Anyone using a Turbo's Aquatics L4?

Salty1962 · Jan 6, 2017

I was wanting some feedback from anyone using Turbo's Aquatics L4 TAS. How do you have yours setup, how long did it take to break in, how often to you need to clean and how has it helped you with your No3 and Po4 levels, etc?
Thx

PJS · Jan 6, 2017

I have had mine online since November 17th. I've had it set at "11 o'clock" for light intensity and lights on from midnight until noon. I cleaned the screen for the first time this last weekend. I didn't remove the screen at all from the time of firing it up until I did the first cleaning. I kept looking into the growth chamber from the end a few times a week checking on progress. I started to see growth at roughly the 4th week. The day I cleaned I also increased intensity to "6 o'clock" and time on from midnight until 6:00pm. Before the ATS, I had a GHA and Bubble Algae problem starting to get out of hand. Before hooking up the ATS my No3 and Po4 was near untraceable, due to the algae. After cleaning the screen this last weekend I tested levels and they were still very low(I'm not remembering what they were at this point, I have them written down but I am in bed right now

). So far the GHA and Bubble Algae has reduced significantly. I'm hoping that the need to clean will be every 7-10 days. The ATS is sitting on top of the sump and is fed with a Eheim Compact+5000 pump that also feeds 2 Two Little Fishies 550 reactors (one with GFO, one with biopellets), both of which I'm hoping to be able to remove at some point.

Salty1962 · Jan 8, 2017

PJS said:
I have had mine online since November 17th. I've had it set at "11 o'clock" for light intensity and lights on from midnight until noon. I cleaned the screen for the first time this last weekend. I didn't remove the screen at all from the time of firing it up until I did the first cleaning. I kept looking into the growth chamber from the end a few times a week checking on progress. I started to see growth at roughly the 4th week. The day I cleaned I also increased intensity to "6 o'clock" and time on from midnight until 6:00pm. Before the ATS, I had a GHA and Bubble Algae problem starting to get out of hand. Before hooking up the ATS my No3 and Po4 was near untraceable, due to the algae. After cleaning the screen this last weekend I tested levels and they were still very low(I'm not remembering what they were at this point, I have them written down but I am in bed right now). So far the GHA and Bubble Algae has reduced significantly. I'm hoping that the need to clean will be every 7-10 days. The ATS is sitting on top of the sump and is fed with a Eheim Compact+5000 pump that also feeds 2 Two Little Fishies 550 reactors (one with GFO, one with biopellets), both of which I'm hoping to be able to remove at some point.

Now that's some nice growth. Is it difficult to get out the tray with the clearance you have? Mine's going to be tight as well.

Salty1962 · Jan 8, 2017

Anyone else??

PJS · Jan 9, 2017

Salty1962 said:
Now that's some nice growth. Is it difficult to get out the tray with the clearance you have? Mine's going to be tight as well.

No, not at all. I have plenty of space above the ATS. I do have to remove the skimmer cup with the neck extension to pull the growth chamber out. That's not a bad thing considering it will help motivate me to clean the automatic neck cleaner each time I clean the ATS screen.
What size are you getting?

Salty1962 · Jan 9, 2017

PJS said:
No, not at all. I have plenty of space above the ATS. I do have to remove the skimmer cup with the neck extension to pull the growth chamber out. That's not a bad thing considering it will help motivate me to clean the automatic neck cleaner each time I clean the ATS screen.
What size are you getting?

Thx, I'm getting a L4.

PJS · Jan 9, 2017

Salty1962 said:
Thx, I'm getting a L4.

Oops, I must be tired. I guess if I had reread the thread title I wouldn't have had to ask that question. You're going to love it!
Do you have a picture of where you're going to put it?

sundog101 · Jan 9, 2017

I don't have one but I made DIY scrubber based the l4 (I like DIY and had space issues). I did a lot of research on scrubbers and have to say if your looking for an algae scrubber that's proven and works, this is the one to get.

