Algae issues? Why dont more people use algae scrubbers?

[BeanAnimal]

Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me. Tried that too several times with no success.
Doesn't mean they don't work.

It is just a convenient way for me to run carbon and bit of GFO. I want nothing to do with reactors, pellets, socks, media, etc. Toss a bag in, and swap it out every few month or two.

No magic, just a useful amount of carbon and a dubious amount of GFO.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

...

 

[ScubaSkeets]

It is just a convenient way for me to run carbon and bit of GFO. I want nothing to do with reactors, pellets, socks, media, etc. Toss a bag in, and swap it out every few month or two.

No magic, just a useful amount of carbon and a dubious amount of GFO.

Gotcha. I'm gonna give it another try. Thanks

 

[Bioloco (EasyReefs)]

When people post about algae issues, most suggestions are to get a clean-up crew (two orders from reefcleaners didn't help me), manual removal (easier said than done and it's not going to remove all of the algae plus it'll probably just grow back), or chemicals (I tried Vibrant and it didn't work, and who really wants to add chemicals anyway?), or a blackout (two blackouts temporarily worked for me, but I doubt my fish/corals enjoyed them very much and waiting those 3 days without really knowing whats going on kinda sucked) There are other suggestions but I think these are the top ones.
Enter an algae scrubber. I put a DIY algae scrubber in my sump about 2 months ago, and my tank is virtually algae free with no signs of it reappearing. My nutrients are good (Nitrates @ 1.0-2.5; Phosphates @ 0.05-0.08). I have a heavily stocked tank and I keep my fish well fed.
It seems that most people that have an algae scrubber swear by them, so why are they not used more?
Is it the cost? Store bought ones are a huge expense, especially not seeing the results with your own eyes. My DIY scrubber probably cost less than $80 and it is probably the best the best thing I have done with my tank

The interespecific competition between algaes is one of the most efective metods to algae control. Algae scrubber have some problems but i think than it's one of the most interesting motods to algae culture and plages control that exsist.

 

[mattdg]

I've added algae scrubbers to tanks with HA and Briopsis. They did very little, if anything, to remedy the issue. They have their place, but not as a cure all.

 

[VintageReefer]

Nobody claims they are a cure all or work in 100% of situations. Sounds like your tanks had something different going on causing the issues.

GFO/Biopellots/water changes/carbon dosing/increasing feeding/decreasing feeding/scrubbing rocks - all of these things have a purpose and can help certain problems - but even the things they typically help - it’s not a 100% guarantee.

 

[ScubaSkeets]

I was never offended. All good.

You might want to consider putting a few sentences in the first post, if you can edit it. Otherwise, people won't read all the way through and you will get invited to discussions based on the emphatic first part of the thread without people seeing the balance that came later. This can help you. You can spend hours just having to catch people up. If you cannot edit it, type out a bit here and ask a mod to put it in the first part.

It can be as simple as - Edit: Please read to the end. While I was emphatic early about some things, they changed as the discussion progressed.

Perhaps you misinterpreted.

I said I was wrong. I didn't say anything about offending anyone.

What I admitted was that I was wrong to say "algae-free" when I should have said "algae less"

In fact, after thinking about my "apology" post (note the quotation marks), I retract almost all of it. I would edit or delete it, but I cannot. @Garf @Thales @jda weren't trying to steer me in the right direction at all. All you wanted to do was PROVE @VintageReefer and myself wrong...that the algae scrubber doesn't work, period. If you were actually trying to steer me in the right direction, the posts may have been more something more in the line of:

"it may be working good for you but perhaps you should not say your tank is "Algae free".

Or after I posted the 100whites/50% blues,
"yep. I don't see any long hair GHA or tufts of moss that you said used to be in your tank, so your ATS appears to be working well for you but there may still be some alage that the scrubber may not fully eradicate"
Nothing like that was ever said by you all.
The ONLY one who disagreed with my claims AND try to steer me in the right direction was @Reefering1

 

[Mikeltee]

My new 150EXT skimmer arrived broken today so I sent it back to BRS. I have had a string of bad luck from BRS lately as the Bullet 3 HOB skimmer that I purchased 2 weeks ago was also broken! Credit to BRS for harvesting the part off another skimmer and next daying it. They probably would have done the same this time, but I had a change of heart because of comms with Santa Monica.

Anyways, I am taking a huge leap of faith here and plan to run skimmerless. I just don't have room in my sump for both the surf and a skimmer. I'm concerned about gas exchange and the benefits of a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer intake.

