# Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!



## SantaMonica

Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

Are you tired of green on your rocks? Do you have to clean your glass more than once a week? Well then I'm sure you've been told (or you've figured out) that your Nitrate and/or Phosphate are too high. Sure enough, if these are too high, the green starts growing. Phosphate is the important one: If you can detect any phosphate at all with a hobby test kit (like Salifert), then it's high enough to cause algae to grow. So, what can you do?

Build an algae filter screen, that's what you can do. An algae filter screen, also known as a turf algae filter, a turf scrubber, or an algae scrubber, basically filters the water clean of nitrate and phosphate so that the green on your rocks and glass goes away. It does this by "moving" the growth of the algae from the tank to a "screen" outside of the tank. The idea is that you create a better growing environment on the screen than occurs in the tank, so that the algae grows on the screen instead. It works great!

Here's what you can expect: If you build your algae filter properly, your nitrate and phosphate will be incredibly low, sometimes unmeasureable by hobby test kits, within four weeks. I use Salifert test kits, and the readings I get are "clear" (zero) for both the Nitrate and the Phosphate tests. This is what you want. If you have been trying to get this yourself, then an algae filter is for you.

Here is my Algae Filter in a 5-gallon bucket; it's the only filter I have (other than the live rock) on my 100 gallon reef:











Here is the filter in operation with the lights on:











Here is my tank:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank.jpg
Video: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank08-11-08.mpg


And here are the only things you need to build a bucket version of this filter:











My nitrate and phosphate are zero (clear on Salifert test kits), and the only thing in my sump is water. I removed the skimmer, carbon, phosban, polyfilter(s), and filtersock; I don't use ozone, vodka, zeo or anything else. I'm feeding massive amounts too; enough that if I had my previous filtering setup, I'd have to clean the glass twice a day, and everything in the tank would be covered in green or brown algae. Amazing.

The only thing you need to decide on is how big your algae filter screen needs to be, and if you want it to be in your tank's hood, or in a bucket, or in your sump. The basic rule is one square inch of screen for each gallon of tank water, if the screen it lit on both sides; the screen size should be twice this if the screen is lit up on just one side. A 12 X 12 inch screen, lit both sides, = 144 square inches = 144 gal tank; a 7 X 7 inch screen lit both sides = 49 gal tank; a 6 X 6 lit both sides = 36 gal tank. Algae filters get really small as you can see. A 12 gal nano tank needs just 3 X 4 inches! This small thing can replace the skimmer, refugium, phosphate removers, nitrate removers, carbon, filtersocks, and waterchanges, IF THE PURPOSE of these devices is to reduce nitrate and phosphate. If these devices have any other purpose, then they can't be replaced. If your tank is bigger than a 75, then just start with a 5 gallon bucket size and see how it goes. You can always add a second one, or build a bigger one later.

My example bucket version takes about 4 hours to build. Water goes in the pvc pipe at the top, flows down over the screen, then drains out the bottom. That's it! Oh, and it has clip-on lights. I can feed the tank a lot of food, and anything not eaten by the corals or fish eventually ends up as algae on the screen.


Here are some examples of DIY algae filter screens already built, from a simple nano one:





























to larger ones:


























































Here are some advantages of an algae filter:


o Allows you to feed very high amounts without causing nuisance algae growth in the tank.

o Can replace waterchanges, IF THE PURPOSE of the waterchange is to reduce nitrate or 
phosphate or algae growth. Otherwise, it does not replace the water change.

o Grows swarms of copepods.

o Increases pH.

o Increases oxygen.

o Will NOT spread algae into the tank. It removes algae FROM the tank.

o There is no odor from the algae (only a slight ocean smell when cleaning it).

o Is very quiet when flowing, similar to a tabletop decorative waterfall.

o Introduces no microbubbles when adjusted.

o Removes ammonia too.

o You can even make a portable bucket! Just unplug the lights, lift up the pump 
out of the tank water, and go put it in your next tank (or your friend's tank).
Don't let the screen dry out though.

o Works in saltwater or freshwater.


How to build it: 

First, get your screen. Any stiff material that has holes in it, like knitting backing, plastic canvas, rug canvas, gutter guard, or tank-divider will do. Try going to hardware stores, craft stores, garden stores, sewing stores, or just get one of these online (in order of preference):

http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=43844
http://www.herrschners.com/products/product.aspx?sku=137850
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/2/Tank-Dividers/tank divider/0

Don't use window screen though. The main problem with this kind of "soft" screen will be getting it to hold its shape; it will bend and fold too much. Stiff screen is easier to make stay put, and easier to clean.

If you have a nano with a filter hatch on top of the hood, then it's super easy: Just cut a piece of screen to replace the sponge filter, and put it where the sponge filter went. Leave the hatch open, an set a strong light on it, facing down directly on the screen. This is a good bulb to get; it will be bright enough to power the screen, and to light up your nano too:

http://www.buylighting.com/23-Watt-R40-Compact-Fluorescent-Flood-5100K-p/tcp1r4023-51k.htm

If your nano does not have a filter hatch on top of the hood, or if you have a regular tank, then here are the larger versions:





























The first and main thing to consider is the flow to the screen. You need about 35 gph (gallons per hour) for every inch of width of the screen. Thus, a 2" wide screen would need 70 gph, and so on. Here is a chart: 

Screen Width-----Gallons Per Hour (GPH)

1" 35
2" 70
3" 105
4" 140
5" 175
6" 210
7" 245
8" 280
9" 315
10" 350
11" 385
12" 420
13" 455
14" 490
15" 525
16" 560
17" 595
18" 630
19" 665
20" 700


Note that it does not matter how tall your screen is, just how wide it is. Let's start with an overflow feed: In this case the amount of flow is pre-determined by how much is overflowing; the maximum flow you'll get to the screen will be what's going through your overflow now. This is easy to figure out by counting how many seconds it takes your overflow to fill a one-gallon jug: 

60 seconds = 60 gph
30 seconds = 120 gph
15 seconds = 240 gph
10 seconds = 360 gph
8 seconds = 450 gph
5 seconds = 720 gph


Take this gph number that you end up with, and divide by 35, to get the number of inches wide the screen should be. For example, if your overflow was 240 gph, then divide this by 35 to get 6.8 (or just say 7) inches. So your screen should be 7 inches wide. How tall should it be? As tall as can fit into the area you have, and, as tall as your light bulbs will cover. But how tall it is not as important as how wide it is.

Pump feeds: Since with a pump you have control over the flow, start with the size screen you can fit into your space. If the screen will go into your sump, then measure how wide that screen will be. If the screen will go into a bucket, then measure how wide that screen will be. Take the width you get, and multiply by 35 to get the gph you need. For example if you can fit a 10 inch wide screen into your sump or bucket, then multiply 10 by 35 to get 350 gph. Thus your pumps needs to deliver 350 gph to the screen. 

You can construct your setup using any method you like. The only difficult part is the "waterfall pipe", which must have a slot cut lengthwise into it where the screen goes into it. Don't cut the slot too wide; just start with 1/8", and you can increase it later if you need to, based on the flow you get. I used a Dremel moto-tool with a "cut off wheel":











Now install the pipe onto the screen/bucket by tilting the pipe and starting at one side, then lowering the pipe over the rest. You may have to wiggle the screen in some places to get it to fit in:











Lighting: This is the most important aspect of the whole thing. You must, must, have strong lighting. I'll list again the bulb I listed above:

http://www.buylighting.com/23-Watt-R40-Compact-Fluorescent-Flood-5100K-p/tcp1r4023-51k.htm

... This the minimum you should have on BOTH sides of your screen. You can get even higher power CFL bulbs, or use multiple bulbs per side, for screens larger than 12 X 12 inches, or for tanks with higher waste loads. The higher the power of the lighting on the screen, the more nitrate and phosphate will be pulled out of the tank, and faster too.

Operation:

Regardless of which version you build, the startup process is the same. First, clean the screen with running tap water (no soap) while scrubbing it with something abrasive. Then dry it off and sand it with sandpaper on both sides. Then get some algae (any type) from your system and rub it HARD into the screen on both sides, as deep and as hard as you can. Then run tap water over the screen to remove the loose algae pieces; you won't see the spores that stick... they are too small, but they are there. Don't forget this algae rubbing part... it will speed up the start of your screen by a few days. Install the screen and turn on the water.

You can leave the light on for 24 hours for the first week if you want to speed up the process; otherwise just put it on a timer for 18 hours ON, and 6 hours OFF. You will see absolutely nothing grow for the first two days. On day 3 you'll start seeing some growth, and by day 5 most of the screen should have a light brown coating. If this level of growth does not happen on your screen, your lighting is probably not strong enough, or it's not close enough to the screen. Increase the bulb power, or move it closer.

When the screen looks something like this:











...then you want to give it it's first cleaning, on ONE SIDE only. Take the screen to the sink, run tap water on it, and just push the algae off with your fingers (not fingernails):










Wait a week, and clean the other side, gently. Wait another week and clean the first side again, etc. After a while you'll have to press harder to get the tougher algae off, and after a few months you'll probably need to scrape it with something, and it may eventually get so strong that you'll need a razor blade to scrape it off. But for now, be gentle; you always want some algae to remain on the screen when you are done. NEVER clean it off completely.

Don't forget to test your Nitrate and Phosphate before you start your filter, and each day after. I use Salifert:

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~test_kits_salifert.html 

Post your pics of how you build it, the growth day by day, and your nitrate and phosphate readings, so we can all see how you are doing!


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day: 

What Scrubbers Consume: Algae scrubbers consume INORGANIC nitrate and phosphate. These things are what your test kits read, and what the nuisance algae on your rocks and glass require to live. What scrubbers don't consume is ORGANIC nitrate and phosphate. Organic nitrate and phosphate have another name: Food. Any and every piece of food you put into your tank has nitrate and phosphate in them, but they are organic. Scrubbers leave them in the water for the corals to eat. Skimmers do the opposite: Skimmers remove the organic nitrate and phosphate (food), and leave in the inorganic nitrate and phosphate; these inorganics are then used by the nuisance algae on your rocks and glass to grow.


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## SantaMonica

Today's build-of-the-day is the very first solar powered screen that I've seen on any thread. Lighting will not be a problem with this one. Uses a simple pressurized pvc frame:


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## SantaMonica

Today's N-and-P-lowering successes are both from the UR site, and both of them were a build-of-the-day that I previously posted:

"Col" says: "Test results from tonight are N=7.5 & P=0.1 I've not had test results as low as this before. The lighting on side 2 of the screen is really making a difference. Thanks SantaMonica for all your help!

"johnt" says: "Tested today and nitrate has come down from 50 to less than 25:


Date------8/21--------9/7---------9/14--------9/20

Nitrate----60-----------*-----------50-----------<25
pH---------8.24---------*-----------8.23---------8.27
Mag-------1394--------*-----------1335--------1440
Cal---------500----------*-----------465----------460
dKH-------7.2----------*------------8.6----------8.3
SG---------1.026-------*------------1.026-------1.026
Temp-----26.3---------*------------25.3---------24.8
Phos------0.25---------*------------0.1-----------<0.1

* = Started Scrubber

"First a big drop in Phosphate and now an equally impressive drop in Nitrate"


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## SantaMonica

It's Time For The Santa Monica 120 Acrylic!

Ok it's time to move my screen from the ugly bucket by the sink (with hoses, wires, timers, etc) to under the tank where it can sit on the sump. The idea for this design came from all the readers who tried to install their screens over their sumps. Low profile is important for me, as it is to anyone without a fish room, so I picked 6" as the max height. That would give me room to lift out the screen and pull it out of the stand, with room to spare. And at 6" height, the pvc pipe will take up 1", leaving 5" for the screen. So the screen will be 5 X 24 = 120 sq in. This is good for a decently-stocked 90 like mine, or a lightly stocked 200 with no real nutrient problems. Here is the initial layout that I gave to the acrylic shop:











Wide screens like this are more efficient and powerful (with the same light) than tall narrow screens, but require more flow. My screen will need 24" X 35(gph/in) = 840 gph. However the same 120 sq in screen placed vertically would only need 5" X 35(gph/in) = 175 gph. The vertical placement has a disadvantage in that the water at the top gets filtered by the top of the screen, but then has to travel over the lower parts of the screen. Since it's already been filtered at the top, not much happens on the bottom part of the screen. This problem is eliminated with a horizontal screen since all the water that passes over the 5 inches of screen needs filtering.

Another good use for a low-profile screen like this would be for on-top of tank, when you want the pods to drain directly down into the display. Or, if you don't have a sump, the on-top placement would work great if you put the pump in the display.

The acrylic box came back from the acrylic shop, finished beautifully. They still have the plans, so if anyone wants the same box, call Hastings Plastics at 310-829-3449 and say you want the "aquarium algae filter screen box". The only change would be the "U" cutouts for the pipe: Tell them to make them a little larger round, and a little deeper, since the pipe was hard to push into them (and it stuck out a bit which made the lid not close all the way. ). I did a little grinding, and now it's perfect. The cost was about $100, without shipping. Here's how is arrived:











Unwrapped. Notice the bottom and ends are mirrored acrylic, with the mirror facing inwards:






































The lid fits mirror-side down:











The pipe fits snug so that little light will escape. I had to grind the "U" cutouts a little bigger and deeper so the pipe would not block the lid:











The lid fit perfectly after the pipe cutouts were enlarged:











Here are the lights. They come with a combo of 10K and actinic:

www.petstore.com/ps_viewItem-idProduct-CU01124-tab-4.html


I removed the bulbs, and got 6500K and 3000K from here:

www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/ge-t5-ho-fluorescent-lamps-c-73_623.html


I'm going to set it up with 6500K on one side and 3000K on the other. Nobody recommednds 10K for macros, except for one person: The guy at Inland Aquatics that has been growing turf screens for 10 years. So, I'll try 10K soon, but not to start. Maybe you can start with 10K on yours and let us know how it works 

Then I placed the lights on the acrylic and marked off where the the bulbs will be shining through:











Some method has to be used to mount the lights to the sides. I'm using acrylic blocks and acrylic glue:











The light-mounting is a bit tricky, because the lights need to be removeable, yet be pressed up against the acrylic to minimize light leakage (which would be important for an above-the-tank placement in plain view). The lights are then placed in the mounts:











The overall size ended up being 6.5" high X 6" deep X 24" long:



























Here's a size comparison; the inside of the stand was once filled with filtration devices, and now it's just water:











Taped and ready for spray painting:











First coat was a metallic silver, so that the inside would reflect more:











After painting with black primer, and putting lights on:











End view:











Side view:











Lid off, ready to use:











The long, low-profile pipe and screen:











Lights on:











Setting on sump:











Running, with front light removed to see flow:











So, I rubbed algae from my original bucket into the new screen, then installed the screen and turned it on. I'm starting with the flow and lights on 24 hours, in order to speed up the growth. I'll decide later if I'm going to pulse the flow, and I'll wait for the algae to grow a bit before putting the lights on a timer. Also, there is no fan, because I wanted to make it as simple as possible for folks who wanted to try it themselves. I may try a fan later, but for now let's see how it does without one. Also also, I'm leaving my original bucket running, for safety, but of course this will slow down growth on the new screen.


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## SantaMonica

Results of the day:

jski711 on the RF site says: "Well i ditched my euro reef skimmer and have not noticed any side effects from doing so. i'm still doing water changes on a regular basis but i have increased feedings tremendously and have no adverse side effects from doing so."

keithqueef on RC says: "Update. Well i received my screen from inland (12x12) last friday. and since putting it into my system my trates have gone from red to orange to now dark yellow not quite orange, i lost my color card so i dunno numbers. the screen is dense with it."


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## Fish-addict

I will have to make something like that for my saltwater. Very useful concept, and nice DIY design.

Hey, I've seen you on another forum. This exact thread was posted on the other aquarium forum I go onto, as was the thread titled "Best cube aquarium for the $" or something like that although I don't remember the name of who posted the cube thread on fishforum.


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## SantaMonica

Glad you think it will fit into your next SW setup. And let me know if you remember where that cube aquarium link is.


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## SantaMonica

The Power Of Light, another example:

Reader "varga" on the RS site just did a cleaning and sent in these pics; here is before the cleaning... it looks like the screen has an even coverage all across it:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserVargaSeaMonsterOnRS&RF-3.jpg

But here is after:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserVargaSeaMonsterOnRS&RF-4.jpg

Notice that the center area has a tougher, stiffer algae that holds on stronger because it is made up of less water and more fibers (i.e., more N and P, less H20). Now why do you think that the stronger algae formed in the middle of the screen? Here's why:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserVargaSeaMonsterOnRS&RF-5.jpg

Yes, because of the lights. The screen may look evenly covered in light when you look at it, but your eyes can't tell the high power areas from the low power areas. Also, when you double the distance of the light, you would think the power of the light would be reduced to one-half; but it's actually reduced to ONE FOURTH of what it was. So when optimizing your design, you want the lights as close to the screen as possilbe, all the way across the screen.


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## SantaMonica

Many folks asked for pics of the jski711 no-skimmer tank whose test results I already posted, so here they are along with an update he posted:

"Well first i'll start by giving you a little background of my tank. its been up for 2 years now and am running t5 lighting. in the past i have had algae issues and phosphates tested above .1 from overfeeding. (i'm trying to fatten up my clowns and hopefully get them spawning). i've also got a 15g tank plumbed into my system that has a pair of mandarins in it which i am also trying to get spawning. i had a sick mandarin and dosed my tank with Maracyn to try and save him. after dosing this for a week i was unable to turn my skimmer on because it would just overflow from the medicine. after doing numerous water changes and about a month later i still was unable to turn it back on, thats when i saw [the scrubber] thread. I also had to turn off my calcium reactor because the co2 was dropping my ph too low; the bubbles from the skimmer were really helping me keep my ph up but with my skimmer not running, it had to be turned off. thats when i decided to give [the scrubber] a try. i purchased a pre grown screen from inland and off i went. since adding the "scrubber" i have noticed a major increase in ph which allowed me to turn my calcium reactor back on and get things stable again. the reactor has only been back on for about 2 weeks now and im "re dialing" it in. my ph fluctuates between 7.8 at night and 8.0 during the day. I have over 30 different types of sps in my tank, just did a quick count, and i have noticed no ill side effects at all. i have also been overfeeding a ton, especially to my mandarins! i have also noticed that the green film of algae i would get on the glass every few days has gone. I don't even remember the last time i scraped it, although in the pics you will see it needs to be done soon cause i have a ton of coraline algae on it. So IMO this "scrubber" has done wonders for me. I have been skimmerless for over 3 months now and still do my normal water changes, sometimes i do go 2 weeks but normally every weekend i do one. the turf that was on the screen from inland is still there but it doesnt seem to be spreading but not receding either. below are some pictures from today, they were just quick shots so sorry if they are blurry but you will see the colors i've got are great and like i said earlier i have had NO ill side effects at all."




































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## SantaMonica

Part 2 of 2:

Notice that it takes several days before you can see any growth at all. And yes, I did seed the screen. Going back one day to Day 10, here are some closeups:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicCloseup1Day10.jpg










Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicCloseup2Day10.jpg










Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicCloseup3Day10.jpg










Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicCloseup4Day10.jpg










Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicCloseup5Day10.jpg


And here is a closeup from Day 11:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicDay11closeup.jpg


And what it looks like out of the stand. Note the algae coming out of drain; it was almost 2 feet long before I pulled it out for this pic:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicDay11heldup.jpg


Here's the growth on the 3000K side:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicDay11out3000K.jpg


And the 6500K side:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AcrylicDay11out6500K.jpg


Instead of following the rule of cleaning only one side at a time, I had to do both in order to measure the algae of the 3000K side versus the 6500K side. Here is what was pulled off, like pulling a rope:











Here are the algae amounts removed, after a cleaning:











And here's the screen after cleaning; this is why you don't clean both sides, becuase it leaves left nothing on the screen for filtering:











A few notes: 

o The screen is only 1.5 inches from the acrylic wall, and thus some water does get on the wall. But this unit is currently not setup for airflow with a fan, and it has a lid, so the water never gets a chance to evaporate. As a result very little saltcreep forms. I think I wiped it twice during the 11 days; however it did not do anything, just redistributed the droplets. On day 11 there was a small amount of creep; when I pulled the screen out I just reached in an splashed some water on it and it came off.

o There was a great increase in algae between day 10 and 11. I've seen this many times: once the hair algae gets to a certain point, the next day it covers everything. 

o When the screen get covered, algae start flowing down the scrubber and out the drain. Not a little, but a lot. It easily reached the botton of the sump 18" below. I just grabbed it and pulled it off. This might be a way to feed tangs, if the unit were placed on the hood of the tank.


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day: Flow...

The basic rule of thumb for flow for a standard pipe slot is 35 gph (US gallons per hour) (140 liters per hour) per inch (2.2 cm) of screen width. Thus a screen 2" wide would need 70 gph. This should cover the entire screen with a swift flow on both sides, and leave you with a little room for adjustment. The more flow, the better, but this amount has proven to work well. How tall the screen is does not change the gph, however; only the width does. Here is the chart:

Screen Width-----Gallons Per Hour (GPH)

2" 70
3" 105
4" 140
5" 175
6" 210
7" 245
8" 280
9" 315
10" 350
11" 385
12" 420
13" 455
14" 490
15" 525
16" 560
17" 595
18" 630
19" 665
20" 700


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## SantaMonica

"Sly" on the SWF site is getting great growth in just 6 days from his trashcan-scrubber with built-in surge device:


















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And what is this.... dinner?











...Nope, it a week of growth from just one side (the 6500K side) of my acrylic unit.
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## SantaMonica

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Well this one takes the cake. Not only is it the biggest, but it's also the first one to use halides for lighting. "Reefski" on the MD site has a 700g tank and 800g sump, and had the entire garage to use for fish stuff, so he spared nothing in building his scrubber:


































By the way, if this weren't enough, his entire back yard is a koi pond 
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## iamntbatman

Haha...that's ridiculous. There's no way that guy's married. No fair showing us pictures of the sump and scrubber without showing pictures of the display!


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## SantaMonica

He's married for 20 years  And he's cleaning/changing up the tank; will ask him if he's got new pics yet.


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## SantaMonica

Well I'm trying to get caught up with the posts; gonna have to combine a few here to get them out without postponing anymore. Seems to be a lot of interest in scrubbers that are unique, like the giant one, and the solar one. Well today is another unique one, but first here are some results feedback:


"Pong" on the RF site said "i had a lot of green hair algae growing on my screen. noticed that the red algae in my DT has lessened dramatically."

"Johnt" on the UR site said "I've always used phosphate remover. I've tried most makes but always ended back using Rowa. since running the scrubber I've stopped the phosphate reactor and despite the scrubber not yet being at the Turf Algae stage the phosphate readings are dropping."

And "thauro77" on the SWF site said "Here are my test results, the dates are the water changes dates as well:

08/28
Calcium 660mg/l (when I first used the filter)
Carbonate 196.9 ppm/kh
Phosphate 0.5
Nitrates 20ppm

09/04
Calcium 500
Carbonate 214.8
Phosphate 0.5
Nitrates 10ppm

09/09
Calcium 440
carbonate 143.2
phosphate 0.5
nitrates 10ppm

09/23
calcium 440
carbonate 214.8
phosphate 0.25
nitrate 5.0ppm



And now for the first screen on any thread to use LEDs! "Snailrider" on the AC site built it:











































He knows that the part of the screen underwater will not contribute, so he made sure the part above the water had enough size to handle things. We'll see how LED's work!
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## Cody

I am defiantely trying this out soon on my 10G reef.

But, I have a question.

I am planning it like this: Two pumps ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4585+4601&pcatid=4601 ), one inside my display, and one outside in a 2.5G tank that sits right next to the main tank. I would use some sort of tubing to get it to the 2.5, and then use PVC for the waterfall. Add the mesh, lights, etc. Then, have a return pump on the bottom of the tank pumping water back in. Makes sense?

I would use either a 3" wide mesh (with 110GPH), or 2" (with 70GPH).

And, what is the bare minimum lighting cycle (how long lights should be on for)? My tank is in my bedroom, and the lights cannot stay on past 10:30. My schedule is from 12:30 to 10:30. Is this logn enough, or should I extend the mesh lighting?

I am gonig to be ordering new supplies soon.


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## SantaMonica

Great to hear you're gonna try one 

However let's make a few changes in your design... you don't want to have two pumps, only one. Can you elevate the smaller one so it will work as the "sumpless" design on page 1, or, put the smaller tank lower so it will work as the "overflow" design? You don't need the ball valves, because that pump has a built-in flow adjust. If your 10g is not drilled for an overflow, I'd recommend the "sumpless" version because there is no chance of it losing its siphon and drying out the screen. If it is drilled, then do the overflow version which will then give you a sump too. 

Use the 3" wide screen (presumably 3 or 4" long, and lit both side), unless you want to save on bulbs by using a just one-sided 3 X 7.

Definitely extend the lighting, up to 18 hours ON.

And we'll want pics..........


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## Cody

I must have over looked that orginally. I will see what I can do with that design.


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day:

Lighting Duration: Set up your scrubber lighting on a timer for 18 hours ON, and six hours OFF. The scrubber itself won't care when those hours are, but if you want, you can have them on when your display lights are off, so as to help balance pH in the system.


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## SantaMonica

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Here is a note to skimmer manufacturers, as well as manufacturers of acrylics/plastics, lighting, and pumps. One way to benefit from scrubbers is to start building them, so as to make life easier for aquarists. There is no patent, and I have no interest in building them, although designing them is fun. Promoting them is fun too. But manufacturing is not my thing, so hopefully some folks will start making at least a simple version (like the Santa Monica 120) available. Look at it like this: Manufacturers of skimmers currently make an expensive product that has pumps and acrylic/plastic parts. Manufacturers of lighting currently make an expensive product that has bulbs, ballasts, and frames. Neither of these products has all these parts in one unit.

Scrubbers, however, do. Instead of viewing scrubbers as a make-at-home rig that stops people from buying skimmers, manufacturers should instead view scrubbers as a piece of aquarium equipment they can manufacture which includes acrylic, plastic, lights, pumps, timers, fans and complex parts, all woven together. Imagine the designs that could be achieved which would allow the most water flow, the most air, the most light, all in the least space possible, and for the best price. It's a designer's dream. Sure, many folks will continue making their own scrubbers, but at some point these folks will upgrade their tanks and will not want to hassle with building larger versions. So, here are some things I thought of that manufacturers could offer:


o A simple low-cost design; just an acrylic box, preferably with a mirror inside finish. The customer would add all other parts. This is what I built.

o Complex designs that would be needed to fit into the many different places that aquarists have: Above a crowded sump, behind the tank, vertically next to tank, next to a tank in a stand-alone furniture finish, or on the wall as a decorative item.

o Skimmers designed to work with scrubbers, by having one connect/feed the other.

o Scrubber lights with built-in timers, for nanos.

o Ultra small scrubber boxes for nanos, possibly with self-contained LED lights, the size of a cell phone.

o Nano hoods with scrubbers built into them.

o Sumps with built in scrubbers, instead of built-in wet/dry's.

o Display lighting-fixtures with scrubbers connected to the back of them, such that the scrubber uses the same light.

o Tank options, such as scrubber-on-backside.

o Auto-cleaners that clean/scrub/scrape the screen automatically.

o Hand/electric tools specialized to clean the screen.

o RODI sprayers that give the screen a FW spray periodically (to kill pods), possibly doubling as a top off.

o Non-destructive pumps to get pods from the sump to the display.

o Self-priming pumps built in to scrubber, for placement on top of displays with no sump.

o Quick-disconnect waterfall pipes.

o Double and triple thick screens, which allow algae to stick better during cleanings.

o Multiple screens, with large areas for large tanks.

o Ultra thin LED powered flexible screens, which could weave around obstacles.

o Fan on a temp controller, to keep water temp preset.

o Uniquely shaped T5 panels, such as 12 X 12, to perfectly fit a screen.

o Safety switches that cut off the lights and/or flow during certain conditions.



A great first model could be targeted to smaller tanks (SW and FW) that may not have sumps, and thus would include a self-priming pump inside the scrubber. It would sit on or near the display and would pull water up to it. It would drain right back to the display, and would give the customer the option of letting the algae grow out the drain (and into the tank to feed the fish), or removing the algae as it comes out of the drain, before it gets to the display.
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## SantaMonica

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Results of the Day:


"darkblue" on the RP site says, "Been running a 4"x10" OHF [over head filter scrubber] version on my 15g for almost 2 months already. My Nitrate reading started dropping after around 3 weeks. I've had 0 Nitrates for a month now. I'm using Seachem for my tests. The screen is just partially covered with what I think are patches of brown turf." 

And "jfdelacruz", also on the RP site, says "I recently implemented this on my tank. I [originally] had an overhead filter to try and filter out a lot of detritus, and changed out filter foams every week. nitrates and phosphates were high and I had brown algae (kinda like cyano) on my sandbed already too thick to fight. I did the 2 days lights out and it took out the brown film algae. I bought a 10watt fluorescent light from carti and then cut a right fit cross-stitch cloth as my screen and layed it flat on my OHF and took out the foam. lights are on 24/7 [temporarily]. I'm on my 5th day and algae is basically non existent in the tank, while the whole cloth is covered in the same brown film algae that covered my sandbed and is starting to grow the green algae. 10,000K ung fluorescent and after day 2 it already had algae on it. on day 3 the whole cloth was lightly covered. im still waiting for day 10. also Im going on a 2nd week no water change just to try it out and so far everything's doing good. coral's are happy and clam is happy. inverts and clownfish is also happy and eating lots of cyclopeeze everyday!


Also, I'm putting together a little series on how nutrients work in our aquariums. It will hopefully help folks better understand what affects what, and how we can make things work their best. Here's the first one below. I use Salifert for my testing, so I'll just refer to them:
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## SantaMonica

Well here is my 7-day cleaning from yesterday. First, here's the screen before cleaning, looking at the the edge:
























Here's the screen after cleaning:














And here's what was removed:














So it was a half-pound of wet green hair, about the same as last week. Once thing about cleaning green hair compared to real turf (my other screen that's now at the LFS) is that it slides off so easy, it's hard to leave any on the screen. I tried to only clean one side, but some of the other side detached too. You can almost just run tap water over it, and the loose stuff comes off. Maybe a better design is two half-screens, so you can just pull one out and clean it completely, while not touching the other one.


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day: 

Why Larger Is Not Better: A larger screen, by itself (without larger lights), is not better than a smaller screen. This means that if you want more nitrate and phosphate removal from your water, the best way to do it is by getting stronger lights, or by moving the lights closer to the screen. If all you do is get a larger screen, the new larger edges of the screen will be too far from the light to have any effect. Of course, the most effective way to increase nitrate and phosphate removal is to do all three: Increase screen size; add more lights to cover the new screen parts; and position all the lights closer to the screen.


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## Pasfur

Great post. Thank you for sharing. Now, how about we learn more about this process by asking some questions.-)

1) Your designs show a screen hanging vertical. It would be much more convenient to set the screen flat. An additional screen could be used to "drip" the water evenly across the entire screen, similar to how trickle filters used a drip system over bioballs. Can you explain the disadvantage of this idea?

2) If the algae scrubber removes inorganic molecules, and the skimmer removes organic molecules, then why not use both?

3) I do not see coraline algae growth in your pics. Comments?

4) It occurs to me that Penguin brand filters have a black screen backing which would work perfectly if cut and sanded flat. Someone who is creative (not me) should kick this idea around. Cody - you are an advocate of converting the hang-on filter to a refugium. It seems that with a little modification, a hang on could be used for a an algae scrubber. Thinking out loud here: turn off the impeller and use a power head to pump water into the unit, to the top of the scubber. Perhaps a small acrylic box could be inserted into the hang on, tall enough to allow a screen to hang inside.... Ok, i'm done. Creative juices are over.

5) Can multiple smaller scrubbers be used, rather than one larger scrubber. If yes, have you seen any designs which build the scrubber into a canopy? 

6) I love the idea of mounting the scrubber into the wall, disguised as decoration. Think about what people do with wall mounted Flat Screen TV's. 

For the record, you have not converted me. But, i support your ideas based on results. I would like to hear stories of long term success. What happens to these systems in 4 or 5 years? 

As to the manufacturers, it sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. Have you pitched your designs? Keep in mind, protein skimmers are also extremely easy do-it-yourself. As are stands, canopies, sumps, refugiums, etc. But this has not stopped the manufacturer from being profitable. What is the REAL reason why this product is not being manufactured wide-scale here in the US? 

I admire your desire to push this sytem. Advancements in the hobby are always met with high criticism. To this day, berlin style saltwater systems are still criticized for their lack of biological filtration media, despite the extreme success these systems have achieved, in comparision to previous systems using biomedia. 

You are correct in stating that the biggest problem with the modern reef systems is algae growth, resulting from excess nutrient buildup. You are wrong to compare Nitrate readings, because reefs with a proper DSB and skimmer already achieve zero Nitrate. I would suggest that anyone who "switches" to an algae scrubber and suddenly achieves a drop in Nitrate did not have the aquarium set up proper to begin with. We would need exact specs both before and after the conversion to be impressed by this. I would personally suggest that many of these people would have reduced Nitrates simply by removing filter pads and biomedia, which are also not a part of your design.

However, THIS IS NOT AN ARGUEMENT AGAINST the scubber design. I am simply suggesting that problems are not always what they appear to be in a reef system. Which is why I am asking for long-term success examples with the algae scrubber design.


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## SantaMonica

> It would be much more convenient to set the screen flat.


It seems that way, until you have to build the rest of it, and then with with it. Plus, you can only light one side, and thus you lose half the capacity.



> An additional screen could be used to "drip" the water evenly across the entire screen, similar to how trickle filters used a drip system over bioballs.


If it's just "dripping", then you are not getting near enough flow. Also, the second screen on the top prevents you from putting a light there. 



> If the algae scrubber removes inorganic molecules, and the skimmer removes organic molecules, then why not use both?


Because "organic" is food. And food is what feeds your tank.



> I do not see coraline algae growth in your pics.


There is plenty. My next round of pics/vids will use better lighting.



> Can multiple smaller scrubbers be used, rather than one larger scrubber.


Yes, and is recommended because you can clean just one per week, leaving the other to be fully functional.



> have you seen any designs which build the scrubber into a canopy?


If you mean a nano, my version did this (see page 1), and another fellow did here:










... and here is an idea I gave for other here:










If you mean a regular canopy, I've not seen any yet; just talk.



> What happens to these systems in 4 or 5 years?


If you mean what happens to the ones being built now, then I'll let you know in 5 years. If you mean in general, then there are many folks who've run scrubber for 10+ years. It's very basic: More food, less N and P. Doesn't change much over time. Also, think about it: You already have algae in you tank; you are not adding more, you're just moving it to a screen.



> As to the manufacturers, it sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. Have you pitched your designs


No. Couldn't care less what manufacturers do. I already have mine. But other folks do want to buy them, and are asking me to make them, and I don't want to.



> Keep in mind, protein skimmers are also extremely easy do-it-yourself. As are stands, canopies, sumps, refugiums, etc


19 out of 20 people walking into a LFS would leave the hobby if they had to build a skimmer, canopy, sump or fuge. They just want the green off of their glass and rocks.



> What is the REAL reason why this product is not being manufactured wide-scale here in the US?


Scrubbers were catching on around year 2000 but it was patented, and the owner of the patent shut down anyone who tried to sell them, and even he did not try to sell them, so they were/are impossible to find. That means that he looked at all the different macros available, and chose the most effective one to patent his design on. After all, how many people would use skimmers if nobody sold them? But his design was a bulky moving-dumping device that's tough to build anyway. So, the waterfall design just eliminates the moving-dumping design and replaces it with a waterfall. 

Algal Turf Scrubber, United States Patent 4333263:
Algal turf scrubber - Patent 4333263



> You are wrong to compare Nitrate readings, because reefs with a proper DSB and skimmer already achieve zero


If this were true there would be no nitrate removing devices. And you are also overlooking the fact of the food that skimmers remove. Not to mention cost. But mainly you are assuming someone already owns and knows how to use the equipment to "already have zero nitrates". My thread is not for these people. My thread is for beginners on their first or second tank who "just want the green off of the rocks and glass".



> I would suggest that anyone who "switches" to an algae scrubber and suddenly achieves a drop in Nitrate did not have the aquarium set up proper to begin with


Maybe. But depends on what you mean by "proper". A skimmer removes Organic Nitrate and Organic Phosphate (food), but does not remove Inorganic Nitrate or Inorganic Phosphate, thus requiring even more purchased devices to do so. Scrubbers leave the food in the water, and only remove the Inorganics, thus not requiring anything else to be purchased. And even the scrubber itself is free.


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## SantaMonica

Text Version:

Food --> fish,corals --> Organic Nitrate, Organic Phosphate.

Organic Nitrate, Organic Phosphate --> Bacteria --> Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic Phosphate. 

Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic Phosphate --> Algae --> Oxygen


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## SantaMonica

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Reminder Of The Day: 

Feeding: Here are the two building block articles by Eric Borneman that cover what happens when you feed your tank. This information is what you need to know to understand what scrubbers do:

The Food of Reefs, Part 5: Bacteria by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com
The Food of Reefs, Part 6: Particulate Organic Matter by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

Here is an excerpt from the second one:

"Detritus [waste] ... is the principal food source for the many bacterial species that work in various nitrification and denitrification activities. Before reaching the microbial community, however, [waste] acts as a food source for the smaller consumers such as amphipods, copepods, errant polychaetes, protozoans, flagellates, ciliates and other animals whose activities contribute to the stability and productivity of a coral reef and a coral reef aquarium."

and

"Of the many food sources available to corals and already discussed in this series of articles, particulate organic material [waste], dissolved organic material [DOC/DOM], and bacteria are the most universally accepted food sources"

and

"The use of detrital material, or particulate organic material, as food source is a cornerstone of coral reef ecology and forms what is well accepted to be the base of the entire food chain"
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## Cody

If I hadnt said it yet, I love the constant updates and varietys you show us. Keep it up! Great design (BTW, I might try it out on my next tank, but the one I have now is too small to experiment).


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## SantaMonica

Glad you like the info. You should try a nano-version on the top of your tank.


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## SantaMonica

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Here's one reason I really like using scrubber without a skimmer. My purple gorg and red feather star stay open and extended all day and night, even though they naturally do so only during the night. But since there is no skimmer removing organics (food), and since the scrubber adds pods to the water all day, not only do they eat well, but they do so 24/7. Note: You cannot keep filter feeders likes these if you have a skimmer...










Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/My90starAndGorg.jpg
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## SantaMonica

Stages of an aquarist's happiness with a scrubber:

1. The day you see the first very light-brown color on the screen.
2. The day you see the screen covered left to right, top to bottom.
3. The day AFTER you think you saw your N or P test go down. Because that day after, you tested again to be sure.
4. The day you realized, for sure, that the the piece of filtration equipment you removed last week was really and truely not needed.
5. The day you finally realize that the N and P problems you've been fighting for (weeks, months, years) are finally gone.
5. The day another aquarist asks you, "How did you do it?"


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## SantaMonica

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Text Version:

Nutrients, part 3

The amount of Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate that a scrubber removes is directly controlled by how much light-power hits the scrubber:

1" - The light-power is full strength.
4" - At 4" distance, the same bulb power has to cover four times the area, so the power per square inch is only 25 percent of what is was (reduced 75%).
6" - At 6" distance, the same bulb power has to cover nine times the area, so the power per square inch is only 11 percent of what is was (reduced 89%).

This is why placing the bulb very close to the scrubber is extremely important.
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## SantaMonica

Reminder of the Day: Proper Flow


While not as important as how strong and near the bulb is, proper flow has shown to help a lot. Before Mrobo770131 on the UR site got things tuned properly, his flow looked like this:











Zennzzo on the MFK site, however, got it perfect from the start:












The trick is to have 35 gph (adjustable) for every inch width of the screen. And this is assuming your waterfall pipe has a slot. If your pipe uses drilled holes (not recommended) then you will use less.
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## SantaMonica

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"Sly" on the SWF site, who built a scrubber into a kitchen trash can (including a mechanical surge), gets the award for the biggest scrubber harvest so far on any site:


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## SantaMonica

Today's success story comes from "BearUSA" on the TR site. He did what many folks call the "combined" approach... using lots of things in addition to his scrubber to help eliminate his nuisance algae. Wish he had more pics, but here is the before:












And after:









Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserBearUSAonTalkingReef-10.jpg


Here is his setup:











And here is what he said along the way:

8/21: this guide is awesome, i,m gonna be building me one of these as soon as i get some time to myself, thanks for posting this so everyone can see and share.

9/10: what is the best way to get rid of nuisance algae, despite regular water changes and picking this stuff off the rocks it keeps growing back, my nitrates are 0ppm confirmed with 2 different test kits. my phosphates are also 0ppm with different tests. i have since set up a turf algae screen but that has only been running for a day and a half so its not working yet.

9/10: [waterfall pipe is] just an ordinary gravel vac pipe, fed by my external canister filter, the light is above at the mo i need to go out and buy some brackets and 2 light fixtures so i can have a light either side of screen, the other end of the gravel vac pipe has a water tight access plug, so i can still get in to clean the pipe. this nuisance algae just keeps on growing despite regular water changes picking it off the rocks, this stuff is ugly no matter what i do it just dont wont to disapear, this turf filter is my last resort.

9/13: i am determined to get this right but sometimes its so disheartning to see a tank that you try your very best to get things right to just keep getting covered in crap algae.

9/18: over the last couple of days i have noticed the nuisance algae i've been suffering with is eventually starting to die off. i'm sure the second 60 litre tank that i placed my calurpa green grape and cheato are starting to take up the nutrients before the nuisance stuff, i'm so pleased today that my tank is half way to looking great again.

9/20: i have done 2 small water changes whilst siphoning out as much as possible, i'm quite glad now i,m eventually getting back on track, my water is crystal clear all params are spot on, i had feared of water turning a bit yellowy with the release off the nutrients from the dying algae but i have had none of that. [...] hopefully fingers crossed i,ve got a hold on this now.

9/23: [answering "how did you do it"]: it could be a number of elements, i took on board all the advice which i received which im totally greatful for, i set up a 60 litre tank next to my main dt and filled it with a 4 inch deep sand bed, plus added culurpa green grape and cheato, i set up a temporary turf algae filter as suggested by Santa Monica in his thread under mega powerful nitrate and phosphate remover, i have continuously picked at the stuff and used a toothbrush to gently wipe over the rocks and inside the nooks and crannys, no doubt scaring my fish half to death, the only thing i haven't done yet is to replace the skimmer, i should say upgrade the skimmer, currently running a red sea pro prism, i had advice to get rid of it and get a better one. and also added another koralia 2 to improve water circulation which i placed at the bottom of dt to serge current over sand bed. increased slightly the amount of water i take out for water change, from about 90litres to about 125litres every 2 to 3 weeks. on the whole it could be any number of things i have done if not all, and once again i would like to thank all of you for your advice and recommendations.

10/6: this thread is really getting interesting now with all the different people posting and for santa monica posting pics of the scrubbers, etc. GOOD WORK SANTA MONICA KEEP IT UP

10/9: i,ve nearly cracked it, this nuisance algae have a look at these pics to see, i'm over the moon its nearly all gone.

10/16: i've been running my scrubber for about a month and a half now, n and p are zero, i have always had a zero n and p reading using the salifert test kits, but when i had that nuisance algae problem i was told the kits were registering zero because it was quite possible that the algae were taken it all in. if that makes any sense. ps another note i'd like to thank you again for your hard work and commitmant in keeping this thread a live and with the great pics your posting up, keep up the good work, without your posting of this thread i wouldn't have even known about these turf filters, so once again a BIG THANKYOU.
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## SantaMonica

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Update of the Day:

It's been recently discovered that the screen-wrapped-around-pipe design will clog up and stop working when the algae gets thick. It grows heavily where the screen is wrapped at the top, and blocks further flow from going down the screen. Instead the flow starts going out the ends, completely missing the entire screen, thus killing what algae was previously growing on screen. It affects different screens in varying amounts; the higher the lights are (thus closer to the wrap), the more it clogs. This is the type I'm referring to:









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## SantaMonica

Today's success story is from "keifer1122" on the RS site. He got the pre-grown screen from Inland Aquatics, and put a powerful bulb on both sides (even though the screen comes only one-sided, he wanted it to grow on the other side too.) His results took six weeks. Here are his comments, highly edited for readability:

9/23: its a pre grown screen from IA. [...] my nitrates are up, its only been 2 weeks and it looks like there at a stand still, but im feeding heavily, lot of anemones in there. also where the light is the brightest theres a certain type of algae that looks like an oil spill , its got a rainbow of colors yellowish greenish brown. also no yellowing in my water. [...] i run a skimmer just cause my numbers are up there, but when there down to nuthing then ill remove. 













its a 75g with 29g sump, the lights i use are 40 watt cfls comparable to 150w, but today i picked up the big daddy cfl 65 watt/300 watt comparable 3,900 lumens. so i cleaned yesterday to the point where everything was off except for the red turf that didnt come off, plus i want that to grow i think. but the screen was bare and today the screen is covered. been in for 2 weeks, not much growth the first week. but adjusted to my tank and now my first week cleaning was about the same growth that grew (lol) in one day. [...] right now i have toooo many fish... a buddy i work with was gettin out and i bought his liivestock and equip...

yellow tang
hippo tang
big royal gramma
blue green chromis
2 clownfish
mandarin
coral beauty
small bangaii cardinal

...and i only have about 35 lbs of liverock, maybe. thats pushin it. 2" sandbed, run an undersized skimmer, i think euro reef made for 55g. i test with api nitrate test, and i lost the color chart, but yellow good, red bad, im orange. and since ive been testing it looks like its getting a lighter color. [It] was usually just goin up everyday, but with the new light i think that will speed up the growing process.

9/26: i cleaned monday and today is friday, and i have to clean again. [...] the other side is getting there, still needs to catch up tho. [...] no lights on a timer, runnin it for 24/7. [although should be changed to 18 hours ON, and 6 hours OFF]. pump is on a timer, 30 [seconds] on 30 off, its just that the screen from IA was one sided and thats why the other side has to catch up.

10/23: just chimming in to say my n and p are undetectable.(!)


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## SantaMonica

Reminder of the Day: Less Maintenance

If less maintenance is a requirement, then you want an oversize screen; try 2X normal size, with 2X the number of lights. This should be able to go 2X as long before a cleaning is needed. The limiting factor might be the pods; at some point they may make big holes in the algae (or not; you will have to test). This is a great thing for someone to try out. Just remember that the additional screen space will need the same lighting that the current screen has.


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## SantaMonica

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Many folks have been asking about the solar setup. Well that fellow is the success story of the day. "Bob the (reef)builder" on the MASA site originally set up this screen that I posted a few weeks ago:










Here are his updates:

9/21: Thank you for the input Santa monica, I will definately be doing this on an expanded basis. I think I will put a three ft tank in the sun and do what you've got on a slightly larger scale. Great simple fix to an ongoing problem by most aquarists. 

9/28: The film is plastic and gets wet totally. Its 1m x 1m in size. The water input is also the stand. The strands run diagnally which makes the water flow very nicely. I'm happy with it and will let it stand in the sun. Hopefully get rid of the hair algae problem I have. You should see my actual tank to know why I jumped at this idea. The construction is so easy though. And if it works a quarter as well as Santa says it does, it will be like Christmas.

10/19: I changed this one as the upright design did not get enought sun. I put it on a 45degree angle and that was better:










10/25: It worked like a bomb. Phosphates down to 0.02 - 0.01 ppm (this is on a hanna meter and is very low). Normal test would just read undetectable. [Previously] the best I ever got it to trying every trick in the book including Zeo and Vodka, Lanthinum and many other phosphate removers was 0.03.
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## SantaMonica

Update Of The Day: Growth Progression

Blank screens usually start off with a light brown slime of diatoms, unless the water is really high in nitrate and phosphate, in which it might start with dark spots. After a few weeks, green slime or green hair will usually grow. And from that point on, it will be a mix of brown and green, all of which is easily cleaned off. After a few months, however, and if you have enough light (and maybe pulsed flow), you may start seeing real red/brown turf, or possibly bright green turf. You'll know that they are turf because they won't come off no matter what you do, except with a razor blade.


