Introducing the new Turbo Algae Scrubber! (Rev 4)

Maacc · Nov 9, 2017

I just got my new L4 set up!

reeftivo · Nov 9, 2017

Floyd R Turbo said:
Danner Mag pumps have some of the best head loss characteristics. Mag 3 would do for sure, Mag 2 might even be OK. Rio 1100 is what I stock, at 12" head you get over 200 GPH of flow usually pretty easily

Thanks Bud

it's a mag 3 so i should be peachy.

Salty1962 · Nov 10, 2017

I pulled another >2 pounds out of my L4 from 2 weeks growth. This thing is sick!

Water Dog · Nov 10, 2017

Salty1962 said:
I pulled another >2 pounds out of my L4 from 2 weeks growth. This thing is sick!

Wow! An L4 on a 70 gallon DT!?! Are you getting any production on your skimmer? I’ll be running a new to me L2 R4 on a 57 gallon DT and am nervous about it being oversized... How much do you feed?

Salty1962 · Nov 10, 2017

Water Dog said:
Wow! An L4 on a 70 gallon DT!?! Are you getting any production on your skimmer? I’ll be running a new to me L2 R4 on a 57 gallon DT and am nervous about it being oversized... How much do you feed?

I'm getting some production from my PS but I keep it online mostly for oxygen saturation. I have a heavy bio-load of fish and as such pretty heavy feeding. I wouldn't be nervous about the L2 being oversized, depending on your bio-load, just watch your nutrients so they don't get too low. I do have to add some KNo3 every once and a while but not much.

puffy127 · Nov 10, 2017

I have a L2 on a 75 gallon and feed heavily. I get good production from the L2 (max intensity, 20 hours a day), but hardly any skimmate from my skimmer. I also have a turf algae outbreak in the DT, so I wonder if my L2 isn't strong enough. Nitrates are okay (.5 - 1.0 ppm), phosphates are high (.12 ppm).

Maacc · Nov 14, 2017

Just checked my screen on the way out the door this morning and it's about green, just got it set up under 1 week ago.

Water Dog · Nov 14, 2017

Just sent in a support ticket for a pair of mounting rails and newer style syringe drain... Thanks!

Maacc · Nov 15, 2017

This is my screen at 6 days, looking pretty even.

reeftivo · Nov 30, 2017

Hi Bud

hope all is well! Any news regarding the parts you needed to work on the L2 list?

Sorry to bug as i'm just curious. I know you are swamped with work and the Holidays

Sincerely

Tivo

Turbo's Aquatics · Nov 30, 2017

It's been kind of a rough month actually, I got a set of parts in and there were multiple issues. Not to get into great detail about it, but there were some parts with surface finish issues and other parts I had them make modifications to that turned out head-scratchingly incorrect.

The good news is that I have mounting rails in stock, and I have the (fixed & revised) L4 slot pipe in hand now! The fix was the OD on the ends of the pipe was a bit too small; the fittings slipped right on and seated fully, they are now tight. The revision was adding a piece of plastic in the middle of the slot to maintain consistent width along the entire slot; without this, the slot width was all over the place from part-to-part.

I do now also have parts to make a limited number of L2s and possibly some L4s - though not as many as I had hoped. Probably enough to tie up all my free time between now and the end of the year though.

Salty1962 · Nov 30, 2017

Floyd R Turbo said:
It's been kind of a rough month actually, I got a set of parts in and there were multiple issues. Not to get into great detail about it, but there were some parts with surface finish issues and other parts I had them make modifications to that turned out head-scratchingly incorrect.

The good news is that I have mounting rails in stock, and I have the (fixed & revised) L4 slot pipe in hand now! The fix was the OD on the ends of the pipe was a bit too small; the fittings slipped right on and seated fully, they are now tight. The revision was adding a piece of plastic in the middle of the slot to maintain consistent width along the entire slot; without this, the slot width was all over the place from part-to-part.

I do now also have parts to make a limited number of L2s and possibly some L4s - though not as many as I had hoped. Probably enough to tie up all my free time between now and the end of the year though.

That's what I've found, I have more flow on the feed side and less on the capped end. Still pulling pounds of algae. GREAT product!

Turbo's Aquatics · Dec 1, 2017

If you have the PVC pipe router-cut version, that is not the issue; that slot would be straight an even initially, but might start to pinch closed in the middle over time which would result in slightly less flow in the middle over time (years) (but hardly noticeable actually)

The issue you describe @Salty1962 with more flow on the feed side is likely caused by flow being on the lower end (GPH is a bit low). At least I think so. You might have the injection version from before I discovered the problem with it?

Salty1962 · Dec 1, 2017

Salty1962 said:
That's what I've found, I have more flow on the feed side and less on the capped end.

Floyd R Turbo said:
If you have the PVC pipe router-cut version, that is not the issue; that slot would be straight an even initially, but might start to pinch closed in the middle over time which would result in slightly less flow in the middle over time (years) (but hardly noticeable actually)

The issue you describe @Salty1962 with more flow on the feed side is likely caused by flow being on the lower end (GPH is a bit low). At least I think so. You might have the injection version from before I discovered the problem with it?

That's what I thought after seeing your post. I've bumped up my flow a little more and it looks good so far

leepink23 · Dec 1, 2017

Maacc said:
I just got my new L4 set up!

