link I could read?

I am eyeing this scrubber on eBay which I think is the same one Tinman uses:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Algae-Scrub...539041?hash=item2ee47799e1:g:GN0AAOSwT5tWOu2Z

I also saw this one on there which I bet I could find for 100 somewhere on the internet but right now its probably out of my budget unless I stumble on 50 dollars somewhere.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marine-Magi...041414?hash=item4646d47cc6:g:~UcAAOSwhcJWMOmy

All comments welcome!

-Ryan
 
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That's exactly how I have mine set up. Output of my 55w UV sterilizer goes into my ATS. Works very well I rarely see algae in my display tank. I feed heavy and NO3 rarely creeps past 2. I've actually had to dose PO4 at times when my SPS start to get pale.
 
Ryan....
Get on this already. Put it of a T fitting and a union get your length of pvc you need. Get a dremmel and slot the pvc. Then cap that pipe. Get the sowing/stitch canvas in the crafts section. Save a photo from the interwebz and ask an employee if you can't find it(don't forget to rough the canvas up to create where the algae will grab onto while flowing down it). Get a climo on cone lamp from HD. I use a 2700k warm cfl bulb placed about 5in from the screen (back off if you feel your burning up growth. Test it if you get a brown build up. Increase flow i have mine on a ball valve. I also had to widen the gap where the ats because i believed it got clogged once when i let it grow more than i needed to clean..i tried to harvest it for food chunks for my smaller fish.
 
So not to stray off subject but man finally seeing people running uv sterilizers on there reef tanks i remember when i first joined cr and i mentioned i ran one and loved it i got holey hell for it instead of tang police i got reef police any way lol i love that u guys do my tank looked its best when i did need to buy a new one . Back to subject i never ran a scrubber just a big fuge but was thinking about them at one point and the most suscessful ones have been diy and they super easy u can dind hundreds of ideas on u tube the scrubber it self probablly cost like 20$ in parts if that what can cost is the lights but that can be as cheap or as expensive as u want depending on what lights u go with . Only thing id add is keep eye on salt creep on lights or make splash gaurds dont want a electrical fire . That said i know reefwise runs one of the biggest ones ive seen lol and they swear by it
 
#theMatrix said:
Ryan....
Get on this already. Put it of a T fitting and a union get your length of pvc you need. Get a dremmel and slot the pvc. Then cap that pipe. Get the sowing/stitch canvas in the crafts section. Save a photo from the interwebz and ask an employee if you can't find it(don't forget to rough the canvas up to create where the algae will grab onto while flowing down it). Get a climo on cone lamp from HD. I use a 2700k warm cfl bulb placed about 5in from the screen (back off if you feel your burning up growth. Test it if you get a brown build up. Increase flow i have mine on a ball valve. I also had to widen the gap where the ats because i believed it got clogged once when i let it grow more than i needed to clean..i tried to harvest it for food chunks for my smaller fish.
Click to expand...

Im getting on it this weekend hopefully! I think I will have the funds by then to do it right and my buddy has a dremmel so I am gonna get to work on it! I will be using the ski LED fixture from innovative marine since I have it laying around.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...tent=0I10460&gclid=CJHVq5rI3coCFYRDaQod_XMGyQ

What do you think about that fixture for my scrubber?
 
madjoe said:
So not to stray off subject but man finally seeing people running uv sterilizers on there reef tanks i remember when i first joined cr and i mentioned i ran one and loved it i got holey hell for it instead of tang police i got reef police any way lol i love that u guys do my tank looked its best when i did need to buy a new one . Back to subject i never ran a scrubber just a big fuge but was thinking about them at one point and the most suscessful ones have been diy and they super easy u can dind hundreds of ideas on u tube the scrubber it self probablly cost like 20$ in parts if that what can cost is the lights but that can be as cheap or as expensive as u want depending on what lights u go with . Only thing id add is keep eye on salt creep on lights or make splash gaurds dont want a electrical fire . That said i know reefwise runs one of the biggest ones ive seen lol and they swear by it
Click to expand...


I will never run a tank without a UV sterilizer. If and when I see one white spot on one of my fish I switch from running it 12 hours a day to 24/7, feed heavy for two days and it goes away everytime! One day I will have an apartment/home for a fish room where I can have a proper QT setup but right now my tiny apartment literally doesn't have the space. Furthermore even when I have a fish room with QT setup I will still run a UV sterilizer as this hobby favors the well prepared and if I have learned anything from this hobby it is that anything can happen.
 
Here is how my scrubber turned out! It cost a total of 15 dollars

27ee847d0d28bbff2fe2a902fa13ed67.jpg


fb5ecdd8d6ef7bedfc3197f5b6bf0945.jpg



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yea that looks real clean, i like it! i noticed you used zip ties to hold the screen in...i'm assuming you can just easily pull the pvc pipe straight out when it's time to harvest? how much flow do you have going through it?
 
ThePorkchopExpress said:
yea that looks real clean, i like it! i noticed you used zip ties to hold the screen in...i'm assuming you can just easily pull the pvc pipe straight out when it's time to harvest? how much flow do you have going through it?
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Honestly i don't have anyway of knowing how much flow is going through it. If you take a look at the overall sump area I have my two overflows from my DT combining into one PVC. From that pvc I have a split where one of the splits goes to filter sock/ skimmer compartment and the other split goes to the back of the sump area through my uv sterilizer and out through the ATS. The reason why i didn't use a pump to put water through the uv sterilizer then to the ATS is because I only like having one pump in my sump cuz it keeps things more clean and less crowded which i like! The return pump is a Mag 9 and all of that flow goes through the overflow and i would say about 75 percent of that goes to skimmer and filter sock and 25 percent to the uv/ATS but thats just a guestemation
 
How long till i start seeing algae growth? How often does everyone harvest? When you harvest do u wash and use the same screen or put in a new one?
 
Rcunning8 said:
How long till i start seeing algae growth? How often does everyone harvest? When you harvest do u wash and use the same screen or put in a new one?
Click to expand...

I always use the same mesh because it already has strands that will continue to grow. It took me about 2 weeks to notice strands holding on to the turf..then it looked brown not what you want to see. So let that build a week. Then a week after a cleaned it up and noticed the clogging in the turf slot. So after that with the strand already grabbed on to the turf. It took a week for more darker green build up. Harvesting really isnt that great but the nutrient consumption is what helps.

Ive thought about freezing some of the stuff i get from the scrubber. As its slimey but stinks of fresh nori. If frozen in chips or dried might work to feed my tangs.
 
#theMatrix said:
I always use the same mesh because it already has strands that will continue to grow. It took me about 2 weeks to notice strands holding on to the turf..then it looked brown not what you want to see. So let that build a week. Then a week after a cleaned it up and noticed the clogging in the turf slot. So after that with the strand already grabbed on to the turf. It took a week for more darker green build up. Harvesting really isnt that great but the nutrient consumption is what helps.

Ive thought about freezing some of the stuff i get from the scrubber. As its slimey but stinks of fresh nori. If frozen in chips or dried might work to feed my tangs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, freezing it sounds like a great idea I may try that when I get some growth!! I notice that there is discussion in regards to the brown vs green algae. It seems that the green algae is what u want on the ats. Why does it matter? It seems to me if any algae is growing that means it is consuming nutrients. Now if brown algae starts to grow the solution is to increase flow correct?


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