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## SantaMonica

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Text Version:

There should not be any bubbles if a scrubber is set up correctly with smooth flow into the water below. But if you have too many bubbles, make sure the bottom of the screen goes all the way down below the waterline, so there is no waterfall off the bottom, and design the scrubber with an "under over under" divider section like some people use in sumps.
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## SantaMonica

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Results Of The Day:

Corinna on the AC site: "Think we should just call you Santa!! After 3 weeks my screen is forming wine red spots, the pods are having pod parties and making babies, the seahorses are noticeably gaining weight and the water is decidedly 'sparklier'.Thanks."

jfdelacruz on the RP site: "Overfeeding does wonders! i dont know how and why but, the ATS seems to be an extra 20 gallons for my tank because even if I overfeed, nothing in my tank seems to be going bad! water is always crystal clear too! (I do have seagel in there running for about 2 months already) this ATS is a blessing."
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## Kellsindell

bubble traps are always great. i saw ReefSki's thread on RC and i was wonder what that was and someone even explainded it, but the visuals really did that better. i'm considering this for my 55g, but not too sure yet.


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## Kellsindell

Quick question, i don't think i saw the answer if i missed it sorry. 

Do you have to wait for a cycle period before doing this? or a time after you start this? like 2mo or more? if you start too soon will it start a small cycle like a skimmer?


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## SantaMonica

Kell: A scrubber does not cause any cycles, nor is it affected by any cycles. You can start one any time.


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## SantaMonica

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Text Version: Nutrients, part 4

Our Tanks: High Inorganic Nutrients, Low Organic Nutrients.
The Ocean: Low Inorganic Nutrients, High Organic Nutrients.



Previous Versions:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients1.jpg
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients2.jpg
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients3.jpg
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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day:

If you are home when a power outage occurs, then just like you would manually try to oxygenate your tank, you would also take the screen out and set it in some water (even tap water in the sink.) Problem solved, no damage. It can sit there for two days with no ill effects. You could even put it in a shallow pan of water outside in the sun, where it will probaby grow 

If you are not home, however, it becomes a question of which you lose first, your screen or your whole display. Long term (days) you are going to lose both, so we'll look at short term (hours). Somewhere in-between is the question: If you are not home when the power goes out for 2, 3, 4, 5 hours, etc., then how much of your screen will you lose, and how much of the nutrients will be "released" back into the water?

Well, most screens are designed to be up and out-of-contact with the water, so there will be zero "release" of nutrients during the power-outage. And floating screens that stay in contact with the water will not die or release nutrients at all in a short-term outage, because they stay wet. So immediate release of nutirents is not a factor in any situation.

The real question is long term loss of filtering, i.e., how much of the screen will die off during the outage. When you get back home, the screen has been drying for a few hours, but is still moist. What you do is put it in your sink with water and give the dead parts a chance to fall off. Not sure of how much time is needed, but just do a regular cleaning of the screen every few hours until it seems that most of the dead stuff is removed. Doing this in the sink will prevent any nutrients from getting back into the tank. You then put the screen back into operation, and it's no different than if you just did a regular cleaning. And this is the worst case.

I myself unplugged the wrong plug once and left the screen 6 hours with no flow. The fan was still on, but the lights were off at the time. It was all still moist, yet a bit hardened. I did not think at the time to remove the outer layers of dead stuff, so I just put it back into operation right way. What happened was the next day or two there was a very slight increase in N from zero (clear Salifert) to a very slight pink; probably got up to about .5 or 1. P did not ever increase, however. And this was without properly removing the dead stuff. So overall, I don't think power outages are really that eventfull for scrubbers.


----------



## SantaMonica

Results Of The Day:

"pong" on the RP site: "Still havent cleaned my screen... and no water change... no problems! im just killing the pods by dosing kalk and all my top-off on the screen (since early october, no cleaning of the screen, last water change... august? september?)

"jski711" on the RS site: "the last phosphate test I had done at the lfs it was undetectable on the hanna phosphate photometer, and I only have the one side of my screen lit for now!!!"

"col" on the UR site: "Todays tests are P = 0.03, N = 5. the algae looks the same, green slime. Skimmer is still running 24/7, feeding 2-3 times a day for fat fish. Algae on the rocks is subsiding, and water conditions have never been better."


----------



## iamntbatman

Question for you: I know you've been posting this topic on saltwater forums, but as we have a large freshwater community here at FishForum I thought it'd be a good question to ask.

So...have you heard about anyone using a similar system on a freshwater tank? I can definitely see the benefits of using an algae scrubber on a freshwater tank that doesn't have enough live plants to handle a lot of nitrates but also would benefit from having fewer water changes done. I'm thinking specifically about plant-free cichlid tanks. In New World cichlid tanks, you could maintain some great blackwater. Avoiding water changes would be great, since this would prevent pH swings and water color changes during water changes. In African rift lake cichlid tanks, you want to maintain a high pH and high hardness (usually achieved through the use of aragonite sand, crushed coral substrate or filter media, and even limestone rockwork). Obviously, doing water changes with water that's softer and more acidic can be detrimental to your fish, so it would be advantageous to not have to do water changes as often.


----------



## SantaMonica

Some folks are starting some scrubbers now on FW tanks, but it's too early to get results. Concept remains the same, however... removal of N and P and ammonia, increase pH and oxygen.


----------



## iamntbatman

I figured the concept would check out just fine, I just wasn't sure if there was a species of freshwater algae that would work as well on a freshwater scrubber as the turf algae people are getting on their saltwater scrubbers. Keep us updated!


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## SantaMonica

.
Today's build of the day is from "Bob the (reef)builder" on the MASA site, the same fellow who made the outdoor scrubber. He now is the first one to build the acrylic Santa Monica version for his own tank. Here is the original layout I posted a while back:












(It's currently the only filter of any kind on my tank.)

Here is Bob's version of the same thing; It's 4 feet long, using 2 T5's on each side:


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## SantaMonica

Another reefer with a good camera offered to take pics and vids of my display, but until we can arrange for that, here are some sump shots with my old 2meg camera:


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## SantaMonica

Result Of The Day:

"garypower" on the UR site: "i was on one of the first couple of pages on this thread and decided like others to give it a go! my screen is now 2 months on, and its there as predicted, full of algea turf deep red brown colour and having to start using a blade to make space! my tank parems have gone to non-detectable po4 and zero nitrates! the tank in appearance looks like polished water yet i dont run carbon! my skimmer is now only running one hour every four hours with my ozone unit on a timer, i have a much better growth rate with my corals, there is less build up of algea on the glass i only use a magfloat once a week to clear very faint dusting of algea."


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## SantaMonica

Anyone know anyone who could build some acrylic scrubbers? People have been asking me to build them, but I don't want to.


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## SantaMonica

Here's an idea: How about a directory of scrubber builders, with the following info on each builder:


Location:

City
State
Country

Material that the builder knows how to use:

PVC
Plastic
Acrylic
Glass

Components that the builder knows how to build:

Pipe
Screen
Frame for floppy screens
Bucket for screen
Box for screen
Sumps/Fuges with Scrubbers 
HOB Scrubbers
HOT Scrubbers
LED Scrubbers


Misc:

Turn-around-time 
Price range
Experience (number of scrubbers built)
Guarantees (if any)
Customer help after the sale
References
Misc items available (pump, timer, fan, unions, clips, etc)
Example drawings available?
How large/small can builder handle?


One problem with posting a directory is that it will need constant updating and re-posting. Would there be a better way to do it than posting in a thread? I could host it on my site where I put all the pics, or I could put it on the algae scrubber site. But ideal would be being able to post it here, and be able to edit it here.


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## SantaMonica

Ok here is a directory template; If you would like to be listed as a scrubber builder, copy and paste the below info into a PM to me (do not post it here on the thread). I'll compile it from there...



Location (fill in)

Country: 
State: 
City: 

Material that the builder has worked with (delete the rest)

PVC
Plastic
Acrylic
Glass

Components that the builder has built (delete the rest)

Pipe
Screen
Frame for floppy screens
Bucket for screen
Box for screen
Sumps/Fuges with Scrubbers 
HOB Scrubbers
HOT Scrubbers
LED Scrubbers


Misc (fill in)

Turn-around-time: 
Price range: 
Experience (number of scrubbers built): 
Guarantees (if any): 
Customer help after the sale: 
References: 
Misc items available (pump, timer, fan, unions, clips, etc): 
Example drawings available: 
How large/small can builder handle: 

Contact (fill in)

Phone: 
Email: 
Personal or Business Website: 
Forum Username: 
Forum Website:


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## SantaMonica

.
This is a big Success Of The Day: "zennzzo" on the MFK site has the first freshwater scrubber success story of any thread, and he did it with a solar powered scrubber! Has has an outdoor inflatable pond that went from this:













To this...













... and it's still improving. He's in Southern California, and here are the pertinent parts of his build:


10/10: Subscribed for sure. I'm going to try this oustside in the sunlight...I would think there is enough light?

10/12: I am building one right now with plexi sheet. Started with a 1/8th sheet of clear plexi. 32" x 15" = 480 sq. inches. (good for a 650gal huh?) I sanded the plexi sheet with 40 grit in a cross-hatch pattern. Did the frame with 3/4" PVC pipe and couplings. I cut the slots with a table saw for the water to flow and used zip ties to keep it in place. A 1/2" hose barb for the water inlet on a "T". I'm building the stand so it will set in a small rubbermaid tote. I'll run a submersible pump with prefilter via hose to the 1/2" hose barb, then I will plumb an overflow, 1" gravity fed, a few inches off the bottom of the tote, back to the pond. These are pics of what I have so far...































10/13: [Realized he needed screen and not plexi] Plastic Needlepoint canvas...piece of cake, WalMart carries that. Does the holes per inch matter?, because the thicker it is, the larger the holes are. [Answer: Not really]

10/15: [Will be in] direct sunlight aprox 7 hrs. AM sun on one side and PM sun on the other... southern exposure.

10/16: "sunshine on my scrub-ber, makes me hap-py" **


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## SantaMonica

After rubbing what green Algae I could scrape up, into the mesh like a caveman, the water is now running full width, and it looks slimey(?) shiney. [Flow is] 400-450 I would have to estimate, possibly more. I used a table saw with a carbide tipped blade for the slot and cross-cuts...Make [the pipe] longer than you need so you have something to hang onto while you are sawing the slot. The cross cuts are 1" apart and the blade height was set at 1/4" for the 3/4" - sch 20 PVC pipe. 

I am chalking the ground to see if there is better exposure time about 80-90 degrees counter clockwise.

10/22: Woooot! OK we have what looks like the start of something very interesting. Here's the thing... it's down at the bottom where it gets the least amount of direct sunlight...?? 













The canvas was seeded with what I could, and then rinsed thoroughly. That's something you said in the thread. There was no visable green on that canvas [when started].

10/26: 10 days out, no foil, no mirriors, just good ol sunlight. I did move the tub 45 degrees counter clockwise to pick up more direct sun...






















There are 4 medium KOI in there, and it's cycled. Just recently, 2-3 days ago? Algae took off in the pond almost over night.

10/30: day 15, pure solar power. this is what she looks like now... 






















I didn't see anything for a week, and then it started as a little bloom on just one square. After seeing where the growth pattern is, I would have used some 10 grit carbide paper on the plastic...the rougher the surface the easier the initial the spores can attach. The top where the plastic canvas goes into the spraybar, got scratched the most from fitting and re-fitting the screen...it has thick green algae on it and it is shaded alot of the time. So in summary, go as rough as possible on the prep...I say. See the high spots of the grid? I wish I would have sanded the crap out of it with bigger grit. I'm still getting good flow across the canvas anyhow.

11/1: same position 17 days from virgin screen. Seems the last 48 hours has been a bit overcast and the screen looks fuller...anybody else think so?...


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## SantaMonica

11/4: here ya go, 20 days out. funny thing is it's been overcast and it rained a couple of days...






















11/6: 21 days out, and now it is filling in with dark slimey looking stuff. And here is side view of the frame...








































11/9: 25 days out... The algae [in the pond] is receding. 3 days ago [the pond] was totally covered. Like Magic it is disappearing. And this pond is in direct sunlight too...


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## SantaMonica

.
11/10: will see if the algae grows thick now...it is filling in real good. Here are some shots of some super clear water...It has always been decent, but since the algae has been disappearing from in the pond, it is getting noticeably crystal like...the fish, at the same temp seem to be more active as well...








































11/11: the bottom [originally] looked like the dark green you see here, but all the way across, no clean areas at all. You can see the algae is receding in the pattern of the current...






















11/12: 28 days from bare screen; indirect sun for all of the daylight hours, and 4 solid direct sun hours...






















It's a relatively inexpensive project for the results you can produce. If you are anything like me, no matter what others are getting, I had to see for myself, first hand. I have less than 20.00 invested, but I use the Sun and a gravity return. The concept is basic, add your twist to it and see what you come up with...it just might be better than the others.
.
.


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## iamntbatman

Awesome! Thanks a bunch for that. I was just thinking, looking at that, that you could really make a great *looking* scrubber in addition to a functional one. You could probably make a pretty neat looking stone waterfall scrubber. Maybe even outdoors with your pond at the bottom?


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## SantaMonica

Yea someone thought about a waterfall stone scrubber with a little pond at the bottom (with small fish) that would connect to a big koi pond, but he could not get approval from the wife


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## SantaMonica

Well I thought more folks would want to be a scrubber builder, but so far only one person signed up to be in the directory that Worley set up:

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Builder Directory

But at least those who want scrubbers (but don't have the time or ability to build one) can now have it done for them.


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## SantaMonica

Here are some other builds to give you more ideas:


"Nickq" on the UR site:























"Duijver" on the MFT site:

































"Big Tanner" on the RS site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Cleous" on the FG site:






















"Coopattack" on the FG site:

































"Cvermeulen" on the MFK site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Doenuttz" on the MFK site:













"Dohn" on the MASA site:













"Tapz" on the RP site:

































"Freetareef" on the RF site:













"Glaring Toast" on the MFT site:























"Goodisor" on the MASA site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Hefner413" on the SWF site:

































"Isaac" on the UK RF site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Jfdelacruz" on the RP site: 























"Johnt" on the UR site:













"Jski711" on the RS site:























"Keyaam" on the MASA site:













"Labman" on the MD site:























"Minzuk" on the UR site:













"Mrobo770131" on the UR site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Obet_carlos" on the RP site:























"Pneumaticbetta" on the RS site:























"Rayjneal" on the SWF site:














"Tenpaullon" on the RP site:


----------



## SantaMonica

"Todj2002" on the SWF site:





















































"Tom" on the RP site:

































"Worley" on the AS site:


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## Kellsindell

It's becoming quite a trend. Perhaps i'm better off with this then a skimmer? it would be the intake from the main tank right? I would only need 2 sections for this in the Sump/refuge?

Screen to refuge, then return? would that work at all or would the refugium macro die off?


----------



## SantaMonica

Choosing between the two, I think a scrubber is better. A scrubber leaves food in the water, but removes Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate. A skimmer removes food, but leaves Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate in the water. A scrubber also removes ammonia and metals, which skimmers do not.



> it would be the intake from the main tank right?


If you mean the overflow from the tank to the sump, then yes.



> I would only need 2 sections for this in the Sump/refuge?


You only need one section. Or no sections, if the screen is above the sump. Actually, you don't even need a sump at all, if you make an external bucket or acrylic version.



> would the refugium macro die off?


If your scrubber is set up properly, the other macros will starve, unless you increase your feeding massively (like 5 to 10 times as much.)



> Screen to refuge, then return?


I think you are talking about this version:


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## Kellsindell

KK thank you very much, and for being so presice with my questions:thumbsup:. I'll go to the beginning when i decide to create it so i can get all the dementions i'll need. Thanks again!


----------



## SantaMonica

Question:

The DIY bucket or sump scrubber is basically a level 1 project. Simple, free, easy DIY, and works great. Yes they are a bit large and ugly, but who cares. Level 2 are the acrylics. Self contained, small (only six inches or so thick), powerful, and nice looking. But they are so hard to make that only two people besides me have made them (and one of them I had to get made for him). I thought that since so many people made DIY sumps and tanks, many more would have made nice looking acrylics. Guess not. And only one person is on the builder list. 

Well now I'm working on level 3. Ultra small (one inch thick), high light power, unbreakable, etc. Basically the same scrubbing power as a level 1 in a sump, but the size of a book. Problem is, they are impossible to DIY. So my question is, would anybody want to discuss the building of something that they can't build themselves?


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## Tyyrlym

I have to say, this is a very intriguing idea. Create a better breeding place for algae and than in the tank and then just letting it out compete the stuff in the tank for nutrients. I'm not completely sold on the idea of this instead of a skimmer however as a skimmer removes a lot of organics before they break down into your normal nitrogenous compounds and this won't remove most until they reach the nitrate stage. It seems to me that this would be better as a supplemental algae control system with strong nitrate/phosphate removal potential.


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## SantaMonica

> a skimmer however as a skimmer removes a lot of organics before they break down into your normal nitrogenous compounds and this won't remove most until they reach the nitrate stage.


Yes but for a reef tank, you don't want to remove organics (especially with filter feeders). You just want to remove the Inorganics, metals and C02, like a scrubber does. Now with FO or FOWLR, of course, there is no real reasone to leave organics in the water. But with a reef, all that fish waste is fertilizer heaven for the corals.


----------



## SantaMonica

Results Of The Day:

Johnt on the UR site: "corals are doing extremely well, the water is clear, and the rocks are starting to look like new. the scrubber is improving things; I'm getting better growth and the rocks are clearing, N & P are up and down a bit, as I keep cleaning the screen too well, but are remaining low even though I've not had the skimmer, rowaphos reactor or carbon running for 2 months." 

Sinful_Waters on the RS site: "Ok I couldnt resist! After reading and reading forum after forum, I had to know what all the excitement was about with the ats. End result, miracles happen! Ive spent the last year and a half battling the green stuff, with excessive waterchanges, phosphate reactor, etss skimmer, limited lighting period, pulling by hand, constant dusting with turkey baster, Lawnmower blen, blue leg hermit, lettice nudis, astrea snails, super clean sand, remote dsb, etc, etc, etc. The algae covered every inch of LR and was seriously suffocating my corals. What do we do when the tough gets going, we build an ats! I did as was advised and built the 5 gal [bucket] with a doulble sided screen, two 21 watt, 6500k compact flourecent bulbs, and the flow is supplied from my overflow and returned into sump. I do a light scrubb on the screen about every 4 days, and thats all. It actually took a few weeks to get the green going, but when it did the [nuisance] algae in the tank started to melt away. It went away so fast I was literally worried that my fish, crabs, snails would all be deprived of the green feast. Long story short, overfeeding is not in my vocab, and my sps, lps, corals have beautiful color and growth, with perfect tank conditions and stability. Being on a limited budget I couldnt be more pleased at the ease of the build and its amazinig effectiveness (excuse the spelling)."

Keifer1122 on the RS site: "update: the ats on 75 gallon, almost 2 months, been put on with only about 20lbs live rock, [...] also 8 fish, 1 1/2" of sand. N & P undetectable, all params good, havent done a water change in 2 months. had to do about 20 gallon wc every week before the install. $$$$$$$. 12 gallon aquapod with ats been about 17 days. N is about 10, was 15 before the install, with pair of percs feeding 3 times a day pellets in the morning and afternoon, with a pinky nail cube of rods, also piece of silverside every week for the Bta. the numbers arent falling fast, but its steady (with a 2gal water change i could boost the process or just cut feedings). coral growth: everythings growing like a weed including my yellow m.digitata that i got along with my screen from inland aquatics. all in all, tanks look sweet. life made easy."

Arab_NA on the MASA site: "My scrubber after 3 weeks, cleaning 1 side each 7 days: My PO4 went from 1.0 to below 0.1, and NO3 from 50ppm to 0ppm. I am feeding 3 times a day now and have no problems at all! Thanks SantaMonica for saving my tank and giving me back the love for this stunning hobby."

mudshark on the Masa site: "WOW things are starting to happen now. The algea is getting really thick on the screens after 20 days. I measured phosphate, which has always been low, as it was being used by algea in the display. It read a big fat 0. In fact it seems to be at a crossover point where the algea on the screens is growing faster, and regressing in the display. I've taken some pics of SPS colours now, altough they have already improved since the introduction of the screens. I'm hoping to post some further improved colours at a later stage."

Sly on the SWF site: I've had my scrubber running since September. When I started, my phosphates were 8-10 ppm or maybe higher. The test water turned a very dark blue, indicating high phosphates. Today I did a test and can verify that my phosphates are now between 2 and 4 ppm. I am still getting massive growth in the scrubber.. So far the nitrates have reduced some, but not much... maybe by 5 ppm. I am seeing the greatest reduction in phosphate so far. Maybe the nitrate will start going down some more as the phosphate gets consumed completely. Some background: Tank has been running for 7 years. Using RO/DI water, ozone, refugium with macros, UV sterilization, skimmer and [now] scrubber. I don't really do water changes. The last one I did was sometime in 2007. I have had high phosphates for quite a while, and nitrates have been higher than I wanted, but still manageable. My fish and corals are still growing and thriving. I have never seen anything that would reduce the phosphate in my tank. Even water changes only lowered them momentarily. They would go back up in just a few days. This is the first time I've ever seen a reduction in phosphates. I suspect that in another month they may well be at 0ppm. Nitrate reduction still remains to be seen. Overall though, I think the scrubber was a positive addition to my tank. I'm finally starting to get some more corraline growth like I used to have. The growth is slow but I do see a definite increase in the vibrance and quantity of corraline in my tank."


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## SantaMonica

Update Of The Day: Overflow GPH and Screen Width


If you are doing an overflow feed like this:













...then the overflow gallon per hour (U.S. gph) will determine how much flow you have to work with. You have to start from there, and size your screen accordingly. The maximum flow you'll get to the screen will be what's going through your overflow now. This is easy to figure out by counting how many seconds it takes your overflow to fill a one-gallon jug:

60 seconds = 60 gph
30 seconds = 120 gph
15 seconds = 240 gph
10 seconds = 360 gph
8 seconds = 450 gph
5 seconds = 720 gph
4 seconds = 900 gph
3 seconds = 1200 gph 

Take this gph number that you end up with, and divide by 35, to get the number of inches wide the screen should be. For example, if your overflow was 240 gph, then divide this by 35 to get 6.8 (or just say 7) inches. So your screen should be 7 inches wide. Or you can use this chart:

Screen Width-----Gallons Per Hour (GPH)

1" 35
2" 70
3" 105
4" 140
5" 175
6" 210
7" 245
8" 280
9" 315
10" 350
11" 385
12" 420
13" 455
14" 490
15" 525
16" 560
17" 595
18" 630
19" 665
20" 700
21" 735
22" 770
23" 805
24" 840
25" 875
26" 910
27" 945
28" 980
29" 1015
30" 1050

How tall should the screen it be? That is determined by how much screen area you need, which is determined by how many gallons you have. Try to get one square inch of screen (lit both sides) for every gallon. If lit on only one side, double the screen area.

When finished, this is how you want your flow to look:


----------



## SantaMonica

Quotes Of The Day:

Eric Borneman: "What turfs are, essentially, are excellent nitrogen and phosphorus uptake species, with a number of benefits over many other species: faster growing, less invasive, more efficient and less toxic than macroalgae, much more efficient by fast growth than Xenia, and far more effective in most tanks than seagrasses (which require so much more light, sediments, symbiotic microbes, benthic nutrients, and space) or mangroves. The big benefit of turfs as nutrient uptake and export, if needed or desired (by removal of the turfs as they grow), is that they grow faster than macroalgae in biomass, are generally not producers of prolific secondary metabolites (their defense and competition is fast growth), and they are confined to a specific area and are thus not invasive. Even if some get released into the tank, they are very palatable and are a treat for herbivorous fishes and invertebrates. In fact, turfs are havens for copepods, amphipods, ostracods, and polychaetes, favoring their reproduction."

Tom Barr: "You might also suggest this to folks, you can prep this [scrubber] filter very easily by using a bucket and the pump and getting a good film of growth outside (if possible , near a window with direct sun light) on the screen prior to use in the aquarium; no waiting for it to get all furry. This is pre cycling for an algae scrubber. There is a little sloughing and adaptation once you place in the tank, but this will accelerate the process. Use a bucket to prep things instead of the aquarium, this way you can get on top of things and cycle the tank much faster, essentially bypassing the cycle altogether, a so called "silent cycle". Algae remove NH4 [ammonium] directly, so there's no NO2 or NO3 build up. No need for bacteria (they will form later anyway, but will have a less prominent role). For folks that do FC ["fish cycling" in FW tanks], they should prep their algae filters in a bucket, not bomb the whole tank with NH3 [ammonia]. That's foolish to do that."


----------



## Cody

I really like the 
"Jfdelacruz" on the RP site
modification to this. The container sitting above the tank could work...

Do you know if that drains straight into the tank?


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## SantaMonica

Yep I'm pretty sure it does. Or to the back panel and then to the tank.


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## SantaMonica

Update Of The Day:

"Christophe" on the MD site has an idea which could greatly improve a screen's performance after cleaning. As you know, after cleaning there is very little algae remaining to do any filtering. One way around this has been to clean half the screen each week, and another is to use two screens, cleaning only one screen per week. Yet another way is to pancake two screens together which makes extra deep holes for the algae to grab on to. (By the way, "rug canvas" holds on to algae much better than "plastic canvas", it's just more flimsy and hard to work with.)

Christophe's idea was to use Lego Base Plates (the ones you played with as a kid):












They are available all over the web, and at almost every toy store and discount store. The beauty of these plates is that no matter how hard you clean/scrape, algae will still remain in-between the pegs (except the first week or so, where it will all come off anyways). Of course, you'll still want to sand/scratch all the areas in-between the pegs, but overall this looks very promising, if someone else would like to try it.

One disadvantage is that the plates are not (at least that I could find) available in clear, so a light on one side does not benefit the other side like it does with a screen. But since these plates are only formed one-sided anyways, it might not be such a bad thing, and indeed would be perfect for a twin-screen one-bulb setup.


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## SantaMonica

Well there are three folks now on the scrubber builder directory who can build your scrubber for you: 2 in the U.S., 1 in the U.K. So there is no excuse to not have your own scrubber 

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Builder Directory 
.
.


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day: Feeding

Here is a diagram by Eric Borneman that shows what feeds on what:










It was taken from Eric's two building block articles that cover what happens when you feed your tank. This information is what you need to know to really understand what scrubbers do:

The Food of Reefs, Part 5: Bacteria by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com
The Food of Reefs, Part 6: Particulate Organic Matter by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com
.
.


----------



## SantaMonica

.












Text Version: Nutrients, part 5

When Food Decomposes

Food ==> Bacteria ==> Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate ==> 

==> Algae growth on your rocks and glass eats most of the 
Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate.

==> The remaining Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate 
stays in your water, which is what you read when you test.




Previous Versions:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients1.jpg
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients2.jpg
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients3.jpg
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Nutrients4.jpg
.
.
.


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## SantaMonica

LEDs for Scrubbers

Many folks want to try an LED scrubber. We do to, which is why we are trying to figure them out on the scrubber site. However, they are a ways down the road; nothing to report yet. If anyone wants to try themselves, here is a starting point:

Low-Power LED panel, to experiement with:
http://shop.sunshine-systems.com/product.sc?productId=1

Higher-Power LED panel, not sure if enough for good growth:
led grow lights -Sunshine Systems : The GlowPanel 45 LED Grow Light 

The deal with LEDs is that you need lots of light power to have good growth. How much is still unknown. But the above panels are cheap enough that some folks should be able to give them a try. It's just for experimenting, though. If you need results you can count on, get a 23W CFL full spectrum or bigger, or a T5HO, or halide


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## SantaMonica

Successes of the Day:

brianhellno on the MFK site: "Just wanted to share my success with a turf scrubber with my freshwater tank. Currently I have a 125 with (5) 6-inch piranha, (6) 4-inch giant danios, about (20) 1-inch baby black cons, (2) 2-inch green terrors, (2) 2-inch jack dempseys, and (1) 2.5 inch blue malawi cichlid. The smaller fish were all supposed to be feeders, but the piranha ignore them. Anyways I've had the scrubber up and running for almost three weeks now and I finally tested the water parameters: Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 5 ppm. Not too bad! Usually the Nitrate sits around 40 to 80 ppm right before a water change, so this is definitely an improvement. All I can say is thanks for the great idea!

worley on the scrubber site: "Well just got my phosphate test kit and did a test... *drumroll* .... 0ppm. It's the API phosphate test kit, and it was the very lightest green on the salt water card (0ppm). That's a great result, especially as I'm now feeding tonnes into the tank, 1 block of brine shrimp and 1 of mysis, plus some live brine (fed with live phyto a an hour before feeding to the fish) and some pellet foods. [...] I still can't get over the phosphate test, and how low the nitrates are considering there's not been a water change in 2 months and so much food has gone in.

jan on the RPhil site: "Today is my 24th day of cycling, I measured my water my parameters and here are the result: Nitrate 0ppm. Turf algae is almost all over my screen Razz !!!! thanks for this great Idea!


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## SantaMonica

Builds/Designs Of The Week:



Aqualityplace on the UR site:













Nickq on the UR site:























Dave3441 on the UR site:

































RentalDeceptionist on the UR site:























Workers99 on the UR site:


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## SantaMonica

Bluespotjawfish on the RS site:


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## SantaMonica

.
Reefski on the MD site:













Christophe on the MD site:

































Sharkey18 on the MD site:























Loveaneighbor on the MD site:


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## SantaMonica

.






















Dohn on the MASA site; not DIY-able, but good idea for manufacturing:


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## SantaMonica

.






















Riaanp on the MASA site; this is on the back of a nano. The light is actually inside of the compartment, and he says it does not get wet at all:





















































Franske on the MASA site:


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## SantaMonica

.
Enatiello on the RS site:





















































GlaringToast on the MFT site:













Jan on the RP site:













IamFood on the SG site:













Johntanjm on the SG site:


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## SantaMonica

.
































Juzzmarine on the SG site:

































Nitschke on the SWF site:


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## SantaMonica

.
Todj2002 on the SWF site:
































Worley on the AS site; this is for a high-power, very thin unit for HOB:























NoOne on the AS site:


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonica

Feeding update: I've begun increased feeding, because my clown tang is getting skinny, and also because I want to try to keep a variety of non-photo NPS corals. So in my 90g with scrubber-only filtration, I'm currently feeding 4 cubes mysis, 5 ml Reed's Shelfish Diet (phyto), 5 ml Reed's Rotifeast, and 5 ml Reed's Arctipods (copepods), and 2 krill (for white eel) daily. Also one whole silverside weekly (for blue eel). For reference, 1 ml is about 2 pumps from a typical phyto pump bottle.

Since I increased to this amount, I'm now getting my first detectable readings in several months (Salifert). Nitrate is a slight pink... varies between .1 and 1. Phosphate is a barely visible blue; sometimes I'm not sure if it's really blue or not, but it's definitely not the crystal clear it used to be.

Pink coralline is continuing to take over, and the last two square inches of nuisance film algae disappeared last week. Some spots of cyano are still trying to hold on, but the coralline is overtaking them.

So the goal now is to see how much I can actually feed while still keeping N an P low. I don't think they need to be undetectable; I think my goal is to keep nuisance algae from forming, while at the same time being able to sustain non-photo NPS corals. BTW I added a few SPS frags on my new frag tray, and they seem to be doing well.


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## SantaMonica

Reminder Of The Day: Number Of Lights/Screens

One-light between two-screens: Makes better use of the light, but leaves the other sides of the screens unused (in the dark), thus wasting half your flow. The big advantage is cleaning: You can clean one screen, and leave the other in operation, which give you more consistent filtering.

Two-lights on one-screen: Makes better use of the screen (both sides are lit), but can waste light if not reflected properly. Advantages are (1) redundancy of the lights: If one goes out, you'll still have filtering until you can buy a replacement, and (2) higher performance for its size, since each side of the screen gets hit by light from both sides, especially right after cleaning when the algae is thin.

Best of both worlds: Multiple lights between two screens. Uses the most flow and power, but is always filtering, and will never go totally "dark" unexpectedly.


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## SantaMonica

.
Scrubber FAQ 1.0 is now complete, and will be updated periodically:

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ 1.0


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## SantaMonica

Part 1 of 3



Here is an easy DIY for a nano. This one starts with a Marineland Eclipse 6 gallon, which was chosen because of the easy-to-access hatch on the top:











































First thing you need to do to the filter box is cut out this section, using a Dremel cut-off tool, or even a soldering iron:































Doesn't need to be a smooth cut, since water will be draining down through the holes anyway. 
Now, test fit the filter box on the back wall:


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## SantaMonica

Part 2 of 3



Looking from the backside, see how the filter box will set on the wall:













use a little bit of scrap plastic to raise this side a bit:













Now, epoxy some plastic sheet (I just cut them out from the hood material) onto the filter box so that it will hook onto the wall; the epoxy will also hold the little plastic scrap in place too:























Mounting done:






















Now cut a piece of hard plastic (any color, any thickness) to fit in the filter box. Use sandpaper or a drill or a file to make the surface rough:













Now cut a piece of "Rug Canvas" or "Plastic Canvas" (found at any sewing or craft store, or online) to fit on the backing:


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## SantaMonica

Part 3 of 3



Rug canvas is preferred because it lets the algae to attach better, but since rug canvas is flimsy, you'll need to epoxy it to the backing. Plastic canvas (pictured) is rigid and can just be set down on the backing, but it does not hold algae as well.

Here is the screen finished. Water should flow off the edges and drain out, but if it collects and gets too deep, cut a little section as shown and it will drain out rapidly:













Attach your light; a halide was chosen so as to get good growth, easy attachment to the tank, and strong lighting for corals:













Here is the screen with a fews days of growth (food was put into the water to rot):













A few more days:













Begin to do your weekly cleanings, 1/2 per week:













Cleaning video:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/6galCleaning.mpg


If the pump ever stops, turn it over and remove the round part, and check to make sure the little wheel can turn freely:























Pump check video:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/6galPumpStop.mpg


That's it! Post your nano scrubber pics!


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## SantaMonica

Succeses of the Week: 

small_ranchu on the MFK site: "Here is the progress on my goldfish tank. 90 gallon tank with 3 goldfish + heavy feeding. Nitrate reading at the end of the week is usually around 40 PPM with a lot of brown algae on the wall. After 1 month of installing the Scrubber filter, Nitrate reading is 10 PPM and brown algae is disappearing slowly."

argi on the MD site: "I set up my scrubber on my 54 gallon tank a few weeks after its initial set up (it has been running for around 3 months now). One thing I have noticed on this tank compared to all my past tanks is the lack of algae growing on the glass. In the past I always left a magnet cleaner in the tank because I would have to scrub the brown diatom algae off the glass at least once per week. Now with this current tank I haven't had to clean off the glass nearly as often. While I still clean it, usually weekly to every other week, I can still see in the tank after 2 weeks!!! So far I am very happy with the results."

johnt on the UR site: "after 10 weeks of running a screen I can say it's the best method I've used, it also takes out metals and other nasties, and I've not even reached the turf algae stage yet. In the 10 weeks it's been running I've not run any reactors or the skimmer (I'm saving a small fortune not having to buy phosphate remover). I'm still running the refugium, Chaeto and deep sand bed, all corals are doing exceptionaly well, N&P are remaining low and rocks are looking better by the day."

Elliott on RC: "I built one about 5 wks ago and so far it seems to be working well. My cyano has diminished and there is less cleaning to do on the glass."

Mtroboer on the MASA site: "my algae is already visibly starting to disappear after only 1 1/2 weeks! Also added a PC Server fan in front of the screen and dropped my temps from 29.8 avg to 25.8 avg, saved me from buying a energy hungry chiller! First time in little more than a year I got to see results regarding getting rid of nuisance algae as well as dropping my high tempratures!"

Keifer1122 on the RS site: "Aquapod 12 gallon update: Its been couple days short of a month, and still no water change, my N & P have been at zero for 3 weeks now. everything is still growing just daily dosing, daily 2-3 feeding times a day, and weekly scrubbing"

bigtanner on RC: "I built this little one for about $65, pump, light, and all plumbing needed. Some people frown on these things and some people praise them. It's about like anything else really. I have had success with mine. Since building it and hooking it up, my tank is basically algae free. I also went from running my magnet daily to only running it every three to four days. [...] I never have any bad algae in my tank, my water is always crystal clear, and since adding it, I run my magnet a lot less than I used to.

corinna on the AC site: "I started out as a sceptic, but after spending a fortune on phosphate absorbers, carbon, sponges, water changes etc, Im convinced. Two months in, ive not done a water change or cleaned the glass, just to see what happened. Zooanthids are reproducing, seahorses are fat and active, values are reading zeroes. Scallops are happy. Plus I feed a lot."


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## SantaMonica

Well after three months of testing color temps, I've determined that 3000K out performs 6500K. It's not a huge difference, but enough to notice. At first they are about equal, but as the green hair gets over an inch thick, the 3000K continues getting thicker until it hits the acrylic wall (at 1.5"), whereas the 6500 stalls and rarely grows enough to reach the wall. So I'm ordering all T5HO 3000K replacement bulbs.


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## SantaMonica

.
The Santa Monica Light-Screen

After much thought about design (but no ability to build), here is my version of a G3 scrubber:













A light-screen is a scrubber where the screen IS the light, and the light IS the screen. This changes the game when it come to scrubber performance in a small size. Unfortunately, you can't DIY these, unless you happen to be both a plastics engineer and an electronics engineer. However I thought that if I posted these, they may spark some ideas for regular scrubbers, or, someone may work for a manufacturer who can actually build them. I'll be the first to buy one.

As a reminder, G1 scrubbers are DIY sumps/buckets, while G2 scrubbers are enclosed acrylic boxes. G3 scrubbers have luminescent screens, whether they be LEDs, fiber optics, or lasers. My design is LEDs; so compared to buckets or acrylics, these plastic-covered LED light screens:

o Are ultra small/thin.
o Have no algae die-off (see drawing below).
o Are practically unbreakable.
o Are electrically safe (12 volts or less).
o Can be made as small as desired for nano's.
o Can easily be built into the hood of a nano.
o Are double-sided with almost no increase in size.


Disadvantages:

o They will be expensive (equivalent to good skimmers).
o They are impossible to DIY














Here is my version of a nano scrubber:












Same concept, just smaller, and replaces the skimmer, mechanical filter, and other filtering "devices" in pre-fab nano's like Aquapods, Red Sea Max's, etc. Would actually make nano's less expensive, better filtered, more compact, and more reliable. 
.
.


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## SantaMonica

Update: CFL Bulb Lifetime

One of the CFL bucket scrubbers that I was testing began growing less and less algae, starting when it was about three months old. After five months, most growth had stopped. I did not think it could be the CFL bulbs because they looked fine, and they are supposed to last for years. But apparently this does not apply to algae growth, because after replacing the bulbs with new ones, growth immediately started again. These bulbs are cheap, so maybe a three-month replacement schedule should be followed.


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## SantaMonica

Several folks commented that they liked the hand-built nano-scrubber that Nitschke65 on the SWF site built for his Aquapod-type tank:








































It looks bought-off-the-shelf. And several folks have asked how to put a scrubber on their own nano's, without resorting to building an external one. Problem is, of course, that Aquapod-type nano's are the most difficult to fit things into. So until someone manufactures some type of nano-scrubber like Nitschke65 built (G3 or otherwise), Nitschke has said that's he'll make custom scrubbers for other folk's nano's:

"I won't be able to get to work on any of them until mid January, but it's fine with me if you'd like to recommend me. My wife and I are gettting to leave on our 10th anniversary trip to London, so things around here have been pretty hectic. I'll be happy to make the trays and screens, and leave people to come up with their own lighting." He is in Wisconsin, USA.

So you can contact him if you are on that site, or PM me and I'll get it to him. I guess this will be his present to everyone


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## SantaMonica

Update Of The Day: Cleanings/Scrapings

Cleanings are when you take the screen to the sink and run tap water over it as you use your fingers (not fingernails) to remove the loose stuff and wash it off. It is done everyweek, no matter what, even if you think your screen needs to "grow more first". On brand new screens, this stuff is usually a light brown slime, but it can be green slime, green hair, or even black tar-looking stuff. It's important, especially on the first cleaning, to leave some algae on the screen so it can grow back easily. It's also important to only clean ONE side per week (or one-half, if it's a one-sided screen). Cleaning it under running tap water kills the pods that will start to eat the algae (don't worry, there will be thousands more the next day).

Scrapings are sometimes needed later on, after your screen has grown a few months. You'll know if scrapings are needed: You'll try using your fingers, or even fingernails, but nothing will come off. Scraping is only needed every month or so, and of course on ONE side only (or one-half, if it's a one-sided screen). I use a razor blade to scrape, but any straight sharp metal object will work. Go back and forth with the scraper until the algae is removed all the way down to the screen. You shouldn't have to worry about leaving algae on the screen; this type of algae is tough enough that there will surely be some left. You may never need to scrape, however, which is fine. But even if you do need to scrape monthly, you'll still need to clean weekly.

Here is a video showing a cleaning and a scraping: 

YouTube:

YouTube - Algae Scrubber: Cleaning/Scraping, part 1
YouTube - Algae Scrubber: Cleaning/Scraping, part 2
YouTube - Algae Scrubber: Cleaning/Scraping, part 3
YouTube - Algae Scrubber: Cleaning/Scraping, part 4


Hi-res: 

Part 1: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scraping1.mpg
Part 2: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scraping2.mpg
Part 2: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scraping3.mpg
Part 3: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scraping4.mpg


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## SantaMonica

Madeley on the scrubber site has come up with a great plan for an in-sump dual-screen scrubber, that could either be manufactured from plastic, or (if you simplify it) made out of acrylic. So for you technically adept folks, here's his drawing, with my arrows and words added:













His drawing is similar to Dohn's on the MASA site:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserDohnOnMASA-2.jpg

...but simpler (Dohn's I believe was for HOB, so it's understandably more complex). 

Operation: Madeley has it so it can be placed in a sump front-to-back (sump being sideways), and it will set on the rim; lights in the middle, screens on both sides through the slots in the horizontal water tray, and water fed in from the hole on the end which would thus be positioned at the back or front of the sump. If it's for a sump 12" front-to-back, then the lower section is probably 11" across, which makes the screen about 10" across. So if the screen is 10" tall, then it's 100 square inches, and lit on one side, which is good for a 50 gal tank per screen, or 100 gal tank total. Each 10" wide screen needs 10 X 35 = 350 gph flow, for a total of 700 gph. Lighting could either be two CFL's hung down the middle, or some type of two-sided T5HO (just think how powerful a row of ten 12" T5's would be. This could be an optional feature.)

To mold/manufacture out of plastic, here's what I'd change:

1. Water input-hole: Many sumps I've seen won't have room to route a tube/pipe along the back side of their sumps (in order to connect to that hole), and they'd prefer to not route it in from the front. I'd suggest a side or top connection.

2. The incoming 700 gph water, the way is is laid out, is going to be too strong when it hits that center piece. I'd use two separate holes, and let the user divide the water himself with a "Y" before the input. Also, if you make the two water pathways totally isolated, and if the user puts a valve on each water input, then he can keep the pump running on one screen while he turns off and cleans the other. This is a safety factor because some people forget to turn their pumps back on, and/or, they are feeding the scrubber from the overflow. Also, there would be a perceived advantage because "it never stops filtering, even when I'm cleaning it". 

3. Screen slots: If the screen inserts through the water tray from the top, then how do you get it out when it's full? You can't pull it up through the slot when it's full. And if the screen inserts from the bottom, how do you push it up and get it through the slot when the screen is flexible?. What you could do is make the water tray removeable, so it just sets down in there. This way, the tray would lift up and bring the screen with it (would also make cleaning, and manufacturing, easier.) And, you'd want the tray to be in two pieces so you can remove one without needing to remove the other. This would work great with isolated water pathways.

4. Overflowing tray: If something real or imaginary blocks the water from going down the slot, the user needs to know that the water will simply overflow into the sump. This is easily done by lowering the outer walls a half inch or so, in the middle section, so water would spill over the edge.

5. Top heavy: With water in the top tray, and two hoses connected, and lights attached, the cener of gravity is going to be very high, and the unit could tip over. While you could fix this by making the unit sit lower into the sump, this would reduce screen area since more of the screen would be under water. A solution might be to attach weights (rock?) to the bottom.

6. Adjustable height: Due to the top-heavy problem, and the unknown height of water in the user's sump, and also due to manufacturing difficulties, it might be easier to eliminate the ledge (that sits on the sump's rim) entirely, and replace it with an adjustable "lip" or "tab". This adjustable piece would be on both ends, and could be moved up or down so that the screen's bottom could be positioned just at the water's surface. If top-heavy, the unit could be lowered (albeit putting the screen into the water.) 

An alternate solution to the height issue is to have no lip at all (permanent or adjustable), and instead use some type of legs that go down to the bottom of the sump. This would make the top part of the unit smaller (does not need to set on sump rim), but would not reduce the lighting or screen areas. For balance in top-heavy situations, the legs could be weighted (they could be weights themselves), or they could extend out at an angle like a tripod.


To have it built from acrylic instead (by hand), here's what I'd change:

The above points still apply (water input on top or side, dual inputs, separate water pathways, removeable water trays, lowered-wall to handle overflow). The issue with acrylic is to use as many long straight pieces as possible, and to avoid any internal cross sections. This pretty much eliminates the lip that would sit on the sump's rim, so something would have to hold the unit up; either an adjustable lip on the sides, or legs on the bottom. An easy solution might be to just extend the outer sheets of acrylic (the ones parallel to the screen) all the way to the bottom, and just have slots in them (like vertical window blinds) for water to get through. If made for anyone other than yourself (in which case you would not know the height needed), the user could just cut off the excess acrylic in order to set the height properly.

The acrylic design is very simple; just four vertical acrylic sheets (same size), with two end pieces, a drop-in water tray on both sides, and a water hole on both sides.
.


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## SantaMonica

Last Results of 2008:

dave3441 on the UR site: "an update for you, been running scrubber since day 1, 19th nov 08 [7 weeks] and tank cycled very quickly 10 days!, although i did have some seeded tonga rock which i kept live bout 15 kgs, the rest was out of water for 36 hours so would have died off. started adding fish at 5 days just 3 chromis to get things fired up then added more fish and corals at 3 weeks still no sign of any additional spikes. its been about 6 weeks now and i have had the very faintest of blooms, just a dusting on glass. cant believe how good this cycle has been compared with first tank set up in 2002. scrubber has been cleaned weekly, to be honest i am cleaning both sides every week as it gets so clogged up . starting to see some more stable green algee now, and this does not come off like the brown/red/black slime does. i just use a george forman plastic spatula and run it down both sides of screen. i would say i get about 1/2 normal size tea cup off screen each time. i gotta say i think this is a very good system, as the algee is definatly growing on the scrubber rather than all over the tank. i have never seen a new tank without the dreaded algee bloom occuring before. i must add i am skimming, although just with a small mc500 deltec which needs emptying approx every 3 days or so. just did battery of tests today approx 7 weeks running now: sal 1.024, temp 27.5, phosphate absolutly zero crystal clear reading not even hint of blue."


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## SantaMonica

For the new year I finally got a camera, learned how to use it, and took some pics. They are linked below, and will be updated as new pics/vids are taken.


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## SantaMonica

My water tests today, all Salifert:

N03: 0 (clear)
P04: 0 (clear)
Si: 0 (clear)
Ca: 490
Alk: 9.3
Mg: 1500
pH: 8.4


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## SantaMonica

Update:

Someone came up with a great way to attach Rug Canvas. Rug Canvas is the highest performance screen material; it is preferred over Plastic Canvas because Rug has small fibers that algae can attach tightly too. This means you get growth faster, and you get more growth sticking to the screen after cleaning (thus, no overly-cleaned bare spots). The problem with Rug is that it's a flimsy material, and the edges tend to unravel. It also won't last forever. So consider it more work, in order to get the highest performance.

