Algae Scrubber Vs Refugium -- Do you have a Nitrates issue?

[ShawnSaucier]

Just going to through this out there, but has anyone tried Xenia in their fuge..?

 

[Lacktaters]

Just going to through this out there, but has anyone tried Xenia in their fuge..?

I've heard about this. If my chaeto dies off because it's being outcompeted by the scrubber, I may give it a try...can't hurt

 

[ShawnSaucier]

I've read about it too. I have a new build I'm starting and this was a thought..

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Surges are definitely not the easiest thing, but not the hardest. I never did a dump bucket design but on my old 75g I had a 1 gallon Carlson surge device that filled from the display drain and dumped over the algae screen into the sump. Worked very well, better than when it had no surge. Wish I had pics of that setup. The filtration rocked, the tank looked like a 3rd grader set it up though. It was early in my development haha. Dump bucket would have worked just as well, probably better in that situation since the surge bucket was pretty bulky.

 

[jedimasterben]

The better results were coming from the CO2 in the air and put in by the surge. You can get the same results using an airstone/bubble wand under the screen. Some people are actually getting the same results using just a powerhead blowing on the screen versus a bubble wand.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I should try the bubbles in my Cyanobacteria scrubber https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...445-my-self-induced-cyanobacterial-bloom.html

 

[fyrfytr]

They're perfect for small spaces. The simplest are just plastic mesh submerged in a sump chamber with a good light shining on just one side, but if you want to get fancy (and get much more efficient, as well), then waterfall scrubbers are better, especially if lit from both sides.

My plan was to have the overflow come down from the DT to some form of a contraption that would be the ATS

 

[jedimasterben]

My plan was to have the overflow come down from the DT to some form of a contraption that would be the ATS

So basically an overflow-powered waterfall?

 

[Saulsa]

Just going to through this out there, but has anyone tried Xenia in their fuge..?

I had a friend that attempted this.. He has a solid 40b of xenia and his testing showed negligible performance..

 

[Lacktaters]

I had a friend that attempted this.. He has a solid 40b of xenia and his testing showed negligible performance..

Good to know

 

[kresDFW]

Has anyone used the SantaMonica SURF2? I'm planning on setting up a one of the Reef Octopus Luxury T60 (32g) tanks in my office, but the sump that fits in the stand has no room for a refugium. Not sure how much heat that will put off though.

 

[Chris155hp]

Looking to make an Upflow algea scrubber lit by LEDs after reading this fourm to reduce inorganic phosphates vs using gfo. So your saying the best led combo is 4 deep red to 1 royal blue vs the just 2 deep reds I was originally planning? Out of curiosity what's the purpose of the royal blue

 

[SanFernandoValleyAIOReef]

I have been using a scrubber for a very limited amount of time but I will say my nitrates have plummeted since spotting the initial algae growth. I have never used a refugium because I feel to get macro algae to really make a difference requires a lot more space than typical reefers give.

There’s no problem with the algae falling off the screen and going into DT?

 

[SanFernandoValleyAIOReef]

This is another point I forgot about the algae scrubbers - when my scrubber took off in growth, copepod populations just exploded like I've never seen before, despite having run that large refugium for several months AND having seeded it with fresh, pod-COVERED macro from the ocean.

Did you still have a refuge? Or ur saying the pop in ur DT?