What is the dimensions of the base of this model?

Maacc · Dec 1, 2017

17"x6" all the white you see is the mount I built.

b4tn · Dec 26, 2017

I have been running an L2 for probably a year or so. Its never grown turf algae but grows copious amounts of cheato that never attaches to the screen (my screen is still covered in Mortar) and I have never had nuisance algae in my display. Long story short, I was away for a month and my son severely overfed my reef, slacked on top off water, and a few fish and several corals died. Since then I have developed a green bubble algae and what I assume is turf algae, hair like tufts all over the rocks and attaches very firmly. I have to scrub hard to get it off. After my last scrubber cleaning I grew tons of Cheato again but am starting to get the hard to remove turf algae that has to be scrapped off. My light schedule is 12 hours at 7 oclock on the dial. Pump runs 24/7 with the flow knob nearly all the way open. My question is should I treat with something like vibrant with the scrubber off or leave the scrubber on and keep brushing off the rocks?

Turbo's Aquatics · Dec 26, 2017

b4tn said:
My light schedule is 12 hours at 7 oclock on the dial.

If this is correct, that setting is too low. I recommend starting at the 6 o'clock postion, and then increasing the intensity as your screen matures - since it's an audio taper potentiometer, turning it left (counter-clockwise) increases intensity, so I would change this right away to the 3 or 4 o'clock position.

Given the recent event, I would also increase the hours to 14 or 16 per day

b4tn said:
Pump runs 24/7 with the flow knob nearly all the way open.

If that's the Rio 1100 and you have about 12" of vertical head, that should be fine

b4tn said:
My question is should I treat with something like vibrant with the scrubber off or leave the scrubber on and keep brushing off the rocks?

Brushing off the rocks too vigorously can solve one problem but present another - you can remove the periphyton (soft surface) which is where a lot of life resides, so if you take this to an extreme it can result in mini-cycles. The goal is to get the scrubber to compete properly, it doesn't sound like it was doing that quite right, especially with the light intensity at 7 o'clock (or even 5 o'clock, if that's what you meant)

I've had people treat with vibrant and the scrubber survives. Vibrant is not really an algaecide so it won't kill it, it basically causes an effect where the algae gets out-competed (sort of) so if your scrubber has a highly favorable environment (like flow, intensity, etc) then it **should** be OK. But the safe bet is to take the screen out, give it a partial cleaning (leave a much of growth on it) and put it in a bucket or baggie while you treat with vibrant, then put it back in when you're done. The screen and algae on it will survive for a week or so, longer if you keep the water from getting too cold and if you shine a light on it for a few hours/day (nothing special needed, any light really).

I would amp up the scrubber first and see if that helps. If you still have decent growth on it after cleaning, you might be able to temporarily push the intensity and photoperiod even higher. But I'd start at 3-4 o'clock and 14-16 hrs/day first.

b4tn · Dec 26, 2017

I am a little confused what you mean by audio taper pot. When looking directly at the knob the pointy part of the knob is right where 7 o'clock would be. You are suggesting turn it to counter clockwise so its pointing directly down at 6? O further counter clockwise to 3? For my reference in this older pic the pointy part of the knob is at 12.

Floyd R Turbo said:
If this is correct, that setting is too low. I recommend starting at the 6 o'clock postion, and then increasing the intensity as your screen matures - since it's an audio taper potentiometer, turning it left (counter-clockwise) increases intensity, so I would change this right away to the 3 or 4 o'clock position.

Given the recent event, I would also increase the hours to 14 or 16 per day

If that's the Rio 1100 and you have about 12" of vertical head, that should be fine

Brushing off the rocks too vigorously can solve one problem but present another - you can remove the periphyton (soft surface) which is where a lot of life resides, so if you take this to an extreme it can result in mini-cycles. The goal is to get the scrubber to compete properly, it doesn't sound like it was doing that quite right, especially with the light intensity at 7 o'clock (or even 5 o'clock, if that's what you meant)

I've had people treat with vibrant and the scrubber survives. Vibrant is not really an algaecide so it won't kill it, it basically causes an effect where the algae gets out-competed (sort of) so if your scrubber has a highly favorable environment (like flow, intensity, etc) then it **should** be OK. But the safe bet is to take the screen out, give it a partial cleaning (leave a much of growth on it) and put it in a bucket or baggie while you treat with vibrant, then put it back in when you're done. The screen and algae on it will survive for a week or so, longer if you keep the water from getting too cold and if you shine a light on it for a few hours/day (nothing special needed, any light really).

I would amp up the scrubber first and see if that helps. If you still have decent growth on it after cleaning, you might be able to temporarily push the intensity and photoperiod even higher. But I'd start at 3-4 o'clock and 14-16 hrs/day first.

SteadyC · Dec 26, 2017

b4tn said:
I am a little confused what you mean by audio taper pot. When looking directly at the knob the pointy part of the knob is right where 7 o'clock would be. You are suggesting turn it to counter clockwise so its pointing directly down at 6? O further counter clockwise to 3? For my reference in this older pic the pointy part of the knob is at 12.

For example, 5 o’clock is brighter than 7. Counter clockwise, increases brightness. Start at 6 o’clock , and increase from there, to 5 o’clock. Mines between 4 and 5 o’clock.