Anyway, this idea is very simple, but I've not tried it. So you might have a plastic canvas version as a backup, in case you can't get the Rug working properly. You'll need to make the slot wider, to accomodate the plastic rod. The trick will be getting the right "fit" between the rod/screen, and the slot, so that the water flows smoothly. It will be trickier than a simple plasic canvas, no doubt. So plan on experimenting with it for a few days in the bathtub. 

You can get Rug Canvas at any crafts/sewing store. Also, you might need to sew/glue/hotmelt/etc the loose edges so that it does not unravel.


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## Pasfur

I admire your persistence. And i will tell you, I have given some brief thought to considering your system on my upcoming reef. Thank you for the continued information on a concept that is not widely taken off in the states.


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## SantaMonica

Glad you like the info


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## SantaMonica

Update Of The Day:

Waste is Food: Reef tank owners sometime get into the frame of mind of "food is food, and waste is waste". Thus they put food into the tank, and they remove waste from the tank (skimming, siphoning, waterchanges.) But actually, both food and waste are Organic, and thus are both "food" (food for something, somewhere). Corals and inverts may not directly eat the big krill that you feed your fish, but they do eat the waste from those fish. Further info:
Reef Food by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com


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## SantaMonica

Successes of the Day:

todj2002 on the SWF site: "since installing scrubber, N and P are still both at zero. i cleaned it again today. not any big deal, but huge progress for me. finally beat the algae after two years of trying. using scrubber with chaeto and RO water now. finally getting somewhere."

Marine_Nick on the RP site: "Thought I'd update on my screen. When setting it up I was concerned about light pollution from the sump into the room, and noise from the falling water. as my tank is on an outside wall, I wanted to put the screen outside if possible. I already had an old 18 x 12 x 12 tank, so had it drilled and put a small wier in it, the water is pumped from the sump up and out through the wall to the screen, runs down the screen, through the weir, back through the wall and back into the sump. All of this is in a small shed I made which contains all the lighting etc, my screen is 18 inches tall by 12 inches wide and has a light on either side. Screen has been running now for 4 weeks, and my nitrates have dropped from 30 to 7 and phosphate from 0.25 to 0. In the last 4 weeks, nothing else has changed in my tank other than more fish being introduced, and therefore more food being added, and still the parameters have dropped!! Overall I'm really happy with results so far and hope to see the nitrates drop to zero in the next week or two. Big thanks to Santa Monica for this thread and all the info!"

jtrembley on the MD site: "I got frustrated with the skimmer (EuroReef, rated for 80) on my 40 gallon a while back. It was pulling out *lots* of crud, but I was having trouble with detritus building up, and rising P values. Since yanking the skimmer and DIYing (poorly) a rev. 2 scrubber [acrylic box style], phosphates and nuisance algae are down, and the backlog of detritus is slowly being consumed. I'm seeing lots more worms (particularly the small ones that build white, spiraling tubes) and 'pods (amphi- and cope- that is, but not octo-). Here's the funny thing: at the 3 year stage of my 40, I started getting lots of nuisance algae, despite having one of the hands-down best skimmers for small tanks, an MCE600, on it. Thinking that I was doing something wrong, I put an MC-80 on it. After another year, I started getting more and more detritus building up in the display, despite having a *lot* (over 2k GPH) of flow. And then I noticed something else: I no longer had many fan and bristle worms, amphipods, or copepods left in the sytem, either. So...I started swapping out my old LR for new, to replenish the critters. And I tried Fauna Marin and vodka dosing. But the critters weren't really spreading, and the nuisance algae was getting worse, and my P was rising despite water changes. So, I thought about it, poked around, and looked at Eric Borneman's study of *fresh* skimmate (i.e., not stuff that was left in the cup to rot). And I realized something: having a high quality skimmer on the tank was probably stripping the tank of big chunks of its potential cleanup crew. So I took off the skimmer, and put in a turf screen to cover the water's surface in what used to be the skimmer's chamber in my sump. Low and behold: I'm feeding more; I'm once again seeing fresh worm tracks in my sand bed; the copepods are back; the nuisance algae is dying off; P is undetectable by hobby kits; and the detritus is slowly clearing up. And I'm not doing as many water changes. I checked pH this morning, it was 8.2, before the lights are on. I'm honestly not seeing the down side. So yeah, removing the skimmer and putting in a $5 turf scrubber fixed my tank of "old tank syndrome". Just for giggles, I just tested my N (0.2 or 0.5 Salifert) and P (0.05 Hanna photometer). No visible HA, turfs, or cyano in the display, and I can (easily) feed 2X cubes of Hikari mysis, some dulse, and 2 scoops' worth of Reef Chili daily (again, in a 40). And I haven't done a water change in a month. I'm honestly not seeing a downside to scrubbers at this point."


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## SantaMonica

.
Update: The Trick of Dark Brown Algae

This has now happened to many people who have new scrubbers. They get early growth, but it's not the green stuff that they see in most pics. Instead it's a dark brown super-thick "coating", or a black "tar", that looks like it was poured on:































What you have here is the type of algae that grows when nutrients are extremely high (!). After a few cleanings, when the nutirents come down, the color will lighten up to some balance point where it will stay. The big problem, however, is that people think the screen is not growing, so they leave it in to "grow more" (by not cleaning it). BIG MISTAKE! This type of algae does not grow thick, at all. It never gets more than 1/4" (6mm) or so. And worse, since it's SO DARK, it block all light from reaching the bottom layers, thus causing those layers to die and release nitrate and phosphate back into the water. So the solution is to clean ANY and ALL dark brown/black algae right away, and don't even wait until the end of the week. Basically, if you cannot see your screen, then light is not reaching it and it needs to be cleaned. You'll only have to do this a few times before the nutrients come down and the algae color lightens up. Don't fall for the Dark Brown Algae Trick.


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## SantaMonica

Success of the Day:

"Mxett" on the MD site: "I installed a simple [scrubber] over my refugium. It uses an old plastic fruit juice container and a syphon [which makes a surge device] to dump 2 litres onto a white plastic chopping board which lays horizontally over the top of the refugium. A reflective CFL [bulb] is situated just 10cm above this board. The surge occurs every 30 seconds, lasting for 15 seconds. Growth on the [scrubber] has been excellent. Harvesting the algae is performed every 1 to 2 weeks per SM's instructions. [should be weekly ] N & P have never been detectable in my system, BUT I have always struggled with a very persistant nuisance red algae! It threatened to overtake my entire tank in the months before installing this [scrubber], which is only a modest size for my 800 litre cube. Anyway, after 3 months of using the [scrubber] I can confidently say I have little to none of this red algae left! My purple tange eats it and always has, but with less nutrients available to it, it has just withered away, and he just finishes it off. Overall a great success over a difficult pest. Thanks SM for providing the inspiration and idea to create, install and use such a cheap, easy and effective natural filter."


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## Andy

This looks interesting. I have a 200 with 10 yr old blue tan, powder blue, purple & yellow. I channge about 100 gallons or more every 3-4 weeks, PO4 high, No3 high. It doesn't seem to bother my fish or corals, but I'd like to lower.

Sump with 2'sandbed & cheato. I have an area to possible put one of these in the sump. I have a max width of 13' for a screen leaving 1/2 space on each side. How tall would it have to be & how much flow?

If I took a pic of sump could you give me ideas on construction?


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## onefish2fish

welcome to the forum andy. 
thats a nice looking tank! mind sharing more photos in your own seperate thread?
2'' sand beds are "danger zones" its best to go no sand, shallow or deep to prevent detritus and debris build up in a 2'' sand bed and 100 gallons at a time in a water change would be a 50% change, its best to do small water changes more often then 1 large water change. 10% weekly or 20% bi-weekly but i personally wouldnt change more then 30% at once.
if you dont mind please post more pictures and/or a list of corals, fish, inverts you keep as well as lighting,skimmer, and anything you wish to share in your own seperate thread- im interested and im sure others are as well!


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## aunt kymmie

Hi Andy, Welcome. Some very nice looking fish you have there. Yes, please start your own thread and post more pics! Would love to see some FTS.


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## SantaMonica

Andy, 200 divided by 13 = about 16. So the height would be 18 (for an extra inch to go up into the pipe, and down into the water). Put a light on both sides. A 13" wide screen needs 13 X 35gph = 455gph. So get a 500 or 600 gph and dial it down with a gate valve. Put at least a 23W CFL 3000K on each side (35W preferred). N03 and P04 should be down in four weeks.

Yes pics would help.


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## SantaMonica

Scrubber FAQ 2.0 is now up:
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ 2.0 (1/18/09)


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## Andy

Sorry about the pic, I was only putting it up to show SM the size fish & to show the extreme amount of food & waste my current tank would have in it by feeding this sized fish. I guess I could have listed instead, sorry SM. 

I will take a pic of the sump & post tonight. Since it is more in line with this thread I will post here, unless you would like it PMd. Maybe you can give me an idea of where to put it. My tank bottom is pretty full so this will be a challenge.


Thanks


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## Pasfur

onefish2fish said:


> welcome to the forum andy.
> thats a nice looking tank! mind sharing more photos in your own seperate thread?
> 2'' sand beds are "danger zones" its best to go no sand, shallow or deep to prevent detritus and debris build up in a 2'' sand bed and 100 gallons at a time in a water change would be a 50% change, its best to do small water changes more often then 1 large water change. 10% weekly or 20% bi-weekly but i personally wouldnt change more then 30% at once.


Also, despite what your intuition would tell you, changing 10 gallons of water per day for 7 days will provide almost the identical benefit of nutrient reduction as changing 70 gallons of water in 1 day. There is about a 5% different in the long term level of any particular reading. In other words, you may have Nitrate of 21ppm with a daily 10 gallon change, or Nitrate of 20ppm with a weekly 70 gallon water change. The difference is almost immeasurable.

Eric Borneman (or was it Randy Holmes Farley?) had a recent study and very in depth article on this topic. I didn't believe it either at first, but the proof was in the math!


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## Andy

Pasfur said:


> Also, despite what your intuition would tell you, changing 10 gallons of water per day for 7 days will provide almost the identical benefit of nutrient reduction as changing 70 gallons of water in 1 day. There is about a 5% different in the long term level of any particular reading. In other words, you may have Nitrate of 21ppm with a daily 10 gallon change, or Nitrate of 20ppm with a weekly 70 gallon water change. The difference is almost immeasurable.
> 
> Eric Borneman (or was it Randy Holmes Farley?) had a recent study and very in depth article on this topic. I didn't believe it either at first, but the proof was in the math!


I thought it was opposite of that:

100 gal at 100 NO3
10% change = 90
90NO3 - 10% change = 81


100 gall with a 50% change = 50
Math

I have had a few margaritas, but that does not seem equal.

If I remember right a small change takes a long time to affect.

I would not reccomend this to anyone, but it works for me.

Just to let you know I am no expert, but I have been in saltwater for 31 yrs.

I have been doing these 50% or greater changes for over 10 yrs. with no ill affects

I have no sps, only softies & a few LPS

My colts are regularly propagated as well as the GBTAs

BACK TO THE THREAD 

SM 
I looked at my sump & the only way I can see to put one of these in is to put a power head in & send it to the algea turf skimmer & let the water go directly back int the sump. This is only because of the lack of room I have. What powerhead, seio, or other with the corect flow would you recomend, I am VERY interested in this with the extremely high bioload I have. Ten yrs ago I thought a few of the fish would not make it, they all did. 

Thanks everyone, 

I just want to create a happy home for my fish


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## SantaMonica

I thought you said you could fit 13" width? Definately need several pics of the sump areas. Also, actual measurements of N and P. Is there nuisance algae in the display?


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## Andy

13 " would give me 1/2" on each side space (width is 14"). The only way I see to do it is with a pump out of the sump & have the residual water come back into the sump. Computer has got some problems this week, 17" tall would be max. With your experience what size pump would I need?

Thanks andy

Yes algea comes & goes over 10 yrs, po4 remover constantly used.


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## SantaMonica

13" X 35gph = 455gph. 

Don't plan anything untill you post pics of the sump.


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## Andy

Kinda dirty but here ya go























The only place I see is above one of the cutouts with a powerhead so I do not have to worry about a bucket overflowing. 
I can get 11" wide at the cutouts by 14" tall before it hits water=154 sq inches. How many do I need?

What about flow, Too many margaritas time to sleep. Do I need 2 ?


This will be an excellent tank to atch the numbers. I will get a base starting point this weekend. I have read all the posts, do you think the first posts you made with the materials is the best. 

1 large tang 9"
3 Tangs 5"
Poop Machines!


Thanks
Andy


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## SantaMonica

Ok this is not that hard. You can put a screen in both holes, as large as will comfortably fit. Put a pump on each one, so you can clean one while leaving the other running. Put 2 clip-on lights on each one (total of 4 lights; 23W bulbs, 2700K). Remove the GFO, chaeto, any and all mechanical filters. You say the 2" DSB is in the sump? If so, remove it. Your N and P will be gone in 4 to 8 weeks. Quicker if you do keep doing waterchanges.


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## SantaMonica

.
Today's Success of the Day, from OceanParks on the MFT site, had a good story to it. So here it is with his posts and the dates:

12/17: SantiMonica: I've also built and installed your screen. I am on day 5. I have the brown/green film and was wondering how long before you start to see a noticable drop in Nitrates? I have a 110 gal reef tank with fish and my Nitrates are at 20ppm. Thanks.

12/18: and what wattage bulb would you suggest (pc flood) would you recommend for better results?

1/5: Ok. So I read your thread and built a scrubber (a true hobbyist). I'm in the middle of week three and I've done 2 cleanings and one freshwater rinse. Nitrates began at 30ppm and are now down to 5ppm (with the help of a 40% water change) in this 110 gallon reef tank. I removed the skimmer and UV sterilizer to allow room for the scrubber. I will compose a more formal, descriptive posting in the near future on my setup - one that I hope you will use in your RESULTS postings. I am still trying to get a grip of this thread thing....it is my first one. Did you say that you were getting better results with a different light bulb. If so can you please specify? Thanks! Enjoy the pictures! What do ya think?































1/5: [Remove the filter socks.] Really about the socks? I'm afraid of too may particles floating around. I'll give it a try. Also, can I get the plant-grow bulb at Home Depot and is it in Flood form? I have the timer set for 16hrs on and 8hrs off, however, I get excited and want to turn them on early for (in my mind) faster results. Probably no better results? Ok. Off with the socks. Good idea. Is the grow-light a flood light like those pc flood light? Thanks for the help! I will send a full report and pictures in a few weeks!

1/7: I replaced my flood lights with 2700K "soft white" PC Flood lights today. Same wattage...they just seem dimmer. It's that red light. Hope it works better.

1/12: I spent some time reviewing the begining of this thread and noticed that most of the pictures showed bright green thick mats of algea on the screen. I am not getting that after 5 weeks. I am getting dark brown/red stuff and it's only about 1/4" combined. [The stealthy high-nutrient black/brown algae that must be removed right away.] I did use some of the brown/red stuff to seed the new screen when I built it. Should I rebuild the screen and seed it with some hair algae from the tank? [not now.] Also, at the bottom of my sump, beneath the screen there is red/brown slime forming (see picture). Should I remove/treat for this or can it be concidered benefitial? [leave it.]

1/12: Here is 5.1 oz of the black oil (I read from your other site). Funny enough, under the layer of black stuff there was some bright green algae. Any thoughts on that? [that's why it needs to be removed right away.]

1/20: CLEAR!!!!!! My scrubber has been up since December 18th and tonight the Nitrate test (Nutrafin) read clear indicating 0 nitrates! Awesome. Thank you SantiMonica. Awesome. 0 Nitrates on the Salifert Test too.
.


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## Andy

Santa Monica,

I would need to use an external pump located in the sump. Are there any brands you would reccomend for this? Looks like 2 screens at 11" would be a 385gph pump each. Maxijet I think is 300gph. 

Your first preference was from crafts etc. for the mesh. Does that still hold true? 

This is their ultra stiff plastic canvas, any comments on it?

http://www.craftsetc.com/store/item.aspx?ItemId=30782&dep=20&cat=18&subcat=5


Thanks
Andy


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## SantaMonica

This is not the sump? By "external" pump do you mean one that sits out-of-water? If the pump will sit out of water, any self-priming pump (like Eheims) will work. If you mean it will be setting in the water, then anything will do.

The plastic canvas you linked to is fine. Best if two layers are tied or melted together.


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## SantaMonica

One of the big benefits of a scrubber is that it keeps food in the water. Here is an update pertaining to this:

Part 1 of 7:

Taken from "Reef Food" by Eric Borneman:
Reef Food by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com 

"Detritus, marine snow, particulate organic material, and suspended particulate matter are all names for the bits of "dirt" [food] that flow around the reef; material that is composed of fecal material, borings, algae, plant material, mucus, associated bacteria, cyanobacteria and other particles. Decomposers (mainly bacteria and associated flora and fauna) break down waste material in the water, on the reef, and primarily, in the soft sediments. The result of their presence and action is not only a food source in and of itself, but provides raw material for channeling back into the food chain, largely through the benthic algae and phytoplankton.

"Phytoplankton [food] are small unicellular algae, or protists, that drift in the water column. They may be very abundant in and around coral reefs, and they are capable of absorbing large amounts of organic and inorganic nutrients. [...] Some of the reef animals can feed directly on phytoplankton; many soft corals, some sponges, almost all clams, feather-duster worms, and other filter feeders utilize phytoplankton directly as a food source. Small animals in the water column, termed zooplankton [food], also utilize phytoplankton as a food source. For the smaller zooplankton, phytoplankton and bacteria are the primary food source.

"Both of the [photos not shown] are from reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The left photo shows the clear "nutrient poor" (oligotrophic) waters of the outer reefs. The right photo is of an inshore "nutrient rich" lagoon reef off Townsville. Notice how coral coverage in both systems is high, and even though the green phytoplankton-filled lagoonal reef is nutrient rich, it supports a high density of Acropora. 

"Coral reef food sources, then, are largely produced by the ocean. Bacteria, detritus, phytoplankton, zooplankton, small benthic fauna, mucus, and dissolved organic and inorganic material of various types and sizes are what comprise the majority of food on a coral reef.

"In aquaria, we are faced with several realities. Our phytoplankton and zooplankton populations are generally negligible to non-existent in comparison with coral reef communities. Those which do exist are either rapidly consumed without having a chance to reproduce, or they are rapidly removed or killed by pumps and filtering devices or suspension-feeders. Coral mucus, bacteria, detritus, larval benthos and other "psuedo-plankton" might be present in a reasonable amount if the water column were not stripped. On the other hand, dissolved organic and inorganic material [nitrate, phosphate] levels are frequently much higher than they are in the ocean. [...] Even very well maintained aquaria are generally found with much higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorous than wild communities. Even though many desirable organisms are able to utilize these nutrients, levels in most aquaria are very unnatural, and coral reefs under such conditions often wane or die - a process known as eutrophication.

"It is the lack of water column-based food that results in limited success with the maintenance of some desirable animals, such as crinoids, flame scallops, clams, certain corals, sponges, bryozoans, and many other invertebrates. Even the symbiotic (zooxanthellate) corals [like SPS] suffer, despite many obvious long-term successes with these animals. 

"In terms of previously mentioned export mechanisms, it really does little good to be cultivating or adding more food material in the water column if it is all being rapidly removed by filtration devices. Live rock and sand provide abundant filtration, and some of the articles in past issues describing the set-up and use of unskimmed tanks are, in my experience, something that should be seriously considered. Algae Turf Scrubbers are also viable systems that provide low ambient water nutrient levels [of nitrate and phosphate] while maintaining higher amounts of food and particulate matter in the water. I also feel that if protein skimmers are used, they should probably be used in an intermittent fashion.


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## Andy

SantaMonica said:


> This is not the sump? By "external" pump do you mean one that sits out-of-water? If the pump will sit out of water, any self-priming pump (like Eheims) will work. If you mean it will be setting in the water, then anything will do.
> 
> The plastic canvas you linked to is fine. Best if two layers are tied or melted together.


Submersable, in the sump. Simple & cheap would be MJ1200, might have to narrow the 11" to 9 (9X 35=315gph) I think they are rated at 295 gph

I am going to the sewing store this weekend & pick up some material. My tangs have got so large the poop & amout of food is unbelieveable. My 200 will put this to a good test.

Found this bulb local:

http://www.lightbulbdepot.com/product.asp?sub=15&dep=PAR%2038&prod=29715A

Thanks for all the information.


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## SantaMonica

Get the more PAR friendly 2700K one:

Lighting fixtures, gu10 halogen, light bulb, lamp, fluorescent, incandescent, metal halide from Light Bulb Depot.


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## SantaMonica

Thought Of The Day: 

A few folks have seen (or thought that they had seen) their skimmers "working less" or "producing less" after their scrubber started working. While this may have happened for other reasons, there is really no direct reason that a scrubber should cause a skimmer to produce less. This is because a skimmer and a scrubber remove different things: Scrubbers remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, which are invisible, and which are the things that your test kits test for. Skimmers remove food (Organics). So having a scrubber remove the Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate really shouldn't cause a skimmer to remove any less food (unless you are feeding less). What MIGHT be happening, is that less Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate in the water means there is less food for bacteria (bacteria eat Organics AND Inorganics), and if there is less bacteria, then there is less to skim out.


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## Andy

Home depot has par 38 2700K 2 pack for 14.00 in case anyone needs any & they are the correct ones


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## SantaMonica

Update of the Day: New Research on Skimmers and Organics:

The whole point of scrubbers is that they remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, which are the things your test kits measure, and which are also the things that cause nuisance algae to grow. The other good point about scrubbers is that they leave Organics (food) in the water for the corals and fish and bacteria to eat (the bacteria also then become coral food.) People who prefer skimmers, however, say that skimmers removes Organics (food) before they break down into Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate. 

I say, why not just feed less, instead of feeding more and then removing it with a skimmer? Let's look at it from their viewpoint. Their viewpoint is "Feed more, and remove the excess Organics (food) with the skimmer." Well, the current January 2009 issue of Advanced Aquarist just published extensive research into how well different skimmers remove Organics. They refer to Organics as "TOC", which is the Total Organic Carbon; TOC is the the combination of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC), and Particulate Organic Carbon (POC). Here is the article, and this is what it said:

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: The Development of a Method for the Quantitative Evaluation of Protein Skimmer Performance

"In addition to some dissolved organics, small particulates and microbes (bacterioplankton, phytoplankton) can be removed at the air/water interface of the [skimmer] bubble as well (Suzuki, 2008). The skimming process does not remove atoms/molecules that are strictly polar and readily dissolve in water, such as some organics, salts, inorganic phosphate, carbonate, etc.

"The skimmer pulls out all of the TOC that it is going to remove by the 50-minute mark. Beyond that time point, nothing much is happening, and the TOC level doesn't change much. 

"Thus, all skimmers tested remove around 20 - 30% of the TOC in the aquarium water, and that's it; 70 - 80% of the measurable TOC is left behind unperturbed by the skimming process. It may be possible to develop a rationalization for this unexpected behavior by referring back to Fig. 1. Perhaps only 20 - 30% of the organic species in the aquarium water meet the hydrophobic requirements for bubble capture, whereas the remaining 70-80%, for whatever reason, don't."

So, the strength of skimmers (since they don't remove Inorganics) is supposed to be that they remove Organics before they break down. But this research shows (once again) that they don't even remove the Organics. Here is additional 2008 reasearch that shows the same:

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Reef Aquarium: an Initial Survey, Part I
Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Feature Article: Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Reef Aquarium: an Initial Survey, Part II


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## Andy

FYI
Found plastic screen material at Michaels craft store .39 c per sheet


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## SantaMonica

In my related research of reducing Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, overfeeding was always an issue. Scrubbers help, by introducing live (instead of dead) copepods to the tank, but the rest of the feeding always causes excess food to get stuck in the rock and sand, and rot. The solution to this could be an Automatic Continuous Feeder. The writeup is here:

http://www.fishforum.com/saltwater-aquariums/automatic-continuous-feeder-20896/


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## SantaMonica

Results of the Week:

jtremblay on the MD site: "the last few strands of HA have disappeared from my 40's display, and the build-up of detritus is continuing to go down, despite there being no skimmer on this tank."

nitschke65 on the SWF site: "My biocube is currently being filtered by my custom [nano] turf scrubber in chamber two; there is also a ball of chaeto in the bottom af chamber two, and a bag of Chemi-pure Elite in chamber three. My protein skimmer stopped working two or three weeks ago. (My mushrooms and zoas have never looked better!) I also have some polyps, hammers, and galaxia. There's a few nassarius, and a few hermits, an emerald crab, and possibly a pepermint shrimp. There's a lawnmower blennie, two green chromis, a scarlet hawk, and a Potter's angel. I haven't cleaned my screen or done a water change in 2 weeks [bad!]. This mornings readings: Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 0

Skunkbudfour20 on RC: "Yes i built one, Yes i am running it, and YES my nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and phosphates all dropped to almost 0 within the first 3 weeks, and yes algae growth in my display has come to a stop, and slowly recedes... I am still running my skimmer, even though it doesnt seem to be doing AS much, its still doing something for now."

Worley on the AS site: "As for lights, I have seen an improvement in the type of algae growing and in the overall amount of growth since changing bulbs to the lower 3500K colour temp. I've been getting more hair [on the screen], macro algaes, some interesting dark green very very long hair-like algae (6"+ long). The cyanobacteria [in the display] is nearly completely gone, along with less brown slime algae, both in the tank and on the screen. And best of all, still no water changes, nearly 5 months on, with good calcium, dKH and PH. I've easily saved the price of the equipment used to make the scrubber from not having used an entire bucket of salt, and everything in the tank looks more healthy than I've ever seen in a marine tank I've kept before, I'm loving it, and so is my girlfriend!"


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## Andy

SM, I installed mine this evening. I will test the water tomorrow after work to get a starting point.

Thought of a idea for mounting. In sump with aquarium above. Screw a cap into a board that attaches to crossbraces. Put in a quick release carter pin, or after I go to HD will just be a pin. Water does not actually go thru this PVC.

See pics


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## Andy




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## SantaMonica

Can you post the pic of the mount again?... came out halfway.


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## SantaMonica

Update of the Day: Freshwater Cleanings

You absolutely must use freshwater, in your sink, when cleaning your screen once a week. If your weekly cleaning gets delayed, at the very least turn the pump off and pour RODI over the screen to kill the pods. Otherwise the pods start growing underneath, eating the algae, then falling off into your water. You will not see the holes they make unless the algae is very thin. It becomes an issue of the scrubber not removing as much nitrate and phosphate, because the pods eat the algae you've grown, and then re-introduce the nutrients back into the water. FW of course, kills the pods. SW does not. So use FW weekly. And don't worry about getting rid of all the pods; you won't. The next day there will be millions more.


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## SantaMonica

Part 3 of 7:

Taken from "The Food of Reefs, Part 3: Phytoplankton" by Eric Borneman
The Food of Reefs, Part 3: Phytoplankton by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com 

"Phytoplankton are the major source of primary [food] production in the ocean, and one of the most important driving forces of global ecology. In fact, phytoplankton production influences all life, by being at the lowest rings of the food chain.

"The reason [phytoplankton] are so important on a regional or global scale is simply by virtue of the fact that the upper 200 [meters] of oceanic waters is filled with phytoplankton and covers over 70% of the earth's surface. 

"What eats phytoplankton? In the water column, zooplankton [food] are without question the primary consumers of phytoplankton. Zooplankton grazers vary according the area and the time of year, but include primarily ciliates, copepods, amphipods, and tintinnids.

"Stony corals are generally not well adapted to the sieve or filter type feeding that characterizes the soft corals (Fabricius et al. 1995, 1998). They are, however, well suited to the capture of zooplankton prey.

"It is of paramount importance to recognize that the biomass of potential grazers [which need food] in an aquarium is many times what it would be in the same volume of water or surface area as the bottom of oceans or on reefs, and also, that the availability of water column borne food is many times greater in the ocean than in an aquarium.

"Perhaps most importantly, is the almost ubiquitous interaction between bacteria and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton release dissolved organic substances, and bacteria utilize them as nutrient sources. Most phytoplankton cells, especially large ones, are coupled nearly continuously with coatings of bacteria [which are consuming the dissolved organic substances].

"The amounts of phytoplankton present in reef aquariums are not known but are probably considerable. However, they are also probably rapidly removed by grazing and export devices [skimmers].


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## Andy

Here is a mount for under the sump. I put a 1X6 accross the cross beams under the tank & screwed the cap to it. Right now there is a cotter pin holding the 2 together but I will get a pin more made for this at HD. It makes it easy to pull down for scraping. I am building a second for home tank & 1 for my office 90 gal.


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## SantaMonica

Very nice idea!
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AlgaeFilters.pdf


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## SantaMonica

Bob the (reef) Builder on the SARK site made this PDF for a club presentation three months ago, and I just found it; maybe it could be used by others:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AlgaeFilters.pdf


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## Andy

dispensing pipe snaps right in to "T" when you take a little material out.


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## SantaMonica

Scrubber FAQ 3.0 is now up, with about 50 percent new info:
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ 3.0 (2/08/09)


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## SantaMonica

Results of the week:

Broder on the SARK site: "I have been running my tank with an algal filter for about 3 months now. I removed the skimmer on the 10th last month. My display has never looked better. The [nuisance] algae has almost totally dissapeared. My SPS colonies are thriving. Not only are they growing well, but the colouration has become vibrant due to 0 PO4 (Salifert test) and 0 nitrate. I've seen better colouration in systems that were using Zeovit, but I'm more than happy with the results the algal filter achieves." 

Sly on the SWF site: "The back glass used to be absolutely covered in green algae, but now it's staying clean on its own. I have never cleaned it. The rocks weren't that bad, but there were some patches of cyano in places that are now gone. It now seems to be staying cleaner on its own. My ORP has started rising again and is a 270mv without ozone. I don't know if it's related but as my tank levels have improved lately, my Mandarin is coming out more in the day time. This is the first picture I have ever been able to get of him in the open... and I've had him for over 2 years. The live rock and the substrate both have zero algae on them"

TODJ2002 on the SWF site: "i added a scrubber several months ago after reading this thread. my nitrates and P slowly lowered and went to zero for the first time. they have both been at zero since. everytime i check levels i am expecting to see a rise, but always zero. i also added cheato to my system and i believe boths items are a must for any system." 

Adee on the SARK site: "Ok so its been about 6 weeks since i fired this scrubber up. Did the 1st "harvest" on just the one side; i'll do the other side next weekend. My phosphate reading is a zero according the Elos color chart... and for the very first time the complete back glass pane has broken out with coraline algae. Its never done that before due to the back always being covered with the normal glass algae/diatoms. Since the latter no longer appears, the coraline is now growing. I'm sure in a few weeks I'll have a complete pink wallpaper at the back. The fact that the scrubber makes the ideal platform for all this gunk to grow OUTSIDE my display tank, was well worth the investment."

Bob the (reef) Builder on the SARK site: "Both my filters are going great guns. Probably the best is the sun [powered] one, it's big and now that its settled, grows algea like crazy. My phospates down to 0.00 - 0.01ppm on a Hanna meter. Never seen it this low before. My corals are starting to grow and colour up really well now."

RentalDeceptionist on the UR site: "Ooh the [nuisance] algae. Well, it has certainly receeded massively. It's not 100% gone but I feel I'm on top of it. The hair algae which virtually smothered every flat surface is now down to about 20% of its mass, and there is more rock than algae. I do believe decreasing the lighting has helped."


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## SantaMonica

"Kcress" on the algae scrubber site has just finished his version of a G2 LED scrubber, for testing. A G2 is a self-contained scrubber, but the LEDs themselves are not the screen, like they are with a G3. Anyways, for testing purposes, he only has LED's on one side of the screen, and he only used low-power LEDs to avoid heat issues:


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## SantaMonica

Part 4 of 7:

Taken from "The Food of Reefs, Part 4: Zooplankton" by Eric Borneman
The Food of Reefs, Part 4: Zooplankton by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

[Note: "Zooplankton" are tiny animals (food) floating in the water]



"Copepods comprise by far the largest fraction of total zooplankton - more than all the other groups combined.

"Zooxanthellate corals (many diverse species) could survive "indefinitely" if provided with adequate zooplankton, even if totally deprived of light. In contrast, corals provided light and deprived of zooplankton did not survive. 

"One of the greatest myths among reefkeepers is that "SPS" corals depend mostly on light, and require less food than "LPS" corals. This is entirely untrue. As an example, consider the data from [pic not shown]. This graph shows the capture rate of an equivalent biomass of two corals, the large-polyped Montastraea cavernosa and the very small-polyped Madracis mirabilis. For those unfamiliar with Madracis, it is related to and somewhat resembles Pocillopora and Stylophora. The capture rate of the small polyped coral was 36 times greater than the large-polyped coral! Furthermore, M. cavernosa has been shown in other studies to be a voracious zooplanktivore.

"Many other studies confirm the predatory [feeding] abilities and requirements of "SPS" corals. It should not be surprising, given the fast growth rate and fecundity of many small polyped species. In other words, more growth and reproduction requires more energy, especially nitrogen for tissue growth. The difference, if one exists between "SPS" and "LPS" corals, lies primarily in the size of the food captured. Most of the prey of small polyped corals may just be too small to see. Aquarists have a tendency to be strongly visual, and so if gross observations don't indicate that a coral is consuming food offered to it, they wrongfully assume the coral must not need to be fed.

"Some species rely more on zooplankton than others, and if anything, the "SPS" corals feed on zooplankton a lot. In fact, most corals show linear feeding saturation dynamics under all but extremely high particle concentrations. What this means is that corals have a hard time "getting full." They continue to capture prey, and do not get satiated until prey densities become so great that such levels are almost never possible. To put it another way, even if you were to pour a pound of food per day into an average sized reef aquarium, the corals would still "be hungry." 

"In a September 2002 coral reef conference in Cambridge, several papers were presented that should give an idea of not only the very latest information, but also emphasize what is written above. 

"Many years ago, one of the only [food studies] for a coral was done for what might be considered the ultimate shallow-water "SPS" coral, Acropora palmata (Bythell 1988, 1990). The study showed, basically, that 70% of this coral's nitrogen needs were met by feeding, and that 91% of its carbon needs were met by light. [In 2002] three more corals, the larger polyped Montastraea cavernosa, M. annularis and Menadrina meandrites [were studied, and the researchers found] zooplankton to provide 20-80 times the carbon and 112-460 times the nitrogen previously shown for Acropora palmata. Finally [in 2002, researchers studied] the role of zooplankton consumption on the metabolism of the small-polyped coral, Stylophora pistillata under 3 different conditions of light (80, 200, 300 µmoles m-2 s-1) and 2 feeding regimes (Artemia and natural plankton). They found that regardless of light, fed corals had higher chlorophyll-A concentrations, higher protein levels, and had photosynthesis rates 2-10 times higher than those deprived of food. This group also measured calcification rates, both in the dark and in light, and found that calcification, as is well known to be the case, is enhanced by light. However, for the first time it was shown that feeding results in calcification rates 50-75% higher than in control corals (not fed). It was also found that feeding does not affect the light-enhancement process of photosynthesis on calcification. To make these results completely understandable, if corals can feed on zooplankton, they will calcify 50-75% faster irrespective of light levels provided.

"Of all the many things that can potentially increase respiration, photosynthesis, and calcification -- and have been shown again and again to do so absolutely -- feeding and water flow are the major players. Light, of course, is critically important as well, but aquarists by and large can and do provide enough quantity and quality of light for corals. Period. Phytoplankton, while a very beneficial addition to aquaria, does not feed most corals (Borneman 2002). Something as significant as zooplankton to both coral and coral reefs would seem worthy of the highest efforts in trying to produce, add, grow, substitute or in some way provide to tanks. I cannot think of a single greater accomplishment and advance for aquarists than to provide by whatever means (higher export and higher input, larger refugia, purchase, plankton tow, culture, etc.) significantly greater levels of zooplankton or zooplankton substitutes to their corals. I hope I am being dramatic enough by writing this, for this is among the most important steps that must be made to realize the majority of those lofty goals and ideals that are so often stated and desired by those keeping corals in aquariums.

[Skimmers remove zooplankton; Scrubbers add zooplankton]
.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Pod Size

All the talk of how a scrubber "grows pods" has given some folks the idea of trying to catch the pods in a net. I think they might be expecting large pods like they see crawling around their sand and rocks at night. But actually what grows in scrubbers is the microscopic baby pod, which look like a spec of dust. This is because the weekly scrubber cleaning (in FW) kills most of the pods before they can eat too much of the algae. While this makes the scrubber work really good at removing nutrients (since the pods will not have a chance to eat the algae and put it back into the water), it also limits the growth period of the pods to 7 days. So what you get are millions of tiny white pod specs that fall off the scrubber and float through the water; if you have good circulation, the water might even look "dusty". This is exactly what you want: Large numbers of live zooplankton (baby pods) floating through the water, feeding your corals and small fish. Just like a real reef.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Ultra Low Phosphate

Many people, after having great success with their scrubbers, have brought their phosphate down so low that their test kits can't measure it. And the nuisance algae has been mostly cleared out of the display. However, these people start seeing a fuzzy detritus-looking accumulation on some parts of the rocks, and sometimes on the sand. They clean it off, but it comes right back. What is it?

What they are seeing is phosphate coming out of the rocks(!). This is a great thing to happen. It requires two situations: (1) You previously had high levels of phosphate in your water (higher than .1) for several weeks or more, and (2) You now have very low levels of phosphate in your water. It's very counter-intuitive, and it will make you think that things are going wrong, especially since this type of algae growth looks just like "detritus" (but it's not.) Things are actually going very right, and here is why:

Phosphate is like water: It flows from higher levels to lower levels. For example, if you have two aquariums connected with a pipe at the bottom, the water levels would be the same in each tank. But if you poured extra water into one tank, it's level would rise for a second, then the water would flow into the other aquarium until the levels were equal again (although both levels would now be higher). Now, if you removed some water from one of the aquariums, it's level would drop for a second, then the water from the other aquarium would flow into it until they both evened out again (although both levels would now be lower). If you kept removing water from just one of the aquariums, the levels of both aquariums would keep falling, until they both reached the bottom. This is exactly how phosphate works.

Situation (1): In the previous weeks or months, when your phosphate levels in your water were high, the phosphate was flowing from the water INTO the rocks and sand and anything else that is made up of calcium carbonate, such as coral skeletons and clam shells. The phosphate did this because it's level in the water was "higher" than the phosphate in the rocks and sand. This part of the process is invisible, since Inorganic Phosphate is invisible. You don't see it going into the rocks and sand, but your rocks and sand are indeed being "loaded up". And if your phosphate in your water goes up even higher (say, .5), then even more phosphate goes into your rocks and sand, until it evens out again. You probably also see nuisance algae on your glass and other non-rock surfaces, because there is enough phosphate in the WATER to feed the algae anyhwere it's at. And that's the important point to remember: There is enough phosphate in the WATER to feed the algae ANYWHERE.

Situation (2): Now, you've been running your scrubber (or any phosphate remover) for a while, and your phosphate in the WATER has been testing "zero" on your hobby test kit. Nuisance algae has been reduced or eliminated on your glass and everywhere else. This is because there is not enough phosphate in the WATER to feed the nuisance algae. However, since the phosphate in the water is now very low, guess where it's still high? IN THE ROCKS! So, phosphate starts flowing FROM the rocks and sand, back INTO the water. And as long as your scrubber keeps the phosphate low in the WATER, the phosphate will keep flowing out of the rocks until it is at the same level as the water. You can visualize the phosphate as heat coming off of a hot brick; you can't see it, but it's flowing out of the brick. Anyways, since you now have all this phosphate coming out of the rocks and sand, guess where algae starts to grow? ON THE ROCKS AND SAND! 

There is a striking differece between the algae in Situation 1 and 2, however; in (1) the algae is on everything: Glass, rocks, sand, pipes, thermometers, pumps, etc., and the algae is a typical algae that you normally get in your display. But in (2), the algae is dark, short and fuzzy, just like detritus, and it's only growing on the rocks and sand. And if you look closely at the rocks, it only growing on certain PARTS of the rocks (usuallly narrow parts that stick out), and not growing on the rocks right next to it. This is because certain areas of the rock have absorbed more phosphate than others, and thus are releasing more phosphate into the water. Glass, plastic, etc, don't absorb phosphate, so thats' why there is no algae growing on them now, since they are not releasing phosphate back into the water. So the algae now grows only where it can find enough phosphate, and for now, this is only on certain parts of the rock and sand where enough phosphate is flowing back into the water. 

But just like the aquarium example above, the levels of phosphate in the rocks and water will eventually even out, and the flowing will stop. When this happens, the nuisance algae will disappear from the rocks, never to return again (unless of course your phosphate levels rise again for some reason.) The time for this to happen is weeks to months, depending upon how much phosphate is stored in the rocks. So don't give up!


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## SantaMonica

Update: Grow Bulbs

The best bulbs to grow algae are "grow bulbs", which are pink in color. Sometimes these bulbs are called "plant grow" bulbs. But don't confuse these bulbs with "plant bulbs" which are blue or green. Blue bulbs have a different purpose, and green bulbs are just to make plants look nice. It's the pink bulbs that give the algae the type of light that it grows best with. The light won't seem as bright as a white bulb, however, but it works much better. You can find grow bulbs at any garden store, home improvement store, hydroponics store, or online. Each bulb should be at least 23 watts.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Cross-cuts

Making cross-cuts in the slot is now recommended for all pipes. The biggest advantage of cross-cuts is that when algae grows up into the slot, a cross-cut will still allow water to flow out on top of the algae. Cross-cuts do require more flow, so if your pump/pipe combination is having trouble delivering the recommended 35 gph per inch of slot (53 lph/cm), then you might want to get more flow first. Start with one cross-cut every inch (2.5cm), and later try one every .5 inch (1.25cm):


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## Andy

After having to take my scrubber out to clean & unhooking the pump I decided to make that part a little easier.


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## Andy

Also putting the pin at the "T" instead of at the top would make it easier to get out of the stand


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## SantaMonica

Yes a union is always a good idea.


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## Andy

I siliconed 2 of the plastic grid sheets together, figured when cleaning there might be a little algea left in the middle to start new growth. Is that OK?

Are there any tricks to cutting the long & cross slits?

After making 3, I really need to remake them. I figured the slit should get a little wider towards the end?

I used a dremel cut off wheel, but the cut wsa not very straight, the plastic almost melted instead of a straight slit.

What pumps are people using? I am using maxijet 1200 & I do not think it is enough flow. I might add another & split it between my 2 screens.

I got this today to see if I can get a better cut.









One more question. When washing off one side of the screen, the other sid gets some freshwater too. Water in the sink & water that goes thur the little squares. Is this expected?


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## SantaMonica

> I siliconed 2 of the plastic grid sheets together, figured when cleaning there might be a little algea left in the middle to start new growth. Is that OK?


Yep.



> Are there any tricks to cutting the long & cross slits?


Keep the saw moving; don't stay in one place. This way it won't melt.



> I figured the slit should get a little wider towards the end?


Not needed. When algae fills the faster flowing parts, watter will flow to the slower parts by itself.



> What pumps are people using? I am using maxijet 1200 & I do not think it is enough flow. I might add another & split it between my 2 screens.


Try to get 35gph per inch of slot.



> One more question. When washing off one side of the screen, the other sid gets some freshwater too. Water in the sink & water that goes thur the little squares. Is this expected?


That's what you want. You want the FW to kill the pods on the whole screen.


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## SantaMonica

Part 5 of 7:

"The Food of Reefs, Part 5: Bacteria" by Eric Borneman
The Food of Reefs, Part 5: Bacteria by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

"Given the enormous bacterial biomass in all ecosystems, it should be of little surprise that [bacteria] are food for something, if not many things. Bacteria, being composed of living material, contain a relatively large amount of nitrogen, an element in very short supply in coral reef waters.

"The biomass and productivity of bacteria on [natural] coral reefs are as great as those in nutrient-enriched (or eutrophic) lakes, and up to a hundred times greater than in the open ocean. Planktonic bacteria in coral reefs [..] have filamentous processes to allow them to absorb and consume dissolved organic molecules [DOC].

"In virtually all studied marine environments, bacteria are water purifiers, decomposers of organic material, and a primary source of protein for both those animals that directly graze on them and those that acquire them indirectly through secondary consumption.

"Given the importance of bacteria as a food source in marine ecosystems, it might not be surprising to learn that they are also a primary food source for corals. It has been found that bacteria alone can supply up to 100% of both the daily carbon and nitrogen requirements of corals. All corals studied consume dissolved organic material [DOC], bacteria, and detrital material [waste].

"Bacteria not only provide carbon and nitrogen for the [coral] polyp, but also provide an important source of phosphorous for the zooxanthellae, in addition to other elements such as vitamins and iron.

"Bacteria exist in very high diversity and biomass in the marine environment, and especially on coral reefs and on coral surfaces. They play critical roles in virtually all ecological processes that control reefs, and are a major component of food webs. Corals feed on bacteria at levels and efficiencies that rival all other bacterial consumers.


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## Andy

Had to turn mine off this morning & lay them in the sump. Learned the when the "slit" gets clogged it can start to spray water in directions you didn't intend. Only about a quart on the floor.

Any good fixes??

I thought about putting a larger piece of PVC over the spray bar, with a larger slit in it. The light shouldn't be able to get to the first inch that way.

Any other ideas??


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## SantaMonica

Yes... tape a piece of plastic to the pipe, that hangs down just past the slot. Will stop spray, and block light.


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## SantaMonica

Successes of the Day:

Johnt on the UR site: "I feed heavy and don't do water changes, so there's quite a bio load to balance; since adding the scrubber I've stopped using phosphate remover, and levels remain low and the water appears clearer, but I think the biggest difference has been how clean the tank looks despite being set up close to five years."

tarraza on the algae scrubber site: "the only thing that i can tell you guys is that this is my 5 months that I have NOT change any water in my 30 gal salt watwer tank full of hard corals, soft corals etc. For more than 8 YEARS i spend a LOT of money on additives to eliminate nitrates above 30ppm, phophate way over 20 not to mention water change every other week just to get partial results. Now I do not even test for nitrates, phopate, I only test one in a blue moon for calcium, ph, and alk. My filtration for this tank is a ACUACLEAR 110 FILTER ON THE BACK OF MY TANK WHITH MY VERSION OF ALGEA SCRUBBLE (of course whith ALL the ADVICES FROM ST. MONICA in). People KEEP IT SIMPLE. THIS SYSTEM REALY WORK.

cyberseer on the algae scrubber site: "YEAH!! Tested this morning coz i was bored, got a 0 NO3 reading, had to double and triple the test, to confirm that I wasn't dreaming/sleep walking/imagining things. Like that presentation says, this has got to be one of the happiest days of my life in this hobby/dark hole. Also, I can answer my question per title of this thread now. It took 50 days to see effect (could be sooner, but I didn't test for like a week and half before yesterday) and 51 days to result.  What a beautiful day it is, no rain, and no NO3. No skimmer for almost 4 weeks. No water change for 2 weeks. Feed 2x a day for the fish, 1 cube a day for the fish and softies. BTW, changed a bigger CFL on 2/16/09, it's now a 65W with output of 300w. Big difference in growth."

brianhellno on the MFK site: "I've had a scrubber set up on my Piranha tank for a few months now and Nitrate has been zero every time I've tested it. At first the scrubber grew huge amounts of this brown grease-like algae, and now it just has a slow steady growth of solid green. I clean it about once a week or whenever the green algae starts to look like its getting a little too dense. I wanted to test the ability of the scrubber to see how well it handles a worst case scenario. I didn't change out the water for a week (the longest ever) and I left in uneaten food that made its way to the bottom of the tank. At the end of the week 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and only 5 PPM Nitrate. Simply amazing. I'm not quite sure why I change the water out anymore."