Does the upflow design of the Surf running with a Tetra AP 300 increase gas exchange or should I add a bubbler to my sump? Will the algae growth consume enough CO2 to be equivalent to the effects of my CO2 scrubber on a smaller 6" skimmer? I'd estimate that I get about +.2 on my pH running the CO2 scrubber.

 

[Garf]

Perhaps you misinterpreted.

I said I was wrong. I didn't say anything about offending anyone.

What I admitted was that I was wrong to say "algae-free" when I should have said "algae less"

In fact, after thinking about my "apology" post (note the quotation marks), I retract almost all of it. I would edit or delete it, but I cannot. @Garf @Thales @jda weren't trying to steer me in the right direction at all. All you wanted to do was PROVE @VintageReefer and myself wrong...that the algae scrubber doesn't work, period. If you were actually trying to steer me in the right direction, the posts may have been more something more in the line of:

"it may be working good for you but perhaps you should not say your tank is "Algae free".

Or after I posted the 100whites/50% blues,
"yep. I don't see any long hair GHA or tufts of moss that you said used to be in your tank, so your ATS appears to be working well for you but there may still be some alage that the scrubber may not fully eradicate"
Nothing like that was ever said by you all.
The ONLY one who disagreed with my claims AND try to steer me in the right direction was @Reefering1

I was under the impression you were really happy with your tank, and why shouldn’t you be? It’s not upto anyone to tell you what you like and as such there wasn’t really any steering to do. Ill attach a picture of the sloughing that I mentioned earlier in the thread which normally would not be noticed. I posted the link to the entire thread earlier. It’s only because I was aerating the screen that it became evident as it made it float on the sump surface in a little eddy. I have a longer thread where I dabbled with CO2 also but I’ll only post a link to that if specifically requested.

 

[VintageReefer]

My new 150EXT skimmer arrived broken today so I sent it back to BRS. I have had a string of bad luck from BRS lately as the Bullet 3 HOB skimmer that I purchased 2 weeks ago was also broken! Credit to BRS for harvesting the part off another skimmer and next daying it. They probably would have done the same this time, but I had a change of heart because of comms with Santa Monica.

Anyways, I am taking a huge leap of faith here and plan to run skimmerless. I just don't have room in my sump for both the surf and a skimmer. I'm concerned about gas exchange and the benefits of a CO2 scrubber on my skimmer intake.

Does the upflow design of the Surf running with a Tetra AP 300 increase gas exchange or should I add a bubbler to my sump? Will the algae growth consume enough CO2 to be equivalent to the effects of my CO2 scrubber on a smaller 6" skimmer? I'd estimate that I get about +.2 on my pH running the CO2 scrubber.

The scrubber algae will consume CO2 and output oxygen which should increase the ph and help it stabilize throughout the night. How much? I can’t predict that, but it will help. Plus your air pump will be running 24x7 with dual air lines pumping bubbles into the sump.

Do you have issues with low ph for some reason? In 23 years of reefs I’ve never tested for or worried about ph. I haven’t run my skimmer in a year, I have literally not had any negative effect or change since I pulled the plug

* disclaimer: what works for me may not work for everyone. Your mileage may vary. Always smart to monitor your tank and corals and adjust if needed.

BTW I decided you were a bad influence and I decided to order the Slip .7 scrubber for my nano I bought a air pump too with a rechargeable battery backup built in. And as I type this I realize I need a timer. Off to Amazon…

 

[Mikeltee]

The scrubber algae will consume consume CO2 and output oxygen which should increase the ph and help it stabilize throughout the night. How much? I can’t predict that, but it will help. Plus your air pump will be running 24x7 with dual air lines pumping bubbles into the sump.

Do you have issues with low ph for some reason? In 23 years of reefs I’ve never tested for or worried about ph. I haven’t run my skimmer in a year, I have literally not had any negative effect or change since I pulled the plug

* disclaimer: what works for me may not work for everyone. Your mileage may vary. Always smart to monitor your tank and corals and adjust if needed.

BTW I decided you were a bad influence and I decided to order the Slip .7 scrubber for my nano I bought a air pump too with a rechargeable battery backup built in. And as I type this I realize I need a timer. Off to Amazon…

Yea this thread set me back over $1000 at first. Luckily, the skimmer was broke. I think I'll grab the gem tang that I was offered for $325 now.

