Bad Company
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2014
- Messages
- 624
- Reaction score
- 68
- Location
- Milwaukee, WI
- What state or country do you live in
- Wisconsin
I got the confidence to get into salf water fishkeeping by reading a lot about algae scubbers. Early on, I thought a lot of the filtration equipment for salt water was prohibitively expensive.
So I finally set up a 70 gal rimless with a home made algae scrubber set up on the drain from my display in a 20 gal sump, running about 500 GPH from a throttled Eheim 1262. The screen was a 10 X 10" roughed up #7 from hobby lobby (like $3) and I used two 100W equivalent CFLs with reflectors to light both sides. It took a few weeks to start growing good algae, especially since it was set up before my tank cycled (which I did with live rock). I did have to play with splash guards and now use saran wrap to eliminate splashing.
As the tank cycled, nitrates went up to 30ppm, then within two weeks went to zero. I had another mini-cycle when I rearrainged the entire tank, but now week after week ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are ZERO! Originally there was the dino bloom and another algae bloom. The tank is 5 months old now.
I now have nine fish in the tank: Flame Angel, Coral Beauty, Occelaris Clown (yes it does look like Nemo), Bi-color blenny, 3 blue/green Chromis, Yellowtail damsel, and my favorite, a blue spot jawfish who has built one heck of a burow. I feed once a day, a healty pinch of spirulina flaks or other flake food, some sinking wafers for CUC, and some pellets for the jawfish.
I now keep the display tank lights (6 ecoxotic stunners) on for 14 hours a day! Because I like to see the fish. I clean the glass once a week, and the CUC does the rest. I also scrape the algea on the scrubber off into the sink once a week.
DOWNSIDES: If you let it grow too long it will yellow the water (2 days over is too long). Impossible to avoid some splashing noise with a waterall scubber (the most effective kind), but not bad in an enclosed sump cabinet. Once a week maintenance.
I added an Eshopps PSK-100H and now the water is crystal clear and sparkling.
UPSIDE: No nitrates. None. No mainenance cost. No filtermedia or chemicals to buy. The fish are all very healthy!
Granted I have a FOWLR, but I do less maintenaqnce now than when I had freshwater fish!
Some people claim that an algae scrubber is a "cure all". I'm not sure about that, but I sure do love mine!
So I finally set up a 70 gal rimless with a home made algae scrubber set up on the drain from my display in a 20 gal sump, running about 500 GPH from a throttled Eheim 1262. The screen was a 10 X 10" roughed up #7 from hobby lobby (like $3) and I used two 100W equivalent CFLs with reflectors to light both sides. It took a few weeks to start growing good algae, especially since it was set up before my tank cycled (which I did with live rock). I did have to play with splash guards and now use saran wrap to eliminate splashing.
As the tank cycled, nitrates went up to 30ppm, then within two weeks went to zero. I had another mini-cycle when I rearrainged the entire tank, but now week after week ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are ZERO! Originally there was the dino bloom and another algae bloom. The tank is 5 months old now.
I now have nine fish in the tank: Flame Angel, Coral Beauty, Occelaris Clown (yes it does look like Nemo), Bi-color blenny, 3 blue/green Chromis, Yellowtail damsel, and my favorite, a blue spot jawfish who has built one heck of a burow. I feed once a day, a healty pinch of spirulina flaks or other flake food, some sinking wafers for CUC, and some pellets for the jawfish.
I now keep the display tank lights (6 ecoxotic stunners) on for 14 hours a day! Because I like to see the fish. I clean the glass once a week, and the CUC does the rest. I also scrape the algea on the scrubber off into the sink once a week.
DOWNSIDES: If you let it grow too long it will yellow the water (2 days over is too long). Impossible to avoid some splashing noise with a waterall scubber (the most effective kind), but not bad in an enclosed sump cabinet. Once a week maintenance.
I added an Eshopps PSK-100H and now the water is crystal clear and sparkling.
UPSIDE: No nitrates. None. No mainenance cost. No filtermedia or chemicals to buy. The fish are all very healthy!
Granted I have a FOWLR, but I do less maintenaqnce now than when I had freshwater fish!
Some people claim that an algae scrubber is a "cure all". I'm not sure about that, but I sure do love mine!