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## SantaMonica

Update: Electrical Safety

Be sure to seal your bulbs and connections with aquarium-safe silicone or sealant, especially if the bulb is down inside the sump. You can't see it, but there will be tiny amounts of salt spray that will build up where you screw the bulb in, and also where you made electrical connections. When the buildup gets thick enough, it will short out and blow a fuse. So each time you replace a bulb, re-seal it. You should be able to pour water over it without it causing a problem.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Builders

Scrubber builders are needed, because many folks on different forums are wanting to try a scrubber, but they don't want to (or can't) build them. So if you are available to build a scrubber of any kind (sump, bucket, acrylic, LED, etc), pm me and I'll put you in the builder database.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Sideways Spray Protection

If you think there may be times when you cannot clean your screen on time (at least once a week), you may want to protect it from sideways spray. Sideways spray can sometimes happen if you let the algae continue to grow up into the slot. The easiest protection is when you clean it; clean the part at the top, about a half inch (13mm) away from the slot, very thoroughly. Don't leave any algae behind at all. This way the algae will take longer to get thick here. You will lose a bit of filtering, but it won't sideways-spray as soon. Also, clean every bit of algae out of the slot/pipe, for the same reason. The other solution is to attach solid or flexible plastic strips to the side of the pipe, which will stop any spraying. And ideally, the strips should block light too, so that nothing grows into the slot in the first place:


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## SantaMonica

Update: CFL Reflectors

When I see a regular CFL bulb (not a floodlight) being used, I always say that it needs a reflector. Although it would just be easier to use CFL floodlight (which does not need a reflector), below are some reflectors you can use with regular CFL bulbs. You can find many others by searching for "CFL reflector", or by going to any hydroponics or gardening store:
Reflectors - Hydroponics UK, Hydroponics Systems & Grow Lights


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## SantaMonica

Part 6 of 7:

"The Food of Reefs, Part 6: Particulate Organic Matter" by Eric Borneman
The Food of Reefs, Part 6: Particulate Organic Matter by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

"This article will address a very important food to corals and many other animals, particulate organic material (POM). This food source has many names, including detritus [waste], floculant organic matter, reef snow, marine snow, and suspended organic material. 

"Not so long ago, marine aquarists made every attempt to be assured that their water column was "polished." I never fully understood the term, but the premise was that a clean water column was a good water column. Various means were employed to accomplish this, including the use of various power filters, mechanical flosses and screens, sterilizers, ozonizers, canister filters, diatom filters, foam fractionators [skimmers] and many other devices. [However] "polished" water might not be in the best interest of reef tanks or corals.

"Particulate organic material has its origins in life, being composed by and large of the remains, secretions and excretions of living organisms. On coral reefs, it is composed mostly of dead algae, bacteria, mucus, and feces.

"When food, waste, or other particulate organic matter (POM) is trapped, especially in an aerobic environment, it is acted upon by several types of bacteria that break down the substances into more basic dissolved organic and inorganic components. Some of these breakdown components are organic acids and refractory compounds that can impart a yellow tint to the water column. This yellowing has been called "gelbstoff." However, both the substances remaining after [various types of] filtration, as well as the substances removed by the filtration, can be utilized by the life in the aquaria, and are taken up by corals, sponges, some other invertebrates, phytoplankton, bacteria, and algae.

"On reef slopes and crests, the [waste] material is mostly coral mucus, while over the reef flats and lagoons, the material is mostly algae and fecal matter. This material, by itself, has a high carbon content. However, it acts as a substrate for bacteria, ciliates, cyanobacteria, and other microorganisms that coat the particles. Bacteria can even convert dissolved organic material (DOM) into particulate organic material (POM) by aggregating it in the presence of carbon. This provides a substantially enriched particle replete with amino acids and valuably higher nitrogen content. As such, detritus [waste] becomes a very nutritious food source for many organisms. It is such a complex "dirt", that detritus has been described as a completely self-contained microhabitat of its own, with plant, animal and microbial components, and its own "built-in" nutrient source.

"Another major consumer group of detritus is the zooplankton. These small animals, themselves a very important food sources to reef consumers, have been found to have 90% of their gut contents composed of detritus. Mucus-producing animals, like corals, tend to trap detritus, and the material is either removed or consumed by ciliary action across the tissue surface. Many fish also consume coral mucus, and any attached particulate organic material"

"Detritus [waste] forms the basis of several food webs that are part of a balanced autotrophic/heterotrophic community. It also plays a role in establishing various levels of nutrient production and decomposition. It is this material that is the principal food source for the many bacterial species that work in various nitrification and denitrification activities. Before reaching the microbial community, however, it acts as a food source for the smaller consumers such as amphipods, copepods, errant polychaetes, protozoans, flagellates, ciliates and other animals whose activities contribute to the stability and productivity of a coral reef and a coral reef aquarium.

"It is the microbial community, though, that is most important in the detrital processes. On the reef, the productivity of bacteria (both aerobic and anaerobic oxidation and reduction, including important sulfate reduction) depends heavily on detritus. Without this microbial community, coral reefs would cease to exist.

"Corals, in particular, are notable for their consumption of detritus. All corals studied feed to some degree on POM, and coral communities have been found to remove half of the POM present on some reefs. So prevalent is this material, that it is termed "reef snow" in the wild. [...] Given the ability of so many corals to consume and utilize this material, along with its relatively high abundance and ability to provide up to 100% of corals' carbon and nitrogen requirements, it may now (hopefully) seem rather foolish to attempt to remove this material from aquaria.


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## SantaMonica

Here is a Nano hang-on-back or hang-on-top box scrubber that somebody could build to sell. That is the reason for the tighly fitting lid, and the built-in pump; no decisions or adjustments are needed by the customer. After building it, you could buy a banner ad on this site to sell them.

However if you were just building it for yourself, you can make the lighting simpler by just setting a T5HO light fixture on top of the box (although you would not get the benefit of the noise and light being sealed off by the lid), and you could make the pump simpler by just putting the pump in the tank (up near the waterline):













I'm not providing any links or part numbers, because it's up to the person building it to make sure that everything works together properly (it's not a beginner's project). Here are a few notes:


This scrubber MUST be placed above the tank, so it drains down into the tank.

The overflow drain must be lower than the bulbs.

The pump must be self-priming, capable of pulling water up 12" or so from the tank.

There should be no holes in the sides or bottom of the box, except for the drains; all other tubing and wires should come out of the top of the box. This will eliminate any possibility of leaky connections.

Two bulbs will provide more filtering than one will. And if you can fit three, all the better. 12" T5 bulbs are only 8 watts each.

The screen needs a solid backing, with some plastic canvas laid on over it.

The mounting brackets could hook onto the top of the nano, or they could be made into extended legs that go all the way down to the cabinet. Or, the whole box scrubber could be set on top of the nano, and be moved as needed.

The pump should be able to run "dry" without burning up.

The upflow-tubing should not go very far into the display; maybe a half inch or so. This limits how much water can be pulled out of the tank if there is a problem.

The size shown, 13.5" X 3" X 3", gives a one-sided screen of about 40 square inches. This will fit neatly behind (and on top of) a typical 6 or 8 gal nano without sticking out, but will also provide enough filtering for an 18 gal nano that gets weekly cleanings. For 24 gal and larger, use two separate scrubbers. This has the added benefit of redundancy, and, allows you to keep one running while the other one grows back after cleaning.

Overflow protection test: (1) plug up the drain at the bottom of the screen; the water should rise and start going out the overflow drain without spilling out of the lid, and it should not get high enough to touch the bulbs. (2) Now, also plug up the overflow tube. The pump should start running dry before the box spills, if you placed the upflow tubing high enough in the tank.

The T5 sockets should be the "waterproof" type, they keeps spray and salt out. They are not really "waterproof", but they are made for aquarium use.



Basic costs of building one (multiples would be cheaper)...

Box w/lid: $40
Pump: $35
2 Bulbs: $15
Sockets: $20
Ballast: $35
Misc: $40
---------------
Total: $185 USD


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## SantaMonica

Update: N and P are invisible: 

It's important to know/remember that Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, which is what your test kits read, and which are also what causes the nuisance algae to grow in your tank, are invisible. You can see the results of the nitrate and phosphate; it's the nuisance algae. But you cannot see the nitrate and phosphate itself. This fact causes the most problems when people see a lot of stuff (food) that their skimmers have removed, but wonder why their nuisance algae is not being removed (skimmers don't remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate), and also when their phosphate tests zero, but they still have algae on certain parts of the rocks (the invisible phosphate is coming out of the rocks.)


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## SantaMonica

Update: FW cleanings

Pods eating the algae: The reason you need to run freshwater over your screen every week is because you want to kill the baby pods that start to grow and eat the algae. You may not see the eaten areas, unless the algae is very thin like this:










However, pods are always growing and multiplying. And they eat algae. The reason this is a problem is that (1) pods are constantly flowing out of your scrubber into the tank. If they eat algae first, then the nitrate and phosphate that is in that algae gets released back into the water, and (2) you now have less algae to do the filtering. Unlike the picture above, however, the algae is usually too thick for the eaten areas to be seen. The pods stay out of the light, in the underlying layers; so you don't see what they are eating. By cleaning your screen in freshwater, you kill the pods that are on your screen. They will start multiplying again within a few minutes, but at least you can keep them under 7 days old. And even if you clean only half of the screen each week, you still want to wash the whole screen in FW.


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## SantaMonica

Successes Update:

sean48183 on the SWF site: "Alright, just tested NO3 and ta da! 0 NO3! Awesome. Still have some hair algae in display, but appears to have slowed down. My scrubber is still getting mostly brown slime and some green. Don't really care. It is working. Have to clean every couple days because it is growing so fast. Anyone who is debating trying -- quit debating and just do it."

ScubaDrew on the RS site: "I built a small one using the basic plans posted in the first few pages. I used a dremmel to cut the slot in the PVC and used fishing line through the small holes in the plastic divider material to hold it up. My tank measured 0’s in all the algae related categories prior to building it, but my tank was still growing a lot of HA and some cyano. I’ve only got one florescent ‘flood’ style light on one side of the scrubber right now due to having placed it in an already crowded sump. I had a full coat of algae in about 10 days, and cleaned off about ¾ of what had accumulated at that time. Now I need to clean off a large, heavy, handful every week! With continued cleaning in my DT, I’ve really made progress in getting the DT algae free. Thanks for the info, I think the ATS will be a part of my system for a long time to come."

RiaanP on MASA site: "Scrubber running now for four weeks. NO3 0mg/l (first time EVER). PO4 between .025 and 0.5 mg/l. 4 weeks ago NO3 was over 100 mg/l and PO4 was over 2 mg/l. So a scrubber really works."


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## SantaMonica

Part 2 of 7:

Taken from "From the Food of Reefs to the Food of Corals" by Eric Borneman
From the Food of Reefs to the Food of Corals by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com 

"Nitrogen levels in [natural] coral reef waters are typically extraordinarily low, with most being found as ammonia. This is in contrast to aquaria, where the dominant nitrogen species is usually nitrate. Nitrogen is the be-all end-all for zooxanthellae growth and reproduction [zooxanthellae is what photosynthesizes light into food for corals]. By limiting nitrogen in the form of excretion products, the [coral] polyps keep the zooxanthellae in the numbers and density that maximize photosynthetic efficiency for its own use. Using several released compounds, most of which are still unidentified, the [coral] polyp stimulates the zooxanthellae to release virtually all of the products of its photosynthesis, and these are then used by the polyp for its own needs. If nitrogen was made readily available to the zooxanthellae (for example, if high levels were present in the water and this dissolved nitrogen diffused into the coral tissue), it could then be accessed by the algae without limitation by the polyp, and zooxanthellae could begin to grow and reproduce like a phytoplankton culture. In this case, the symbiosis becomes less advantageous to the coral, and it will expel some of the symbionts to try and re-establish maximal benefit from its algal partners. As a practical note, when very high densities of zooxanthellae exist in coral tissue [because of to much nitrogen], the resultant coloration of the coral is usually a rich or dark brown color.

"Coral mucus, in turn, and as was shown in the previous article, is itself a food source to the reef. 

[Skimmer remove mucus, but do not remove nitrogen]


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## Andy

do you have a close up of the spray covers?


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## SantaMonica

No, those were the only pics they posted.


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## slick fish

lowes has 6500 k bulbs to with 3050 lumens and 75 cri called "daylight" for $6.98 . i got two and put them on my 55 gal instead of the regular shoplights.and i have seen massive groath in the cynobacteria.it looks to be helping groath on the live rocks tho.the srrubber can us these lights too? , if i got like two 18 inck or should i use a flood light? im tryin to experement with this tank and have sum soft corals nothin special but i want to do it fairly cheep and do it my self.the tank has been up for almost 3 years!


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## SantaMonica

Use those lights on a scrubber. And for the display, get a 14K T5... it won't make as much algae grow.


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## slick fish

the 6500k lights are 48 inch on my display tank kinda hard to mount on a srubber
i did not see any t-5s, plus that would mean i would have to get a new light fixture (not in the bugget right now)
but while i was at lowes i got 1/2 inch pvc pipe and sum fitings and got the screen at wal-mart the screen is 13.5x10.5 inches they came in a six pack,i also got the compact florissient spiral light bulbs 6500k and 1600 lumans for the scrubber.
my nitrates are very high i poasted a thread "too much filtration?" i have cyanobacteria like crazy this scrubber should help right even if the cyano does not grow on the scrubber it should lower the nitrates to the point cyano wont grow correct?
PASFUR


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## slick fish

PASFUR responded to my other thread and told me to take the foam out of my aquaclear 500 to aid with nitrates but now my water is not as clear because of the lack of mechanical filtration, should i make the scrubber in the back of the aquaclear i have thought about how i can and came up with a plan, kinda. got any imput?
please will you read my thread and respond back
"The


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## slick fish

"The Scrubber" seems to be a great idea cant wait till i make mine
your time and thought would be greatly appreasheated and i plan on poasting my reasults ,good and bad
thanks!


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## SantaMonica

Yes a scrubber will reduce nitrate.

Yes you need to remove all foam/floss. You want particles floating around; it feeds the corals and small fishes.


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## SantaMonica

Question:

Anyone know where to buy marine self-priming pumps? Several people are trying to build the top-of-nano scrubber I posted, but in order to put the pump in the scrubber (and thus not in the display), the pump needs to be able to pull water up and out of the display. So far, the only thing found is the Eclipse nano hoods with small pumps built in, and a few other HOB filters with small self-priming pumps built in. But these are built-in and molded to the other parts. What is really needed is a self-contained pump that is separate from the other parts, and which of course is aquarium safe, and in the 70 to 150 gph range (266 to 570 lph).


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## slick fish

what about fountin pumps?they prob dont have enough power but i am gunna try one i dont know the gph but i had it and i will see if it works.
yesterday i took my 500's sponge out it was cloudy in the tank for the day now it is clearing up well!and my nitrates are down to 25 ppm!!
i am worried to take the sponges out of my fluval because most of the rock work in my tank is not" live rock" but im shure i have the right pounds of rock for a 55 gal, the rock has been in the tank for a long time tho...


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## slick fish

sm will you read my posts and let me know on the sand issue please?and if you see any thing im doing wrong or things i could improve let me know .
thanks


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## SantaMonica

Remove all foam/floss.

What sand?


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## slick fish

PASFER told me to put more sand in my 55 because i had the exact wrong amount of sand at 1.5 inches i have 40 lbs of sand in my 55 now ,i have a seprate 20 long under the 55 with 20 lbs in it should i take that sand and put it in my 55 i have explained this on my thread under filtration on "too much filtration"
i m worried if i remove all the floss at once it will be bad i m not shure about the rocks in the tank being able to filter scince the rocks are not all live rock?
please read my thread sm it is explained there
thanks


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## slick fish

i got pics! but the up loader keeps saing that it cant upload because it is not a jpeg image, but it is a jpeg image


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## SantaMonica

Floss does not do any filtering, at all. It only traps food, causing it to rot. Further, it does not allow the food to get to the corals and small fishes where it could be eaten You want food particles floating in the water at all times. Yes, it will look like a little sand storm blowing around, just like a real reef.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Nutrients vs. Nutrition

It's important to understand the difference between these two words. "Nutrients" generally means Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, which are the things that you measure with your test kits, and which are also the things that nuisance algae feed on. "Nutrition", however, generally means food for corals and fish. Natural reefs in the ocean are high in "nutrition" (lots of food particles floating around), but low in "nutrients" (nitrate and phosphate). Aquariums that have skimmers, or other mechanical filters like foam or floss, are low in nutrition because the food is filtered out, but they are high in nutrients because the Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate is not filtered. Aquariums that have only scrubbers are high in nutrition but low in nutrients. Aquariums with both skimmers and scrubbers are low in both nutrition and nutrients.


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## slick fish

hey sm i got a fountin / pond pump and i m messing with it in a bucket to get the best flow wright over my screen that is 7 inch x 8 inch it seems to have enough power to get a sheet of water coming off the bottom of the screen i am having trouble with the 1/8 inch slot in the main tube i am useing 1/2 inch pvc but each screen is about 1/16 and it is a tight fit for two to go in the slot
but i am worried that the pump is not salt water safe it does not say it just says to only use water with the pump i guess so you dont use it for pumping flamiable liquids?


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## slick fish

slick fish said:


> PASFER told me to put more sand in my 55 because i had the exact wrong amount of sand at 1.5 inches i have 40 lbs of sand in my 55 now ,i have a seprate 20 long under the 55 with 20 lbs in it should i take that sand and put it in my 55 i have explained this on my thread under filtration on "too much filtration"
> i m worried if i remove all the floss at once it will be bad i m not shure about the rocks in the tank being able to filter scince the rocks are not all live rock?
> please read my thread sm it is explained there
> thanks


answer?


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## SantaMonica

Ask on the plumbing forums about the pump; I'm really not sure what makes it safe for saltwater or not.


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## slick fish

i cant find info on this pump any where! hey sm did you have a chance to read my thread yet, i m also havin trouble with the spray bar on my scrubber


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## SantaMonica

No, you need to post your info here.


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## cooley

Hi, great thread. I read it and decided to build a scrubber for my tank. I built my own overflow ($15, works great) and added a 10g sump under my 55g display tank. I'm using a 330gph return pump. I have a one sided 10 X 12 screen run by the overflow using a clamp on light with a 60w cfl 2700k bulb. My question is how long should I wait to remove the media in my canister filter? I plan on replacing the filter media with live rock. The scrubber has been running for 3 days now and brown algae is beginning to grow.


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## slick fish

her you go sm, this is awsome!i want to try a "scrubber" before i go and get a skimmer. i know skimmers work but i want a bigger tank and i want to get a huge skimmer for it when the time comes so i was gunna give the scrubber a try( its almost free)
how much sand should i have, i have bout 40 lbs in my 55 now
i also have a 20 gal long under my 55 not attached ,it has a nasty blue damsel in it and it has bout 20 lbs of sand in it should i put this sand in my 55 little by little,i also have 40 lbs of crushed coral ,dry in a bag should i put this in the 20 gal .the 20 has a fluval 4 w/ a costom spray bar and a heater and sum reef rubble

my rocks are not all live rock there a mix from when i had my brackish setup (maroonish "volcanoe" rock very poreis,and "lace"rock ,both bought dry and i put them in my brackish setup and they have been in the tank ever scince but when i went full salt i got like 30 lbs of live rock to fill up the wall of rock i was cerating has the non live rock become live with bactera?i have got corriline alge growing over sum of them...
please help me dude


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## slick fish

hey cooley how did you make your over flow,wat did you use?


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## slick fish

well i got male and female clownfish(amphiprion ocellaris),one tomato clown(amphiprion frenatus) ,canary blenny(meiacanthus ovalanensis),and one (fridmani pseudocromis) i have 12 hermit crabs,four turbo snails,a sally light foot crab ,and a pepperment shrimp. i have about 1 1/2 inch of sand(40 lbs),i had most of the rock work when the tank was setup for brackish water and i had 2 figure 8 puffers that i converted to full salt and then gave them back to the pet store when i got my clowns .i got sum live rock to fill the rest wall of rock.probabaly 100 lbs of rock. i have a regular shop light with 2, 6500k bulbs and i have an atinic light on one end.i have button polyp rock and two kinds of star polyps under the atinic light witch i have had for a year and they are growing fine .i supplement with seachem reef advantage calisum and seachem reef builder. i have an aquaclear 500 with just a sponge in it ,a fluval 404 with sponges and prefilter and biomax.i have two power heads ,and rigged a in tank refugium with cheatomorfia* alge and a little fountain pump fof circulation .the tank has been running for like 2.5 years.i had a seastorm sand filter on there too but i took that off because i could not keep snails without them dieing. i hope this has helped you help me thanks


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## cooley

2 plastic cereal containers from wal-mart $3 ea.
Set of 4 L brackets from Lowes $3
3/4" pvc threaded adapter $0.33
3/4 to 5/8" barb adapter $3 
6 ft of 5/8 hose 

I'll post pics when I get a chance.


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## cooley

Heres some pics:
Sorry about the sizing/quality


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## SantaMonica

Cooley, is good to hear!



> I'm using a 330gph return pump. I have a one sided 10 X 12 screen run by the overflow


Is your pump getting all 330? Or is it less with the height? You want to be sure the flow can cover all 10 inches of screen width.



> clamp on light with a 60w cfl


Is it 60 W equivalent, or actually 60 W ? If equivalent, you want bigger.



> My question is how long should I wait to remove the media in my canister filter? I plan on replacing the filter media with live rock.


You have no LR now? What media is in the canister now?

Slick:



> i want to try a "scrubber" before i go and get a skimmer. i know skimmers work


Skimmers and scrubbers both "work", but they do different things. Decide what you need done. Scrubbers remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, and leave food in the water for corals and small fish to eat. Skimmers remove food, but leave Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate in the water.



> how much sand should i have, i have bout 40 lbs in my 55 now


Too general of a question. Do you have LR?



> ,i also have 40 lbs of crushed coral


No, never want to use CC, unless you don't need to worry about excess nutrients.



> the 20 has a fluval 4 w/ a costom spray bar and a heater and sum reef rubble


Pics would really help. 



> my rocks are not all live rock there a mix from when i had my brackish setup (maroonish "volcanoe" rock


I'm not sure about the other types of rock. Some rock has lots of phosphate and will cause problems. You need to ask someone in the other forums. Safe thing is start out with just LR.

I say, why not clean out the 20, and use it for just your scrubber. Put just LR in the display, and maybe the sump.


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## SantaMonica

OK cooley I see you have LR. Remove the cannister completely... you should not need it. And besides it's just trapping food.


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## cooley

Thanks. The bulb is 60w, 130w equivalent. I'm guessing the overflow is actually flowing about 300gph but the screen is covered with flow. It is laying at an angle on a sheet of acrylic to keep the noise down. I think having a solid backing reduces the 35gph rule of thumb a bit.


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## SantaMonica

It does. 35 is for both sides, so you have plenty for one side. And that bulb is a monster!


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## SantaMonica

Part 7 of 7:

"The Food of Reefs, Part 7: Dissolved Nutrients" by Eric Borneman
The Food of Reefs, Part Seven: Dissolved Nutrients by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

"Mucus consists of mainly sugars and glycoproteins - soluble materials in and of themselves. However, the formation of mucus, and its release in a matrix of chains of these materials, may result in a particulate material. This material is both utilized directly by many organisms, and also forms the basis for a predominant fraction of the particulate "marine snow" on reefs.

"In fact, reef waters are 30-40% higher in DOM [disolved organic matter] than oceanic waters.

"In terms of determining the degree to which organisms may use dissolved material as significant source of nutrition, one may examine the surface area of the outer cell membranes exposed to such materials. In general, the larger the absorptive area, the more likely organisms are to depend on absorption. Some cell surfaces are covered with many finger-like processes called microvilli that greatly increase the surface area of the membrane. Furthermore, the presence of cilia is often a good indicator of absorptive surfaces. Perhaps not surprisingly, corals have extensive microvilli and cilia.

"Corals are able to take up various forms of both organic and inorganic dissolved nitrogen.

"Even slightly elevated nitrogen levels can quickly result in rapid increases in the density of zooxanthellae, as they use it to fuel their own reproduction" [and thus turn the coral brown]

"It is also somewhat equivocal that corals are able to utilize nitrate (which exists nearly totally in its ionic state at physiological pH) at all, and an inability to find nitrate reductase in many studies, makes the ultimate importance of this dissolved nitrogen source to corals (and anemones) rather tenuous. However, it is unambiguously true that ammonium is a sought-after nitrogen source by both coral host and algal partner.

"Humic (refractory) compounds: These yellowing compounds are typically found at relatively high levels in aquaria, and they are removed with protein skimming and activated carbon. Humic materials have been thought to be relatively inert and unavailable for use as a nutrient source. However, studies have shown that organisms from bacteria to brine shrimp (Artemia salina) can utilize humic substances as a source of nutrients.

"In terms of corals reefs, the amounts of most dissolved nutrients, except carbon in most cases, are very low.

"The higher nutrient levels may cause corals and other symbiotic partnerships to decline as the partner algae preferentially utilize the increased nutrient sources to the expense of the host. [and thus browning of the coral occurs]

"Without question, corals and many reef organisms are able to utilize dissolved nutrients to help meet their energy requirements and to use in tissue growth.


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## slick fish

the pics i have wont upload to this site ,i dont know ?the pics are the wright format ,do you know a nother way,email?
i have bout 30 lb of live rock and bout 60 of the other rock .both types of the other are in sw tanks at the pet store i go to
i have 20 lbs of sand in the 20 should i put it in the 55 ?
the 20 is not connected to the 55, i want it to b ,i just dont how to rigg it my self.the 20 also has a blue damsel in it i had to set up this tank for him cause it was pickin in my shrimp and i wanted to make it a sump when i figured out how to


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## cooley

slick fish said:


> the pics i have wont upload to this site ,i dont know ?the pics are the wright format ,do you know a nother way,email?
> i have bout 30 lb of live rock and bout 60 of the other rock .both types of the other are in sw tanks at the pet store i go to
> i have 20 lbs of sand in the 20 should i put it in the 55 ?
> the 20 is not connected to the 55, i want it to b ,i just dont how to rigg it my self.the 20 also has a blue damsel in it i had to set up this tank for him cause it was pickin in my shrimp and i wanted to make it a sump when i figured out how to


 
You need to host your pics on a 3rd party site (i.e. photobucket) and then place a direct link to them and they will show up in the thread.


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## slick fish

hey cooley you said you made a home made over flow ....how did you do it ,i m trying to link my two tanks to gether i m not shure wat is the easyest way? thanks cooley!


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## cooley

slick fish said:


> hey cooley you said you made a home made over flow ....how did you do it ,i m trying to link my two tanks to gether i m not shure wat is the easyest way? thanks cooley!


 
I'm going to make a diy overflow thread sometime soon, I'll link you to it and keep the off-topic out of this thread.

My screen is showing some decent growth at day 5, still no reduction in nitrate though. (~15ppm API tester)


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## slick fish

hey sm........Pictures by slick_fish - Photobucket


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## SantaMonica

Ok slick I see the pics. Let's keep it simple, and not connect the 20. Just put the scrubber on the 55 and start using it. It has to be above the tank, so it can drain into the tank:

_








_


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## slick fish

what could i use as the drain threw the bucket


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## slick fish

bulkhead? where can i get one


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## cooley

Local home improvement store. I'm sure all your plumbing questions can be or have been answered elsewhere. The search function is your friend, use it.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Other ways to reduce nutrients

If you are using a scrubber, here are some other permanent ways to reduce nutrients (aside from feeding less), starting with the easiest first:

o Remove floss/foam/socks (they trap food and cause it to rot).

o Remove chaeto (also traps food and causes it to rot).

o Remove bio balls (or similar media) slowly (they create excess nitrate, and trap food).

o Remove all sand in your sump (food settles in sand and rots); if anything, use LR.

o Use kalkwasser (lime water) in your top-off (the higher pH causes phosphate to precipitate).

o Change any area of the sump that lets food settle to the bottom; all food should
continue through the sump and back to the display (this is why an open sump is best).

o Reduce sand in your display to 1/4 inch (6mm), or increase it to 4 inches (10cm).

o Using an ultraviolet sterilizer also helps reduce phosphates, but it also kills the live 
pods that come from the scrubber; thus it's not recommended for normal use.


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## slick fish

thanks cooley you r soo helpfull, lowes and hd didnt have them!


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## SantaMonica

Update: Screen roughness

If your screen is only growing little spots of algae here and there, it means the screen is not rough enough. What is happening is that algae is trying to attach and grow all over the screen, but the water washes the algae away. Only a few areas have enough roughness for the algae to hang on in the water flow. So, you need to remove the screen and really really really sand/scrape/rough it up. If it's a clear screen (i.e., acrylic), you should not be able to see through it. If it's a plastic canvas screen, it should feel prickly. For highest results (and highest maintenance)... rug canvas works the best, but it only lasts so long before it comes apart. Then you have to make a new one. Whatever you use, make it as rough as possible.


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## cooley

slick fish said:


> thanks cooley you r soo helpfull, lowes and hd didnt have them!


 
You were probably looking in the plumbing section. You should have looked in electrical, they seal wiring going into junction boxes.


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## cooley

SantaMonica said:


> Update: Screen roughness
> 
> If your screen is only growing little spots of algae here and there, it means the screen is not rough enough. What is happening is that algae is trying to attach and grow all over the screen, but the water washes the algae away. Only a few areas have enough roughness for the algae to hang on in the water flow. So, you need to remove the screen and really really really sand/scrape/rough it up. If it's a clear screen (i.e., acrylic), you should not be able to see through it. If it's a plastic canvas screen, it should feel prickly. For highest results (and highest maintenance)... rug canvas works the best, but it only lasts so long before it comes apart. Then you have to make a new one. Whatever you use, make it as rough as possible.


 
Thanks, this explains the spotted growth on my screen. I used cross-stitch backing from the craft store. So after reading this I fabbed up a new screen from a sheet of acrylic, I'll update when growth starts on this screen. I need to finish drilling it and find a way to mount it, should be running later tonight.


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## cooley

My new screen has been up and running for about 24 hrs now and is already showing some growth. I seeded it with my old cloth screen. The holes I drilled in it are allowing a lot more flow to go to the back side than I had expected. I think I'm going to need a stronger pump now.


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## slick fish

mine aint done nothin yet..


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## SantaMonica

Cooley the best setup would be to lay the canvas over the acrylic. Or at least, grind the acrylic so much you can't even see shapes through it. The way you have it now, when algae is thick, it will get washed off.

Slick: Post some pics of the flow on the screen. What is the bulb type/power?


----------



## SantaMonica

Successes Update:

Macman on the RF site: "To show how affective these scrubbers are I have carried out a little experiment. As you may know I have been running a small 180 litre tank fully stocked with corals and fish, running an external filter and an internal filter. My nitrates have always been between 7 and 12, but I recently had a death of one of my fish and corals which put the nitrate through the roof (and I mean through the roof!) Between 80 and 100 VERY SERIOUS. I decided with my new 7 week old 400 litre tank (which only runs a scrubber) and has nitrates at <1 to carry out a few water exchanges [between the new and old tanks]. I exchanged approximately 80-100 litres in about 5 days, and saw my nitrates go from <1 to nearer 50 in the new tank (A little worrying, but to be expected when considering the concentration of nitrates in the smaller tank). That [nitrate] test was carried out on 12th March. I carried out the same [nitrate] test last night, 25th March, on the scrubber tank and my nitrates are 25. Like I said before this tank has only a scrubber within its system, and live rock. The only thing I did notice [on the new tank] before the water exchange was that I was getting to a period where I was getting a nice light green algae build up on the scrubber, and once I had done the water exchange the algae went back to a dirty black/brown on the scrubber. Only this morning have I started to see a little green again, so it has set me back a few weeks. This system does work and this proofs it. I must admit I was a little concerned when my water went near to 50, but the scrubber came good for me."

Melonbob on the LR site: "Well, just figured I'd update my success story. February 2nd I set up my algae scrubber, and clean one side every friday. I've gone from at least 30-40 nitrates down to less than 5 as of todays test! And lets just say I'm very lazy with water changes.......lol! I'm jazzed!"

Creetin on the SRC site: "day 60 update...! i prolly will stop counting the days but so far i have to say 2 months into the scrubber thingy and i am totally sold on it! its amazing such a great kick algae ###### idea has remained eluded from most of us...so SM, allow me to say that you are truly my idol!!! This has got to be one of the single most important 'discoveries' being revealed...."


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## slick fish

the flow comes of the bottom of the canvas like a sheet of glass ,and thanks for introducing this mechinism to the forum!!! i'll post pics tho, i thought i did?the bulb is a GE, 26watt=100watt, 1600 lumens,daylight 6500k ,spiral bulb.


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## slick fish




----------



## slick fish

the pump for it


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## slick fish

a link for the bulb
Walmart.com: GE CFL Daylight Light Bulb: 26 Watt (100W Equiv), 6-Pk: Home Improvement


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## SantaMonica

Slick the problem is just time. I forgot that you just turned it on two days ago 

Wait 7 days and report, then wait another 7 days and report again.


----------



## MT1071

Ok 220 salt FOWLR. 24 inch x 10 inch 240 Sq inch . 35 gph x 24 inch wide 840 gph ???
MAG pump 1200 gph .Plan on mounting pump at water level of tank were just the inlet part of pump is in the water ?? or could put pump inside tank at the bottom ?? Pumping water up thru tube in to scrubber 24" x 10 " .24 " light bar on both sides of scrubber. Then drains out other side of tank ...
please comment thanks .....


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## SantaMonica

Yes it will work great if built properly. For a simple one-screen design, use two of these lighting units on each side:
http://www.marineandreef.com/Nova_Extreme_T5_Aquarium_Lighting_Current_USA_p/rcu01127.htm
(i.e., four total units, eight total bulbs).

Keep the lights no more than 2" from the screen (mine are 1"). Here are the replacement bulbs:
http://www.marineandreef.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RCU02118&CartID=1

The reason you need the replacement bulbs is that the unit comes with two bulbs: 10K and Actinic. But you don't want the actinic, since we are not lighting corals, and even the 10K are too blue for algae. So you replace them with "plant-grow" pink bulbs.

I'm assuming you will be using a slot in the pipe, and that the screen will go into it. You are correct that you need 840 gph for the screen, so put a gate valve (not a ball valve) on the 1200 mag pump. Keeping the pump high in the tank is a good safety feature. Of course if you let the water in the tank get too low, there are going to be a million bubbles created. But at least if any plumping breaks, it can only pump out a little bit before the pump is out of the water.

Note that the lighting will be extrememly bright, so make sure your hood is completely sealed to keep the light in. And the safest way to build the hood is to make is from acrylic, in order to keep all water off of the lights. Then you can build a decorative covering around the acrylic. 

On your "hose out to tank", make sure that the hose/hole comes out the bottom of the scrubber, and not the side. This will keep the water level low in the scrubber, which will expose more of the screen. Also, if possible, put the hole in the center instead of the end. This will further help get as much water out as possible from both ends.

On the "hose into scrubber", make sure to put a union on the inside, so the pipe can be removed easily.

Biggest decision: How to hold the screen in the pipe. Tie-wraps, or T-shaped slides that insert from the end, or giant C-clamps that wrap around the pipe, etc, are all possible. It just needs to be easy to get the screen (and the pipe) out for cleaning. Since you have the advantage of being able to easily reach your scrubber, you should just place a hinge on the top of the scrubber, so you can just tilt it out of the way to remove the pipe and screen.

Good design!


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## SantaMonica

Excerpt from "Waste Extraction, the Invertibrate Way" by Ron Shimek
Waste Extraction, the Invertebrate Way by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

"The animal poops it out, and from then on the scavengers/detritivores get rid of it." This is, of course, a very concise way of thinking about the elimination of uneaten food from the digestive tract. Unfortunately, it has nothing at all to do with what biologists consider to be waste. Not to put too fine a point on it, but fecal matter is nothing more than uneaten, partially digested and processed food. 

"Actual waste materials are something else altogether. Strictly speaking, to a biologist, only a couple types of materials are truly waste materials. These are the byproducts of cellular respiration and protein metabolism, which in most animals, are carbon dioxide and ammonia, respectively.

[scrubbers remove ammonia and carbon dioxide; skimmers do not]


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## MT1071

Thanks for the reply..
Checked out link to lights looks good but also found these New Wave T5 Fluorescent Grow Light 2ft 4 Bulb 96W
3000 k or 6500 k bulbs ??
Going to use slot pipe,and gate valve to control flow.
With pump high in tank just below water level would that create bad water current in tank vs being at bottom of tank ?
was thinking of a saftey switch to cut off pump if water gets low in tank or set scrubber inside another plastic tub so if scubber overflows into plastic tub float switch turns off pump ??
Hose out to tank good tip with drain out the bottom <will drain faster > any idea of what size hose, or possible multiple drains ??
Tie wraps sound good to hold screen not sure yet on what kind of screen ,plastic container,acrylic,glass, ect....:shock:
Just glad there are people like you to help ... thanks


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## SantaMonica

3000K

Not aware of any "bad" currents in tank. It's not really that much current.

Safety switch would be ok, or just use an auto-top-off to keep the level up. If you are really sure about your plumbing, put the pump at the bottom.

Use a 1.5" drain, or two 1" drains

Use two sheets of plastic canvas pancaked together, and roughed up with sand paper.

We are here to help


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## MT1071

You did a test thought you got better growth with the 6500k ??? 
Seen your scubber BAD @SS !!!


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## SantaMonica

No I got better growth with 3000K. 2700K is even better. And the best are pink plant-grow lights:

Current USA Replacement SlimPaq 22 inch, Freshwater, 24 Watt T5 HO Fluorescent Lamp


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## MT1071

Just thought of something. Idea was too put scrubber on top of tank. Thinking i would have less head pressure so I could use pump that i have now model 12 B utilty pump .Which i need 840 gph but pump only puts out 1 gallon @ 6 sec with 2 ft of hose.but specs say different ??
My overflows do up to 1200 gph,so if i gravity feed from overflow into scrubber box then drain into large sump with pump ,back to display would that pump need to pump 840 gph ??


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## SantaMonica

The 12B would be a bit small, but probably would still work since you will have strong light.

If you used overflows, and put all of it through the scrubber, then yes the pump would need to be able to pump 840 back up.

If you are strong in DIY, the overhead version has the advantage of keeping all your sump open (or, not even needing a sump.) It is much harder to build, however.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Displays with lots of Hair Algae

It's happened several times now: Someone wants to add a scrubber to their system because they have a display with very thick hair algae on the rocks. They already measure zero nitrate and phosphate, and when they add their scrubber, the scrubber has a very slow start and does not seem to grow much. 

Of course what is happening is that the hair algae in the display is ALREADY a scrubber, attached to the rocks! It has had plenty of time (months? years?) to establish itself, and most important, it has a gigantic area to attach itself to. So how do you beat it with your newly-built DIY scrubber? You do it with the power of light.

All algae operate on the of photosynthesis of light. The stronger the light, the more the algae will pull nitrate and phosphate out of the water, and it will pull it away from any other algae that has less light. This is important to understand: If two areas of a tank are identical, except one has stronger light than the other, the area with the stronger light will grow more algae, and, the area with less light will grow less (or none at all). This is why the top of your rocks grow more algae (it has more light) than the sides do (has less light).

So if you already have lots of hair algae in your display, you have to build your scrubber with even more powerful lighting than you normally would, so that the photosynthesis in your scrubber will overpower the photosynthesis of the algae in your display (then, after all the algae is gone in your display, you can reduce the wattage if you want). The bulb wattage to do this is about one CFL watt for every square inch (6.25 square cm) of screen area. Example:

Say your screen size is 10" X 10" = 100 square inches; if you did NOT already have a lot of algae in your display, a 23W CFL floodlight on each side of this size screen would be sufficient to keep all nuisance algae away. This would be 2 X 23W = 46 total CFL watts, for 100 square inches of screen. This is about a half watt per square inch. But to beat a large amount of established hair algae in the display, go for maximum power: 1 watt per square inch. This is about twice as much. So, using two of these same bulbs on each side (4 total bulbs) would give you about 92 total watts for 100 square inches, or, almost 1 watt per square inch. This would do it! 

Note about wattage: We are talking here about real CFL watts, not "equivalent" watts. If the bulb says "23W = 120W", or "23W equivalent to 120W", we are talking about the 23. And if you are using T5HO, such as a 24 inch 24W bulb, you just use the wattage it says.

Another trick: Add a lawnmower blenny to the display. He will eat the "scrubber" in the display, so that the scrubber you build gets off to a faster start.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Yellow rubber algae

Many people, including me, get large parts of the screen that turn into a thick yellow growth that feels rubbery. This is caused by flow that was cut off, by algae growing up into the slot. As the slot gets cut off and the flow reduces, the algae that was growing on the screen in that flow now has no flow. And the yellow rubbery algae is what results. It does not appear to hurt anything, but it surely is not effective at filtering, since there is no water flowing over it for it to filter. One solution is to make cross-cuts in the slot. Another is to put a light-shield over the slot. Another is to point the bulbs further down the screen to they don't shine as much on the slot.


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## slick fish

the algae peaked at day 4 and looked the same as day 3 , than day five i had to change the pump to a lower flow pump and at day 6 the algae is almost gone but some of the algae has turned green. i still get a sheet of water of the bottom of the screen?
*day 1*









*day 2*








*day 3*









what is the diff in a gate valve and a ball valve?


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## cooley

I've updated the lighting on my scrubber. I now have 2 bulbs with 60 cfl watts each. 120 cfl watts, 300w equivalent total should do the trick. Got the bulbs at Lowe's, about $19 ea.


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## SantaMonica

Wow those are strong bulbs. Make sure they are off for six hours. If you start getting a "bald spot" where the lights shine, then move them a bit further back, or inscrease flow, or turn them off for eight hours, or use only one bulb.


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## cooley

The lights are on timers with 6 hrs off time. Odd that you mention the "bald spot". The growth is thinner directly in front of the light. I was under the impression that you can never have too much light so I doubled it trying to increase growth in the center. I'll try moving the lights a couple inches back and see what happens.


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## SantaMonica

Excerpt from "Feeding The Reef Aquarium", by Ron Shimek
Feeding The Reef Aquarium, A New Paradigm - by Ronald L. Shimek - Reefkeeping.com

"It will become apparent that many of the problems we have with reef aquaria, such as excess nutrients, excessive growth of undesirable algae, and the inability to keep some animals alive and healthy is simply due to the feeding of inappropriate foods, compounded by feeding in the wrong manner.

"Bacteria, in fact, are an important food for most benthic or bottom-dwelling marine animals. This is because bacteria have higher nitrogen to carbon ratios in their cells than do either typical animals, plants or algae. As a consequence, many marine animals are specialized to eat bacteria, either directly out of the water column or indirectly as a frosting on sediment or detritus particles.

"One quite good study discussing zooplankton availability and concurrent feeding by planktivorous reef fishes has been published (Hamner, et al., 1988) [...] These researchers examined a reef [and found that] during a 12 hour period [in a section of reef only 3 feet wide, there were] 1,098,000 potential food items, about 70 percent of which are copepods and larvacean tunicates.

"A large amount of the zooplankton food that would have impinged upon the reef does make it to the reef, albeit modified into the form of fish feces. This [waste] is rapidly ingested by corals and other benthic animals.

"Also, what is apparent is that the fish eat ALL the plankton approaching the reef. NONE of it will reach the reef during the day when the fish are feeding.

"All of these fishes 
[listed in this article] eat large amounts of crustacean prey, particularly copepods. 

"From this study, it is apparent that these fish are feeding continuously throughout the daylight hours. They are eating small items, but on the average they eat an item of food every three minutes, all day, during a twelve hour day. During that period they eat an average of two grams of food per day. [...] On the average, if you wish your fish to have the same mass of food that they are likely to eat in nature, presuming the data of Hamner et al., 1988, is applicable to other fishes, you should feed each fish in your aquarium that is the average size of a damsel fish, the equivalent of about 70% of a cube of this food per day. Large fishes would get proportionally more.

"During the day on a natural reef, it appears that virtually no moderately large zooplankter would reach the coral on the reef's face [because they are eaten by the fish]. Nonetheless, this area would be bathed in a diffuse rain of particulate organic material derived from fish feces [waste], dissolved material and microzooplankton.

"All aquarists may significantly control the amount of particulate food in their aquarium. This food will mimic either the zooplankton or the particulate organic material components of coral reef feeding dynamics. For the animals in a system to be healthy, those animals must be fed foods that more-or-less duplicate the qualities of their natural foods, and they must be fed in a more-or-less normal matter. Reef aquarium foods and feeding regimes tend to fail rather spectacularly on both accounts.

"The standard reef aquarium is probably fed once about once a day (Shimek, 2002), and the average daily feeding ration weighs 15.39 ± 15.90 grams, or roughly a half of an ounce, wet weight, of food. On a natural reef, this would be enough to provide roughly eight damsel fish with their normal daily allotment of food. Unfortunately, this amount of food all occurs effectively at once (or over a very short period) in an aquarium, whereas on a natural reef it would occur over a 12 hour period. Additionally, aquarium food is a relatively high-protein material. When most reef fish\es encounter planktonic patches of food, they eat voraciously, and material gets passed through their guts in a rapid manner resulting in incomplete digestion. This is precisely what happens to many fish in an aquarium when it is fed. If you watch some of your plankton feeding fishes, such as clown fish or damsels, you will see that shortly after the initiation of feeding they start defecating food at an increased rate. In effect, they are pumping food through their guts. The faster the passage of the food through the gut, the less the fish get from it. Perhaps in nature this doesn't matter, as the food is always coming at them. In the aquarium, this effect could be quite deleterious.

"In aquaria, fish that naturally feed consistently on small particulate material throughout the day are being forced to exist on bulk feedings once a day or with less frequency. Under such conditions, the animal is going through continuous cycles of near starvation followed by satiation followed by near starvation. This cyclic feeding simply must have a deleterious effect on the fish. Under such situations one could expect lower than normal growth rates, higher stress, increased susceptibility to disease and possibly problems with nitrogen metabolism.

"The amount of food impacting on the [natural] reef over the course of a day is substantial. Over a section of a natural reef about three feet on side, flows a continuous flood of water carrying with it about 2,000,000 food items with an aggregate weight of about two pounds in a 24 hour period. These tiny food items would be like a rain of diffuse nutrition on the reef and reef animals, particularly the fish.

"It is apparent that coral reef planktivorous fishes, and this is most of those kept in aquaria, would benefit from changes to the normal aquarium feeding regimen. They should be fed by some sort of continuous feeding apparatus. The food dispensed by such an apparatus should be particulate in nature, and very small. The largest sizes should probably be on the size of a brine shrimp or smaller. Such food need not be specifically formulated to be highly nutritious: Rather it should be of low to moderate nutritional value. If aquarium fish are able to eat more continuously and slowly, they will get much more nutrition out of each food item than they do now. Feeding a low quality food should result in significantly less nutrient accumulation than is now commonly seen in tanks.

"In effect, we need to turn our feeding regime on its head. Rather than feeding a small amount of highly nutritious food once a day, we should be feeding a large amount of low nutrient value food frequently. Such a feeding regime as this should reduce significantly the amount of pollution effects in reef aquaria. Additionally, there would not be a daily pulse of nutrients to temporarily overwhelm the biological filter. In turn, there would less potential growth of problem algae and the development of a more balanced and easily controlled assemblage of animals within the tank.

[Skimmers remove plankton, particulates, and copepods]

[Scrubbers add copepods, and don't remove plankton or particulates]


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## cooley

So I moved my lights back a couple inches and I got a growth explosion. Unfortunately it's the "oil slick" brown algae. I cleaned half the screen, hopefully I'll get some green growing after a couple more cleanings. Nitrates measured 5-10 ppm today and phosphate has never been detectable in my tank (api tester). Algae growth in the display has come close to a halt, only a slight film on the glass every few days.


