eBay Algae Turf Scrubbers good idea?

[Miami Reef]

THIS IS MY LFS!!!

Western Slope Aquatics?

 

[Devaji]

I just ordered one. Can you post a Pic of your set up?

Did you get yours in? what model did you go with? pics?

Are you referring to me? The HOB scrubber arrived. It’s outstanding quality. I pump water through one end, and it comes out silently through the bottom with the sock that came with the unit. The square sock slides in and out seamlessly.

^ so that is the HOB or HOS version? I see you wedged in in the baffles of your sump.
great thinking.
how did the return go on the unit you did not use? guessing you paid shipping both ways?

Do you have a feed pump you recommended? I was having a conversation with the seller and he said a low flow pump around 200gph yielded the best results in his experience.

I was thinking of a jebao DC pump rated for 500 GPH as that what there ebay site says. guess I could tuen it down to 50% to get the 200 GPH he suggests.
did you order one?

THIS IS MY LFS!!!

I was wondering if that store was in Colorado only place I have heard western slope.
tell him he need more videos of the new models, the the fact he makes so many but we need to see them in action.

 

[Miami Reef]

so that is the HOB or HOS version? I see you wedged in in the baffles of your sump.
great thinking.
how did the return go on the unit you did not use? guessing you paid shipping both ways?

Mine is the hang on sump version.

ACS 10-S-G4 Model.

He actually refunded shipping and sent me the label to return it. He was outstanding.

The hang on sump version is very slim since it doesn’t have PVC that makes a 90 degree turn.

I was thinking of a jebao DC pump rated for 500 GPH as that what there ebay site says. guess I could tuen it down to 50% to get the 200 GPH he suggests.

In my opinion, more flow is better. Nothing crazy, but I think 200gph is too little. I use my return pumps since, but I’ve tried it with the Sicce pump, too.

The ATS I got comes with a sock that easily slides in and makes the unit completely silent.

 

[Devaji]

Mine is the hang on sump version.

ACS 10-S-G4 Model.

He actually refunded shipping and sent me the label to return it. He was outstanding.

The hang on sump version is very slim since it doesn’t have PVC that makes a 90 degree turn.

In my opinion, more flow is better. Nothing crazy, but I think 200gph is too little. I use my return pumps since, but I’ve tried it with the Sicce pump, too.

The ATS I got comes with a sock that easily slides in and makes the unit completely silent.

thanks for the replay.
he has so many models in each style it hard to understand.

question is the down pipe soft flex hose? the pic on eBay make it look 3D printed as it has a flat side maybe that is just lighting?

I am looking at the the ACS-10 or the 7
its $100+ for about 2" of screen.

these would look nice on my sump.

 

[Miami Reef]

question is the down pipe soft flex hose? the pic on eBay make it look 3D printed as it has a flat side maybe that is just lighting?

It’s hard like PVC.

 

[legionofdoon]

Here's mine, it's just about ready for it's first harvest, I'll post pictures of the screen when I do.

 

[legionofdoon]

It's the ACS 10 side flow ABS.

 

[Devaji]

Here's mine, it's just about ready for it's first harvest, I'll post pictures of the screen when I do.

I spy a life reef skimmer too!

hows that sitting on your sump? is it just setting on the filet cups?

I am debating the Hong on sump 10 or 7 myself.
how do you find the light spectrum?

 

[legionofdoon]

It's sitting on the lid for the sock chamber, luckily it fits perfectly. Love my life reef! I had to modify the venturi to get it to fit the sump, luckily I could piece together the right parts from ACE hardware. It's the best skimmer I've ever owned, simple easy to dial in and no proprietary pumps. I've used it on a 40 gallon breeder and it'll still pull nastiness. I don't know why more people don't use them. Granted it can be a little loud but inside the stand I don't notice it.

 

[legionofdoon]

The spectrum seems to work pretty well, there is very little light bleed. Once I seeded mine it started to grow, it'll go from a green slime coat to full on growth in about a week. I could harvest mine last week but I'm going to wait and see how much it'll grow before clogging the main drain.

 

[Devaji]

The spectrum seems to work pretty well, there is very little light bleed. Once I seeded mine it started to grow, it'll go from a green slime coat to full on growth in about a week. I could harvest mine last week but I'm going to wait and see how much it'll grow before clogging the main drain.

post some pics of the growth...we wanna see it.

 

[Tang22]

Can anyone comment on how it compares to other brands like the icecap pro in sump model? And most
Importantly how well does it grow and reduce nutrients please?

