ATS Assistance PLEASE

reefandreptileautomation · May 28, 2019

Hello,

I own a Clearwater CW-300 algae scrubber. I got this for my FOWLR 300 gallon tank. I am running this with a protein skimmer as well.

I have it currently set to 24 hours a day. I originally had a smaller pump on this setup thinking that my flow was too little. I ended up replacing the pump on this with a higher output. I have had this setup now for over 2 months. I have the following issues. First, my nitrates are still consistently between 50-70ppm and my phosphates are .25-.35. Second, I get a "burn" circle in the middle of the unit with no algae growth. Third, most of the algae is very slimy and watery and not exactly turf algae. I have also already had it leak out the sides and cause a puddle on the side of my sump. The water shoots everywhere.

So now it is running 24 hours a day and I am using a 912GPH (Sicce 4.0) pump instead of the original 612 GPH (sicce 3.0) pump. I reduced the Sicce 4.0 a little on it's flow so it is more like 700 GPH now. I am not seeing any results. My tank does have a very high bio load in that I have a lot of fish in the 300. The skimmer is a Reef Octopus Regal 250 BTW. I am also running roller mats instead of filter socks.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Big G · May 28, 2019

laverda · May 29, 2019

Dosing iron may help with your algae growth.

reefandreptileautomation · May 29, 2019

I have heard that as well. I am going to try to reduce the light cycle and reduce overall nutrients in the tank and see

homer1475 · May 29, 2019

The burn spot is just that, a burn spot. The lights are to focused at the middle, and it burns the algae off.

I have the same lights(Chinese spot type grow lights), and ended up putting a couple small strips of blue painters tape right on the light covering up the "puck" of LED's(as per @Floyd R Turbo suggestions) It helped my scrubber immensely(No more burn spot in the middle). I was actually suggested to move the lights away from the screen a couple inches, or to dim them. Since neither was an option, I ended up using the tape idea to cover up some of the light.

Scrubbers go through a stage, when you have really high nutrients, you get that slimy snotty algae. Just keep cleaning it off. Eventually when things nutrients start to decline, you'll start getting thick mats of GHA. Scrubbers take a couple months to get going properly.

You might want to try cutting the lite time a bit too. Even algae needs some time to rest.

reefandreptileautomation · May 29, 2019

Where do I put the painters tape exactly? I was going to start dosing NoPx to get the nutrients to a more manageable level and then possibly the algae will grow in better? What is your thoughts on this? I am concerned that the nutrients being as high as they are will simply never come down even after all the cleanings as they will consistently be slimy and therefore not reduce the nutrients as well. I have it currently set now to 18 hours on and 6 hours off. Others have suggested that I keep it at 24 hours but be more diligent with cleaning it quickly as the slimy algae starts to form.

Bryson.bobby · May 29, 2019

From what I understand, algae feeds on no3 and po4. I doubt the high nutrients is whats causing the algae to not grow well imo.

Bryson.bobby · May 29, 2019

Double post.

reefandreptileautomation · May 29, 2019

The black/dark slimy algae I have does not consume enough No3 and Po4 to reduce nutrients fast enough to keep up. It is mentioned in the following link about slick or slime algae that I have currently and as others mentioned. http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?65-ALGAE-SCRUBBER-FAQ

homer1475 · May 29, 2019

Carbon dosing to bring them down some will help with the scrubber. It took my scrubber nearly 4 months to stop producing that slimy snotty algae, and actually have nice thick mats of GHA. And yes, if you read the original scrubber thread on RC, high nutrients is exactly what causes the snotty algae. Unless you clean it off completely, you'll never get lush mats of GHA(the slime out competes it)

The tape I put 2 strips directly on the lens of the light just covering up the "puck". I also painted the inside of my box white to help diffuse some of the spot light.

reefandreptileautomation · May 29, 2019

This is what my CW-50 looks like on my other tank. I got both units at the same time. How does it look? Just trying to get an idea what it should look like when it is working properly.

I will try the Carbon dosing for a little while and see if I can get the nutrients back in check. As for the lights I will see if I can cover them somehow. I am afraid to cover the lights as I am not sure if I cover the wrong area what could happen. I reduced the photo period to 18 hours hoping that will help. Also I will just keep making sure to clean off the slime algae as it develops as others have said. Since I have not got GHA yet I am still trying to figure out the difference so I am not removing the good algae too quickly.

homer1475 · May 29, 2019

That scrubber looks like it's doing it's job quite well.

reefandreptileautomation · May 29, 2019

Yea it is still quite slimy but not nearly as bad as the 300. I will keep at it! Thank you for your assistance.

homer1475 · May 29, 2019

This is how I covered my light with tape. Might not be the best pic as it's from my phone and the light was on, but you'll get the idea.

ca1ore · May 29, 2019

homer1475 said:
The burn spot is just that, a burn spot. The lights are to focused at the middle, and it burns the algae off.

I have the same lights(Chinese spot type grow lights), and ended up putting a couple small strips of blue painters tape right on the light covering up the "puck" of LED's(as per @Floyd R Turbo suggestions) It helped my scrubber immensely(No more burn spot in the middle). I was actually suggested to move the lights away from the screen a couple inches, or to dim them. Since neither was an option, I ended up using the tape idea to cover up some of the light.

Scrubbers go through a stage, when you have really high nutrients, you get that slimy snotty algae. Just keep cleaning it off. Eventually when things nutrients start to decline, you'll start getting thick mats of GHA. Scrubbers take a couple months to get going properly.

You might want to try cutting the lite time a bit too. Even algae needs some time to rest.

Excellent advice …. I have a DiY scrubber with grow-star (yeah, stupid name) lights and I have to put tape over the central COB LED otherwise the screen center doe not fill in. I actually used red painters tape because …… well, just because LOL.