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## SantaMonica

Actually the dark brown stuff removes more N and P than the light green stuff. That's why it's growing now... you have enough N and P to support it. Anyways, after a few cleaning, N and P will be lower, and the algae will turn green.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Pancaked screens

Since nobody is currently manufacturing a proper screen for a scrubber, we have to make the best of the materials we can get. Whatever material you use, it has been found that stacking two screens together works better than one. This is when you "pancake" two sheet of screen material together; they can be glued, sewn, or clamped together. This gives the algae much more to grab onto.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Empty Spots On Screen

Some people have small spots on the screen, about 1" (25mm) wide, that have no algae; these spots are scattered across the screen (not just near the bulb). These spots are where algae actually WAS growing, but the algae could not hold on, so it let go and went into the water. The reasons the algae could not hold on are:

1. The screen is too smooth (most common problem). No matter what material you use, you should use rough sandpaper to really mess up the surface. If the material is clear (like acrylic; not recommended), you should not be able to see through it at all. If the material is not clear, you should not be able to see a reflection, at all. If the material is a solid sheet, holes should be drilled every 1/4" (6mm)... instead of every inch like many people have tried. With solid sheets, instead of drilling holes, it's better to lay a layer of rug canvas, plasic canvas, shade cloth, or perforated drawer liner, across the surface. You would sand this also.

2. The screen is too thin. Screens should be about 1/4" (6mm) thick. This is thicker than most materials, so you should use two or three pancaked layers of material. This gives the "roots" of the algae more to grab onto.

3. The lights are not being turned off each night (18 hours ON, 6 hours OFF). So the algae grows, but then gets weak because it cannot rest. So it lets go.

4. The flow is too low (the opposite of what you would think). Higher flow delivers more nutrients to the algae (so it can grow strong), and also gives the algae more protection from the light (since the thickness of the water on the screen is more.) 

5. The bulbs are actually TOO near, or TOO strong (this is very rare, however). It seems that bulbs that are 60 watt CFL (actual, not equivalent), AND which are 2 inches (5cm) from the screen or less, start to do this. If your flow is strong, then try decreasing the light by either (1) reducing the ON hours, (2) moving the light out to 4", or (3) getting smaller bulbs. But only try one technique at a time.


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## slick fish

sm my algae died off cause i did not ruff up the canvas. the pump i was using broke.( it broke because i droped it while i was going to clean the screen). i have a new pump but with a little less flow at first all i had was brown algae even with the bigger pump.now when the first brown alge died and i cleaned the screen after that now i have green hair growing on the top and bottom of the pancaked plastic canvas. i think the first batch died cuse i did not ruff up the surface i did now i have the algae on for a week but brown in the middle and green on the top and bottom" ill post picks" wat could be the deal?


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## SantaMonica

The brown is nearest the light, because brown absorbs the most nutrients and needs the most light. After a few cleaning, your nutrients will be less in the water, and all the screen will be green.


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## slick fish

this is wat it looked like yesterday right before i cleaned it, i got all the brown off and most of the green sayed on even after cleaning! how long was it till you seen a groth in pods?


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## SantaMonica

Pods happen immediately. They are the white dust specs you see floating around in your display (provided you have to mechanical filter or skimmer.)

You need to point your lights to the middle of the screen. That will let the whole screen grow, and will not clog up the pipe. Also, you could change your splash guard to a black material that blocks light.


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## cooley

The growth on my screen has become spotted lately and I've come to the conclusion that the screen is too smooth. I made a new screen out of 3 sheets of plastic canvas. I thoroughly sanded both sides of all 3 sheets and then glued them together. I also upgraded my sump return pump to a 600gph unit. I'll post pics when growth starts up again.


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## MT1071

almost finished !!!!!!!


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## SantaMonica

Neat. So the small tube will stay attached to the screen, and will slide easily out of the bigger tube.


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## MT1071

Yes the idea is that big tube fills with water and gives even flow over the screen and maybe splash and light guard so it wont clog,just trying new design. to clean just disconnect at the union all stays in one piece .
Im going to attach more screen on both sides to make it thicker seen your post on that so the roots can have something to hang on to.
Once I get this up and running I take all filters out ??? Thanks


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## SantaMonica

You might even be able to just run the water into the bigger one, and leave it running when you pull out the smaller one. This way you don't have to turn anything off.

Yes, once it's running, you can stop other filters. You already should have removed any foam/floss/socks.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Screen Sequence

Here is the typical sequence of algae on a new screen: First is a light brown coating, like a slime. After a week of that, you clean it lightly, and the next week you get a darker brown. After you clean that, you'll either get very dark brown/black stuff which stays very hard and thin, or you'll start getting some green hair. If it's the dark stuff, clean it right way (don't wait a week). After a few cleanings of this dark stuff, it too will start turning green. After a month or two, most of the growth will be green hair. If you start getting purple cyano on the screen, it means your light is too weak or too far away. If you start getting a hard yellowish plastic-like coating that covers the algae, it means your flow is too low in that area. If you start getting bald spots near your bulb, it means you are leaving your bulb on 24 hours, when you should be turning it off 6 hours a day. If you start getting round holes in your algae, it means pods are eating through it, because you are not using freshwater in your 7-day cleanings.


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## SantaMonica

Screen Recomendations

I've been doing research on the ultimate screen material. I want it to have all the best characteristics, so if you have some ideas as to what the material should do, or what it should have, let's hear it.


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## citizen

Hello Santa,

You were asking for screen material ideas and so I was wondering if you thought of the Obscure Floresent lighting panels HD or Lowes sells. One side is smooth but the other side is rough. Cut one in half and sandwich the smooth sides together so both rough sides are facing outward. They should be similar to the lego idea but are transparent. These can be found in either the lighting department or in the Building materials dept ( Near the drop ceiling tiles). A draw back on this idea is that they could be difficult to cut.

I would try this myself but I dont even have a freaking tank to put fish in lol. I'm starting my research into the hobby and couldnt stop reading your thread. 

Good stuff!


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## SantaMonica

Yes I have thought of those. You are right... they would be hard to cut. Biggest problem is it has no holes that go through it, for algae to attach to. 

Glad you like the info!


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## SantaMonica

Taken from "It's In The Water", by Ron Shimek
It's (In) The Water by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

[Aquarists have] the feeling that organisms somehow "use up," "change," or "consume" many of these [trace] chemicals, and in doing so, forever remove the chemicals from the reef aquarium system. This assumption is not completely false, some chemicals are "used up" and removed from the system, but most are not. Organisms are dynamic entities, and while some chemicals are temporarily sequestered away, such chemicals generally remain available in the system due to metabolic turnover. The only real exceptions to this as far as organisms are concerned are those chemicals, such as calcium, which get incorporated into an insoluble matrix.

Several trace elements are found in elevated concentrations in aquarium water [Table 2; Figure 2]. Some of these metals have extremely high concentrations relative to NSW; tin has already been mentioned as having concentrations over 200,000 times above normal, but Thallium, Titanium, Aluminum, Zinc, Cobalt, Antimony, and Copper all have concentrations of over 95 times normal.

Several of the trace metals varied in concert, particularly Cobalt, Tin, Zinc, Titanium, Copper and Vanadium, and lower but still positive correlations with Nickel and Aluminum are found. All of these metals are found at concentrations far above those of natural sea water. Some of these concentrations are almost unbelievably high. Tin has an average concentration in our systems of over 200,000 times greater than in natural sea water. 

Increases in many of these same metals are correlated with the age of the tank. One explanation for that pattern would be that they may build up with the passage of time.

The older tanks also have more ammonia, nitrate/nitrite, phosphorus, iodine and copper than younger tanks.

Many of the trace element concentrations are lower than they are in freshly made up artificial sea water. Whether this indicates organism use, or abiotic chemical reactions, is unclear. Even though these levels are lower than in "fresh" artificial sea water, they are still very much higher than in natural sea water, and may still indicate a cause for concern.

[scrubbers remove metals; skimmers do not]


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## SantaMonica

Update: Where to point bulb

Always try to point the bulb at the middle of the screen, not the top. You don't want too much algae growing at the top by the pipe, because it will grow into the slot and slow down the water. If you have no choice and you have to point the light at the slot, you can attach a thin plastic strip to the pipe, such that it blocks the light from hitting the slot.


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## SantaMonica

Update: Results of not cleaning

If you do not clean your screen in FW once a week (or at least put the whole screen in FW, and clean half of it), here is what happens:

1. Pods start growing and multipling in the bottom layers of the algae. They do this by eating more of the algae. They then get washed off into the water and get consumed.

2. The bottom layers of algae (attached to the screen) start getting shaded by the new algae that grows on top of it. 

3. The bottom layers of algae (attached to the screen) start getting less flow, because they are being covered up by the new algae that grows on top of it. 

4. The algae starts growing up into the slot in the pipe, causing less water to flow out.

5. The algae gets thicker and longer and heavier, and thus "lets go" from the screen easier.


The results of 1, 2, 3, and 4 above, is that the bottom layers (which you can't see because they are underneath) start dying and disolving back into the water. The result of #5 is that large pieces of algae on the top layers (that normally would be useful) also go into the water and die due to lack of light. 

However, you don't see any of this. What you do see is that the growth seems to be great, but it gets to a certain point and stops. It seems to have "stopped growing". Also the nutrients start rising. So the tendancy of some folks is to leave it longer without cleaning it, so to give the algae "more time to grow". Big mistake.

What is happening is that the underlying layers are dying off so fast, that the algae is being removed from the bottom as fast as it is growing on the top. Kind of like building a second floor on top of a house, but then removing the first floor: You end up with a one-level house again. But then you take all the materials that you got from removing the first floor, and you use them to build a new second floor. But then you tear apart the first floor again, etc.

So what is happening is that the bottom layers (and the top layers that let go) are putting Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate back into the water, which gets used to grow new algae on the top layers again. So the scrubber can no longer filter your tank because it is so busy re-growing new layers to replace the old layers that died.

The easy solution to all of this is to just do your weekly cleaning in FW. And the solution to #5 (which really is the smallest problem) is to put a light-shield along the slot.


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## SantaMonica

Successes Update:

Labperck on the AR site, translated from Spanish as best possible: "My system is 130 liters, DIY skimmer, 5 pounds of live rock, aragonite substrate 3-4 cm, 1 crossbow bursa fish, 2 percula clowns, and 2 feather dusters. Nitrate remained at 40 mg/l with changes in water of 20 percent a week. With changes in water 20 percent weekly, there was no noticeable improvements. Started with the vodka method, nitrates lowered to 30 mg/l, with no change of water for 2 months. The display was filled with filamentous algae and cyano. Then I found this scrubber and decided to try it. Installed lighting on both sides, and started turning off the skimmer at night. A week later, the nitrates are at zero, and the water is more crystalline. For now I'm very happy with this filter, thank you SantaMonica, JulioVideo, and all those who put their advice."

Emporador on the AR site, translated from Spanish as best possible: "Best of all is that today is the first time in my life watching the NO3 test Salifert no3 = 0 ... I can not really believe. Apart from all my efforts to maintain a good filter system, this really gives the expected results."

RiaanP on the MASA site: "Scrubber is now over 3 months old, Phosphates and Nitrates used to be sky high, but now I got no PO4 or NO3 problems."

MarkM3 on the RS site: "Just want to say thanks to Santa Monica. i begin my double-screen 2 month ago for 180 gal heavey load fish, and few soft, lps corals, and i always had 80-100 nitrates from havey stock fish. and now for the first time in 2 years my nitrates level are ((((10 ppm)))) which is amazing, corals are much happier, and pop there polyps more and more, hair algee on the display and rocks almost gone, still have a few red slim but less than before, much more cleanner display and caroline is growing too. its true, its active, its working the algee scrubberrrrrrrrr. go go go gooooo so thanks again."

SimonSKL on the MD site: "Just an update. I have started my ATS [2 months ago] but changed screen material about 5 weeks ago. Today, I am happy to say all cyano have disappeared from my tank and 95% of the hair algae are gone also. I have to add that I did change the water flow pattern by modifying two of my Maxijet 1200 with the Sure Flow adaptors. One pushes 2100gph and the other 1600gph, in a wavemaking mode. The screens that I now used are plastic canvas and doubled layers. I am still getting really dark brown algae growing on the screens and cleaning them about every 5-6 days. "

Glock339 on the UR site: "I [originally] set up my current nano to be Miracle Mud eco system. However I never actually got round to planting any algae in the MM, as I set up an algae scrubber and my params went perfect in a few weeks. so I' happy with things the way they are and probably shouldnt have bothered with the MM. Dunno if this helps but I'd defo recommend considering a scrubber to anyone wanting to ditch the skimmer and phos reactor."

MyFishEatYourFish on the MFK site: "update. nitrates undetectable with my test strips, so probably like 10 ppm, which is half of what i started with, so thats cool. i don't have a phosphate test but algae growth has slowed way way down already and my sand is actually white now, my fish are sooooooo active now its kinda nuts, even my flame angel and blue tang follow me waiting for food. i have nothing but the scrubber on there now and the tank is better than ever! all secondary filteration has been romoved for about a week and everything is continueing to improve. on my sheets brown started and soon turned dark brown with some green patches. i cleaned when the brown was too thick to see the sheet and noticed quite a bit of green underneath. coralline has noticanly increased its growthrate already and algae growth has almost stopped in the display, or my algae eaters eat it faster than it can grow. the rocks "leaked" [phosphate] for just a couple days and now are almost completely nuissance algae free and looking great. i am really impressed with the speed and effectiveness of this thing. i think using fabric really helped because how well the agae spores catch and hold on. in my opinion it is superior to any medium tried yet."

Dragon1188 on the SG site: "Just like to share that i just simply use a piece of plastic sheet (the white color one u can buy from Popular bookshop and quite rough) inclined at 30 degree to catch the return water to my sump. The piece of plastic is lighted by 2x8watt of Philips "tornado" energy saver bulb running 24x7 [should be 18 hours]. The piece of plastic is just 46cm long and 40cm wide. Total water flow over it is about 2000L/hr. My tank and sump volume is 400 L. After 1months, green (both hairy and fern like) and red algae (matt) growing like crazy [on the screen]. Can harvest 1 fistfull every 3 days. I had even removed my phosphate reactor and skimmer. Its been running 4months now and my phosphate is about 0.01ppm and nitrate is 0." 

Da_Gopherboy on the 3R site: "I also battled nitrates for a while, my tank was FOLR for a while before I desided to add coral. Since I didn't intend to go in that direction originally nitrates were not my concern. So I was stuck trying to figure out how to drop the nitrates without contant water changes, or buying a denitrator (US Economy makes me poor). I made an ATS scrubber that was fed by my overflow right above my refugium. Nitrates made almost an 80% decrease within less than 2 months."

DangerDave on 3R: "I have been running the turf scrubber close to 4 months now. I haven't done a water change in about 2 months now. I just top the tank off. I do not have to clean the glass every couple hours or everyday. I clean the glass about once or twice a week (I have to clean/scrap the coraline off more than the algae). Coraline has taken off, corals are flourishing, mushrooms are splitting like crazy, everything is doing superb."


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## SantaMonica

Scrubber FAQ 3.5 is now posted:

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ 3.5 (6/1/09)


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## SantaMonica

Update: Best Ready-To-Use Light

Aside from a custom-made T5H0 light panel (lots of lumens, really near the screen), the best overall light you can buy is something like this outdoor landscaping light:














It's non-rusting, non-corrosive, weatherproof, thin, temperature resistant, compact flourescent, bolt-on, adjustable, and the bulbs are replaced easily:

RAB PLF39 39W CFL Landscape Flood 120V:
RAB PLF39 39W CFL Landscape Flood 120V - ProLighting.com

Housing and Lens: Corrosion and vandal resistant polycarbonate lens and housing.
Lamp: (3) 13W twin tube fluorescent GX23 (Included).
Lens Gasket: High temperature tubular silicone.
Finish: Architectural bronze.
Reflector: Anodized aluminum.
Voltage: 120 volts AC.
Mounting: Adjustable swivel mounting arm with 1/2" thread.
Size: 7.25" (18cm) wide, 9" (23cm) high, 3.5" (9cm) deep
Cost: $67 USD

This one is 39 watts (three bulbs) which is perfect for most screens, but they make smaller 26 and 13 watt (nano) size ones also. These types of light are surely available at larger home improvement stores, I just could not find them. Here are some other types too:

Lights of America 65W Fluorex Floodlight (White) (9265)
http://www.allproducts.com/manufacture100/classiclighting/product3.jpg
Positive Energy Conservation Products | Online Shopping


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## SantaMonica

New Screen Material

Well after months of figuring out what are the best attributes are for a scrubber screen, and also after getting reports from hundreds of people as to what screen material worked best for them, I think I've come up with a material that is perfect for the job. I'm offering this screen for free to anyone who wants to try it (just pay shipping). Here are some pics, and some advantages, to this material:





















































It's Clear Plastic: This allows light from one side of the screen to shine through to the other side. For a (new) two-sided screen, this means both sides of the screen get light from both bulbs; for one-sided screens, it means the dark side will still get some light from the bulb on the other side.

It's Thick: 1/4 inch (6mm). This allows much more room for algae to grip to, so washings/cleanings will not strip all the algae (no matter how hard you scrub). For total algae removal, you can just use a hair brush to push all the algae completely out. If you already have a pipe that is cut for canvas (usually a 1/8" or 3mm slot), you'll need to widen it to 5/16" (8mm).

It Flows Through: Since the screen is not solid, it allows algae from both sides to attach to each other in the middle, thus giving the algae even greater holding-power during cleanings and high flow.

It's Semi-Rigid: This gives a small screen enough strength to hold up a pipe by itself, and gives large screens the ability to prevent waviness, and from flopping out of position.

It's Bendable: You can put a large screen in a small sink for cleaning; it also is possible to bend the screen into a circular-screen configuration (i.e., inside a bucket.)

It Holds Roughness (after you rough it up). Attack it with 30 grit sandpaper, wire brushes, power sanders, etc, and the roughness will stay. Give yourself about one hour to rough up both sides.

It's Sturdy: It resists hard cleanings, even if you use fingernails, credit cards, or razors.

It's Reef Safe: Is made of standard hard-plastic material.

It can be used as-is for vertical screens, or it can be glued to a solid plastic sheet for horizontal screens (the sheet keeps water from flowing through the screen.)

So if anyone wants to try it, the screens I'm starting out with are a little smaller than a square foot; they are about 11.5" X 11.5" (29cm X 29cm). If you need two of these sheets to fit your scrubber, let me know. I'll keep the packing and shipping cost the same for everyone, $10 USD, including international. Paypal is easiest, but whatever works. PM me.


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## SantaMonica

I'm going to be posting new example designs soon, so if you have not already posted your pics, do so now and I'll include it for others to see.


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## SantaMonica

.
Time for 66 new examples of scrubber designs:


MudShark on the MASA site:


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonica

Captevo on the Algae Scrubber site, with a nano setup:

















































Jarhead80 on the UR site, with a nano setup:































Chris003 on the 3R site:


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## SantaMonica

AcuarioOceanic on the AR site:













AdolfoRuiz on the AR site:













Calunga on the AR site:













CesarRosh on the AR site:






















Emperador on the AR site:













JJavier1976 on the AR site:






















Labperck on the AR site:


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## SantaMonica

Mario_Mendoza on the AR site:













Saulhs on the AR site:








































Renman303 on the ARC site:






















Aaarr on the Algae Scrubber site:


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## SantaMonica

Gasha on the Algae Scrubber site, with a top-of-tank setup:













Hobogato on the Algae Scrubber site:













JDlon on the Algae Scrubber site:






















Kbaker on the Algae Scrubber site, with a solar powered turtle tank:


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## SantaMonica

Ktsdad on the Algae Scrubber site, with a bio-ball container design:























Mystic.Bertie on the Algae Scrubber site:






















Natapa on the Algae Scrubber site, with an outdoor SW aquaculture pond:













OceanRock on the Algae Scrubber site:


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## SantaMonica

RumpyPumpy on the Algae Scrubber site:













Worley on the Algae Scrubber site:































MT1071 on the FF site:


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Slick_Fish on the FF site:






















Darb on the FL site:


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## SantaMonica

Jrunyon210 on the FL site:






















Imdaring on the LR site:

















































Amalick on the MASA site:













Halogen on the MB site:













Huhhhhh on the MB site did a fantastic build. This type of scrubber is the most powerful you can fit in a small space, because all of the light is strong and near to the screen:


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonica

Here are the water resistant end caps for the bulbs:
Store Lighting Supplies End Caps | Sockets | Mounts | Clips












Here is the ballast (powers up to 6 bulbs):
Workhorse 8 - Fluorescent In-Fixture Electronic Instant Start Ballast - 120 Volt - Long Case - Fulham WH8-120-L Light Bulb












Here is the wiring diragram:
www.fulham.com/images/WDgifs/wire29.gif












Chelsey on the RC site:






















Tige21 on the MD site:


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## SantaMonica

SimonSKL on the MD site also did a nice build that lets you remove the screen while the water is still flowing:

































































And here is a video of the screen removal:
YouTube - Scrubber design from SimonSKL on Marine Depot




MyFishEatYourFish on the MFK site:


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## SantaMonica

CardBoardBoxProcessor on the MFT site:








































Mudcrab on the MFT site, with a great design that slides in and out:


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## SantaMonica

Craig on the NZ site:


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## SantaMonica

Sl1me on the NZ site:































Birador on the RP site:








































Boom_Smashers on the RP site:


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## SantaMonica

GrAhF11 on the RP site:































Rav888 on the RP site:













Ronron on the RP site:


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## SantaMonica

Kiwiman456 on the RS site:






















Markm3 on the RS site:































Ender on the SARK site:






















Punk on the SARK site:


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## SantaMonica

Milburnr on the SC site:








































Dragon1188 on the SG site:































Johntanjm on the SG site:


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## SantaMonica

Loowk on the SG site:













Reefme on the SG site:

















































Snaper on the SG site:


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## SantaMonica

Wideawake on the SG site:






















Creetin on the SRC site:


























































Darasy on the TCMAS site:


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## SantaMonica

FiveSmallWorlds on the TCMAS site:






















Craigg on the UR site:






















Wormside on the UR site:


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## SantaMonica

Update: Best way to rough up your plastic canvas:


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## SantaMonica

Update: Signs of scrubbers wearing out

Since my acrylic scrubber is approching one year old, it's the first one to experience signs of wearing out. Of course I'm also experimenting with large amounts of continuous feeding (which makes things worse), but I'm still seeing some of the same signs in other peoples' scrubbers, even though they are feeding normal amounts, and even though they've replaced the bulbs every 3 months. This is typically what starts happening:

Glass-cleaning is needed more often

Scrubber starts growing darker algae

pH stays at a lower point

Rocks get a light green covering

Cyano starts showing up

Nitrate and phosphate start staying at higher levels


What is probably happening (and what happened to mine) was that the flow had been greatly reduced to the scrubber. My screen is 22" wide, and only half of it was getting any flow at all (I'm surprised half of it did not die); the other half was still getting some flow, but it was so little that the bottom of the scrubber was almost dry. My problem was the pump:











This is a case of scrubbers causing their own unique problem. When you run a scrubber (without skimmers or mechanical filters), not only do the corals and small fish get much more of the food that you feed, but you will also grow all sorts of filter feeders like the ones you see all over the pump in the picture. They grew all through the display, of course (to be eaten by a wrasse), but they also grew up into the impeller area of the scrubber pump, which was the problem. Also in the pic, you can see the brown stuff which was the result of my experiment in large amounts of continuous feeding in a system with a poorly designed sump (which allowed too much settling). The case/impellor was so locked up that I had to soak it in pure vinegar for several hours to even get it open. So while waiting on that, I opened the Eheim 1262 (900 gph) that I ordered as a backup  So now my scrubber pump is pumping 2X as much as my return.

Once the new pump was in place, there was a forceful waterfall across the screen again. There is so much water in the acrylic box now that it is 1" deep before it goes out the drain hole (whereas before it was almost dry).

Point is, check your scrubber pump often for internal fan worms or food buildup. Just like the lights, you may not be able to see the lower output (since it happens very slowly over time), so you have to open it up and check. Running the pump in vinegar every three months should keep it clear (vinegar disolves fan worms).


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## SantaMonica

Tarraza on the AS site: "THANK YOU SM. without this site my tank was a mess. Now I can enjoy this hobby for ever. 8 months now and i forget what NITRATE, PHOSPHATE IS ALL ABOUT, AHH!!, WATER CHANGE? NOT FOR ME ANY MORE!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU GUYS!!!!"

Firestarter on the SG site: "I was rather hesitant to change to an algae scrubber at first and doubted it would really work, as it was too good to be true. Almost 1.5 weeks of converting to the scrubber, I can see such great results! My corals are finally doing better, pods population has almost tripled, and I don't even need to clean the tank glass at all (usually by now it would be covered my a thin film of brown diatoms). Its amazing what the results were. Forget expensive skimmers, denitrators etc, just a good light source and good flow will do. One of the main reasons why I changed to a scrubber was because of my high nitrate reading. When I finally bought a test kit and tested it, the reading was more than 100mg/l and now it has dropped significantly to 25mg/l. Another advantage was that I could skip the skimmer pump which resulted in my water temp dropping 0.5 - 1 deg."

Craig on the NZ site: "My tank water is so clear and clean looking, and the sand is clean.
I have a Dragon Goby and he has gotten fat ever since I moved to the scrubber and removed my skimmer, he moves a heck of a lot of sand. But I stirred up my sand like I occasionally do and this time there was no muck coming out as I stirred it. My [nuisance] algaes in my overflow have receded, and the coraline on the rocks has grown quite quickly over the last few days. Even the water in my sump (even thou there is a bit of crap on the bottom) is clear and clean." 

Gannet on the NZ site: "i have gone from cleaning the glass on the front of the tank 2-4 times a week to once every 2 weeks ... my nitrates has gone from 80ppm and is now 0-5ppm ... and the pods and mysis, i have that many in my sump now that i scoop them up with a net and feed them to my fish works a treat." 

ImDaring on the LR site: "I built mine [scrubber] because I had to clean my glass every day because of green algae, and then to top it off I had a Brown algae breakout... it had covered the bottom of my sand bed it; looked like slime. the first week of having my scrubber hooked up I only cleaned my glass 1 time, now on my 2nd week I have not had to clean it at all, and the brown algae is almost gone."


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## SantaMonica

Update: Screens that are too small

This is an example of why a too-small screen can cause problems. The algae gets thick too quick, and the bottom layers die and go back into the water, causing cloudiness and lack of filtering. If you must use a too-small screen, clean it every 3 days instead of 7.

Click here if you can't see pic below


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## SantaMonica

Here are several updates:


Milburnr on the SC site had this great pic of his flow:












Quick review of why scrubbers work: 

1. The light is very near the screen, and is not blocked by anything.
2. The flow is very rapid, which transports more nutrients to and from the algae.
3. The flow (on a vertical waterfall) is very thin, which breaks up boundary layer, 
and which lets the most light through.
4. 7-day cleanings keeps the bottom layers of algae from being shaded and dying.
5. Using FW to clean, kills the pods that normally destroy the algae.




Seeding a new screen is no longer recommended, because (1) you get good growth in a week anyway, and (2) the seeding just washes off and adds nutrients to the water.


Barbianj on the RS site made a great high-power CFL setup:













Long vacations: Some people want to use a scrubber, but are gone two or three weeks at a time. Here are the options: The easiest is to do nothing. In this case, after three weeks, the underlying layers of algae will have died. When you return, the water may be cloudy and colored, and the nitrate and phosphate may be increased, but after a screen cleaning and some carbon, it will be back to normal in a few days. This option is ok if you leave only once or twice a year. Nothing should be harmed, however. The next option is to remove the screen. For very long trips, and for cases where you have lots of LR and DSB, this might be best. Of course your tank may develop nuisance algae during the trip because of lack of filtering, and you'll have to start the screen from scratch when you return. 



RonRon on the RP site built one with just a tupperware box:












Here's another option to attach your screen: Curtain rings...


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## SantaMonica

Many folks have asked about plans for my scrubber, so here are some:


Click here for easier to read version


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## SantaMonica

Scrubber News:

Awards: It's finally happened... A scrubber-only tank (no skimmer) has won Tank Of The Month. "Mudshark", whose pics have been posted here for a while, just won the August Tank Of The Month at MASA site.

RC: They have done a few things to keep people from finding out about scrubbers. They've made it so that when you try to post "algaescrubber.net", it is changed to "clay-boa.com". Also, if you try to search for anything scrubber related there, it seems to always have an "error".


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## SantaMonica

What is a boundary layer, and why is it important? It the layer of water that is microscopically close to the algae; the water molecules that actually touch the algae:













This boundary layer area of the water has zero flow, because it has to have the same flow as the algae, which of course is zero. Since there is no flow (velocity) here, nutrient transport through it is slow. The faster the water flow, the smaller the boundary layer, and the faster the nutrients can get to/from the algae from the water.

One point to clarify about nutrient exchange: Contact with air is not needed. Scrubbers operate the same whether they are sealed or open (except for cooling/evap), because the exchange is not with the air; it's with the water. The reason algae grows better in an overflow, or where water hits a scrubber screen, or where waves hit the beach, is because the flow is higher here and thus the water's boundary layer is thinner, which allows for better nutrient transfer between the algae and the water. This is what a vertical waterfall scrubber tries to achieve: Fast flow from top to bottom. Further info can be found here:

Seagrasses: Biology, Ecology, and Conservation, p 199, by AWD Larkum, Robert Joseph Orth, Carlos M. Duarte:

"As water flows through seagrass [or algae] beds, a boundary layer develops on the sediment surface, as well as on each seagrass [and algae] component exposed to the moving water. The faster the water moves, the thinner the diffusive boundary layer (DBL) becomes, and consequently, the faster the transfer of molecules from the water column to the sediment and/or seagrass [or algae]. It follows then that when currents [flow] are weak, the flux of molecules to the seagrass [or algae] surface may be limited by diffusion through the [boundary layer] (i.e., physical limitation). Under those conditions, many biological sites or enzymes in the seagrass [or algae] tissue are available to assimilate molecules when/if [!] they reach the plant's [or algal] surface.


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## SantaMonica

Several Updates: 

1. Change CFL or T5 bulbs every THREE MONTHS! 

2. Wattage recommendation: 0.5 Watts per gallon for medium filtering. 1.0 for high filtering.

3. CFL bulbs: 55W is the max that works good. If you need more watts, get two or three smaller ones, or go to T5HO (best)

4. Skimmer overflow: Be careful of your skimmer overflowing (if it does not have an overflow tube.) The rotting food in the skimmer cups has been growing bacteria, and thus producing ammonia, so if it overflows into your sump, the ammonia can kill things. If this happens, then a scrubber removes this ammonia from the water (skimmers do not remove ammonia; they only make ammonia in the cup.)

5. Current best place to get plastic canvas: Plastic Canvas Supplies - Find it all at Everything Plastic Canvas! 

6. Surges are not recommended for scrubbers, because (1) the have not shown to improve operations, (2) they are hard to diy, (2) they are noisy/messy, and (4) they reduce the filtering contact time with the water.

7. Cleaning: If your screen goes up into the pipe, you can clean the screen extra good in that area, so that less algae will grow up into the pipe.

8. Purple growth: If your screen is new, and you are getting thin purple growth in spots, it is probably cyano because of weak lighting. If your screen is 3 months old or more, and you start getting purple growth, feel it. If it's is furry, then it's turf. If it's not furry, then it cyano.

9. Never run the lighting 24/7.

10. Cyano in display: Sometimes, after an algae scrubber has removed most of the nuisance algae in a tank, cyano will grow a bit more. This is normal, because cyano does not eat the same thing that nuisance algae does (thus, the cyano now has less competition). But the cyano will reduce too eventually. The cyano occurs because it has the capability of getting nitrogen directly from the water, without needing Nitrate, Nitrate or Ammonia/Ammonium (which is what algae gets nitrogen from). But as the scrubber continues to filter, the cyano will have a harder and harder time holding on. 

11. Why "polished" water is bad: The "clean" water look you get with a skimmer and other mechanical filters is because the food (i.e, waste "protein") has been removed from the water. This is what you want if you have just large fish. But if you want a "real" natural reef, you don't want to do this. Go diving some time and look at the water on a natural reef; there are millions of specks and dots and particles and things floating in the water in a super thick soup. And that's just six inches in front of your face. These things are what feed everything, including small fish.


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## SantaMonica

Success Updates:

Jason1 on the RS site: "I have to tell you, this thing works great. My tank is definitely showing signs of improvement and looks really cleaned up from what it used to. Thank you."

Danno.Thomas on the SWF site: "Have mine up and functional on a 30 gal, that was just changed over from a 20 gal, had zero new algae growth in the DT. Scrubber is working like magic. Small feather dusters abundant. 6 years in the hobby and my tank has never looked more alive. This is my exclusive filtration."

Troythegreat on the 3R site: "i personally think that scrubbers are a Godsend to reefers. IMO scrubbers work much better than skimmers at 1/10th the cost, all you need is a little discipline. I've had my scrubber running on my 75gal for about 7 months without any trace of nitrates or phosphates. I have 2 clowns, 4 damsels and a engineer goby plus many coral. i feed my coral once a day and my fish twice a day.........i clean the scrubber every 5 days and change carbon once a month."

Chadjwil on the scrubber site: "I've been running an algae scrubber on my 55 [for 7 months]. That tank has never had a skimmer or canister or any other filtration in it, ATS since birth! I'm totally loving it, and...due to space restrictions in the stand ... my screen is undersized, and until last week it was under-lit (bare minimum now), and it's still keeping that tank clean and nutrient free. My fish are so healthy looking, more so than all but the best of the LFS within 50 miles, and my shrimpies molt like mad. I used to be a little leary about telling people that I ran an ATS because of all the sideways looks and comments that I got (and I'm sure my wife thought I was crazy too), but over the last few months more and more people have been commenting on how nice our tank looks, and that theirs was full of algae and a pain to clean all the time, we must spend all our time cleaning and screwing with it...now I get a lot of satisfaction telling them that I spend 5 minutes scraping algae off a plastic tank divider every week or so and I'm done. True believer here."


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## SantaMonica

Update: Deep-Sump Nano's

There are two types of nano's: The one that has a hatch on the top, so you don't have to open the whole lid to get to the filters, and the one without a hatch, where you do have to open the lid. It's this second one (with a deep "sump"), that is the most difficult to put a scrubber into. Indeed, if at all possible, you want to instead make an external scrubber, that sits above the tank:












You can enclose the scrubber with a box, or just use the lid of the bucket, to keep the light in. And actually, since nano's need such small screens, you could just use a coffee can, with the lid, which will block out all light once sealed. Decorate the can like a vase, and it will add to your decor. And use black tubing too so it looks nice. It doesn't need air flow, unless you want evaporation and cooling. Regardless, if you do this design, make sure to use "aquarium-safe" silicon on all electrical connection inside the bucket (including where the bulb screws in), because water and salt will build and short it out. 

If, however, there is no possible way to put a scrubber above your nano, then you can install one in the "sump" area if you are good at DIY. It's a tight fit, but it can be done:


Riaanp on the MASA site did this:






















And Nitschke65 on the SWF site did this:































The idea is to use one of the compartments (probably the middle one) for a waterfall area. For lighting, although Riaanp put the light inside, it's probably best to put the light on the outside (back) of the tank, and scrub off the paint on the backside so that the light can get through to the scrubber screen. The bulb only needs to be one watt for every gallon, so a 13 or 18 watts CFL 3000K is fine.

Fortunately you don't need much screen size for a nano... just 2 square inches (6.25 square cm) for every U.S. gallon (3.8 liters), because the screen is one-sided. 

This type of setup is nice because it does not require any cutting of the sump walls, and thus can be converted back easily. Also, there is no real cost... just the screen (2 layers of roughed-up plastic canvas, about $1 USD), and the bulb and socket, probably $7.


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## SantaMonica

Updates/Reminders: 

Nano scrubbers: In my last update, I said a coffee can would make a good nano scrubber. I meant a plastic coffee can.

Wattage: Your goal should be to get at least 0.5 watts of CFL (compact flourescent light) for each gallon of water, for medium filtering. For high filtering, get 1.0 watts per gallon. And don't use incadescent bulbs... they are much too hot and use too much power. The biggest CFL bulbs you should use should be 45W. If you need more, use extra bulbs, not a bigger bulb. 

Be sure not to run bulbs 24 hours.

Be careful of overflowing skimmers; there is a lot of ammonia in that skimmate. A scrubber will help eat that ammonia if it overflows.

If you have cyano on your screen, you need more flow and/or more light.

If you smell any kind of "algae" smell while the scrubber is running, you need more flow.

If your tank has gotten rid of the nuisance algae, but cyano seems to be increasing, this is normal. Cyano does not eat nitrate and phosphate like algae does, so after your scrubber has starved the nuisance algae, the cyano has more room to grow. But if you keep your scrubber running strong and proper, the cyano will fade too.

If you have rubbery green algae, it means the flow is getting cut off and the algae is baking.

The best current spectrum for the bulb is 3000K (550 nm). This is yellowish-greenish, and it fits right in the middle of the red and the blue peaks of photosynthesis:




























Pipe: Slots deliver much more water than drilled holes. Keep this in mind when figuring out how much flow you need.

Sump growth: Some people have open bulbs which light up the sump, and they are growing algae there. You don't want this to happen, so you need to use reflectors, or even foil, to block the light. 

Coralline: Since phosphate will slow down coralline growth, you will start seeing more coralline as your phosphate drops in your water.

Advanced DIY trick: For those who can build such a thing, if you could build a top-off device which would shut off the flow to the screen, and then run your FW top-off water on it, then switch back to the regular flow, you would be able to extend the time between cleanings because the pods would be kept in control.

Dead fish: Scrubbers handle dead fish wonderfully; since ammonia is algae's favorite food, when a fish dies the algae will consume as much of the ammonia as it can, which could save your tank if the fish dies overnight. A skimmer, however, does not remove ammonia at all.

What equipment comes first: With regard to scrubbers, here are a few points to consider when planning which device should come before which other device (if you use them):

Skimmer: It should come before the scrubber and after the display, so that it does not remove the pods that come from the scrubber (if you need pods).

UV: Also should come before the scrubber and after the display, for same reason.

Mechanical filters/socks: Same as UV and skimmer. These trap food and pods (which rot and add Nitrate and Phosphate to the water), and thus should be the first thing you should stop using unless you change/clean them daily (but then you are removing the food for the corals.)

PO4/N03 removers: Really doesn't matter because N and P are the same throughout the system. 

Fuge LR/LS/Macro: Doesn't matter, as far as nutrient removal is concerned.

Bio Balls (!): Should be removed slowly, unless you have massive amounts of fish, and little rock/sand.

Screens: I will be selling ready-to-use screens soon. But until then, it's best to use two layers of extremely-rough plastic canvas, using a hole-saw (and about an hour) to rough up all four sides of the two sheets:














































To demonstrate how rough the screen should be, here is a video of a towel dropped on a rough screen: 
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CanvasTowellDrop1.mpg

...compared to a smooth screen: 
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CanvasTowellDrop2.mpg


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## SantaMonica

An updated Algae Scrubber FAQ is up:
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ (9/10/09)


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## SantaMonica

Final screen version

The previous screen material that I had people testing was starting to rip where the tie-wraps went through, so it was not working. I did find a custom manufactured solution to solve this, which used a solid sheet on the inside of the screen, but it was just too much money. So it looks like the best screen material for me to offer is extreme-roughened, double-layered, plastic canvas. 

As you know, if you already tried to rough up plastic canvas, all the work is in making it rough. You have to use a hole-saw (by hand), since sandpaper does not leave the "jagged" pieces that you want. You really need the jagged pieces which will grab hold of the algae, so the algae won't let go and fall into the water. This is of course because more algae growth (i.e, more filtering) means more weight. You DO want lots of algae (weight), but you DON'T want it to fall off of the screen. And both sides of both layers needs to be rough, so that algae will stay on the inside (between the layers) of the screen after you clean the outsides. And since the algae stays on the inside of the screen, you can clean the outside as hard as you want (scrape all the algae off) without worrying about "keeping some algae on the the screen".

So since this material has already been proven by hundreds of people who are using it right now (athough I never see it roughed up enough), it is just a matter of how much money is fair for a completed screen. If there is enough interest, then I'll start selling them.

It looks like I can make them for 20 cents per square inch. This is equal to: 

0.20 USD per square inch
.032 USD per square cm
2.65 MXN per square inch
0.43 MXN per square cm
0.22 CAD per square inch
.035 CAD per square cm
0.14 EUR per square inch
.023 EUR per square cm
0.12 GBP per square inch
0.02 GBP per square cm
0.28 NZD per square inch
0.45 NZD per square cm
0.28 SGD per square inch
.045 SGD per square cm
1.49 ZAR per square inch
.024 ZAR per square cm
1.31 FRF per square inch
0.21 FRF per square cm
2.20 NLG per square inch
0.35 NLG per square cm
70.0 PHP per square inch
11.2 PHP per square cm


Shipping would be extra of course. Also, the screen area is just the finished screen size; you don't have to think about the multiple layers. So as an example:

A 10 X 10 inch screen = 100 square inches = $20 USD = $265 MXN = $22 CAD etc.
A 40 X 60 cm screen = 2400 square cm = $76.80 USD = $1032 MXN = $84 CAD etc.
A 3 X 6 inch nano screen = 18 square inches = $3.60 USD = $48 MSN = $3.96 CAD etc.

So post on here if you would get one at this price. There needs to be enough people otherwise it is not worth setting up to do it. If there is enough interest (at this price), then I will make them.


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## SantaMonica

Why Algae Works

More Info: 

Algae and Human Affairs, By Carole A. Lembi, J. Robert Waaland, Phycological Society of America
PSA: Phycological Society of America
Algaebase :: Listing the World's Algae












Text: 90 percent of all living matter (except bacteria) in the ocean is algae of all forms and colors. The remaining 10% (except bacteria) of all living matter in the ocean is: Corals, Plants, Sponges, Worms, Snails, Clams, Octopi, Shrimp, Crabs, Pods, Urchins, Starfish, Small Fish, Medium Fish, Big Fish, Sharks, Whales, Giant Squids, and Everything Else. The algae is what does all the filtering of the waste from the animals, and the algae is also what feeds all the animals through the various food webs.

Aquariums, however (especially ones without refugiums), have no algae to do the filtering or feeding. So all the filtering has to be done manually with equipment, and all the feeding has to be done manually too. At least with a refugium, there is some filtering and feeding, although most refugiums are far too small to do all of it. Scrubbers are powerful enough to do all the filtering by themselves, and can do a lot of the feeding too, if copepods are the food that is desired.


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## SantaMonica

Successes Update:

Jlinzmaier on the RC site: "An ATS is the easiest and the cheapest DIY project I've ever done. Not to mention it has been more effective at nutrient management than carbon dosing, and has only affected the corals positively (no chance of stripping nutrients too fast or too low as you might run into with carbon source dosing.) The maintenance of it only takes 5-10 minutes once or twice a week. Total cost for the project was no more than $30 and it took about 45 min to build."

Pistolshrimp on the SARK site: "i have one of these in my sump, not eleborate though jus got one cfl spotlight on it, but they do a good job, hardly eva have to wipe my glass, it transfers 90% of the algea growth from my tank to the screen."

Trichome on the CR site: "I installed one on my 29g tank and it is working better than my AquaC Remora that is rated for up to 75g. Best part about it is its cheap as hell to install and i was able to remove a pump from my set up to save money on electricity."

Jennyfish on the AP site: "i use an ATS but i also use a skimmer, i do find since i added the ATS i have no phosphates, and my water is crystal clear with no bad algaes growing." 

Schnitm on the algae scrubber site: "Our friend was moving to a new house, and her 90 gallon system wasn't moving with her. So it took 10 hours to move everything [to my daughter's room] and we're just about to put the fish back in. I decide I'll test the water first. I have never seen a nitrate test change color so fast. By the time I'd finished shaking the vial it had maxed out. After some RO/DI dillution I finally got a reading along with some others from my Red Sea Marine Lab kit:

Nitrates: 300
Nitrite: 0.3
Ammonia: 0.25
Phosphate: 5.0

After freaking out and figuring I'd done something wrong and effectively killed my daughter's new aquarium, I decided I'd better test the water the fish were still in. It had come straight from the top of the tank that morning. I got something like:

Nitrates: 400
Nitrite: 0.4
Ammonia: 0.25
Phosphate: 5.0

Seems the fish had been living in this and we'd just dilluted it some with the water change from toping off the tank. 3 anemones and a dozen soft corals were living in this too. So, in go the fish. I'm running around trying to figure out what to do. The protien skimmer is dead and hasn't worked for more than a year (thanks for telling me now!). The LFS store is closed because their moving too. I'd been "priming" an ATS screen in my shop using wastewater from our Bio Cube. It had been going for about 2 weeks and was nicely green but not thick at all yet. What the heck...I slap it in the sump and start it running with 4 CFL floods from WalMart. Then to bed to have nightmares of my daughter waking to a tank full of death.

To my pleasant surprise, the next morning everything was alive and, apparently, well! I go to work installing the hood, chiller, etc. By that evening I took another water sample and got:

Nitrates: 200
Nitrite: 0.2+
Ammonia: 0.25
Phosphate: 5.0

Everything seemed fine. I'm wondering if I'd messed up the readings on Thursday. Saturday was mostly a day off. The ATS had grown thick already so I scraped it. Just a few measurements:

Nitrates: not measured
Nitrite: 0.2
Ammonia: 0.25
Phosphate: not measured

Last night's water parameters:

Nitrates: 15 (I kid you not. 15. Checked this over and over. The 10X dillution I started with showed undetectable. I'd needed a 10X dillution before, just to get a reading. Got this 15 on straight tank water.)

Nitrite: 0.2
Ammonia: trace
Phosphate: 3.0

Thursday night I thought I was in the middle of a slow motion trainwreck, but by today all looks good. Thaks to all who have contributed! You lead me down the right path.


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## SantaMonica

Update: RC has un-blocked "scrubber", "algaescrubber", and other scrubber-related words.

Update: Algae on rocks: If you are building a scrubber to help remove algae from your rocks, don't remove the algae from the rocks manually. Let it stay there so it can do some filtering while your scrubber starts growing. The algae on the rocks will start disappearing after you have cleand off about three scrubber screens. It's also fun to watch it disappear.


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## SantaMonica

RainerFeyer on the RC site: "My tank is 75g, 230W T5 lighting, about 8-9 years old now (was FOWLER for 2 years before that). I started a little more than 2 months ago with a vertical ATS. Very happy with it: 3 lights, 20W each, 350GPH flow. I added a horizontal scrubber purely because, by fault of my design, cleaning screens was cumbersome, plus, the size of the scrubber was not preferred. So, been running a verical now for less than one week (aside the horizontal) and all is well so far. Once the Horizontal is well established, I will remove the Vertical. Have been without PS for 6 weeks now! The change in the tank is just amazing! No more algae or cyano, and, the sps which [previously] started dying (probably from nitrates / phosphates/ lack of food) is starting to come back! Thanks for the idea, all of you and especially SM and Worley!"

Jauld on the RC site: "N and P have been 0 since installation. This is the only filtration I have on my aquarium and I do a 20% water change monthly. this [scrubber] one has been running for nearly 3 months now with 0 problems. When I first set this model up, I accidentally used a metal nozzle that released some bad metals into the aquarium and I lost a frogspawn. After that, I changed out the nozzle and did an 80% water change. been fine ever since. Before I installed this [scrubber], my tank was COMPLETELY filled with algae (almost no rock visible). I let this thing run and after about 6 weeks, the algae started to thin and die in the DT. Then, at 8 weeks, I took the rock out piece by piece and scrubbed all the remaining algae off. 0 algae growth since that in the DT, but the screen grows a TON. I have before and afters pics if you really want to see. I found that the DT [water] will start getting cloudy after about 2-3 weeks IF i don't scrub the algae off the screen every 7-10 days. This is because so much algae is growing on the screen that when it starts to get thick, the algae underneath doesn't get any light and starts to die, releasing the stuff that makes the water quality suffer. However, as long as I clean the screen 3 times a month (takes 3-5 min), the water stays clear as day. This thing is such low maint. and is the sole reason i'm still in this hobby. I was planning to quit since I couldnt get the algae growth under control."