 

[VintageReefer]

Can anyone comment on how it compares to other brands like the icecap pro in sump model? And most
Importantly how well does it grow and reduce nutrients please?

I don’t think many people have used multiple scrubbers. These are devices that either work or don’t.

If your considering an in sump I would highly recommend the SM rain or surf models. The ice caps I hear good things about also but I also hear they have light bleed. The generic eBay ones seem good also but I question if you could get parts or support a few years from now.

It’s hard to determine how much they reduce nutrients as everyone’s tank is different and they are tunable from the number of hours run. If it matters in anyway I keep my phosphates .01-.02 normally. I spilled reef roids and spiked phosphate to .34 and without water changes or any manual steps, my system was back to .02 in 6 days. I had a burst in algae growth in my scrubber but no impact or algae in my display

 

[legionofdoon]

post some pics of the growth...we wanna see it.

Here you go, this is about a weeks growth.

 

[Tang22]

I don’t think many people have used multiple scrubbers. These are devices that either work or don’t.

If your considering an in sump I would highly recommend the SM rain or surf models. The ice caps I hear good things about also but I also hear they have light bleed. The generic eBay ones seem good also but I question if you could get parts or support a few years from now.

It’s hard to determine how much they reduce nutrients as everyone’s tank is different and they are tunable from the number of hours run. If it matters in anyway I keep my phosphates .01-.02 normally. I spilled reef roids and spiked phosphate to .34 and without water changes or any manual steps, my system was back to .02 in 6 days. I had a burst in algae growth in my scrubber but no impact or algae in my display

You bring up a great point about support a few yrs from now. Thanks for the real world example as it helps. How about sizing. What is your tank size and unit size including the screen size the algae grows on

 

[Tang22]

Here you go, this is about a weeks growth.

That looks like the eBay model ACS 10. What size tank are you running if you don’t mind me asking (along with # livestock) so I can assess whether it’d work for me.

 

[legionofdoon]

It is the acs 10. It's on an 80 gallon display and probably around 12 gallon water volume sump (correct me if I'm wrong vintage), it has 3 clowns, 3 fire fish, 2 cardinals and two azure damsels. Clean up crew is 3 pithos,3 emeralds, 2 peppermints, two turbos, about 20 blue legs, and 10-20 nerites. Snails and hermits are locally caught, benefit of living in South Florida lol.

 

[VintageReefer]

You bring up a great point about support a few yrs from now. Thanks for the real world example as it helps. How about sizing. What is your tank size and unit size including the screen size the algae grows on

My tank is 75g with approx 24g sump
My scrubber doesn’t use a screen. Screens grow sheets of algae. This is the Santa Monica surf 2. The algae grows 2” thick in a rectangle cube shape, it’s over 24 sq inches from a small enclosure. I harvested yesterday. I grow this every 7-10 days, it’s about 3/4” - 1” thick across the plate for size reference

The scrubber itself is 6x8x3 inches. There is no screen to scrape. The unit has strings inside which are 3d growth surfaces for algae to attach to, but they are small so algae can’t attach very tightly. I just grab a loose handful of algae and pull it out. No need to scrape, super easy.

I have used this scrubber with 10 fish in a 75g sps mixed reef, and now use it with 5 fish in a lps mixed reef. It’s plenty capable of handling more fish. I’m adding two anthias in a week or two

 

[Tang22]

My tank is 75g with approx 24g sump
My scrubber doesn’t use a screen. Screens grow sheets of algae. This is the Santa Monica surf 2. The algae grows 2” thick in a rectangle cube shape, it’s over 24 sq inches from a small enclosure. I harvested yesterday. I grow this every 7-10 days, it’s about 3/4” - 1” thick across the plate for size reference

The scrubber itself is 6x8x3 inches. There is no screen to scrape. The unit has strings inside which are 3d growth surfaces for algae to attach to, but they are small so algae can’t attach very tightly. I just grab a loose handful of algae and pull it out. No need to scrape, super easy.

I have used this scrubber with 10 fish in a 75g sps mixed reef, and now use it with 5 fish in a lps mixed reef. It’s plenty capable of handling more fish. I’m adding two anthias in a week or two

Nice. Sounds hassle free. Is that sea lettuce?

 

[VintageReefer]

Nice. Sounds hassle free. Is that sea lettuce?

Not sure to be honest. I consider it turf algae but it could be a form of sea lettuce. The scrubber kinda decides what it wants to grow from spores in your system. Once they get the right conditions the spores begin to grow into algae inside the scrubber by themself.