I don't have a pH problem but usually people can run it higher. My scubber adds about .4.

 

[Dburr1014]

My .02¢
It's impossible to tell where the algae to grow, they just won't listen.

But seriously, just because you run an algae scrubber it doesn't mean algae will not grow in your tank. It's impossible to pick and choose where algae is going to grow. The scrubber may help or it may not. It's just one more tool in a toolbox full of tools.
I tried one years ago that I DIY'd. Complete failure and messy is all get out. I'll stick to my refugium.

 

[VintageReefer]

My .02¢
It's impossible to tell where the algae to grow, they just won't listen.

- This has been proven wrong both mathematically and in real life. Without using “absolute words” the agreement from both sides seems to be “yes you can reduce or nearly eliminate hair algae in a display, but a display will always want to grow some form of algae”


“But seriously, just because you run an algae scrubber it doesn't mean algae will not grow in your tank. It's impossible to pick and choose where algae is going to grow. The scrubber may help or it may not. It's just one more tool in a toolbox full of tools.”
- agree to disagree. Agree you can’t tell it where to grow. But you can certainly tip the scales to a extremely high degree. Multiple people here achieving >90% algae removal from a display after adding a scrubber


“I tried one years ago that I DIY'd. Complete failure and messy is all get out. I'll stick to my refugium.

- so your failed design / attempt means what? They are all messy or ineffective? Not sure the logic here. If I made my own <anything> and it came out a failure, or was difficult to use properly, then maybe I would consider buying a premade one from one of the multiple vendors who spent years and years working on their product, making it efficient and user friendly and selling it to the public

 

[Dburr1014]

This has been proven wrong both mathematically and in real life. Without using “absolute words” the agreement from both sides seems to be “yes you can reduce or nearly eliminate hair algae in a display, but a display will always want to grow some form of algae”

But seriously, just because you run an algae scrubber it doesn't mean algae will not grow in your tank. It's impossible to pick and choose where algae is going to grow. The scrubber may help or it may not. It's just one more tool in a toolbox full of tools.
- agree to disagree. Agree you can’t tell it where to grow. But you can certainly tip the scales to a extremely high degree. Multiple people here achieving >90% algae removal from a display after adding a scrubber

I tried one years ago that I DIY'd. Complete failure and messy is all get out. I'll stick to my refugium.

- so your failed design / attempt means what? They are all messy or ineffective? Not sure the logic here. If I made my own <anything> and it came out a failure, or was difficult to use properly, then maybe I would consider buying a premade one from a vendor who spent years and years working on their product, making it efficient and user friendly and selling it to the public

Good luck to you.

 

[Garf]

a vendor who spent years and years working on their product, making it efficient and user friendly and selling it to the public

I agree that Bud Carlson’s scrubbers are one nice piece of kit

 

[VintageReefer]

I agree that Bud Carlson’s scrubbers are one nice piece of kit

I agree also, the turbo aquatics scrubbers are excellent, with a large community of happy customers. I don’t use one of his because I like the simplicity of the surf model, but I definitely acknowledge turbos great design and that it’s successful at doing it’s job

 

[Garf]

I agree also, the turbo aquatics scrubbers are excellent, with a large community of happy customers. I don’t use one of his because I like the simplicity of the surf model, but I definitely acknowledge turbos great design and that it’s successful at doing it’s job

I do however find your attacks on members DIY versions, very distasteful.

 

[VintageReefer]

I do however find your attacks on members DIY versions, very distasteful.

I find all of your posts distasteful. Nothing positive, helpful, supportive or even friendly. You obviously have some form of vendetta against scrubbers or Santa Monica, or people using his product.

And those that built designs and shared them, I provided positive feedback

And even those that had diy designs they mentioned didn’t work, I provided ideas why and offered suggestions

 

[Mikeltee]

Well, thanks to nothing in this post (lol) I bought two Geo scrubbers that will be here this week. Happy holidays all!

How are you going to configure them? There was one here for dirt cheap recently. I considered it but in order to use it as a turf scrubber, the base needs to sit above the waterline putting the top about 4' high.

 

[Garf]

I find all of your posts distasteful. Nothing positive, helpful, supportive or even friendly. You obviously have some form of vendetta against scrubbers or Santa Monica, or people using his product.

And those that built designs and shared them, I provided positive feedback

And even those that had diy designs they mentioned didn’t work, I provided ideas why and offered suggestions

Merry Christmas