Gowingsgo on the RC site: "I just added a ATS to my system and have found that it did reduce my nitrates down to 0. from about 5 ppm. I still use my skimmer but have found that I do not have to clean it as much, and that the skim-mate is much darker in color. I have attached a few photos of my new sump. I built my sump the way I did with 5 separate chambers. (1 intake from main tank) (2 ATS) (3 skimmer) (4 fuge with live rock and sand so if I need to I can also put stuff in my sump) (5 return to main tank). I set up the ATS not to remove nitrates but to remove algae from my display tank (and that is exactly what it is doing). I now clean my glass about every 4 days and I used to do it every day. This is not for everyone but I wanted to give it a try and have found that I am very happy with my results. BTW I over feed my fish and corals a lot so I was very happy with the nitrates dropping down to zero. I will most likely keep my skimmer on line. even if it stops skimming. I like knowing that if I get something in my tank that skimmer is there to remove it."

Av8BlueWater on the MD site: "In 2 weeks all my cyano was gone. I didn't have a huge problem , but it was there. In 3 weeks, nitrates were 20-30 (down from 40-60), 4 weeks nitrates = 15, then the first week I notice nitrates = 0 was about 9 weeks total. I started June 24, and Nitrate zero on Sept 2. It was a happy day. My PO4 here lately is .02-.03 (tested with photometer) but I also still run rowaphos. I had an area of GHA about the size of my fist a few months ago, and now it's the size of a pea, but it is still there. I'm also an overfeeder."

MyFishEatYourFish on the MFK site: "update on my tank. no waterchanges since completion of ats over six months ago with multiple thriving sps, polyps, and a softies. [DT] algae growth is slowed, though what algae does grow is much harder than normal because it is corraline and that crappy tough brown stuff. my plants, chaeto and small grape calerpa show almost no growth, unfortunately xenia grows much slower than i would like too. one thing that everyone skimping on waterchanges must know is to keep up on additives, coral vite, calcium, magnesium, stonium, molebdenum essential elements etc. the best part is my nitrates and phosphates are still undetectable!!! thanks santa monica for starting this great thread!


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## SantaMonica

A quote from Eric Borneman on feeding SPS corals, from 
Mything the Point: Part One by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

"Corals with small polyps do not necessarily require more or less light than those with larger polyps. The only real difference between corals with small polyps and corals with large polyps is the size of the prey they can consume. Many small polyped corals, such as Pocillopora damicornis and Stylophora pistillata, are highly photoadaptive and can be found in very deep water. The genus Acropora has more species than any other coral and, as might be expected, can be found in similarly varied locations. Species of Acropora are found in deep water and shallow water, high water flow and low water flow. Furthermore, corals with small polyps have been found in many studies to consume more prey than corals with large polyps (see Borneman's article on feeding corals in Reefkeeping 2002 for pertinent references). The belief that large polyped corals need to be fed more than small polyped corals is just wrong."

[skimmers remove coral food; scrubbers add coral food]


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## SantaMonica

Excerpts from "Our Coral Reef Aquaria - Our Own Personal Experiments in the effects of Trace Element Toxicity" by Ron Shimek
Our Coral Reef Aquaria by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

"Trace elements in heightened concentrations are considered to be poisons, nothing more, nothing less, by every researcher examining them."

"With regard to arsenic (when found), copper, nickel, tin, and zinc, the average tank water must be considered as being polluted with heavy metals." 

"The water from the average reef tank is clearly dangerous to the organisms put into it [because of too many trace elements]." 

"What causes these excessively high trace metal concentrations? Initially, the problem occurs with artificial seawater mixes that have abnormally high concentrations of these materials [...] Also, there is inadequate export of the materials due to any number of causes, but including such factors as poor skimming, inadequate water changes, and inadequate biomass export. Finally, in some cases well-meaning, but ill-advised aquarists often add supplements containing unknown quantities of some trace elements."

"There are NO data that any trace element additions are beneficial, and for any trace element for which there are data, excess amounts are detrimental. No adequate test kits exist for the vast majority of these materials, and few supplements list their ingredients in a trustworthy manner. Consequently, it is prudent not to add any at all to a system."

[Scrubbers remove metals]


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## SantaMonica

Success Updates:

Coolhandgoose on the scrubber site: "Since I installed the new light two weeks ago my nitrates have gone from 20 to 0. The cyano in my display is now starting to disappear."

Desert_Fishy on the SWF site: "I started my 75g reef 5 months ago (2nd venture w/SW) and decided to start up with a scrubber and no skimmer due to this thread. All I have are powerheads, lights, scrubber and a heater. My water readings are perfect, corals are really flourishing, fish are happy and I spend 10 minutes a week cleaning the algae off the scrubber - although that is becoming a bigger and bigger job. My only problem now is that copepods, feather dusters and some other small pink bug-like creatures that live on the glass are multiplying out of control. I have feather dusters everywhere!"

Toddo on the MFK site: "This is my 125 freshwater tank with medium bio load. I have an XP3 with Biomax/mech pads, and this scrubber as the only filtration now. Its been 12 days with just the scrubber for nitrate control. Nitrates and ammonia are still at zero. No water changes. This is significant, as my well water is 35-40ppm Nitrates. It grows enough algae to need weekly cleaning now. I had a specific freshwater requirement for low to no nitrates, and I have met that, using my scrubber. It was properly designed and built using info provided, and is now functioning as expected."

DeathWish302 on the RC site: "The turf scrubber slowly drove out the cyano, and has been amazingly processing EVERYTHING I have thrown at the tank in regards to food." 

AlgaeNator on the scrubber site: "I have been running a version of ATS for about 2 months, and have been skimmerless for 4 weeks now, and am very happy with the ATS concept and performance so for. I have been running my prototype Victory Scrump for about 3 weeks now, to prove the concept and it's working VERY well. My corals are healthier than EVER, Two of MY RIC's that were dying going clear, are now SPLITTING after removing the skimmer. Im amazed actually at how well my other softies are doing too. In my case, I might not be typical though, as I think i was OVERSKIMMING my tank with my larger skimmers i build and sell, removing the good stuff with the bad"

Manuelink on the scrubber site [from spanish]: "with algal over 4 months without water changes, no skimmer, no additives anything, just food and my corals growing like additives. the coralline algae and is infested by all sides, that speaks of good levels of alk and calcium. is a wonder this invention"


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## SantaMonica

I now have a system to make double-layered, cactus-rough, plastic canvas screens:
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Now Available: Screens you can buy

If there is a sales or vendor forum where this would be better placed, let me know.


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## SantaMonica

The trick of skimmer popularity

In my reading of what is going on lately with the discussions of skimmer vs. skimmerless tanks, I'm seeing the same fallacy repeated over and over and over, usually by the most experienced reefers who have been around the longest: "Because everyone uses skimmers, a skimmer must be required or else they wouldn't use one." Or, "Every Tank-Of-The-Month has a skimmer, therefore a skimmer is required to give you the best chance of a TOTM."

It's all completely irrelevant. I can't believe how many people fall for this line of reasoning. This trick is taught in Debate class in high school; It's called "Appeal to Poplulariy", otherwise known at Argumentum ad populum...

Argumentum ad populum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On a side note, realize that many people are paid to promote skimmers. Millions of dollars are put into the marketing and promotion of skimmers, and some of that money goes into the pockets of the people who are posting reasons to have skimmers. Also, there must be a hundred companies who make skimmers, and all of them have promotion budgets. The job of promotion is to "get the word out". How many Algae Scrubber companies have promotion budgets? Zero, because there are no companies. Scrubbers are DIY. This is why the "popular thinking" is to use a skimmer... because skimmers are all anyone reads about. Promotion is my day job, and this is exactly how it works.


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## willieturnip

I'm just about to start the main bulk of the work on a 150 gallon. I'm considering going with a big algae scrubber instead of a skimmer, any thoughts?

I just figure that it will save me a few hundred quid and if there are no downsides to running a scrubber instead of a skimmer then why not?


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## SantaMonica

It will work fine. Make it two screens and three bulbs.


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## SantaMonica

A new scrubber FAQ is posted:
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ (12/17/09)


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## rsheets

Wow, that is awesome!


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## SantaMonica

Update: Cleaning algae off of the rocks. 

If you are running a scrubber to help remove algae from the display, try first running the scrubber without manually removing algae off of the rocks. This is because when you scrub algae off of the rocks (or if you put a lawnmower or similar in) while the rocks are still in the tank, the algae will float around and die, causing a nutrient spike. It's better to let the scrubber slowly remove the algae for you. This will prevent spikes, and is less work too.

However, if there are LOTS of algae in the display (so much so that the phosphate and nitrate tests are zero), then your scrubber may not easily compete, even after many weeks. So if after four weeks you don't notice a reduction in algae in the display, then slowly start removing algae manually from the display (or, add a small algae eater). Don't remove TOO much algae at once (or don't get TOO big of an algae eater) because that will generate a spike too. Once the algae in the display has been reduced some, your scrubber should be able to take over from there, and all the rest of the nuisance algae should slowly go away.

Note: This does not apply if you remove the rocks from the system before cleaning. Removing rocks can be done at any time, but is much more work.


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## SantaMonica

New Year Update: Screen Roughness

It's becoming more and more clear how important a rough screen is. A year ago it was thought that lighting was most important, but only because you could see new growth easily from stronger light. The effects of a smooth screen are not nearly as obvious, because you start losing small pieces of algae off the screen bit-by-bit, but they are covered up by the other algae. So here is an example of how fast a brand-new screen can grow; it is just 4 days old, but it is two layers of cactus-rough plastic canvas:












Which gives us a new goal:


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## SantaMonica

Several updates:

1. The algae that does the filtering in the oceans (algae is 90 percent of all life, except for bacteria) is planktonic, meaning they are small particles floating in the water. This is why the ocean is greenish in color. The tiny bit of algae on the beaches is not enough to do any filtering for an entire ocean.

2. Brown-to-Green. Algae on your screen will start off brown, then go to green, after several cleanings. But brown aglae STILL filters; it's just that it's the type of algae that grows when nutrients are high. If your screen never turns green, you are still getting filtering from the brown; it's just that your scrubber is not strong enough to get nutrients low enough to grow green (based on how much you are currently feeding).

3. Real turf algae (the kinds that is tough like carpet) is not needed. Last year I posted that real turf was best, but now it's been shown that in DIY aquarium scrubbers, green hair and even brown slime filters just as well. And that's a good thing because real turf almost never grows because it gets covered up by green and brown (unless you use a surge, which kills the green and brown with lack of flow.)

4. Fish-only tanks don't need tiny particles of food in the water, and thus don't benefit as much from scrubbers. However if you are going to run a skimmerless fish-only tank, and if you are not going to have any mechanical filter at all (like a filter sock), one thing you can do is use very little flow in the display, so that all fish waste will fall to the bottom. Then, make sure you have enough cleanup's on the bottom to break the waste up into tiny particles. The quicker the particles are broken up, the quicker bacteria can convert them into ammonia, nitrate and phosphate, and the quicker the scrubber can absorb these things. However if you are going to have any mechanical filters at all (including a skimmer), then you want high flow along the bottom of the tank so that the particles will get taken away to the filters for removal.

5. T5 bulbs are better, for the same wattage, because all the power is distributed evenly across the screen. CFL bulbs have to be moved further away, because the center spot gets too much power, but the farther spots don't get enough. T5 scrubbers are MUCH harder to build, however.

6. I keep hearing "Yes, skimmers DO remove nitrate and phosphate! They just do it by removing organics BEFORE they break down into nitrates and phosphates". That's just great. Organics, before they "break down", are called FOOD. Yes, FOOD. So yes, skimmers DO remove FOOD (i.e, "protein"). But saying that removing FOOD is the same as removing nitrates and phosphates is like saying removing BEER, before you drink it, is the same as removing the pee after you drink it. Wouldn't you rather have the beer, and then remove the pee? Skimmers remove the food that you put in the tank. Scrubbers remove the "pee" after the tank eats the food.

7. Horizontal (one-sided) screens are only recommended for nano tanks, and only if the screen is narrow (no more than 4 inches wide) so that the water flows like a river. If you try to do horizontal screens on bigger tanks, the screen will have to be wider, and what will happen is that when algae tries to grow thick, it will block the flow from getting past it (it will even block flow to itself). If the screen is 4 inches wide or less, and if the flow is very high, the water will pile up and get over the algae. But on wider screens it won't, and any algae downstream of the thick algae will have it's flow cut off. And for any horizontal screen, make sure you put a solid sheet under it, to keep the water from falling through.

8. Cloudiness is caused by underlying algae layers dying (from not cleaning); if you look at these layers, they look like wheat, and they fall right off of the screen. Green or yellow water, however, is caused by cleaning the screen in the water, without removing it first and taking it to the sink; the strands of algae break and put colored stuff into the water.

9. Algae video: YouTube - Algae: The World's Most Important Plants


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## SantaMonica

Finally here is a presentable acrylic scrubber box:































































































Video of box:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 Acrylic Scrubber Box



Here is the diagram if you want to build it:

Full size: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/100.jpg












Specs:

o 25 inches long (63.5 cm)

o 7.25 inches wide (18.4 cm)

o 6.5 inches tall (16.5 cm) with cover, or 6.25 inches tall (15.9 cm) without cover.

o Much stronger filtering compared to CFL-powered screens of same area and wattage.

o Very strong stand-alone filtering for a 50 gallon high-load reef tank.

o Good stand-alone filtering for a 100 gallon medium-load reef tank.

o Supplementary filtering for a 180 gallon medium-load reef tank.

o 100 square inches (645 square cm) of growable two-sided screen area, not counting the part that goes into the pipe.

o This is a high-performance scrubber, packed into a small space (which is what I wanted for the limited space under my tank). There is no wasted light; 100 percent of the light hits the screen, and is only 1.5 inches from the screen.

o The light is the same distance from the screen, from one end of the screen to the other.

o It works equally well in Fresh or Salt (but not for planted-only tanks).

o The all-black acrylic blocks out almost all light from escaping.

o The lid stops any evaporation or cooling. If you do want evaporation and cooling, just leave the lid off. If you wants LOTS of evaporation and cooling, put a fan on it. It will light up the whole room, however.

o The recommended four bulbs (Current Nova Extreme model 1127) deliver about 100 watts (8000 lumens) of flourescent light. If less filtering (and less power consumption) is needed, bulbs can be removed to give you about 75, 50 or 25 watts of lighting. (You cannot reduce the flow, however)

o The unit is only 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) tall. Only a few more inches are needed above this to be able to lift out the pipe/screen.

o Has a water-tight drain which allows the unit to be placed on top of the tank, or even on a shelf, where it can drain back to the display.

o Requires 800 GPH (after head loss). Do not skimp on GPH, because the long pipe will not fill with enough water if you do. An Eheim 1260 pump works good if the scrubber is down in the sump area, but if you put the scrubber up high on a shelf above the tank, something bigger like an Eheim 1262 would be needed. I have and use both of these pumps. At the sump level, there is not much difference in flow between these two pumps, but when you have to pump up to a shelf above the display, the extra power of the 1262 (or similar) would be needed.

o The 22 inch (55.9 cm) wide screen allows much more water flow to be filtered for the same screen area; this gives more filtering per hour than a narrow screen of the same area.

o The long T5HO bulbs distribute the light evenly from one side of the screen to the other, and are only 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from the screen. So there are no "burned" spots in the middle of the screen as there can be with CFL bulbs (because they put all the light into one spot).

o The box allows water to "pool" at the bottom when the algae gets thick. This creates algae that is floating in this turbulent pool, and lets the algae get more three dimensional, which lets water flow throughout the algae strands. This creates more filtering than just a flat sheet of algae.

o The top shelf keeps water from dripping on the lights when you take the screen out, and it also holds the lights in place.

o The bottom shelf keeps water from splashing up from the sump onto the lights, and also makes a wide base to keep the scrubber stable. The lights sit on this shelf.

o Replace the bulbs every 3 months. Most any K bulb below 6500 should work (including plant-grow bulbs), but F24T5HO/830 are suggested and are $7.99 from here:
F24T5HO/830 - 24 Watt, 22 Inch T5 High Output Warm White Fluorescent Bulb

o Clean your pump (run in pure vinager for a hour) every 3 months to make sure the flow stays high. If there is no longer a swirling "pool" on the bottom of the scrubber, then your pump needs cleaning.


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## SantaMonica

Ok here is a finished version:
























Lid on:













Lid off:















































































































































Video:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 Acrylic Scrubber - Complete


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## SantaMonica

Cleaning: Here is an updated cleaning video:
YouTube - Acrylic Scrubber Cleaning - Half at a time


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## SantaMonica

Successes:

LethargicCoder on the MOFIB site: "A little update to [the] post I made a year ago today. I had removed the skimmer from this [33 gal] tank when I added the scrubber, and I have only done 1 water change on the tank since then. I had said "starting nitrates...let's just say they're high", that meant off the chart even after diluting with RO water. Tonight I tested the water and it looks like it's under 5ppm. All that showed up on the screen for months was brown sludge. After 7-8 months, it finally started looking green but no significant growth, but algae did start showing up around my overflow and return pipe and sump. I assume nitrates were too high to grow algae before this point. Algae is now green and growing some volume, not rubbery, and more like typical hair algae. With some water changes and better bulbs, I'm sure I could have shortened this process but I really wanted to see what it would do with nothing but [screen] cleaning. I think with the results of this, I'll be going with an algae scrubber instead of a skimmer on the 135g tank that will hopefully replace this tank soon."

Kidult on the scrubber site: "There are brown dense algae growing on my algaescrubber. I scrape my scrubber one time a week. I suppose that i did something wrong, because it's running for more than 2 months and PO4 is 0,34mg/l (hanna). how many time it will take to go PO4 down from 0.36 to 0? [...] One scraping for 3 days. After last advice (1 scrape for 3 days) my tank achieved PO4 0.07 (hanna) from 0.36 about 4 weeks ago. [...] Po4 is 0.02 (hanna) No3 is 0 (salifert) Thank You All!"

Chrissu on the scrubber site: "the heart of my ATS is a 24"x24" screen that keeps the ammonia at 0, the nitriate at 0, and my nitrates hover between 0-25 depending on how much I feed my fish. They get to eat VERY well now that I have the ATS. I've been able to eliminate my macro algae, DSB, and protein skimmer from my sump without issue (makes maintenance a breeze now)."

Rosenaa on the scrubber site: "My tank looks great since I set up my ATS and the corals are feeding in the water colum many times. Readings are all zero and just a little algae on the stones (due to phospate leaking out I guess)"

Rainer_Feyer on the RC site: "the scrubber is blowing my mind! I have really no [nuisance] algae left - very little, and hope a little bit stays forever so I don't have to separately feed the snails. Water is clear, no yellowing at all. And, still am only doing 5gal water change every 3 weeks - that's it (75g tank w/ 20g fuge which is really the scrubber)"

Markjack on the UR site: "[scrubber is] best thing iv'e ever done for my tank. saves you a small fortune in phos and nitrate removers"

Pengelli on the UR site: "I have been running [a scrubber] for about a year. I think they are brilliant. I have brilliant parameters and not a glimpse of nuisance algae."

Gigaah on the LR site: "Day 6 - The green [scrubber] algae really just started filling in. I also got a bit of a nitrite/nitrate spike. I had to take my HOB filter off line to get this [scrubber] running. I suspected and was ready for that. Nitrite .50, Nitrate 40. Did 10 percen water change. Day 8 Nitrite = less than .25 (not quite zero tho), Nitrate= 30, I am happy to report that all algae from the sand and glass is GONE! some on the rocks yet but I understand the phosphate rock leech thing is probably the reason. Day 14 Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 20. Screens are filling in better but not even half full. Day 17
Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 10. End of week 4: Nitrates are ZERO and my tank is stocked pretty high and was stocked pretty fast."

Reeffish on the SG site: "After running this [scrubber] for nearly 10 months for my 3 foot [tank], i have not look back since. It has solve my high NO3 & PO4 problem. From [over] 100 to 3 mg/L (NO3), and [over] 3 to 0.03 mg/L (PO4), both using salifert test kit; live rocks [were] covered with red algae; [now] live rocks covered with purple coralline algae; tank [had] algaes growing everywhere, to [now] a spotless one, it is really amazing. Thanks for this wonderful info. A short info to others on my setup, dedicated aquabee 1000 to supply water to my vertical screen, 8" by 10" (a bit under size). Took me 1 hours to rough up both sides of the screen. Two 24W Philips Tornado, one on each side running 18hrs a day. Cool daylight. Clean the screen every 5 days. Took me 2 months to see NO3 & PO4 results dropping. No magic here, i follow Bro SM recommendations closely and of course, patience. Good luck to all who wants to give this alternative method a try."

Murrman1969 on the WTF site: "Here it goes. I started with nitrates in my 180 salt tank of over 240 ppm which is a dark orange colour indicator on my test kit. Here is a picture of what the colour was. The picture does it no justice it was actually almost burgundy. So I did some research and this is what I came up with for an in-sump design and one for an external container [scrubber] design. The nitrates in my tank now are non existent."

Russel_P on the TR site: "Well my scrubber has finally gotten NO3 levels to zero. The only complaint I have is cleaning it. The algae (more like moss) grows in a large thick sheet that all wants to come off at once when I clean it. I bet I could pull a pound of algae of of it in one cleaning. No yellowing of water, though I do run a small H&S skimmer. The display tank went from a forest of bryopsis to no visible algae. I am building more for every rack in my shop."

Scottt on the MB site: "I built one for my small clownfish hatchery after reading this thread. It keeps the nitrates down (between 0 and 15) without any water changes. I use a skimmer and a filter bag also, as it is a hatchery, with tonnns of food input. I don't have any pics of my current scrubber. Its just a piece of plexi-glass at a 15 degree angle, sanded and drilled. I keep it ~10" below a 150w HPS."

Desertdawg on the SWF site: "I get about a handful of algae off of it every week, so far the water levels are staying almost perfect with just this scrubber and no other filtration or a skimmer running!!!"


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## SantaMonica

Bridgeport on the scrubber site: "I set up my first turf scrubber [6 months ago] after reading through this site. Its gone through many changes since then as I did not have the right flow, lighting, or screen roughness to start. I finally adjusted all those problems and now the screen is growing thick light green algae. I did this project as an experiment and set it up on a ten gallon saltwater tank. I was plagued with red hair algae outbreaks in the ten gallon, and my 55 gallon tank. My plan was to start the algae scrubber on the ten gallon and then switch it over to the 55 gallon. I decided against this and have built another scrubber for the 55 (not in operation yet). The screen on the ATS for my 10 gallon was rather overkill. It is 11in. wide by 8in. height. Although it took a while to get it going because the bio load was very low, it is now working very well. I always clean the screen every weekend. It only takes a couple of minutes and is very easy. My ten gallon tank is now algae free(phos. near 0) and doing very well. As a matter of fact, I have been taking live rock from my 55gal which is still plagued with Red Algae, and putting them in the ten gallon to clean them off. I have done this several times and it has worked well."

Nrosdal on the scrubber site: "i have had an ats going for about 4-5 months and am finally happy with my design and the results that it is giving me, so i figured that i would post a thread with pics from along the way. i would love to say that my tank clearing up is only due to the ats but there are other factors (vodka dosing/more water changes) that also did contribute. But i can definately say that the ats is the biggest contributing factor in my tanks successfully staying free from green and my N and P staying within a reasonable range. [...] i was getting a little better growth of algae and doing 1-2 water changes a week, also changed bulbs to 6500k from the standard ones and put the scrubber on its own timer so that i could have it on for 18hrs as opposed to 12. over the next few weeks i saw some serious improvements in growth on my ats and noticed that the algae in the display was not growing back after my snails/crabs cleaned it. fast forward to today and the tank has been clear of algae (except for on 1 coral that the snails dont like to touch) for about a month now and even has a slight purple hue to it as opposed to green. Corals are slowly popping back out of the rock... and i have my latest version of the scrubber up and running for a week now (same screen just new lighting/box setup)." 

Wormside on the spanish AR site, Google translated from Spanish: "From the beginning I had problems with algae in [my] tank, [i bought] a better skimmer (ASM G2) as recommended, but [it] was not so drastic a change as when I put the scrubber. I was running both for a while, about 3 months, and the algae began to disappear; the fourth month I broke my pump sedra (the skimmer) and since then the tank is with pure scrubber. The change to the tank to operate only with the scrubber is impressive; zero abolutamente algae in the display anything! Another thing [] is that now only change the water every month, and now it takes 2 months without water change, and everything perfect. Add course trace elements, Strontium and Molybdenum, Iodine, every week or 15 days , BioDigest Bioptima and in principle every 15 days, but now, every month. I saved a good salt water changes, and unlike [with] the skimmer, I have no saltwater replace []. Also saves energy because the Sedra I used 35w or something and I also heat the water, [but without skimmer] when the quite, low temperature 1 or 2 degrees []. Well many things are good [] we brought the scrubber, is incredible as simple as effective." 

Labperck on the Spanish AR site, translated: "my tank is 8 months without a skimmer and water changes only, with the algal and some charcoal, and going very well my PO4 levels 0 and no3 to 0" 

Lugac on the spanish AR site, translated: "After 2 months of use to me is working great, nitrates had stalled at 15 mg/l and sometimes climbed to 25 mg/l, and install the [scrubber] after that I went down to 10 mg/L, after a 5 mg/L and Last weekend are at 2 mg/L, I'm on the verge of leaving them to zero. As for phosphates, had at 0.1 mg/l and install the [scrubber] as quickly dropped to .03 mg/L."

Antonioalvarez on the spanish AR site, translated: "After 15 years of struggling with high phosphates and nitrates in the clouds, alone in my aquarium fish, I read about the algae scrubber [] and I decided to build it following the instructions:

Oct 24 2009: Build Algal Scrubber; pipe 3/4 inch, screen 30x40cm, pump 840 Gal/H and a pair of 55-watt bulbs 6500K savers. Water values for the time:

NH4, NH3 = 0
NO2= 0
NO3= 20 mg/l
PO4= 0.1 

Oct 26 2009: The first and second day started sprouting weeds.

Nov 1 2009: Significant growth was observed.

Nov 2 2009: First harvest only one side of the screen.

Nov 9 2009: We measured parameters:

NH4, NH3 = 0
dNO2= 0
NO3= 20 mg/l
PO4= 0.05

Half Phosphates, Nitrates remain. 

Nov 25 2009: Measured parameters remain the same, is harvested the screen. Bio-Balls delete, delete, mechanical filters, remove sand substrate and 25% water change. Measured parameters:

NH4 NH3 = 0
NO2= 0
NO3= 10mg/l
PO4= 0.25

The measures gave results.

Dec 1 2009: I introduce to my tank live rock cured for 30 days previously. Measured parameters:

NH4= 0
NO2= 0
NO3= 7.5 mg/l
PO4= 0.25

Dec 9 2009: It is harvested and measured parameters:

NH4 NH3 = 0 
NO2= 0
NO3= 0 mg/l
PO4= 0
PH= 8
Temp= 25-26

TOTAL HAPPINESS!!! and remains so values.


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## SantaMonica

Here are some videos of the scrubber running:

Flow example, looking from the side with one of the lights removed:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 - Flow Example from side

Flow example, looking from the top:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 - Flow Example from top

Demonstration of noise:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 - Demonstration of noise

Demonstration of darkness:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 - Demonstration of darkness


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## Pasfur

SantaMonica said:


> 6. I keep hearing "Yes, skimmers DO remove nitrate and phosphate! They just do it by removing organics BEFORE they break down into nitrates and phosphates". That's just great. Organics, before they "break down", are called FOOD. Yes, FOOD. So yes, skimmers DO remove FOOD (i.e, "protein"). But saying that removing FOOD is the same as removing nitrates and phosphates is like saying removing BEER, before you drink it, is the same as removing the pee after you drink it. Wouldn't you rather have the beer, and then remove the pee? Skimmers remove the food that you put in the tank. Scrubbers remove the "pee" after the tank eats the food.


This is disappointing to see on this thread. I have been following this thread for a long time and i have no idea why you would so drastically attack another filter system, especially when your attack bends the facts as bad as a politician trying to get elected.

Yes, proteins are a food source for corals. However, there is a lot more at play here. If the necessity of proteins in the water column was required for coral growth, we would not have the widespread success in growing and propagating corals that we have in this hobby. 

The other side of this story is the negative impact that proteins and nitrates, which are acids, have on carbonate buffers.

My point is this. You have a great thread running here. It has been very educational, when you have focused on the positive aspects of algae scrubbers. 

Your beer analogy is perfect. It would benefit the person consuming the beer if the beer was just taken away, rather than allowed to process into the body. ;-)

Protein skimmers are not only proven in this hobby, the truth is that the hobby today would not exist with such wide spread success if it were not for the advancement of skimmer designs, and especially the dramatic drop in cost of effective skimmers.

Just to clarify for the reader. I am not at all against algae scrubbers. I am, however, against the idea of attacking the very type of filtration that has made this hobby what it is today, and that is the Protein Skimmer.


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## SantaMonica

> If the necessity of proteins in the water column was required for coral growth, we would not have the widespread success in growing and propagating corals that we have in this hobby.


That's the same as saying that since humans live to be more that 35 years old, that they do not need to improve what they eat. Yes there is "success" keeping some corals compared to 30 years ago, but the corals could use a lot more food if you want them to live like the do naturally. If you have ever had a bleached coral, you are looking at starvation. The amount of food available in a tank is a tiny percentage of what's available on any reef. Yes it has been measured, and in order to give your corals the same amount of food (and thus the same amount of growth) as in the ocean, a 100 gal tank would need to be fed over one pound of food every day.

And of course there are the entire group of pure non-photo corals which have zero chance with a skimmer. And even with a skimmer, you still need to spend more money and time adding on some way to remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, since skimmers don't. 



> The other side of this story is the negative impact that proteins and nitrates, which are acids, have on carbonate buffers.


Proteins and nitrates are not acids. What you are referring to is the first part of the nitrogen cycle which uses one unit of carbonate for every unit of ammonia. However, (1) the second part of the nitrogen cycle puts the carbonate back, and (2) algae eats ammonia as it very favorite number one food. So, you can feed more, and get less ammonia, because of the algae.



> Protein skimmers are not only proven in this hobby,


Yes, they are proven to remove food. They do it well.



> the truth is that the hobby today would not exist with such wide spread success if it were not for the advancement of skimmer designs, and especially the dramatic drop in cost of effective skimmers.


Similar to saying that humans could have found a cure 30 years ago for a common cold, but that we are better today without the cure because "this is how it is".



> I am not at all against algae scrubbers. I am, however, against the idea of attacking the very type of filtration that has made this hobby what it is today, and that is the Protein Skimmer.


I'm not against skimmers either. But I am against people having the wrong information. I'll guarantee that most everyone reading this thinks that the stuff that skimmers pull out is "bad stuff", and have no idea that it's actually coral food, and that it IS the stuff that feeds coral in the ocean. Now of course if you have not corals to feed, it's a different story.


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## Araidian

Hello all,

I have been following this thread with much interest for a while now and i have decided that i would like to try to build one of the scrubbers on this site (The Santa Monica 100) i will first give you some background info on my tank.

I inherited my tank from a friend who was downgrading and bought a red sea max 130. And my friend has since decided that the red sea wasn't big enough or expandable enough so they have gone larger again .. go figure.

Anyways the tank i got was an Aqua One 120 (285 liter i think) and was only using the standard aqua one trickle filter that comes on top of they're tanks and there was so much salt creep all over the tank, and it took quite a while to clean off. i ditched the trickle filter and light hood and am now running the tank as an open top with 150w metal halide and it has 2x 55w actinic lights. At the time i knew that i needed some form of filtration but wasn't sure what direction to go so i opted for the only filter i could find that did everything which was the aqua one marisys 240 it's basically a canister filter using bio balls and noodles filter pads and a protein skimmer. Needless to say it's not perfect for what I'm using it for apart from the ongoing costs of replacing the filter pads and wooden air stones. My water quality still isn't perfect and i am having nuance algae growing in my display tank and i have to clean my glass every few days.
I also have some macro algae growing in a brooding net in the corner of my tank it's crude but somewhat effective i believe it would be more so if it had proper flow, and i am planning on getting an octopus eco 1000 to grow my macro in to improve these issues, and my tangs seem to love it when i chuck some in the tank.

So my question is this, is there any way i can use the marisys hang on box with the aforementioned algae scrubber ? i have compared the specs and the marisys uses a syphon system with a 2000 liter an hour power head to return the water back to the tank so my plan was to use the return pump and hang on box and attach it to an algae scrubber instead.
the santa monica 100 doesn't quite fit in my tank stand but i feel i should be able to mod it and make it fit.

I would be grateful for any other input that you guys might have on this and tank you all in advance for your help and a great and very informative thread.


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## Pasfur

SantaMonica said:


> the corals could use a lot more food if you want them to live like the do naturally. If you have ever had a bleached coral, you are looking at starvation. The amount of food available in a tank is a tiny percentage of what's available on any reef. Yes it has been measured, and in order to give your corals the same amount of food (and thus the same amount of growth) as in the ocean, a 100 gal tank would need to be fed over one pound of food every day.


Are you recommending putting 1 pound of food per day per coral into a tank with a scubber? Of course not. Lets talk apples to apples if we are going to have an intelligent conversation.



> And of course there are the entire group of pure non-photo corals which have zero chance with a skimmer.


Obviously, but this is a tiny tiny percentage of the hobby. Clearly we have to learn the conditions that our animals need to thrive before we purchase them. The animals you describe have extremely high difficultly levels to care for. Charles Delbeck recently published an article in Coral Magazine on such a system, and he is learning day to day on the demands of such systems. I won't pretend for a second to be an expert on non-photosynthetic corals. Only a few select people in our hobby has much experience in this area. This topic has no relevance to the internet forum member.



> And even with a skimmer, you still need to spend more money and time adding on some way to remove Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, since skimmers don't.


I simply have no understanding why you continue to attempt to say that our systems do not function properly to have success in keeping reef tanks. A protein skimmer, live rock, and live sand is a proven technique that is widely successful all over the world. This conversation is you against thousands of people with successful tanks. The most obvious is David Saxby. David Saxby | January 2007 Tank of the Month | UltimateReef.Com Please tell me how his aquarium is not an overwhelming success.

Again, I am not saying your method does not work. I simply do not understand why you would feel the need to attack the competition. It is inappropriate, unprofessional for a businessman (which you are, given that you sell these units), and reeks of used car salesman.



> Proteins and nitrates are not acids. What you are referring to is the first part of the nitrogen cycle which uses one unit of carbonate for every unit of ammonia. However, (1) the second part of the nitrogen cycle puts the carbonate back.


I'm not going to take the time to pull out the books. I have posted countless references on this forum that explain how carbonates are removed during the process of biological breakdown. I will leave the burden of proof in your court, given that you are the one offering a product for sale and actually have something to gain in this debate. I am just here helping people have successful aquariums. Either way, if I am understanding algae scrubbers correctly, both the scrubber and skimmer help to prevent his situation from occurring. 



> I'm not against skimmers either. But I am against people having the wrong information. I'll guarantee that most everyone reading this thinks that the stuff that skimmers pull out is "bad stuff", and have no idea that it's actually coral food, and that it IS the stuff that feeds coral in the ocean. Now of course if you have not corals to feed, it's a different story.


Actually you are very much against skimmers. You attack them when given the opportunity. And this is the sort of misinformation that causes people to make ridiculous decisions such as attempting to use freshwater filtration concepts on a marine aquarium. I have no problem with preaching algae scrubbers as a less expensive alternative to skimmers, but to attack the benefits of a skimmer hinders the progress in this hobby.

I am not looking for a long running debate on this. But from time to time the other side of this discussion has to be given, because your thread is full of authoritative sounding information that is outside of the mainstream of what the experts in this hobby support. You only have to reach for the nearest magazine or book, or visit behind the scenes of a public aquarium to see this in action.


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## SantaMonica

No I don't think your pump has enough gph for the 100. You don't want to under-power the 100 (it is not an economy design). So here are some options:

1. Get a separate pump for the 100, and set the scrubber on top of your tank so it can drain into it (this is what it was designed for.) This will be the most money and most space used in your display, but will the be strongest filtering (no more nuisance algae again).

2. Reduce the length of the scrubber. If your pumps does 1800 lph, that's 473 gph, so you can have a 473 divded by 35 equals about a 13 inch (34 cm) wide screen. Your tank is 75 gal, so 75 square inches of screen is fine, which would make the screen 75 divided by 13 equals about 6 inches (15cm) tall. The difficult part here would be finding lighing units that are about 13 inches long, and which put out about 25 watts each. You could custom-fit some T5HO's if you know how (best).


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## SantaMonica

Santa Monica 100 growth pics for first 7 days:

No seeding. Screen is one layer of roughed up playsic canvas, never used before:





















































































































































































Videos:

Front Side:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 -- First 7 days of growth, front side 

Back Side:
YouTube - Santa Monica 100 -- First 7 days of growth, back side
.
.
.


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## SantaMonica

Here is the initial design for a nano scrubber. Nanos have always been the hardest to DIY a scrubber for. This scrubber is designed to be mounted above the waterline of a nano, and then drain down into it, without needing a real sump below the tank. It will come with a pump that will go into the display (like a powerhead) or into the hidden "sump" section at the back of the tank. I'm building a test version of it now, and if it works out good I'll post the plans for others to build:


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## Araidian

Hey guys,

Just a quick post to update you on how i went with my ATS. i have built a prototype scrubber and it "seems" to be working .. i havnt been game enough to take a water sample in to get tested but my last one looked ok, i still had to clean my glass today and i don't think my screen is growing as i would have expected it too. But this is what i have built, i had to make a few compromises to allow for the wife factor, and the amount of money that i was aloud to spend on this project. I have made a poly pipe frame using 2 T pieces 4 end caps 2 corner pieces and a 3rd t piece for the inlet i have reused all the aqua one marisys pipes clamps hang on box and 2000 Lt an hour return pump.

i probably have not explained that very well but i have pics 























































Few days in:









Few more days in:









Today :










it seems to me making spurty noises but i think it's because i didn't make the slit that the screen sits in quite large enough, or i have an air leak somewhere either way am looking to make ver 2 which will be made out of flexible hose and snap on fittings will hang it will curtain hooks and larger pipe am thinking that it should help with the noises as it wont be held together with silicone 

the plastic canvas i found at spotlight were the largest ones that they had .. i was going to make it larger but the space inside my cupboard is limited so am hoping that i have enough surface area for algae growth.

i welcome comments and suggestions


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## SantaMonica

You have plenty of area for up to a 100 gal tank, as long as there is a bulb on both sides. That bulbs looks pretty strong, so it is going to over-power the center section. If you can move it farther away, and then use a reflector, you will get more even coverage across the screen. 

I like that you have two layers of screen... did you rough them up?


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## Araidian

Hi guys thanks for the response.



> You have plenty of area for up to a 100 gal tank/QUOTE]
> 
> my tank is 285L not sure what that is in gallons .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That bulbs looks pretty strong/QUOTE]
> 
> yea it's a 6000k globe and Bunnings didn't sell reflectors
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I like that you have two layers of screen... did you rough them up?/QUOTE]
> yea i roughed it up with a brick on the concrete at the back of my house .. not ideal i know but it worked  probably not as well as using the hole saw though.
> 
> how much growth should i have on my screen by now and do you think it's at the stage where it needs a clean ? it's been about 7 ish days since it started.
> 
> many thanks for all your help and grats on a very helpful and informative forum
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


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## Araidian

another thing that i have noticed is that i seem to have more protein bubbles both in the bucket and on top of my tank is that normal too ?


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## SantaMonica

Is 75 gal.

Time to clean.

Scrubbers don't affect skimmers. The amount of skimming is based on how much you feed, because that's what the skimmer is removing... food, and waste, which is coral food too.


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## Araidian

SantaMonica said:


> Scrubbers don't affect skimmers. The amount of skimming is based on how much you feed, because that's what the skimmer is removing... food, and waste, which is coral food too.


there is no skimmer running on this tank .. only the scrubber .. no other form of filtration


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## SantaMonica

Then it's not related to the scrubber. You just need a powerhead pointed up at the surface.


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## Araidian

Cool thanks for the tip although i do have power heads running on the top of my tank but not in the bucket .. oh well i guess it doesn't hurt anything it's just an observation that i have made since i turned off my skimmer.



thought i would share my water test results:
PH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0.3
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 10
Calcium 460
Carbonate hardness 10
Phosphate 1.5
Salinity 1.026

All of these are in ppm. so it works .. yay  I'm expecting it to come down over the coming weeks. but it might take a bit longer as i gave one of my screens away to a friend to get his going a bit quicker.

I built his using my second ver design, and made it all easy to get at with quick release cam locks with a 25 ml barb on one end and poly pipe fitting on the other (45 ml) and just a 45 ml end cap to finish it off. It's lit with 5000k CFL globes and the screens are held up with green plastic coated garden ties. It's not quite operational yet but i have high hopes for it i have included a pic of that  sorry the pic is a little grainy as it was a bit dark and it was taken with my phone.


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## SantaMonica

You might want to put some reflectors on those bulbs


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## Araidian

SantaMonica said:


> You might want to put some reflectors on those bulbs


would it be possible to post a pic of the type of reflectors that your refering to .. i have not had much luck tracking something down that would work .. all the ones i have seen go all the way around the globe .. i would be thinking that the ones that your talking about would only go half way ?


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## SantaMonica

Like this one. 









Gives me an idea... I should start buying and reselling these.


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## Araidian

that's cool .. i have not seen anything like that for sale but i will keep my eyes open 

but i'm not sure that my scrubber that i have just built would need it .. it's basically in a white box the tank stand is made out of white malimine and i had a shelf made by a mate who is a cabinet maker out of the same stuff and the open bit that you see is a door .. which is again .. white so it should have quite a lot of reflectivity when the door is closed ?
but there isnt anywhere else where the light escapes .. it's sealed pretty well, i also have some pics of it going i finished it off yesterday and the owners are pretty happy with it .. it's quiet too more quiet than mine lol even though they are running more pressure though it .. as they went with a 2400 L an hour return pump, but i suspect that it could run a lot more than that maybe up to 3500L ? but at 2400 they have a pretty good flow over the screen.

anyways thanks again guys this has been heaps of fun and it's a great project to undertake


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## SantaMonica

A reflector would double your growth. Or, would cause green to grow instead of brown. And would double your filtering too. Light-power, and getting the light to the screen, are critical. If you look at my acrylic pics, even at the end of the screen where the bulbs end, it starts turning brown, even though the bulb is only 2 inches away (and with a reflector).


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## SantaMonica

What to dose when you don't do waterchanges, for those with SW tanks also....

Many folks ask if anything needs to be dosed, if they stop doing water changes. If a reef tank, you'll certainly need to dose Calcium and Alkalinity. Then some Magnesium when needed. And maybe Strontium. The easiest way to dose Cal and Alk is by mixing some powdered lime with your topoff water. For details, search for "kalkwasser dripping". The powder is cheap from here: http://store.mrswagesstore.com/mrswagpiclim.html 

Everything else is supplied by the food you feed, and by the organics from the scrubber. This includes all the trace elements that you always hear about. Remember that in the ocean, 90% of all life (besides bacteria) is algae. Algae provides all the food for everything that lives in the ocean, by coverting the sun into organics. And included in these organics are the trace elements that your tank needs too. Cal and Alk, however, are inorganic, and are used up quickly by corals and coralline, so you need to dose them often or continuously. Mag is dosed when your test says to. And the same with Strontium.


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## SantaMonica

Here is the design for the nano scrubber box. This can be easily built by giving the plans to an acrylic shop. They can either build it for you, or, they can cut the pieces for you and you can silicone it together (use only aquarium-safe silicone)...

full size: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/25.jpg


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## mastershake93

thats awesome!, i am in the middle of designing and building a sump for my reef tank and i will deffinately make one of these for my tank!


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## SantaMonica

Success Updates:

Donny Mac on the MFT site: "i have built mine 1 year ago and it has made the maintenance of my tank so easy, the appearance of the glass and water is crystal clear. i keep coral and fish"

PRC on the LR site: "I tested my nitrates tonight. they are officially at ZERO. Couple of small details. I installed this DIY unit on a tank that was cycling. I started out with 20ppm Nitrates. i'm not running anything on this 90g tank except the algae scrubber. So within a 1 1/2 months I have a nice stable system. It may have taken a little less time, if I would have initially had the flow where I needed it. The entire thing took me less than 1 hr to make and install in my sump. And it works great. I use 4 lights (2 on each side). I'm using the lights recommended at the beginning of this thread. All I can say is the thing works... My nephew is running a skimmer, a filter, and has 100lbs. of rock and can't get his nitrates under 15ppm.. I spent .39 on a screen and have 0 nitrates."

Tristan on the LR site: "Im now convinced that the algae scrubber a more suitable than a skimmer. all the algae in my dt is gone!"

waucedah_joe on the RS site: "This thing works. When my [CFL] scrubber-prototype crashed [due to broken pump] my nitrates got up to 25 ppm before I was able to get this [LED scrubber] online, and then in 3 weeks they were near non detect level with the Salifert test kit. Rather than just say it's working for me, here's the datum:

Tank specs: 75g display w/ 40g sump. Heavily stocked. 1-3" blue tang, 1-3-1/2" powder brown tang, 2-Oscy clowns, 1-lawnmower blenny, 1-purple firefish, 1-manderin goby, 1-radiant wrass, 1-high fin goby, 3 BTA's, shrimp, crabs, 1-sand sifting star, 1-brittle star. 

1/7 Return pump failed while out of town. Small CFL scrubber pretty much dead from drying up. Cleaned both sides and continued to use while working on new scrubber.
1/10 Nitrates 20 ppm. 20 gal water change
1/21 New scrubber on-line
1/24 Nitrates 25 ppm, old scrubber off-line. 20 gal water change. Last big water change. From here on out the only water change is 3-4 gallons every other week to replace water removed from vacumming detrius from return chamber of sump.
1/30 Nitrates 10 ppm
2/14 Nitrates 5 ppm
2/20 Nitrates 2.5 ppm
2/27 Nitrates <.2 ppm, Increased feeding 17% (from 5 cubes in two days to 6 cubes in two days. Mini icecube sized homemade frozen food. + small piece of nori every other day)
3/7 Nitrates 2.5ppm
3/14 Nitrates 2.5ppm
3/21 Nitrates 2.5ppm

No sugar, no skimmer, no macro algae. This is my only filter."

Rosenaa on the algae scrubber site: "Well its been a good while since I put up my ATS and I am very pleased! I had problems with red bubble algae and they are all gone now! Also coraline algae have sprung up everywhere and covering stone, glass and powerheads".

Inkidu on the algae scrubber site: "As far as this working, after several weeks with only a power head running, which feeds the scrubber, and some air pumps, there is absolutely nothing that is filtering besides the ats, my tank of 5 (say 5") discus and some cardinal tetra. My fish seem content (in fact I brought them back from the brink of death), I feed pretty heavily, the pea green water disappeared, and I have no algae in my tank. Thanks for all the help guys, I am going to call this a success."

Aeros on the algae scrubber site: "As a RO/DI is not within my budget at this time, I have been using tap water to top off and in my salt mix. [...] all my corals have doubled or tripled in size since December, and since adding my ATS all the hair algae has dissipated from the display (thanks mostly to the yellow tang) as well as the red cyano, and nitrates dropped from ~80 to ~10ppm. And pods galore!" All that being said, I will be investing in an RO/DI as soon as possible. For peace of mind mostly, and as part of an ATO set-up; manual topping off sucks."

Pepetj on the FL site: "As I reached the 2 months mark [with the scrubber], this is what I have to share. I've been measuring for Nitrates and Phosphates (Nitrates with Seachem's Nitrite/Nitrate test kit as well as calibrated PinPoint Nitrate Monitor; Phosphates with API's Phosphate test as well as Hagen's). I can tell that in my setting, which is a Nano Reef, I have been obtaining almost negligible readings (meaning as close to steady zero as I've ever seen) for both phosphates and nitrates."