Salty1962 · Jan 9, 2017

PJS said:
Oops, I must be tired. I guess if I had reread the thread title I wouldn't have had to ask that question. You're going to love it!
Do you have a picture of where you're going to put it?

This is it last year. The sump is definitely busier than it was in this picture.

PJS · Jan 9, 2017

Salty1962 said:
This is it last year. The sump is definitely busier than it was in this picture.

"Dang boys...we're in a tight spot!"

That should be a fun/challenging install

Salty1962 · Jan 22, 2017

.

petemichelle · Apr 28, 2017

glad to see the L4 selling and in peoples hands. I went to the turbos aquatic web sight but all the info seems dated. "pretty old" don't know what's still the present situation or not. I ordered one today, hope he at least answers the order form or email, and lets me know what I just ordered, ha, ha. and the wait time. anybody else got one to show? it is definitely a better design than others out there.

jason2459 · Apr 28, 2017

petemichelle said:
glad to see the L4 selling and in peoples hands. I went to the turbos aquatic web sight but all the info seems dated. "pretty old" don't know what's still the present situation or not. I ordered one today, hope he at least answers the order form or email, and lets me know what I just ordered, ha, ha. and the wait time. anybody else got one to show? it is definitely a better design than others out there.

You do know he has a forum section here right? He's a sponsor. He has a backlog of orders as he's been very busy with his real job but his ATS is very much well worth the wait.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/introducing-the-new-turbo-algae-scrubber-rev-4.212728/page-32

I have a Rev3 L3 on my 180 and love it. Very easy to clean and the Rev4 is even easier. I clean mine out every couple weeks. I have lots of pics on another site. It really didn't do anything anything to my nutrient levels as far as I can tell with tests as I already had low nitrates (<5mg/ml) and phosphates (<.08ppm). But the scrubber constantly produces for me and the benefits of harvesting algae in a tank in some way is that the algae will take up trace elements to grow helping to keep a build up of unwanted heavy metals. Just look at the profile of what's in nori and I know there's been articles breaking down what's in various other algae.

They will also help a bit on consuming CO2 increasing pH and releasing some O2. I run my ATS with lights on 24/7 now fueling growth with lots of flow.

Some people will say they smell or release toxins. Well, my ATS does smell if I open it up and put my nose right up to the screen after leaving it out for a few minutes. Otherwise it does not smell up any area around my sump. And they do release some chemicals which actually are sugars that become food for bacteria. I personally believe having algae in a tank helps create a healthy tank.

jason2459 · Apr 28, 2017

Here's some pictures of my L3

rev 3 and the rev4 has a new better design

1st week after starting a new mortar screen

2 weeks later. first time I set it up it took at good 19 days to start getting some algae attached to it. It will vary how long before maturity which could be a couple months after the first algae starting to attach.

jason2459 · Apr 28, 2017

Found another recent picture typical of my every 2 weeks cleaning after going to 24 hour lighting and my pump at full the growth getting flattened out as it presses against the sides as it grows really thick now.

Turbo's Aquatics · Jul 18, 2017

I guess I should search myself on here a bit more often lol...

PJS said:
I have had mine online since November 17th. I've had it set at "11 o'clock" for light intensity and lights on from midnight until noon.

I can't recall if I commented on another thread about this, but 6 o'clock is generally the starting point, the 11 o'clock setting is super duper low intensity, you might use that setting when you had an empty tank (new or fallow) and were just wanting to get a base of something growing, but for a dynamic tank, you will want to start on the 6 o'clock setting, and only back it off if there is some kind of issue with the screen starting up.

^^ I realize this is late in the game, but I wanted to post it in case anyone else reviews this thread

petemichelle said:
I went to the turbos aquatic web sight but all the info seems dated. "pretty old" don't know what's still the present situation or not.

Yup...website sucks! I'll admit it - the info on there is generally correct, related to the L2, but the good news is that I have a total revamp of the site in the works, I just don't like to really talk about that kind of stuff much until it's actually done. I'm having a pro do it...