Sillygoose on the RC site: "It's been two weeks since we scraped algae off of our new turf scrubber. As you can see in the pictures, growth has really taken off. Today, cleaning maybe 2/3 of the outer surfaces, we got 1 1/2 cups of algae off. The mat was 3/4-inch thick in places. The best part is that our NO3 is down from around 10 to below detect in 2 weeks without a water change. I can't tell if PO4 went down because I have a hard time with interpreting the test, but we are starting to see new coraline growth. It's very cool."

Gowingsgo on the RC site: I have been running a ATS for about 8 months now but set mine up with a skimmer. I built my sump with 5 separate chambers. (1 intake from main tank) (2 ATS) (3 skimmer) (4 fuge with live rock and sand so if I need to I can also put stuff in my sump) (5 return to main tank) I set mine up to remove algae from my display tank (and that is exactly what it is doing). But I have noticed that my skim-mate is much darker [note: scrubbers should not affect skimmate] and that I do not have to clean it as much (about once every week not every other day). also my nitrates have never been undetectable (more like 5+ ppm) but they have been 0 for the last 6 months now. [...] With turf scrubber [I have to clean the glass] once every 4 days, sometimes longer, without the scrubber I have had to clean the glass every day. [...] I love my ATS and don't think I would run a tank without one."

Lewk on the RC site: "I'm running a very simple scrubber on my 65 gallon. I've been using it since day one on the tank and my nitrates and phosphates have been at zero for several months now. I set everything up according to the algae scrubber site, and it's working great so far. I'm in the planning stages for a 135, and plan on using a scrubber there as well."


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## SantaMonica

Finally got a finished acrylic box to work with:











































Did a flow test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4HJilDbX10

Then did a melt test; put the bulb in, and let it set with no water flow for a half hour. No acrylic softening. Then, poured boiling water into the compartments; still ok...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar82ZM8W_y8


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## SantaMonica

Finally, I have a combination that has some green. Had to up the flow on the one-sided screen from 50 to 75 gph on the one screen (am not currently using the other screen), and reduce the lighting to 16 hours. Bulb is 1 inch (2.54 cm) from the screen. The bulb is setting on the bottom of the box at an angle, and the screen is also at an angle, and that's the reason that the burned-yellow part is at the bottom, and why the waterline is tilted:

(right click and "view image" to see the whole pic)












I cleaned it today, then sanded the clear window to diffuse the light. The bulb is so near to the screen that you are almost able to see the outline of the bulb in the growth. Scattering the light should help a lot; it's just a matter of how much.

To build this at home, you would just attach vinyl tubing to the pipe, and set the screen down evenly inside the box.


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## SantaMonica

Nutrients vs. Nutrition

The word "nutrient" and "nutrition" are commonly mixed up when talking about reefs. Skimmers (in this case, air bubbles) only remove nutrition, which is fine if all you have is fish, but skimmers/bubbles have no affect on nutrients. "Nutrients" are Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic (Ortho) Phosphate, Ammonia, Ammonium, and Nitrite. Matter of fact, if you took a fresh batch of newly made saltwater and put a skimmer in it, then added pure nutrients, the skimmer would not have any skimmate at all. Algae, however, would start growing out of control. If, however, you added nutrition (phyto, plankton, ground up flakes, etc) to that same batch of saltwater, the skimmer would go crazy and remove it all.


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## SantaMonica

Scrubber Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8KQcWjdhgU


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## wake49

SantaMonica said:


> Nutrients vs. Nutrition
> 
> The word "nutrient" and "nutrition" are commonly mixed up when talking about reefs. Skimmers (in this case, air bubbles) only remove nutrition, which is fine if all you have is fish, but skimmers/bubbles have no affect on nutrients. "Nutrients" are Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic (Ortho) Phosphate, Ammonia, Ammonium, and Nitrite. Matter of fact, if you took a fresh batch of newly made saltwater and put a skimmer in it, then added pure nutrients, the skimmer would not have any skimmate at all. Algae, however, would start growing out of control. If, however, you added nutrition (phyto, plankton, ground up flakes, etc) to that same batch of saltwater, the skimmer would go crazy and remove it all.


There is definitely a difference of opinion here as to what a Skimmer is removing. The people here at TFK have successfully been running tanks _without_ algae scrubbers for years. We do not have problems with algae, or with corals being undernutritioned. 

Here is a good question for you: Why do public aquariums, such as the Georgia Aquarium, use foam fractionization as a method of filtration? Scientists with far more knowledge in this industry than most hobbyists have decided that foam fractionization is a better form of filtration. They have Protein Skimmers that are ten feet tall and five feet around pulling DOCs out of the water. This coupled with the giant Live Rock structure is what is filtering their large reef tank. 

If we are talking about Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonia, we aren't relying on the skimmer to remove these from the water. We rely on Live Rock and a Deep Live Sand Bed. This is the principle: Aerobic Bacteria live in the shallower levels of the rock and sand and convert Ammonia into Nitrite and Nitrite into Nitrate. Anaerobic Bacteria that live in the deeper parts of the rock and sand, where there is little to no oxygen, convert Nitrate into Nitrogen Gas (which leaves the system naturally). This is the form of filtration that relieves our systems of Nitrites, Nitrates and Ammonia. 

Skimmers remove Dissolved Organic Compounds (DOCs) from the water column. These are naturally occuring *acids* that result from fish excrement (and broken down foods in the system). These DOCs are detrimental to the system as they bond with carbonates and lower the Alkalinity. If these DOCs stay in the system, they are very detrimental to the health of the system. The falling Alkalinity directly effects the ability of the coral to calcify their skeletal structures. That is why the Skimmer is important in removing the DOCs in reef systems. 

I don't disagree with the use of the scrubber, it actually makes sense as a lot of us use macroalgae to eat up excess nutrients. I just don't think that they make sense as an alternative to a skimmer. I think they work better in conjuction. There is no reason to diminish the value of the skimmer.


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## SantaMonica

> The people here at TFK have successfully been running tanks without algae scrubbers for years


Depends what you mean by successful. If you compare to fish-only tanks, then yes. If you compare to the ocean, then no.



> We do not have problems with algae


Tons of people have problems with algae, and they use skimmers. It's one of the most asked questions on reef forums... how to get rid of algae. The algae goes away when they add a scrubber. Every time.



> We do not have problems with...with corals being undernutritioned.


If you ever compared the growth of corals in aquariums with growth in the ocean, you'd see. And that's just the corals that you can currently keep alive. It does not include the corals that you currently have no chance of keeping alive. However, until now, you've only been looking at the corals you can currently grow, and you've been thinking "this is good". If you compare your corals to the ocean, you would say "this is not good". It's like comparing underwater scuba breathing to normal breathing: You could say "This is as successful as it gets... I'm breathing underwater... I could not breath any better".



> public aquariums


First, scrubbers were indeed successful, especially at the Barrier Reef aquarium, where it was first set up:

NUTRIENT CYCLING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF AQUARIUM
Proceedings of the 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, Australia, 1988, Vol. 2
PDF: http://www.reefbase.org/download/download.aspx?type=10&docid=10506 

"The Reef Tank represents the first application of algal scrubber technology to large volume aquarium systems. Aquaria using conventional water purification methods (e.g. bacterial filters) generally have nutrient levels in parts per million, while algal scrubbers have maintained parts per billion concentrations, despite heavy biological loading in the Reef Tank. The success of the algal scrubbers in maintaining suitable water quality for a coral reef was demonstrated in the observed spawning of scleractinian corals and many other tank inhabitants."

The drawback to such huge systems are not chemical, they are fiscal. They are a different operation, with different criteria, than hobby tanks. Things as different as income and labor costs, etc, which have no pertinence to you, weigh greatly for them.

Scrubbers started out in public tanks, and they started there by not being run correctly. They did not remove their screens and take them to the sink for cleaning, and they did not clean them weekly. So they got yellow water, and thus all public tanks assumed that scrubbers meant yellow water. Public tanks can't have yellow water, and they did not know that it would be fixed by changing how they clean. The proper cleaning technique was not discovered until August 2008, twenty years later.

Also, electricity-powered scrubbers this size would give off a lot of light. Enough light that it might get into the viewing areas where the public walks. It's not easy to build a box around such a big scrubber, so in order to keep excess light in control, it might be easier to just not have the light in the first place, by using a skimmer. 

Another thing is that the rocks in public tanks are far away from the front glass. So a little bit of nuisance algae on the rocks (because of the excess nitrate and phosphate that the skimmers don't remove) will not be that obvious. Plus, public audiences won't even know the difference between nuisance algae and clean rock in the first place. The public will also not judge a tank by how much coralline vs. algae the rocks have; they just want nice fish and corals. And since coralline is reduced or eliminated because of the the higher phosphate in the water, it's less coralline for them to have to clean off of those huge front glass panels.

Feeding such large tanks becomes more "shotgun" than feeding your tank. They can't hand feed each small fish or coral, so, food has to be "broadcast" out across everything. This causes a higher percentage of food to go uneaten (compared to our tanks), and thus a skimmer should help remove all that excess food.

Remember that making changes to a public tank costs tens of thousands, if not millions of dollars. So even if they are reading these forums right now and really want to add or change back to a scrubber (now that it is know how to clean them), they could not do it without submitting budget requests, committee planning requests, timetable requests, etc, and this could add up to years of waiting.



> Scientists with far more knowledge in this industry than most hobbyists have decided that foam fractionization is a better form of filtration.


They had no other option, because of the public aquarium management problem with scrubbers. You'd be surprised to learn, that marine biologists are anti-skimmer; not pro-skimmer. 

Then there is the point-source problem of skimmers, especially in larger tanks. Skimmers filter out particles, especially live pods, which rise up from the bottom. The further away the skimmer is, the less likely the pods/particles will ever get to the skimmer before they are eaten. Example: The Red Sea is 1,000,000,000,000 times bigger than a 50 gal tank. So you might think you could get a skimmer that is 1,000,000,000,000 bigger, and put in in the middle of the Red Sea. The skimmer might be a mile high, and 300 feet wide, but it would at least be the "recommended" size for that many gallons. Problem is, with the skimmer in the middle, the nearest shore is 100 miles away, and the farthest shore is 700 miles away. So there is no way that any particles, living or dead, are going to ever get to the skimmer before being eaten. Thus the skimmer becomes a non-entity except for the immediate area around it.

Same for larger aquariums. The distance to the skimmer keeps particles from getting to it, EVEN WITH large flow, because the majority of the particles are live zooplankton which survive in the ocean by going down to the seafloor at night. Thus the skimmer is doing nothing; just removeing some local food.



> pulling DOCs out of the water


Skimmmers do not remove DOC:

2009 research on skimmer removal of dissolved organics:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2

"The skimmer pulls out all of the TOC that it is going to remove by the 50-minute mark. Beyond that time point, nothing much is happening and the TOC level doesn't change much. 

"Thus, all skimmers tested remove around 20 - 30% of the TOC in the aquarium water, and that's it; 70 - 80% of the measurable TOC is left behind unperturbed by the skimming process. It may be possible to develop a rationalization for this unexpected behavior by referring back to Fig. 1. Perhaps only 20 - 30% of the organic species in the aquarium water meet the hydrophobic requirements for bubble capture, whereas the remaining 70-80%, for whatever reason, don't."

Here are some interesting 2008 technical points taken out of recent issues of Advanced Aquarist:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/8/aafeature3
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/9/aafeature2


"Greater than 97% of the organic matter in the oceans is in the form of DOC"

"The majority of the DOC in the oceans is consumed over a time span on the order of hours-to-weeks."

"The generally accepted value of deep ocean TOC (DOC in this instance) ranges from 0.45 - 0.60 ppm, a number that appears to be insensitive to collection location. On reefs, however, the DOC (and TOC) value is considerably higher. Even with this point noted, the values of DOC on reefs from the South Pacific to Japan to the Caribbean to the Red Sea are remarkably consistent in their range: 0.7 - 1.6 ppm"

"Bacteria are a critical component in the food web of the reef, as they occupy the role of 'middle man' in the transfer of energy from the source (sunlight) to the consumers on the reef"

"sponges are some of the most prolific repositories of marine bacteria. In fact, some sponges have been studied as effective bioremediation agents in marine aquaculture as a consequence of their exceptional ability to absorb TOC"

"Where does the DOC go ... studies suggest that it is rapidly consumed by bacteria that live in and on the coral itself and not by bacteria present in the water column. Shutting down these endogenous bacteria by antibiotic treatment abolished DOC uptake."

"In total, these data unequivocally demonstrate that the [skimmer] is not required to deplete the aquarium water of TOC. Apparently, naturally biological processes are sufficient in and of themselves to return the post-feeding TOC levels to their pre-feeding values after about 4 hrs or so ... Clearly the skimmer is doing something, given the copious residue accumulated in the collection cup at the end of the week. Perhaps, however, the residue removed by the skimmer is only a rather small, even inconsequential, portion of the entire TOC load that develops in the aquarium water over the course of a week."



> I just don't think that [scrubbers] make sense as an alternative to a skimmer.


Correct; they are not an alternative at all. Scrubbers remove what is needed to be removed (Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic Phosphate, Nitrite, metals, CO2, Ammonia/Ammonium), and leave in what needs to be left in (DOC's (food), oxygen, phytoplankton (food), waste (food)). Skimmers do the opposite: Remove food particles. Now if you don't have corals, this is not important.



> There is no reason to diminish the value of the skimmer.


Who's diminishing. I think everyone should buy them from the vendors of this site, if they have a fish-only tank.


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## SantaMonica

Updates:

Coral color: If you use zeo/vodka (with a skimmer) and have pale coral colors, it is not because the "nutrients are too low". It is because the FOOD is too low. The skimmer removes the food (almost all of it) that the corals need to eat. Turn the skimmer off and the colors will come back. Of course your nutrients (Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate) will come back too, but hopefully you now know how to fix that by now. Some people mistakenly try "adding nutrients" such as potasium nitrate, but that is the opposite of what is needed. Nutrients (Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate) are not needed; FOOD is needed. Eric Borneman says: "Adding potasium nitrate to a tank whose corals are losing color because of zeo/vodka dosing is the most convoluted, complex, unnatural and bizarre way to get to an end result that is so easily achieved other ways."

Screen Growth: Don't forget that the more algae you remove every week from your screen, the more nitrate and phosphate you are pulling out of your tank. Thus, the more growth, the lower your Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate will be in your tank, and, the more baby pods you will have in your water.

Bulbs: Importance of the light being consistant across the screen: CFL bulbs are cheap and easy, but they put all the light into one spot. So there is really no purpose in having a screen much larger than the bulb:


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## SantaMonica

Here is a super easy DIY nano tank that can easily be made at an acrylic or glass shop. You would want at least a 13 watt bulb no matter how small the nano:


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## SantaMonica

Video of 7 days of growth on double-layer screen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhz6c_ub2j4 

Video of cleaning of same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v62OKSqTovI


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## SantaMonica

Success updates...

Ddinox44 on the RS site: "I hated the constant drone of my skimmer which aided in the push [to get a scrubber]. I really do see an improvement and I believe my tank is healthier for it. Cleaned my screen today, tons of pods on it. Hurts to wash those critters down the drain after thinking of the money spent trying to stock them."

Docjames on the RS site: "No one in [Taiwan] has ever heard of such a thing, but my mind was determined to either be a success or a failure. At that time, the NO2 and No3 were all off the chart, unmeasureably high. That was 1 week ago. Then this morning, when I did the water check, NO2 was undetectable, NO3 was less than 12.5, PO4 was less than 0.5, Kh was 11 dkh (Sera testing kit), and Ca was 440. So I called up the lfs guy that I planned and purchased everything from, and he told me never in his business (he's had this store for decades) has he ever heard of anything like that. He had insisted that I purchased a good Protein skimmer prior to the start of the aquarium, of which I strongly refused and insisted that I'm going to be a pure ATS only filtration person. Tonight, he brought some fishes, shrimps and invert and they became the first inhabitants of my new aquarium."

Cheely13 on the RS site: "I have been using a alge scrubber for about 6 months now with no skimmer, the only thing i do is use a sock with carbon in it for my corals that i place in new every month i harvest one side every 7 days then the next week do the other side. My tank is very clear and seems to be doing very well. all tests are good. I do a 15 to 20 percent water change every week you know theres nothing like a good old water change."

Schwa on the RS site: "These things work great. I had some brown slimy algae in my display that was not going away no matter what I did so I decided to give a scrubber a shot and within 2 weeks of it running the slimy algae is gone out of my display. I am still running my skimmer and run GFO and carbon in the canister filter that powers my scrubber. My favorite, a tyree flower petal Montipora, has polyp extension that is starting to look like an acro millepora without the white sweeper in the middle. MY stuff is very happy right now the best I have seen in 3 years of reefkeeping. I am a firm believer in the algae scrubber and I think they are soon going to be here to stay for a while."

Amphiprion on the AC site: "Well, an update again. The scrubber is still progressing well. I'm starting to get a predominance of brown turf now, as opposed to the usual green. This stuff is a lot tougher, too. I'm now using a razor blade to scrape the screen, along with a toothbrush to try to get at least some of it off. At the same time, the tank is going through some algal succession as well. The bubble algae has stopped growing, and is now dying, as is much of the tough filamentous algae I had. I am getting a few patches of hair algae, however, I found that they all had one thing in common--they are areas that had deep holes with sand and detritus tended to collect. Extra particles would also settle in the algae itself, further feeding it. So, I scrubbed off the algae and removed it's food source and it has halted growth. The stuff is grasping at whatever it can to keep growing--but not while I'm around. There is a definite noticeable difference from when I started this scrubber. Feeding is at an all time high, while levels of N and P remain minimal to undetectable--PO4 about .01 ppm and NO3 undetectable. I'm feeding about 2 cubes of frozen food daily, plus pellets and coral food mix, which consists of rotifers, cyclops, and phytoplankton. I only have 2 clownfish now and a small handful of corals. I'm basically trying to test the limits of this scrubber and I've yet to stretch it even close to 100 percent."

Jstdv8 on the AC site: "So I tested my water today for nitrates and phosphates and both came back at 0. My phosphates have never been below .5 before. The screen is just starting to grow in and is no where near established like most pics I see of them, yet it seems to be working." Later: "Well, about 5 days ago I cleaned my screen and I added another light to the backside. One of my old 23 watt fully enclosed lights with the reflectors built in.
I also doubled my feeding now that I have a clown in there to help eat some of the stuff I'm dumping in there. The screen is really starting to grow some thick bubbly looking green algae on the side of the screen witht he two lights. The bubbly stuff is growing thickest on the 1" side nearest the 2nd light where there is little flow on the screen because of the tabs where it enters the pipe above (1" tabs on the left and right) both sides of the screen overall are seeing much better growth. Still a little weak, but certainly 10 times better than anything I've been seeing up until now. I'm going to play around with it and see if I can still get the same growth without the second light and continue the heavy feeding (also adding a much larger CUC) or if the second light is the hot ticket. I'm hoping to not have to use the second light as it's just more power consumption, but I'll see how it goes. If it truely needs more light I might build up something like SM's T-5 setup instead. I'm getting the zillions of miniture pods all over my front glass in my DT now. I have a mandarin and a sixline and will not hesitate to add more pod eating creatures in the future as there is way more than enough for everyone. phosphate and nitrate are still showing zero. Still have two large patches of GHA in the DT, but now that the screen is starting to grow faster I think I'll remove as much as I can during the next water change and hopefully get the screen to finally outcompete for the nutrients."

Kdc on the MD site: "built a scrubber for myself some time back. All i have to say is awesome! I have yet to see something that compares to it. it has literally taken all the work out of keeping marine fish. My nitrate level is zero, i have never seen that before, even using phosphate absorbers and skimmers. which are very expensive, and always missing with them. if anybody is skeptical dont be, this thing works and works very well."

Borge on the MD site: "don't remember how long ago I started my ATS, I've had some bad *** yellow algae (not diatoms or some easy to get a hand on algae) that grew on anything, and a heavy duty deltec 902 and ozone figthing a constant battle on those food particles, and loosing bigtime to this algae. of course its still there, but shrinking. BIGTIME. don't know any po4 numbers (seriously I hate testing for anything other than whats available at the LFS). What I do know is zero on the no3 (witch is ok considering all the algae) but no silicates and I didn't supply my tank with some new sand full of silicates! anyway today I found blank spots on my ats 6 or 7 days since last cleaning and pods ate greedy on my rug screen. now, base color on this thing is yellow for the algae, but don't you know it, it's turning green, as in long green hair, and coralline is showing up everywhere in the sump, together with a larger amount of baby snails and macros is growing... BIGTIME. Now I feel like I'm fighting a winning battle. oh... btw... my skimmer has been off for as long as the ats has been on... nothing is dying, everything looks more healthy than it's been for a 5 months. I feed just as much if not more, the fish hunts more and my banded goby is always out of his hole picking at things in the water column."

Allnatural on the MD site: "well my tank has been up for 6 weeks now. i used my ats from the very beginning. i had a very short cycle and only a small diatom bloom in my dt. it took a while for my screen to start but now it is turning green and i clean it weekly. i have yet to add any fish or corals but i did add a small cuc consisting of 3 turbo snails, 3 astrea snails and 4 nassarius snails. after the 3rd week my water parameters have been and consistantly remain perfect. nh3=0 no2=0 no3=0 po4=0 ph=8.4 cal=420 alk=13.4. i am adding my first corals this weekend. i thought i wouold see the usual algea bloom that most tanks get after the first month of operation but have yet to see any other then the initial diatoms. my copepod population is extreme and coraline is now covering my aragrocrete rocks i made. my live rock is still as healthy as the day i bought it. im so excited this tank is going to be sweet!!!!!"

Stevenkoh08 on the SG site: "i've my system running for quite awhile now... So far i nvr test no3, no2, po4 and amonia as i trust Algea scrubber alot. The algea did bloom but most of it is brown w/ abit of green. What's best of all is that my sand bed is clean, glass panel clean and the rocks u can't see any hair algea nor red/brown."


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## SantaMonica

Scottt on the MOFIB site: "I run [a scrubber] on my 300gal combined broodstock and grow out. I siphon the tank bottoms weekly. Water changes are done with the siphoning, about 5% of total water volume weekly. Siphoning and algal scrubbing are my only nutrient export methods. Nitrates stay around 10ppm. I add buffer to keep the pH proper. My scrubber is a 2'x2' piece of acrylic at a slight angle (almost horizontal). 150w HPS about 10" above it. I'm planning on adding a skimmer one day. The more filtration the better. But, the scrubber does keep the nitrates really low. It's a 14pair system with about 500 juveniles currently. It seems like the more food I add, the faster the algae grows. I've had no problem with algal scrubbers, only success."

Geminianspark on the MOFIB site: "I currently have two tanks running with scrubbers. My 20g biocube is a mixed reef. The ONLY filtration on that tank is a 3.5" x 9" piece of acrylic with a piece of canvas glued on top that slants across the middle chamber with a fluroscent cabinet light over it. Granted, the size is smaller than SantaMonica's recommendations and i'm not technical so i have no clue how many gph run over it but that tank has been operational with ONLY the scrubber on it since october of '09. I have macro algaes popping up ... some red grac, and some grape calepura and a couple other things i've never seen before (I'm assuming due to the regular addition of calcium, mag and alk that i dose) but VERY Very small amounts of hair algae... less than a quarter inch spots in about three places that my snails keep mowed down for me. But again, mine is undersized for the size tank it's on so that, on top of the fact that i feed pretty heavily because of my sun coral has me hooked on these as filters. I only do water changes on this tank once a month or so and i only have to clean my glass about once every two weeks. Since putting that filter on the cube, it's been the best i've ever had my cube looking.. it's stocked full. I haven't had much fun building them as i'm not very handy with things but the difference in the way my corals looked with a skimmer and how they look with the scrubber is like someone added a super vitamin to the tank. From color to polyp extension to growth... i've seen improvements in all of them with no other changes in routine other than going an extra week without doing a water change. They have my vote."

Gigaah on the LR and MOFIB sites: "I personally vouch for the scrubber cycling. It dramaticly reduces the time from when you add water and rock to when you add fish. Generally a tank needs to have the beneficial bacteria multiply to the point where it can absorb the die off from the rocks and sustain livestock. The scrubber develops faster and starts removing the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate in a capacity to support livestock faster than having to just wait for the bacteria to grow to that point. After the bacteria of course does grow to do this the scrubber keeps doing what it does and creates what I've been calling "bullet proof chemistry" in your tank. Obviously as with any system the scrubber does have to be built properly in order to fill this role but that is a pretty beaten path by now and pretty specific instructions can be found as well. If it wasn't for the wealth of information I'd probably be doing things..what I'll from now on refer to as "The old way". I hope eventually to see massive fuges (not all fuges..just massive ones) and skimmers in a junk pile along with under-gravel filters and T12 lights. I will personally certify that an algaescrubber, if built properly, will withstand the most intense bioload and feeding! These devices are just unbelievably fantastic, its almost surreal. Highly oxygenated water, eats ammonia, nitrate, nitrite like crazy. Case and point, I stirred up some crap in my tank on two occasions. My ammonia spiked to 1.5 and 10 hrs later it was .25, 12hrs later it was zero. The scrubber on my main tank is about twice the reccomended size. A scrubber 3x the size would bear a heavy heavy bioload without skipping a beat, as long as its built properly (my biggest issue at first was making sure algae cannot grow into the water supply slit and choke the flow). I can feed my 55g 6+ cubes of food in a day and it won't even flinch. They eat phosphate and control algae with ease. To be honest, with all the bennefits from this more natural method of filtering its is obvious to me this is the best filtration system.. and especially for breeding as it adds great deal of oxygen to the water and keeps the parameters stable on a high bioload. If you have any questions at all about the system please ask. I can easily spew out build parameters as I've built two for myself and a two for friends. They are extreamly cheap too. I use no other method of filtering my tanks, mechanical, chemical, biological or otherwise on any of my tanks. I refuse to in fact."

Mrbncal on the scrubber site: "Well the horizontal version was a success, it grew algae, it lowered the "Big Three" numbers like it was supposed to... but... Theres always a but, it created a lot of salt creep and spray. In short, it was a maintenance headache. I was spending more time cleaning the inside of the stand and outside the sump walls than anything else. So I have switched to an in-sump vertical model. It does everything the other one did and is quieter and there is virtually no splash. Bulbs have been clean for three weeks now. Water is supplied with an independent powerhead to an old ehiem spraybar with 1/8" slot and 3/16" holes drilled every inch (am going to increase this to every half inch) and one plastic screen. Thats it. Works great, coral and fish are healthy like never before and I am even growing some gorgonians and doing great with dendros. Still dealing with the dreaded bubble algae and I get a "five o'clock shadow" of green algae on the display glass after a week or so but that is down from "heavy growth" every couple days, a year ago. After fourteen years in this hobby, its too simple to believe it works, but but it does and I am a believer."

Vanpytt on the scrubber site: "I've read all the Norwegian and Swedish forums about this [scrubber] subject, and none have posted results and pictures before me. I can conclude that this was a great success. My water values are perfect, more or less, im not running skimmer, don't change water, and feed alot. I'm going to be upgrading my current 130l into a 1k liter system (300l of wich is a sump) with 6*39w t5ho and acrylic diy box and fixtures. I'm not going to run anything except getting an UV filter for killing paracites and the well sized scrubber as standalone filtration in the sump. Will be posting pictures once the building starts."

Wak on the scrubber site: "Well i have a ten gallon nano reef. The nitrates in this tank were always around 20ppm, the filtering was a skimmer + small cannister filter and 10 pounds of live rock in the tank. Four weeks ago i found this info and decided to build a scrubber, I went for a one sided 30 degree sloping design the screen is 10 inch long by 2 inches wide and lit by 2 8watt linear t5 3500k tubes, flow about 200 litres per hour. Two weeks ago i took out the skimmer, Today my nitrates in the tank hit 0 for the first time ever thanks to this info"

Fholguera on the scrubber site: "I'm very happy with the results, my corals look very happy and the algea in my rocks is disappearing, the glass last longer without cleaning and the sand looks whitier. The kind of algea that grows in my scrubber it's starting to change, first it was a lot of filamentus and brown algea and now it's almost all filamentus and a little bit of ciano I think."

Bridgeport on the scrubber site: "Since I started this 55gal. close to two years ago, I had nothing but trouble from the start. Most of it was due to my lack of experience. The last time I had saltwater tanks was back in the 70's and as you know a lot has changed since then. Was plagued with green hair algae. After that cleared, then the red hair algae started, and lots of it. I started a scrubber about a year ago but didn't have it really going properly until about 5 months ago. Since then i am getting lots of growth. Most of the red hair algae [in the dispay] has disappeared. Just disconnected my hang on refugium about 2 weeks ago. The Cheato was dead and fouling the water. I did take the rocks out several months ago and cleaned them. Its a lot of work but it really helped to clean up the tank. My Algae Scrubber has gotten the Nitrates to 0 and the Phosphates to 0 and has disintegrated most of the red hair algae [in the display]."

Ihfarmboy75 on the scrubber site: "Ok, I'm sold. I have this scrubber on my 125 gallon African Cichlid tank and when I set it up on march 12th, my nitrate levels were 120 ppm. I was doing weekly 25-35% water changes and still couldn't get them under control. In a little over two months my nitrate levels have dropped to 5ppm and I would imagine they'll be zero in a few weeks."


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## SantaMonica

Here is the longest I've let it grow... two weeks. The screen was full and touching the acrylic walls at 7 days, so it had another 7 days to fill upwards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8xlRCxc1k4


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## SantaMonica

The new scrubber FAQ for 2010 is now posted:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68


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## SantaMonica

Well I thought it couldn't grow any more in two weeks, but this time it reached the top of the window and was getting ready to spill out the end. My other scrubber was not very grown yet, so I did not want to clean this one today, but I thought I better before it spills. Tests today were N02=0, NO3=2, P=.015? (very faint blue). Feeding is one silverside per week to the eel, 4.8 ml/day continuous feeding of Oysterfeast for the corals (very low amount, currently), and misc nori/daphnia for the fish. Pics:
















































Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJxzeAgOS_M 
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## SantaMonica

Finally getting the 25 nano scrubber to have consistant results. Am testing one side of it here, on a FW 10 gal with some tetras, catfish, suckerfish, and a discus. 0, 0, 0, when feeding one frozen cube blood worms a day. No water changes, and top off with tap water (no chlorine remover added)...


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## SantaMonica

Great Barrier Reef Aquarium

Many people who have not built a scrubber properly (after August 1988) often say how the Great Barrier Reef aquarium was a scrubber "failure" because the corals did poorly. Apparently these people have not done much reading. In the early days of that aquarium, the scrubber was doing it's job great:

1988:

Nutrient Cycling In The Great Barrier Reef Aquarium
ReefBase :: Log In 

"The Reef Tank represents the first application of algal scrubber technology to large volume aquarium systems. Aquaria using conventional water purification methods (e.g. bacterial filters) generally have nutrient levels in parts per million, while algal scrubbers have maintained parts per billion concentrations [much lower], despite heavy biological loading in the Reef Tank. The success of the algal scrubbers in maintaining suitable water quality for a coral reef was demonstrated in the observed spawning of scleractinian corals and many other tank inhabitants."

But did you know that they did not add calcium? That's right, in 1988 they did not know that calcium needed to be added to a reef tank. Even five years after that, the Pittsburgh Zoo was just starting to test a "mesocosm" scrubber reef tank to see if calcium levels would drop:

1993:

An Introduction to the Biogeochemical Cycling of Calcium and Substitutive Strontium in Living Coral Reef Mesocosms
An introduction to the biogeochemical cycling of calcium and substitutive strontium in living coral reef mesocosms - Lang - 2005 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library

"It was hypothesized that Ca2+ and the substitutive elements Sr2+ and Mg2+ might [!] have reduced concentrations in a coral reef microcosm due to continuous reuse of the same seawater as a consequence of the recycling process inherent in the coral reef mesocosm."

"The scleractinians (Montastrea, Madracis, Porites, Diploria, and Acropora) and calcareous alga (Halimeda and others) present in the coral reef mesocosm are the most likely organisms responsible for the significant reduction in concentration of the Ca2+ and Sr2+ cations."

"Ca is not normally a biolimiting element, and strontium is never a biolimiting element; HCO3 [alk] can be. It appears that, because of a minor [!] limitation in the design parameters of the mesocosm, these elements and compounds may have become limiting factors. [...] It is surprising that the organisms could deplete the thousands of gallons of seawater (three to six thousand) of these elements even within two or more years [!!].

"The calcification processes are little understood."

So then in the late 90's, the Barrier Reef aquarium start using up it's supply of calcium, and the folks there said "the corals grew poorly". Really. No calcium, and the corals grew poorly. So they "removed the scrubbers" and "experimented with the addition of calcium" sometime after 1998. Then in 2004 it "definitely improved a lot". Really.


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## Frank78

SantaMonica said:


> "Sly" on the SWF site is getting great growth in just 6 days from his trashcan-scrubber with built-in surge device:
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> And what is this.... dinner?
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> ...Nope, it a week of growth from just one side (the 6500K side) of my acrylic unit.
> .
> .


O.K. I'm new here so if I'm missing the obvious please let me know. The algae we all don't want in our tanks is actually a natural filter if used in a setup like this? Would this kind of setup remove the need for any other filtering device or protien skimmer? Thanks and sorry if it's a dumb question. Just trying to learn some new things here.


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## SantaMonica

Actually you do want as much algae as possible in your system. Algae is the natural feeder and filter of the entire ocean, and the more algae you have in your tank, the more your parameters will match the ocean, and the more food your corals will get. A scrubber just lets you keep all the algae in a separate place so you can remove it weekly. The faq explains more:

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - ALGAE SCRUBBER FAQ (August 2010)


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## SantaMonica

Low-light Scrubbers

Here is something new, different, and untested. I have not built one yet, but it should work for either SW or FW if the size and flow are correct. It is a vertical scrubber that you hang on the wall, and it requires NO electricity. It is a "low-light" scrubber:













I got the idea when reading a study about algae growth in freshwater streams:

"Algal Response to Nutrient Enrichment In Forested Oligotrophic Streams". Journal of Phycology, June 2008. ALGAL RESPONSE TO NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT IN FORESTED OLIGOTROPHIC STREAM1 - Veraart - 2008 - Journal of Phycology - Wiley Online Library

"Algae inhabiting forested streams have the capacity to acclimate to low light intensity. These light conditions affect their photosynthetic efficiency, but do not impair growth rates, in particular, in the case of thin diatom-dominated communities."

In other words, they don't filter as much per square inch (or per square cm) of area, but they do operate on very low light. Apparently it is mostly diatoms that grow in these low-light conditions.

The advantage of a scrubber like this should be obvious: It requires no electricity to power the screen. It still requires a pump, however, since the top of the scrubber would (probably) be high above the top of the tank. The scrubber is designed to operate on the light already available in the room, which would vary greatly depending on how strong the light bulbs are in the room, and how much sunlight comes in through the windows. The more average light the room has, the smaller the scrubber can be. The less light, the bigger it needs to be. Basically, the scrubber uses more area to make up for less light. And since the light is so low, the type of algae that is able to survive is (apparently) mostly diatoms.

Just as with regular scrubbers, the wider the unit it, the more flow is required. So in the spirit of keeping it from consuming too much electricty, a smaller pump could be used if the unit were narrow and tall. But the bottom of the unit will need to drain into either the tank or the sump, so there will be a limit to how low the bottom can be. And the limit to the top will be the ceiling. A tradeoff will need to be made, maybe so that it looks like a vertical picture on the wall. Fortunately the flow does not need to be as much as a regular scrubber, since it is one-sided only. 

It will have to be experimented with to see if a clear cover is needed to stop any water dropletts from splashing out. Many people have decorative waterfalls of the same size as these, and they have no cover on them, so maybe water dropletts getting on the floor will not happen. Evaporation would be high though, and this might be reason enough to consider a clear cover.

Cleaning could (apparently) be done by having a removeable screen or porous sheet, just like a regular scrubber has. It would be big though, and would drip as you took it out. Also it probably would not fit into a sink, and so would need a bathtub or shower (or outside) for cleaning. A possible fix for this might be a very flexibe woven plastic mesh, which you could fold up like a towell and easily clean in a sink. A material like this might not lay down flat when it's in the scrubber, however.

This type of scrubber would be easiest to try for somebody with a cement floor, lots of wall space, open widows or skylights, a low sump, high ceilings, and a big sink or patio for cleaning. I have no idea of the size required for the unit.


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## SantaMonica

New Feeding Guideline:

Each cube of frozen food you feed per day needs 12 square inches of screen, with a light on both sides totalling 12 watts. Thus a nano that is fed one cube a day would need a screen 3 X 4 inches with a 6 watt bulb on each side. A larger tank that is fed 10 cubes a day would need a screen 10 X 12 inches with 60 watts of light on each side.


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## SantaMonica

Although almost no aquarist knows this (athough every marine biologist does), algae produces all the vitamins and amino acids in the ocean that corals need to grow. Yes these are the same vitamins and amino acids that reefers buy and dose to their tanks. How do you think the vitamins and amino acids got in the ocean in the first place? Algae also produces a carbon source to feed the nitrate-and-phosphate-reducing bacteria (in addition to the algae consuming nitrate and phosphate itself). Yes this is the same carbon that many aquarists buy and add to their tanks. In particular, algae produce:

Vitamins:

Vitamin A
Vitamin E
Vitamin B6
Beta Carotene
Riboflavin
Thiamine
Biotin
Ascorbate (breaks chloramines into chlorine+ammonia)
N5-Methyltetrahydrofolate
Other tetrahydrofolate polyglutamates
Oxidized folate monoglutamates
Nicotinate
Pantothenate


Amino Acids: 

Alanine
Aspartic acid
Leucine
Valine
Tyrosine
Phenylalanine
Methionine
Aspartate
Glutamate
Serine
Proline


Carbohydrates (sugars):

Galactose
Glucose
Maltose
Xylose



Misc:

Glycolic Acid
Citric Acid (breaks chloramines into chlorine+ammonia)
Nucleic Acid derivatives
Polypeptides
Proteins
Enzymes
Lipids 


Studies:

Production of Vitamin B-12, Thiamin, and Biotin by Phytoplankton. Journal of Phycology, Dec 1970:
PRODUCTION OF VITAMIN B12, THIAMINE, AND BIOTIN BY PHYTOPLANKTON1 - Carlucci - 2008 - Journal of Phycology - Wiley Online Library

Secretion Of Vitamins and Amino Acids Into The Environment By Ochromanas Danica. Journal of Phycology, Sept 1971 (Phycology is the study of algae):
SECRETION OF VITAMINS AND AMINO ACIDS INTO THE ENVIRONMENT BY OCHROMONAS DANICA1,2 - Aaronson - 2008 - Journal of Phycology - Wiley Online Library

Qualitative Assay of Dissolved Amino Acids and Sugars Excreted by Chlamydomanas Reinhardtii (chlorophyceae) and Euglena Gracilis (Euglenophyceae), Jounrnal of Phycology, Dec 1978:
QUALITATIVE ASSAY OF DISSOLVED AMINO ACIDS AND SUGARS EXCRETED BY CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDTII (CHLOROPHYCEAE) AND EUGLENA GRACILIS (EUGLENOPHYCEAE)1 - Vogel - 2006 - Journal of Phycology - Wiley Online Library


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## SantaMonica

If you are a U.S. patent attorney versed in foreign utility applications, please contact me about possibly working together on both published and unpublished utility designs... 
Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Seeking Patent Attorney for partner


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## SantaMonica

Well it took a while to get time to take more pics, but here are the updated ones of my 100 gallon tank. The main thing to mention is that this tank is not for showing... it is for experimenting. Details are at the end of this post. There have been no waterchanges since August 2008. The only dosings are Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime in the top-off (for Cal and Alk), Seachem Reef Advantage mag, and Seachem Reef Advantage strontium. Feeding is 48 ml of skimmate... I mean... blended oysters, per day, 20 square inches of nori per day, and one silverside per week (for the eel). There are no mechanical filters, no chemical filters, and no sand. The only filters are the live rock (now 5 years old), and the algae in the scrubbers. The lighting is 2 X 150 watt halides, and one 96 watt actinic. The tank is 30 inches tall. Tests are Nitrate and Phosphate = 0 (Salifert), pH = 8.3 to 8.6, and the water is contantly filled with food particles:



High-Res: Click here

























































































continued...


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## SantaMonica

continued...


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## SantaMonica

continued...


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## SantaMonica

continued...


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## SantaMonica

continued...


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## SantaMonica

Videos:

Whole Tank:





Tank Right to Left:





Eel Eating:





continued...


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## SantaMonica

Flower Pot:





Frag Tray:





Liquid Feeder:





Tube Anemone:







Here were the main experiments:

Iron Overdosing: I tried adding an iron supplement for many years, but never saw any affect. I always followed the instructions, such as Kent's Iron+Manganese "Add two teaspoons per 100 gal, per week". It had no visible effect. But after I started to read the literature about algae and iron, and after I realized that I now have much more algae in my system that the average tank does, I went out on a limb and poured in 8 ounces of Kent's. This is 24 times the recommended dosage for 100 gallons. But I reasoned that it's not the gallons that matter, it's the amount of algae. And it worked. The algae in the scrubber, that previously was yellow and hard (due to lack of iron), turned solid green and fluffy. Growth was much faster that week too.

So if more was better, much more should be much better. So I poured in a HALF GALLON of the Kent's. This is 225 times the recommended dosage, and over 9 times more than what I put in before. This was the biggest mistake I've made yet on this tank (coral-wise). Within a few hours, both of the bubble corals shrank up to nothing, and started letting pieces go. The next day, my 3 year old 5" litho was half gone. And by the end of the week about 30 of my 60 corals were completely wiped out. Iron was even beginning to deposit on the inside of the tubing that feeds the scrubbers. Well, I never did a waterchange, and things have gone back to normal, but now I know the power and the problems of adding iron. The more algae you have in a system, the more iron it can use; but don't add too much. How much is too much? The green soft corals (like a green bubble) seem to be affected first, so watch those.

Over Feeding: When my scrubber (only one unit at the time) was basically not filtering at all (before I knew about pumps clogging, and lights getting weaker), I increased feeding to 128 ml of skimmate... I mean blended oysters... per day, along with 5 frozen cubes per day, and one silverside per day. No waterchanges of course. So with this high level of import, and with almost no export, nuisance algae began to explode in the tank. I must say, the few SPS I had really grew at that time. The over feeding made up for the small 150 watt halides in a 30 inch tall tank.

Non Feeding: After realizing the non-flow in the scrubber (due to the clogged pump), and the worn out lights in the scrubber (should have been replaced 9 months earlier), I got the export back into operation. But to speed up the removal of the nuisance algae in the display, I stopped all feeding for 2 months. No blended oysters, no nori, no cubes, nothing. Only one silverside for the eel, but only every 2 weeks. Well, another big lesson learned: If corals have been growing based on high amounts of food in the water, they cannot survive on less. In other words, if the food in the water was always low, the corals would not have developed a need for food. But since they were fed large amounts of food for a while, they grew and needed those large amounts at all times. When the feeding was stopped, I lots about 4 corals in the first 4 weeks, and another 10 corals in the next 4 weeks. 

So the pics you see are what's left after the iron, the over feeding, and the non-feeding. I don't recommend these tests for anyone else; I did them so that I would be able to recommend safe feeding and filtering methods for others.


end


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## SantaMonica

Success updates...

Trichome on the CR site: "I took my skimmer out of my 29g sump about 2 months ago. Since then i have not done a water change...I know i should but i am bad about that. I NEVER have to clean my glass in my DT. I don't take water parameters so i can't tell you what mine are, but i do know i don't get any algae in my tank other than bubble algae. I harvest one side of my scrubber about every 2 weeks [needs to be more often]. The water must be pretty clean because my 2 golden striped maroon clowns have spawned, for their first time, about 1 month after i took my skimmer out. Not only are there several people in Cincinnati trying algae scrubbers with great success there is a 50 page thread of people with great success too. 6 month update: I have had my turf scrubber going on my 29g tank for 6 months now without a skimmer. Currently i have 2 Gold Stripped Maroon clownfish, a Yasha gobie, a sixline wrasse, 2 cleaner shrimp, and a candy cane pistol shrimp in the tank, along with several anemones. I have to say everything had been running great! I only have to clean the glass about once a week. Everything in the tank seems to be very happy with the current bio load. I have been doing water changes about once every 2 months (I know i should be doing it more) [not really]. As far as i can tell the turf scrubber has been a success for me and when i move i plan on adding one to my 120g display tank. However, I will not be going skimmerless on the 120g display."

Redwing on the CR site: "I set [my scrubber] up to remove algae from my display tank (and that is exactly what it is doing). But I now I have noticed that my skim-mate is much darker and that I do not have to clean it as much (about once every week not every other day). also like I posted my nitrates have never been undetectable (more like 5+ ppm) so if you ask me [the scrubber] is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. Could I take my skimmer offline maybe but I most likely will not I like knowing that I have backup if something fails [except, skimmers don't remove ammonia, so they won't help]. also my skimmer is a CL125 and I have more than 160 gallons in my hole setup so my skimmer has always been way undersized. (most people would use a skimmer twice that size for this many gallons)" 

Mrbncal on the scrubber site: "I have a 75 w/ 30 gallon sump and ran w/o a skimmer for over a year BEFORE I found out about ATS'. There were some things that didnt do well, but anenomes and zoas, most lps did great, montis and a few acros grew fine w/o a skimmer. Bubble algae and hair algae did great also. Since I started running a screen covered in algae my tank has never been healthier. Its been 6 mos or so maybe 7, I have NO hair algae and the bubble algae is losing ground. Almost gone completely. I feed a ton of frozen and oyster feast. I should probably back off some feedings but the coco worms love life and the gorgonians are growing, so why change anything."

Tien on the MFK site: "So I have been running a scrubber on a test tank with goldfish. At one point nitrates were near 80 ppm (I know this is WAY high, but I did this intentionally with the goldfish). I have done no water changes, and my nitrates are now about 7 ppm! and nitrites are zero. I do not have the best set up with lighting yet and the scrubber set up only cost me $25, but it works with fresh water! [yes scrubbers work just as well with FW]. I am going to continue to add goldfish and overstock the tank to see how the scrubber handles it. Looks like I will be building a large scrubber system for the 500 gallon!"

Billy_m24 on the MFK site: "my algee scrubber is working, I finally have purple on my rocks! I have 175 reef tank with 2 400w MH light and 2 blue vho, my nitrate was always very high in the red zone, and now after 2 month [of using the scrubber] I'm running about 10 on the nitrates and I have purple [on the rocks], and my ph stays at 8.2"

PRC on the LR site: "I use a scrubber on a 180g tank, that I upgraded from a 90g tank. Neither ever had a skimmer. I ran across this [scrubber] thread when I was initially cycling my tank, I set it up according to specs, I've never had 1 piece of algae in my tank. I, like everybody, get the usual dusting on the glass that gets brushed off. But I've never had algae, and I've never had nitrates above 5ppm. I feed alot because I've got big fish with big appetites. I also have very little clean up crew. I panicked when I first set mine up because I didn't think it was working. I just left it, it started to work and has kept my tank very stable. Just tweek it a little and give it time. It doesn't take control of the system overnight, but once it does it keeps it very stable....on top of that it only takes about 5 minutes to clean once per week. I'm so naive when it comes to algae issues that when I read a thread about hair algae, I automatically assume that somebody is just neglecting there tank terribly because I've never had to deal with it."

Renman303 on the MD site: "I have been running a 4-sheet (8 1/2" x 11") ATS since June '09 with not only no ill effects but, my water is crystal clear! I have unhooked my Deltec AP851 Protein Skimmer in July of '09 (anyone want to buy it?) and have been running solely on the ATS since then (~15 months). I scrape one side of each of the 4 sheets once a month [needs more often!]. I add no chemicals of any kind to the water and only do a 10 percent water change once a week. Salt is much cheaper than chemicals. I don't even use RO/DI water any more. I just run through Carbon as Phosban prior to mixing. Simple....as it should be!"

Vannpytt on the scrubber site: "I'm experiencing massive amounts of live particles in my water. When the lights go out, and I turn on a flashlight, I can see with my bare eyes 1-3mm long shrimplike creatures swimming in the water, jumping on the stones. It's amazing, while the water is so clear, there are still so much life. I'm also experiencing massive critical comments from the local forums claiming I'm destined to fail etc. I still have no values measurable of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate nor phosphate. The pH is fine as well as the salinity. The algae growth [in the tank] that came initially, is slower, and I added 2 lawnmovers to take care of the rest. Coraline is spreading on the live rocks, I added a Sun Coral who seems to be happy, as well as some Zoas."

Vykhang on the scrubber site: "After 4 yrs, it has become so hard to maintain my 300 gal reef/fish tank due to nitrate and phosphate. Just doing 10-15 percent water changes on 300 gal tank per week is driving me crazy not to mention salt cost. After seaching the net and came across this website, I've started my own version of scrubber. It has been running over a year for me and I've not changed (add only) water since (I don't belive in changing water if all chemicals are in spec. The scrubbers are 1" above the water line to minimize the water noise [would be even better to have the screens in the water]. Water line is maintained by electronic sensor. Can't speak for everyone but the results has been absolutelly wonderful. Nitrate and Phosphate are un-detectable. I can't thank Santa Monica enough because little to no water changes. I just maintain chemical additives and add water to my reserve tank."

Yesman on the scrubber site: "I clean it all off completely every 7 days. However as you can see with over 3 pounds in weight of algae every 7 days being scraped off the screen and with nitrates and phosphates at zero, it may be ok to clean this way. Interesting to note that at the bottom of the acrylic box, the water level is about 3 inches with algae growing all over the acrylic and alive with pods, even some amphipods!"


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## SantaMonica

Cleaning Guidelines:

Black/oily growth, but no green: Clean every last bit of it off every three days.

Dark brown growth, but no green: Clean all of it off every 4 days.

Light brown growth, but no green: Clean most of if off every 5 days.

Mostly brown growth, but some green: Clean all of the brown off every 6 days, but leave some of the green.

Half brown and half green growth: Clean most of it off every 7 days.

Mostly green growth: clean most of it off every 10 days.


In all cases, stronger lighting will help you get to green faster, even if the extra lighting is only temporary.

Also, when there is lots of green, you are getting the most filtering. So to minimize nutrient spikes which might occur after cleaning the green off, consider cutting the screen vertically into two halves, and cleaning only one of the halves every 5 days. This give 10 days of growth for each half (about the max you can go), but always leaves the other half to do the filtering.

After several months, you may start getting some thick brown algae that feels like fuzz, and it won't come off. That's turf algae. You don't want turf because it's thick and dark, and it blocks light from reaching the screen (also, because turf does not grow fast enough to be a good filter.) Scrape the turf off with a hack saw blade. Matter of fact, if you start getting turf, you can just start doing all your weekly cleaning with a hack saw blade.


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## SantaMonica

Here is the micro table saw that I use to cut the slots in the pipes:
Mighty Micro Table Saw at Penn State Industries

It comes with two blades, and if you put them together like a pancake the thickness will be perfect for a 1/8 inch slot for a single layer of plastic canvas. I've cut about 20 slots and the blades are just starting to need replacing. There are other similar micro saws if you search for them ("mini table saw", etc), as well as some slightly larger "mini" table saws which get a bit expensive for just cutting pipes.


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## SantaMonica

Here is what it seems the 25 is going to look like. The pink part on the top is the lid. The open part on the front is where the bulb and ballast go. The bottom is open, and will sit on a 5-pound metal plate. The back side will have the water tubes and drains:


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## SantaMonica

Success Updates:

Mrmikeasaurus on the RC site: "i had one that worked great after about 2 months... youll love how clear the water is"

Coralrookie on the RC site: "I have one.. keeps phosphates down, ph in check. Minimal water changes and I do not run a skimmer" 

Zangmann on the RC site: "I've been running an ATS for about 18 months with no other form of filtration (not even a filter sock). It most definitely works. Conversion from a 5 year old FOWL with consistantly high nitrates (50+PPM) and off the chart P04. Now everything is rock solid at 0."

Spamreefnew on the RC site: "I have an ATS witch is much like floyd r turbo's, it is my ONLY filtration and has been for 6 months now. It has been the BEST 6 months of reefing in my life. skimmers are only good for sps only tanks IMO. scrubbers are the best option for everything else. my water is clear, my coral is healthy, my fish are fat,,i mean fat!,,,and my pods and shrimp,,that's right shrimp,,,reproduce like crazy. I could never say all that when i ran a skimmer."

Lps_blasto on the RC site: "After using [scrubber and skimmer] both, I've come to the conclusion that I'd never run a reef tank without a scrubber. But I would run a reef without a skimmer. I could only have one, I'd pick the scrubber, no contest. Don't get me wrong, I'm not part of the "anti-skimmer" crowd. I use a skimmer. I've been running some form of protein skimmer for over 2 decades. I had one back in 1985 when all they were was a wooden airstone and a poorly designed venturi. I just won't rely on ONLY the skimmer anymore. I'll always have a simple turf scrubber on any reef that I have."

King_Richard on the RC site: "I setup a tank about 8 months or so ago. The tank started out as a seahorse tank and all was fine and dandy until an oil spill occured in the gulf area. I used NSW at the time for water changes and due to the spill, I quit doing water changes for about 6 months. In that time I lost focus on the tank (college student) and by december time the tank had started to slip away from me. Holiday season hit and we were away for some time, came back and found one of our seahorses dead, within the next week, our other seahorse died also. We also loss a mushroom that we had but our scooter blenny was still alive and well. Not entirely sure why the seahorses died, they quit eating the water clarity was becoming a nightmare so it could've been a number of things. A few weeks ago the water was so green that I literally could not see into the tank. Now the good news. With this tank, I've been striving for a natural system, no filters, no skimmers, no carbon, nothing except nature's methods. I had been looking at algae scrubber designs off and on for some time and out of desperation I decided to give it a try, originally I didn't think I had enough room for one. I didn't do anything fancy, just picked up some screen from walmart and pieced together some 1" pvc that I had laying around, I then hooked it up to my drain located in the sump, the whole process took about 5 minutes. Now two weeks after setting up a 1" pvc with a slot and a screen hanging from it, water is now, almost, crystal clear again. I really wish I would have taken a before and after picture because you wouldn't believe how nasty it was compared to now. And all in two weeks! I'm sold, I think I spent about $6 for a roll of screen. This is by far the cheapest, most efficient method I've come across. I even tossed out my chaeto the same day I installed the algae scrubber, well actually I kept it in a spare tank just in case, lol. To be honest though, I had a decent amount of faith in the method before I attempted it, based on previous observations with algae in some of my older tanks that would grow algae along the baffles. I always assumed that algae was doing something good. The water should be crystal clear again before the end of the month, excepts for the pods and stuff occosionally floating around!"

Johnarky on the RC site: "I've been using the scrubber for 6 weeks now and water quality is great. I turned off the skimmer and removed the sock over a week ago and everything is still good. I think I'll continue in this way for another month or so and if everything goes well I'll start the transformation into a seahorse tank."

Green_reefer on the RC site: "I have been using an ATS since [four weeks ago], about 1 week after my tank finished cycling. I designed it over-sized and built an acrylic box to house it over my sump and use 4x24w T5's to light it. My [display] hair algae outbreak after my cycle was gone within 4 weeks, even the algae in my overflow has disappeared. I grow all different colors and textures of hair algae on different parts of the screen, but GHA is the dominant. Other than a pipe organ frag that has doubled in size since I got it, I can't really comment on coral growth as my tank is too new. After reading all the posts on combating algae outbreaks on new tanks I can definitely say that an ATS works to control algae. The only coral introduced that did not have full polyp extension within 2 hours of being in my tank is a sun coral that was introduced over the weekend. Digitata, Pocilipora, Stylophora, Acropora, Candy Cane, Zoa's and Gorgonians (photo and non-photo) all showed great PE (even after being shipped for 24hrs). It could be the NSW that I use, but the lack of algae [in the display] and great water quality from the ATS doesn't hurt."

Alaska_Phil on the RC site: "I added an algae scrubber to my system 5 months ago. I inherited care of this tank nearly 6 years ago and I've been battling one type of algae after another ever since. I'd tried everything imaginable, GFO, frequent massive water changes, starving my fish, daily manual removal, and hords of snails and hermits. But my nitrate and phosphate was always undetectable due to all the algae [in the display]. I use a 6" wide vertical screen style with spiral PC light. when I started it my display was over run with brown cotton candy type algae. it grew on everything, rocks, sand equipment even the cords for my power heads. It took about a month for algae to really start populating the screen. At that point the only real difference I noticed was the lack of diatom algae on the glass. I'd had to clean it daily, now I only have to clean it about twice a week. After 2 months, i only had algae growing on my rocks, but my equipment was staying clean. I'm assuming the rocks were leaching phosphate back into the system. After 3 months the rocks were still covered, so I got impatient and plucked it out manually. I completely filled a 1 gal pitcher with algae from my 50 gal display! After that the algae on the screen really took off. But it never came back to the display. Even after my life got rather busy and I neglected doing water changes for 3 months. Now, I still get a little algae in the tank, I pluck out a few little tuffs about once a month. I clean half my algae screen every 2 weeks. It takes that long for it to build up again. I'm still running my skimmer, but it's just back-pak II, so not a very efficient one. I've always run carbon since I have a mixed reef with leathers. Never noticed any bad smells or water discoloration. I could probably have gotten the same result with a high end skimmer, or zeovite, or bio-pellets too. But so far I'm really happy with algae scrubber."


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## SantaMonica

Williah on the RC site: "I added an ATS 1 1/2 years ago, and after 10 months I got rid of my skimmer, but I was very careful and watchful before I did it. I will point out I use a phosban with mixed GFO & active carbon in it. I will continue to use this to deal with phosphate and other nasties in the water, regardless of the other subject. Also I do a water change every 2 weeks regardless. With either setup, I found a water change every 2 weeks kept everything looking happy, so I'm going to continue with this timetable. Now, I had 2 major goals when I started experimenting with ATS: 1. coming up with an affective, long-term method for reducing my nitrate levels (I was between 50-100 at the time); 2. to increase phytoplankton levels in my water column. 1. My nitrates have been 0 or barely above 0 since I got my ATS working. I NEVER had this before. This definitely never happened with just a skimmer. I like to feed heavily and since going with a working ATS I've been able to do just that without freeking out about my nitrate levels. 2. I wanted to maintain high levels of phyotplankton to my tank, and it was my understanding that the skimmer would remove the phyto from the water. People said to turn off the skimmer while feeding, but I wanted a constant presense of the little criters, and the methods behind an ATS seemed to allow this. Since I went ATS and removed the skimmer, my filter feeders have exploded in size (at least 3x the original size). They all look larger and healthier and beautiful-er (laugh, people, it's funny). Could be a coincidence but I believe more food plus more phyto in water has been the direct cause."

Der_wille_zur_macht on the RC site: "My TS was not running for very long, but it was essentially the ONLY nutrient export on my 360 g, except for a small bundle of chaeto. At one point I tried to run a skimmer on the tank but it produced zero skimmate - there was nothing in the water for it to skim. In the short time that I had it operational, I made a few observations: I noticed a SIGNIFICANTLY higher growth rate of naturally occurring filter feeders in the tank. Mini feather dusters, stuff like that. There was noticeably more "stuff" in the water column. It wasn't enough to distract from viewing the aquarium, but it was clearly enough to make a significant difference for filter feeders."

Williah on the RC site: "I removed my skimmer a year ago and added an algae turf scrubber as a replacement. I did this with the thought of creating a more nutrient rich yet low Nitrate environment. The result has been an explosion of growth with my corals."

King_Neptune on the SWF site: "I had a scrubber going for almost a year. They work awesome! But I swapped over to a skimmer in the end. My water paramiters arent as good as my scrubber, and I dont even have 1 percent of the pods I used to....but it looks alot more pristine and clear. [Meaning, there are no more food particles in the water, like there is on a natural reef. A few months later...] Im having Nitrate troubles these days. Everything else is perfect..as in undetectable. Scrubbers will work off of nitrates alone correct? I think I will start one up again."

Gnorman on the SWF site: "through the years we would have times where unwanted algea would take over, and then we made this sweet little filtration called a turf scrubber. [...] since we have added one ( its a DIY project ) we have never had a problem with unwanted algea."

Floridabob on the SWF site: "personal experience!!!! nitrates and po-4 very high for long time, water changes helped. made diy algea scrubber and within 1 month everything was at zero. so ....imo good cheap build for big results"

Mangrovejack22 on the MOFIB site: "I stumbled across a thread on ATS's over a year ago and decided to give it a try. I could never get my skimmers adjusted right, and was always tweaking them trying to either stop the milk jug diy (off the collection cup) from overflowing onto the floor, or scraping thick sludge build up out of the cup itself. took me less than an hour to build my first scrubber following SM's guide and links to others diy's. I'm now onto my 2nd generation of it and couldn't be happier with the results over the last 18 months or so. I've seen pretty much every expected phase of nitrate reduction as mentioned in his threads. i've had patches of hair algae spring out of the rockwork in high flow, even though i had no algae growing anywhere else in the tank, and watched those patches dissappear over the next few weeks. I spend 10 mins a week cleaning the screen and pump intake prefilter sponge, and every few months change some cheap home depot CFL's, which do the job for me. I highly recommend giving one a try if you are on the fence. I only wish i had documented the nitrate reduction in my tank to support the changes"

Fishstink on the RS site: "i used one one my 75 gallon system and it went from nuclear (off the chart) to undetectable in two months. going to have one in my 270 frag tank with no skimmer, we will see how it goes as i will be doing the pappone feeding method twice a day"

Mgraf on the RS site: "I always ran a skimmer until I set up a algae scrubber, IMO the scrubber works better. Less upkeep, less hassle, and more food to the corals. Seems like many are resistant to change, but changes and new ideas open up new doors to the hobby. I guess it is all a matter of what works for you! I prefer a little "marine snow" floating around in my system, corals look great, and a scrubber will clear out just about any algae blooms you will come across."

Drbark on the RS site: "I have a 115 gallon reef with about 40 gallons of sump space. It has been running for 2 yrs now. Half of it is growing macroalgae it in. 6 months ago I added a turf scrubber in. I was running my skimmer 24/7. I noticed with the scrubber that corals started growing faster. The dealer I bought the scrubber from said to run the skimmer from midnight to 12 noon only. I noticed the corals were growing even faster along with my refugium and turf algae growing faster. The tank looked healthier. I have been running the skimmer on half time for only 2 months now. Might not be that much time yet. Too chicken to turn the skimmer of completely. I have a very heavy bioload because people just give me stuff and I have a hard time saying no. Just wanted to throw this out their since people were talking about the all or none thing. I just run it half time."

Sikpupy on the RS site: "Been a long time (about a year) algae scrubber user. I can attest that is seems to work because I have 6 gobys, 2 tangs, a clown, Anthia's, royal gramma and another fish or two. My tank is just about clear, maybe a teaspoon diameter "total" all over of very soft hair(?) algae. I have a coast to coast which has a baseball size clump of hair algae I have let grow for pods. Other than that, the tank is totally free of algae. I may, may get a small dusting of algae on the glass once a week. It usually takes 10 days to build up enough to see it on the front. If fact, i am so algae free, my poor Blenny is starving with a sunken belly, lol."

Accident on the MFK site: "I put mine in the hood on my 150. Working in conjunction with a fresh water drip system, all the bad stuff sits at zero. All the brown algae is gone now. Forget how long it took to die off, but it was tough stuff." 

Geosquid on the MD site: "after going through your thread about 3+ years ago I've used only a diy scrubber as a filter. That was the healthiest tank I've ever had. I sold the whole system and moved to VA for a new job recently but I have a new tank on order right now and can't wait to get going."


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## SantaMonica

Kevvin27 on the LR site: "If I had known about algea scrubbers when I was first setting up my tank I would have started out with it right away. Everything in my tank looks so much better now with just the scrubber running then it did when I had a skimmer...and so much easier to clean and quieter too."

Rwing on the RA site: "Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with algae breakouts. For some these problems are a minor nuisance, but for others this problem can drive them right out of the hobby. In dealing with my algae problems, I became determined to educate myself with why I was experiencing this outbreak as well as how I could stop it and hopefully prevent it in the future. I hope that the experience that I gained can help others who are plagued by this nuisance. My plan of attack was to look at my home made filtration system and determine if I could make some improvements. I came across some articles about Algae Scrubbers that seemed very interesting. They looked really easy to build, and I thought "What have I got to lose?". I purchased the items needed to build it and had it installed in 1 evening. I used 2 5700k power compact bulbs and reflectors that I bought at Home Depot. I anxiously awaited for something to grow, and low and behold, in about a week I had a nice little algae crop growing. Within 2 weeks I was scraping it off, and have been ever since. I was starting to feel like I was going to beat this [nuisance algae] menace. When I [originally] started asking questions about controlling algae I was told to run a multitude of reactors and various chemical solutions. After reading many articles about algae, I chose not to run any reactors of any kind...I use 2 algae scrubbers to filter my water, I currently run a protein skimmer, and I do regular water changes . That is it, and my results have been remarkable! Sometimes I think we make things a lot more complicated than they really need to be. This entire process [scrubber plus some other changes] took about 3 months, but I can honestly say that my tank is now completely free of nuisance algae, and I am very confident that it will remain that way.

Slovak on the RA site: "In theory, all sounded reasonably good. How would this hold up in a real world application? The early adopters reported nearly too-good-to-be-true results. Just like everyone swore that all the approaches I already tried would work miracles. Besides, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet! Then again, what did I have to lose? I built my algae scrubber from 1/2-inch plastic tubing and a 8 1/2 x 11’’ plastic mesh screen found at Michael’s craft store. Two light fixtures with energy-saving bulbs and a timer for a total expense of less than $40. The results didn’t come overnight. I ran my skimmer in parallel for a couple of weeks simply because I feared a tank crash. The water flow and the lighting periods needed tweaking. For an impatient person it’s difficult to watch algae grow. Besides, there is nothing to clean as with a skimmer. After 4 weeks of this experiment I started to notice less algae in my overflows and on my pumps. 8-10 weeks and I could see the rocks again. My corals looked healthier, polyps were opening larger every week. There are many additional benefits from this approach: Less maintenance, as the algae screen is only cleaned every 7-10 days. I have even taken a 3-week vacation with only feeding and glass cleaning performed, and the tank was as beautiful as ever; There is also a significant cooling effect in the summer as the water runs over the screen. More energy efficient, as I traded a 50+W skimmer pump running 24 hours per day for 2 13W energy-efficient bulbs running 18 hours per day; The system is silent! One less pump injecting air into the water - nearly every visitor has commented on the quiet system - my office desk is 5 feet away from the glass; The algae growth is directly proportional to the load of the system and the amount of feeding. Once set up, there is nothing to adjust! My tank has been algae free for nearly 9 months. I perform weekly filter cleaning about every 10 days, with general tank cleaning / coraline scraping once a month. Water changes are back to 15 percent every month. All corals and inhabitants are very healthy. The anemone has split multiple times and the largest one is now over a foot wide. The hammer coral that started from a handful of heads is now over 10 inches in diameter and boasts over 100 heads. I now supply many local reefers with ample frags and my enjoyment of the hobby has finally returned!"

Vannpytt on the scrubber site: "since my scrubber started growing green, the polyps on the sps has been INSANE. During light off period (when light is on the scrubber) the polyps extend 5mm looking amazing. Later update: the tank is clean, the SPS are more than happy, a few of my Acros extend polyps all over the place, especially the milleporas, and the fish are fat. The Salifert nitrate test show <0.1 and the same with the Merck Phosphate test. Life is good. Skimmer is offline. Running carbon and doing a small waterchange every month to reduce the sulfate buildup when doing 2 part Randy's recipe. Going to take the carbon out also, just not yet. Had some startup problems with Acro's stressing out and RTN'ing each other. Seems fine now."

Donj on the scrubber site: "I would just like to add a little something about scrubbers, even though im not getting the green hair algae [on the screen] yet, the benefits so far have been incredible, the life in my system is thriving, the amount of little critters from having an ats is unbelievable, with lights out I can take a flashlight and see what seems to be millions of little critters. I have a 125 gal. tank with a fairly heavy bioload, with fish and mostly sps and lps coral, all are doing very, very well compared to when they were in my ninety gal with no ATS. About 4 weeks ago, I added a pair of mandarins (male n female), the male had a shrunken belly at my LFS, since then he has put some weight on, I would never have attempted this in a system thats been up for only a couple of months, its hard enough to keep 1 mandarin alive, much less 2, but there not only alive, there getting fat  , this is pleasing to me as this is one of my favorite species of fish. The coral growth is mind blowing as well, just gotta say thanks for your site, as I would have just kept on blowing more $$ on equipment I dont really need, had I not stumbled upon this site."

Craig1 on the scrubber site: "Thought I'd post an update. After over two months of use, so far, so good! Algae is growing nicely on the screen, more than enough to clean off each week. But for the results: Feeding at least a cube of food a day; 0/0/0 in the big three; Plenty of pods all over the place; No other filtration except for the rock; Almost zero algae in the DT (Few bubbles remain); Zero water changes in over two months; Have to dose Ca & Alk now, since not being replaced by the water changes; Coraline is growing like crazy now. For all the skeptics out there, the science works. Truly a revolutionary idea on the home tank, if done properly. 

Chip on the scrubber site: [pic of "before", nitrate = 100], [pic of "after", nitrate = zero].

RumpyPumpy on the scrubber site: "My 55 gal reef system has been running for 7 months (I'd been keeping freshwater fish for 20 odd years previously) using only my home made (and probably not very efficient) scrubber (ok, for the first 2 or 3 months there was a bit of Purigen in the sump too but I don't think it did much). I have made no water changes at all over that time (obviously I have topped up with RODI water to replace evaporation), and other than food, I've only added Alk, calcium and occasionally some Seachem Reef Plus (still on my first bottle). The tank is not heavily stocked with fish, (a Yellow tang, pair of clowns, a coral beauty and five chromis) but I feed quite heavily (I think), everything is growing, the water is clear and I have only lost one fish since the start (a small clown which I believe was attacked by one or more of the other fish when introduced them). All the corals have grown and the hermits and other inverts appear to be thriving (although I did lose a shrimp too)."

New2scrub on the scrubber site: "my reef aquarium has never looked so good! I have built a scrubber that looks much like the sm-100 for my 45 gallon reef tank and the results are out-standing! the only thing that i do differently is i change a little water once a month, but not much. I have crystal clear water, pods everywhere, and have raised baby shrimp in my sump without any intervention! to me that is proof that scrubbers work well and provide much more food for the critters we keep!"


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## SantaMonica

Several updates:

1. Does anyone know of a diver, or can you post on a site with divers, who can take some pics and videos of reef water? What is needed is this: The diver takes a camera and a piece of black cloth/plastic/etc to a reef location; he holds the black sheet about 24 inches from the camera, and takes hi-res pics and video of the plankton floating between the camera and the sheet. Hi-res would be important because of the small particle sizes. Being near corals would be important because that's where the corals feed. And doing it at night would be a great plus, since that's when more plankton is out. Daytime will suffice, however. The purpose of this is to show that reefs really are packed with food particles, and are not "polished" the way reefers "think" they are.

2. Replace bulbs every 3 months, even when they look fine.

3. Clean pump in vinegar every 6 months, even if you think it runs fine.

4. "Turf" is not the goal; Green hair is the goal. It filters the best, because it lets light get to the roots, and it lets water flow throughout the strands. If you start getting real turf, remove it with a hacksaw blade:





5. Since the current scrubber recommendations are different from the original recommendations at the start of this thread, here is a new scrubber introduction which could replace post number one: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AlgaeScrubbers.doc

6. The two most important quotes I've found so far:

"Where deep lagoons are formed, coral growth, especially of Acropora, can be prolific"

"Contrary to popular belief, species diversity is not at its highest on the scenically attractive reefs found in clear oceanic water. It reaches a peak for any given region on fringing reefs protected from strong wave action, where the water is slightly turbid."

-- Corals of the World, Vol 1 page 27 

Why? Because it shows that there is more coral growth in lagoon areas than on reefs. How is this? Since lagoons have more algae, they have less nutrients, and more organics (food), than reef fronts (data easily found in reference studies). And that's what corals, especialy SPS, need to grow. Reef fronts (where mostly Acro's grow) actually have higher nutrients and lower organics (food) than lagoons. Why then are there mostly Acro's on reef fronts? Because Acro's don't break under wave action like other corals, and therefore Acro's have less competition (also taken from Corals of the World, Vol 1 page 27). 

7. Do you like to research reefs and corals and nutrients etc? Start here: 
ReefBase :: Main Publications


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## SantaMonica

After over a year of testing, here is the first functional prototype of the Santa Monica 25 Nano scrubber, made pretty much from the plans that were posted here last year.


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## SantaMonica

Here is a video of what Dr. Walter Adey (inventor of the scrubber) was doing 20 years ago, in addition to working on scrubbers:

Optimize for your system...


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## SantaMonica

Successes:

Calvin415 on the scrubber site: "I think the results are outstanding, by far the cleanest tank I've ever had with the least amount of maintenance. I clean the scrubber once a week, skimmer once every two weeks, and clean the film off the glass once a week... I don't hold back on feed, I feed frozen, pellets, arctic pods and phytofeast all the time!"

Srusso on the RC site: "My last harvest was my heaviest yet! I am not weighing my harvest yet but man when your scrapping over an inch thick layer of algae off your screen you feel like you can truly feed your tank any mount of food!! I actually tell other people its "ok" to feed the fish! I should have made it clear that this is two total inches. Once on each side of my screen." 

Eums on the RC site: "Tank PH is rock solid stable at 8.41-8.44 PH (with the skimmer it would swing 0.15). Only need to clean the front glass every week or two. Nuance algae is gone (got a frag with GHA and the GHA died off). Cleanup crew is small (2 turbo,7 astraea, 4 certh, 5 margarita, 5 trochus, 1 Nassarius). Dont need to worry about over feeding, has no impact to the tank other than more food for the micro fauna. Increased micro fauna (tons of red feather dusters, pods, etc). Happy fat fish from all the food available, water clarity improved (tint gone, no longer running carbon)"

Maglofster on the RC site: "So far I am amazed! Almost no algae in the DT since startup, and I have been flooding the tank with food. For example, today: 6 cubes Supershrimp, 2 cubes Formula2 and 2 cubes Lobster eggs. Without the scrubber I'm sure there would have been lots. Also I only have Riffkeramik (from Korallenwelt) which is supposed to give lots of algae (during startup) due to it's content of silcates, almost none of that either. So to summarize.. I'm a happy camper!"

King_richard on the RC site: "My little update on the scrubber. For the first two weeks of my redone scrubber I was rinsing the screen and occasionally scraping it every 3 days or so since the black stuff was covering it rather quickly in areas. It's about time for another cleaning of it either today or tomorrow but I did a water change the other day and tested only for nitrates which are now pretty much 0, I can't see any color difference and the natural seawater that I use has the same reading of 0. So within the two weeks of my rebuilt scrubber, my nitrates have dropped from the almost 5ppm to 0ppm. Also, in the older thread, I was the one who had the nasty case of green water, well our water is now crystal clear and my standards for calling it crystal clear are rather high, lol. The only things in the water column are food that we feed and live food from the dsb and scrubber that make it into the display tank. It's clear enough that you don't see the light rays penetrating through the water if that makes sense." 

Acts4me on the RC site: "WOW is all I can say! I have had my scrubber running since [2 months earlier]. I posted pics of the algae farm I had going on. I have cleaned my scrubber twice and almost all of the algae is gone from my display tank. I thought it would take much longer. I still have a few patches but the bulk is gone. I am going to build scrubbers for the rest of my tanks starting tomorrow. The ATS is the single best addition to my tank I have done as far as equipment goes."

Fragfarmer on the scrubber site: "this is really helping my tank a lot!! I've been plagued with slimey green cyano in my tank for months. It's disappearing. Getting thinner and lighter shade of green every day. I'm so happy to see coraline growing on my glass again, instead of green slime. Thank you!! I can't completely express my gratitude from behind this keyboard."

Harry_y on the RC site: I made mine [scrubber] out of a storage bin. The nice thing is my tank is doing better now than it ever has, I feed heavier and I'm not skimming out the food that the corals want" 

Slow_leak on the RC site: "I have run ATS since September following these guidelines. SPS have grown and people in local club have commented that SPS are growing out nicely. I have a continuous diatom problem before the ATS and that was gone in two weeks. Only trace valonia remains. SPS are easy this way. Soft corals have not flourished as well in this lower nutrient system, but that is not my goal. Unfortunately I had one fish that never reacted well to captivity die after year. The ATS handled it very well. It is a very very forgiving system that most people run with an old set up or incorrectly maintained. I haven't had any [coral] bleaching since I started and will keep it long term." 

Fragglerocks on the RC site: "starting levels: Nitrate was around 30, P04 was a whopping 2.21 YIKES! after a month and half with the scrubber: Nitrate: ZERO!!! P04: 0.11 and still steadily dropping! Tested with Hanna meter. My feeding schedule - I feed 2 frozen cubes a day of assorted store bought foods, i try to mix it up a little, but the equivalent is 2 cubes per day. I also feed a pinch of flakes once a day and dose 2 cap-fulls of DT Phyto once a week. I have no protein skimmer anymore, I sold my Tunze months ago. I no longer run phosgaurd since adding the scrubber. The only thing I do is a 2 part dose weekly, Iodine every once in a while, and I run carbon in the sump. I don't do water changes anymore, just top-offs. and with all this feeding the fish are fat, corals healthy and growing (mix of SPS, LPS, and softies...), and macro in the DT has been dwindling since adding the scrubber. Actually, the reason I wanted to add the scrubber to begin with was the overgrowing macro in the DT. I wanted a natural and gradual way to get rid of it without the use of chemicals, and this has worked wonderfully. Just make sure to clean the screen weekly. I just wanted to add that the day I learned about algae scrubbers was one of the best days in my saltwater journey, thank you Chris! The scrubber has put an end to one of my biggest concerns with my tank, and a great side-effect is that it oxygenates the water and all the corals/fish are extremely well fed and thriving. all of my sps are super happy now and the growth is exponentially faster than when I diddnt have the scrubber and only ran the skimmer. In fact, I had a tri-color colony about 6 inches x 7 inches that had been slowly STN'ing for over 6 months, 3 weeks after I added the scrubber it started coloring up again, stopped stn'ing, and has been showing signs of new growth. I encourage you to set up a small experimental tank. get a biocube or aquapod and fill it with your choice of sps, good lighting, and sufficient flow. Add a scrubber and let us know what happens".


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## SantaMonica

Bguile on the RC site: "I think I'll go ahead and chime in on this one since I've been running skimmerless on my 210g since [7 months earlier] and setup a new 40g that has basically been only ATS since it was built [3 months ago]. I haven't done a water change since it's been running, water parameters stay unusually stable and my ammonia, nitrates, and phospates are all or very very close to 0. In fact, I started overfeeding the system when it only had inverts in it to start the algae growth on the ATS. I had NEVER fed so much to a tank filled with fish for fear of algae and cyano. Back [7 months ago] I decided to try going skimmerless on my [other tank] 210, after I wasn't getting the success I thought I should with it. I immediately noticed that the small corals I did have began opening and growing like gangbusters. However, I wasn't keeping up with water changes as I should have been and algae and cyano went crazy too. Just as I decided to build a smaller reef tank and make the 210 a FOWLR, I happened upon ATS' looking for nitrate reducing solutions. So after I tested the ATS on my 40g. I'm in the process of redesigning it to an enclosed unit, but it's maintaining the system the way it is. To really clean up the sand I need to add approx another 100W of light [to the scrubber] but since it's becoming a FOWLR, I haven't put much urgency on it. In closing, I must admit I'm VERY excited about the results that ATS's have shown me and that my limitations (read, money) have now been removed for me to run as many specialized tanks as I would like without the need to purchase an expensive skimmer. Oh...I wanted to add that I NEVER had any of the diatoms that usually shows up in new tanks using the ATS. Since it's been installed, I've only run into one problem when I started seeing a hairy type algae poking out of my sand. I found out I was choking off my return flow by not removing the included mechanical filter on my Eheim. Once I removed that within days the algae was gone and I once again have clean grey/white sand!!"

Nac on the scrubber site: "Nitrate and Phosphate levels are at zero at last test. No water changes ever, and had fish for 6 weeks now. Algae on the live rock, which was growing like crazy, is starting to slowly subside. The growth on the screen is still pretty dark, I'm cleaning it twice a week. I put both lights on one side of the screen, might add wattage."

Dlp40 on the scrubber site: "Well since my last post a few weeks ago I think i have finally gotten my ATS working. I tested the water today and from 20ppm nitrate to 0.00ppm and po4 of over .2 down to unmeasureable. Not to say i haven't had my snags in the 2 months I have been using it, but it's well worth the trouble. I mean I havent done a water change in 2 months, this has already paid for the ATS twice. another testimit on how much i like this DIY filter is, even when i had the wrong screen and lights on it, my algea from the tank disapeared. I had a few rocks completly covered with hair algae and it disapeared in less then one month."

Maxhtic on the UR site: "No need to spend your cash for all these unecessary "media"... my oppinion and personal experience. Alga Turf Scrubber mate... and you will NEVER spend any more money on filtration, saving extra cash every month for livestock. Simple as that - give it some chance and you will change your reefing procedures for ever."

Albass15 on the UR site: "build yourself a turf scrubber. I only do a 20 percent water change once a month and my nitrate and phosphate is zero."

Mrbncal on the RC site: When I set this 75 back up 4 years ago I battled with my Euroreef skimmer for 7-8 months. Every couple of weeks it would go into overflow mode for a couple days and flow teh skimmate back into the tank. Things looked horrible every time it would overflow. Just got sick of dealing with it. I unplugged it and let the tank go. Three months with no attention. Almost tore it down. 90 days later when I scrubbed the front glass I was surprised to find that things had gotten better since turning off the skimmer. So i left it like that for about a year and a half. But hair and bubble algae had a serious foothold. I couldnt feed much. Then I read the articles on ATS's and eventually decided to try one. So I built a bucket scrubber and haven't looked back. Is it tank of the month material? No. But my maintenance time is a lot less than those guys also. I still have great growth on corals and most important I enjoy the hobby again. My only source of cal/alk is kalk in the top-off water and I run a bag of chemipure hanging in the sump. I have not changed any water since [6 mo ago] (30 gal). (I had a hot day prior to hooking my chiller up and things got a little soupy, stupid gamble and I lost a few corals). I have been running ats since [14 months ago]. Anemones, tubeworms of all types(cocoworms), photosynth gorgs and LPS as well as green slimer and birdnest, pocillipora have all grown very well. My scrubber is underpowered, I use a MJ1200. So my algae is browner than what it should be. I am using 120 watt equivilent indoor/outdoor CFL bulbs. They have a 3500K rating, which is why they are kind of yellow. I alternate changing the bulbs out. So one bulb is replaced every month and a half (this is apprx, I try to use the bulbs 3to4 months). I have some plans to redo the scrubber but it works so well right now I keep putting the rebuild off. I have a slow drip on the pipe in the pic above, you can see some salt creep everywhere. Another thing that needs redoing. The scrubber gets cleaned at least every 2 weeks, but I really try to clean it every Sunday morning. I get a coffee cup full of algae every time as long as I am feeding regularly. Right now though, the limiting factor on my scrubber is flow. I only have about 3/4 of the flow that my screen size demands according to the guidelines (35gph per inch of screen). Once I replace that with a 350+ GPH pump my algae should green up. I havent checked N&P since it went to 0's or undetectable. Took a sample to the store and they verified my results with their test. So I assume its still there as I dont have any indication it has changed. I have not checked Cal/Alk/PH lately either. The clams are putting on new white growth, the grape and red monti caps are getting big. Acros dont grow as fast as the guys with cal reactors I spose, but they do pretty well."


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## SantaMonica

Adey is applying for a patent on something you may have seen and read about before..... 3D algal turf screens. Seems like it would have been obvious  ...
BASAL SCREEN FOR ENHANCING ALGAL ... - Google Patents


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## SantaMonica

Here is a complete cleaning video (with one hand, and with no sound) of a mature screen from one of the two SM100 scrubbers on my tank. It shows how to clean the acrylic box, the acrylic window, and how to scrape off the turf. About one pound of algae (wet) is removed total, including the algae in the box. Most new screens less than a year old won't have any turf, but this screen is well-grown-in so the turf must be removed every 3 months or so, to give the green hair algae a place to attach to the screen.

Cleaning is done slowly, so you can see all the steps; if I were in a hurry, I could do it all in 5 minutes. Also, the box is full because I let it grow as much as possible (about 2 weeks) to show the 3D growth for the video; you would not normally let it fill up so much: 




Shortcuts:

00:30 - 3D close up
03:45 - Turning off pump
06:10 - Removing screen
08:50 - Screen scraping
13:55 - Putting screen back in pipe
15:20 - View the algae in the box
17:35 - Putting pipe back in box
18:40 - Water flow again in clean box
19:00 - Cleaning window with toothbrush


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## redchigh

Assuming this is for sale, calling it 'DIY' is misleading due to your patent, don't you think?


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## SantaMonica

I have no patent.

The patent application posted above is for Walter Adey.

Scrubbers are DIY if you build them.


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## SantaMonica

For those who are using tap water for top-off or water changes: 

Tap water sometimes contains copper to kill unwanted things. Algae eats copper, as long as the copper is not added to much, too fast. If the copper is added too much, too fast, it will stop the algae from growing for a while. So to prevent your scrubber from being affected by this, try to make sure you have as much algae on your screen(s) as possible when you add the tap water. In other words, don't clean your screen(s) before you add the tap water.


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## SantaMonica

Three things...

1: Here is a CFL reflector comparision video:





2: Here is a video of roughed-up screen material:





3: Here is a video of an encrusting yellow sponge:





More sponge pics; it came out of nowhere and started growing in low-light areas, especially towards the power head, since it needs lots of flow and food particles:


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## SantaMonica

Here is a video of a regular weekly cleaning of a SM100...


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## SantaMonica

Here is the best way to get all of the light from a CFL bulb to your screen: Make a reflector all the way around it:


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## SantaMonica

LA Fish Guys did a neat little scrubber review...


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## SantaMonica

A reminder about lighting: 

Stronger lighting is always better, until you start "burning" the algae. Burned algae will be yellow, because it is getting too much light but not enough nutrients from the flow. More light requires more nutrients, which give you more filtering.

So if you have yellow growth, increase the flow so that more nutrient are delivered to the algae. If you can't increase flow, then add some iron. If you can't add iron, then reduce the number of hours the lights are on. Do not reduce the wattage, however; stronger light for less hours is better than weaker light for more hours, because weaker light will grow darker algae. Stronger light grows bright green algae, which does the most filtering.


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## SantaMonica

This is an experimental fix for brown/black growth, and also for extending the life of the bulbs past 3 months:

1. Use bulbs with twice the wattage as recommended; so use 2 real watts per square inch (6.25 sq cm) of screen. Thus a screen 10 X 10 inches = 100 square inches would get 200 total real watts of light instead of 100 watts.

2. Run the lights for half as many hours as recommended; this would be 9 hours instead of 18.

3. Around 3 months, when the growth starts to get darker (because the bulbs are getting weaker), start increasing hours until it grows green again. When you reach 18 hours, it's time for new bulbs.

This does a few things: The first is obvious; you will get longer bulb life as long as you remember to increase the hours when you get to 3 months. But stronger light can also turn black/brown growth into green, no matter how high the nutrients are, if the light is strong enough. The trick is just to not burn the algae; thus the hours have to be less.

When the light is strong (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is physical algae, and it's also more green (less proteins). When the light is weak (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is DOC and dark physical growth (more proteins).


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## SantaMonica

Coming Soon: Good news for nano owners who want scrubbers. If you have not been able to easily put a scrubber below or above your tank, this might work for you. And you probably already have the parts to make it.


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## SantaMonica

LED test on SM100:

9 days of growth after cleaning. Fluorescent on left, LED on right. LED is the 50 watt Grow Light from EshineSystems in China. Actually uses 41 watts per the KillOwatt. Was raised up 3/4 inch to fit in middle of scrubber window. Camera is unfortunately an old one, since new one is being repaired. Growth was very similar on both sides; too similar to tell them apart. Growth on the LED side was floating a bit higher since it had no light near the bottom. LED was about $140 including shipping, and I asked for the black case:




























Video:





LED:
3G 50W LED Grow Light - LED Grow Light, LED Aquarium Light, LED Lighting...


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## SantaMonica

New Scrubber Sizing Guideline (Sept 2011)

Scrubbers will now be sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen)
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen)
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen)
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen)
10 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen)
5 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen)
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen)
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

HORIZONTAL screens: Multiply the screen size by 4, and the wattage by 1.5

Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.

Clean algae off of screen every 7 to 14 days, so that you can see the white screen material.


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## John Malcolm

*Algae Scrubber*

I have an algae scrubber with a 10 inch screen and a moderate flow- at the moment- and I am getting loads of algae which I clean off weekly. I intend to add two mandarin fish next week. I have a 6x2x2 with good flow and moderate stocking levels. I have a huge amount of "live rock" and reasonable lighting. I am hoping for almost zero nitrates & phosphates because if these levels are high a reef tank does not flourish. Will keep this up to date- hopefully on a weekly basis. John:lol:


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## SantaMonica

Sounds good.

You'll probably want small mandarins, who can eat the baby copepods that come from scrubbers.


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## John Malcolm

*Pods*

I was hoping that I would be able to get normal size mandarins and that the pods will be so numerous that some will get into my live rock and grow. John


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## SantaMonica

Start with one then, and make sure he has not been raised on any kind of large food.


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## SantaMonica

Updates on the LED test. 3 pics from 2nd cleaning, and 1 vid from 3rd cleaning:


2nd cleaning, 7 days, top:










2nd cleaning, 7 days, T5:










2nd cleaning, 7 days, LED:












3rd cleaning, 11 days:




.
.
.
.


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## SantaMonica

Coming in 2012:

Algae Scrubber II

(nano owners rejoice)


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## SantaMonica

Update:

The cyano stage: Some people, who start using a scrubber for the first time, get rid of their nuisance algae but then get some cyano that they never had before. The reason for this is that cyano is able to "fix" it's own nitrogen, which means it is good at getting the last nutrients that are available. However, once these last nutrients are removed, the cyano will go away too. And the more powerful the scrubber is, the quicker this happens.


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## SantaMonica

Since I've been working on the new scrubber, I've not done much with the 25 nano model. So if anyone would like to test, build, and market it, I could sell you the patent application and you could take it over. It is a U.S. PPA which expires March 7, 2012. You would then file your own U.S. NPA.


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## brokenrules69

i had an idea about making one of these with some supplies that i already have laying around

i was thing about taking tubing and wraping it around a screen hachery links provided for better illistration 
and place a light inside the hatchery and allow the alge to grow all around it make alot of surface area for alge in a small space that i could place in my fresh water sump i wanted to build

but i have one question in the first few pages of this post it said that the bottom of the screen needs to be in the water how important is this

any tips on how this would work or if it wont 
and how important the water touching the bottom 


thanks


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## SantaMonica

You can't have any water in there... the waterfall needs to be in air.


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonica

New scrubber update: The new design will not require a slot in the pipe. If you have not built one yet, and you have trouble with DIY, then you might wait for the new DIY plans to be posted; there should be no hard-to-cut pieces (like a slot), at least for the very simple versions.


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## SantaMonica

Here is a comparison of the types of bulbs to use:


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## SantaMonica

Need translator for Availability Schedule...
Availability Schedule 

I have Chinese finished, but I need other languages too. So if you or someone you know can translate that page into another language and email it to me on a Word 2000 document, let me know how much $ it would cost.

Thanks!


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## SantaMonica

Less than 2 weeks until the new design is posted...


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## SantaMonica

Phosphate flow out of rocks

Many people, when they get their scrubber running for the first time, get worried when more (not less) algae starts to grow on their rocks. It seems really strange, especially when nitrate and phosphate have gone lower than before. What is happening is that phosphate is coming out of the rocks. Remember, phosphate is invisible, so you can only see the effects of it, and it always "flows" from higher concentrations to lower concentrations (just like heat does). 

Example: If your room is warm, and you put a cold object on the floor, heat from the air in the room will "flow" into the object until the object and the air are the same temperature. Example 2: If you put a hot object on the floor, heat will "flow" out of the object and go into the air in the room, again, until the air and the object are the same temperature. Now suppose you open your windows (in the winter). The warm air in your room will go out the windows, and it will get colder in the room. The object on the floor is now warmer than the air, so heat will flow out of the object and into the air, and then out the window.

Think of phosphate as the heat, and your rocks as the object, and your windows as the scrubber. As the scrubber pulls phosphate out of the water, the phosphate level in the water drops. Now, since the phosphate level in the water is lower than the phosphate level in the rocks, phosphate flows from the rocks into the water, and then from the water into the scrubber. This continues until the phosphate levels in the rocks and water are level again. And remember, you can't see this invisible flow.

This flow causes an interesting thing to happen. As the phosphate comes out of the rocks, it then becomes available to feed algae as soon as the phosphate reaches the surface of the rocks where there is light. So, since the surface of the rocks is rough and has light, it starts growing MORE algae there (not less) as the phosphate comes out of the rocks. This is a pretty amazing thing to see for the first time, because if you did not know what was happening you would probably think that the algae in the scrubber was leaking out and attaching to your rocks. Here are the signs of phosphate coming out of the rocks: 

1. The rocks are older, and have slowly developed algae problems in the past year.

2. The scrubber is new, maybe only a few months old, and has recently started to grow well.

3. Nitrate and phosphate measurements in the water are low, usually the lowest they have been in a long time.

4. Green hair algae (not brown) on the rocks has increased in certain spots, usually on corners and protrusions at the top.

5. The glass has not needed cleaning as much.


Since skimmers, filter socks, etc don't remove any nitrate and phosphate, and waterchanges and macro's in a fuge don't remove much, most people have never seen the effects of large amounts of phosphate coming out of the rocks quickly. But sure enough, it does. How long does it continue? For 2 months to a year, depending on how much phosphate is in the rocks, how strong your scrubber is, and how many other phosphate-removing filters you have (GFO, carbon dosing, etc). But one day you will see patches of white rock that were covered in green hair the day before; this is a sure sign that the algae are losing their phosphate supply from the rocks and can no longer hold on. Now it's just a matter of days before the rocks are clear.


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## rsskylight04

That's brilliant!


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## SantaMonica

Very nice scrubber-only tank:
180g Show Tank - Page 2

His personal page:
Introduction


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## SantaMonica

Coming this summer 2016:
Waterfall algae scrubber
Version 2

After I invented the waterfall scrubber in 2008, it's great that so many people got to DIY it, and it's also great that lots of builders/sellers used it as their design up until the current day. It's had over 7 years to gather hobbyists.

2012 was a good year though, when I introduced the upflow scrubber. It's only had 3 years to gather hobbyists, but offers them what they did not have before: a compact place where they can put a scrubber that does not spill over when it fills up.

Now that the upflows are established, it's time to do some more work on the waterfalls. They've been unchanged since 2008, and almost every part of them can be improved. So over the next year or two I'll post up the improvements piece by piece. Hopefully the improvements will be useful to all.


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## chrisjordan651

2 percula clowns, 2 feather dusters, and a crossbow bursa fish With water changes of 20% each week, nitrate stayed at 40 mg/l. There were no obvious benefits with weekly water changes of 20%. Nitrates were reduced to 30 mg/l using the vodka approach, with no change of water for two months. Filamentous algae and cyano were abundant in the exhibit.


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