Looking for peoples experiences with turf scrubbers

[Holy_makerel]

Hi folks,

I'm in the planning stages of my soon to be 120 sps dominant mixed reef. I was really gung ho on setting up a refugium section in my filtration but then i started looking into the clear water ATS as an alternative filtration option.

https://www.marinedepot.com/CW_100_...Clear_Water_Scrubbers_LLC-7C1407-FIFR-vi.html

I'm wondering if anyone has had long term sucess running a system with one of these? I'd like to try it out but if it's not sucessful in the long term than I'd rather go with a refugium.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Plenty of people have long-term success using scrubbers. I added a Clearwater Scrubber and it's been immensely helpful getting things on track in my tank. For some reason, chaeto just won't grow for me. But, I have no trouble growing algae in the scrubber.

Whether it's a scrubber or chaeto, I definitely think running some sort of macroalgae is a good idea. Unlike organic carbon sources or GFO, which can reduce nutrients all the way to zero, algae will stop growing when nutrients are low. In this way, they're self-limiting and a little more idiot-proof (good for idiots like me ). Scrubbers certainly aren't a bad way to implement algae filtration.

 

[Holy_makerel]

Plenty of people have long-term success using scrubbers. I added a Clearwater Scrubber and it's been immensely helpful getting things on track in my tank. For some reason, chaeto just won't grow for me. But, I have no trouble growing algae in the scrubber.

Whether it's a scrubber or chaeto, I definitely think running some sort of macroalgae is a good idea. Unlike organic carbon sources or GFO, which can reduce nutrients all the way to zero, algae will stop growing when nutrients are low. In this way, they're self-limiting and a little more idiot-proof (good for idiots like me ). Scrubbers certainly aren't a bad way to implement algae filtration.

Thanks for the reply. I think i remember reading that people were having issues growing sps with them, but it was a long time ago and i can't remember the specifics of the issues

 

[ca1ore]

I'm wondering if anyone has had long term sucess running a system with one of these? I'd like to try it out but if it's not sucessful in the long term than I'd rather go with a refugium.

ATS have been used for longer than refugiums (well, chaeto refugiums at least). I have run various ATS designs since the mid- 1990s. Is that long enough .

 

[Holy_makerel]

ATS have been used for longer than refugiums (well, chaeto refugiums at least). I have run various ATS designs since the mid- 1990s. Is that long enough .

Haha thank you! I think that i will try it out on the new build

 

[Paul B]

I have been using a scrubber for years. I just cleaned off a load of algae an hour ago. But I built mine so it cost about 2 bucks.
It's the red thing over the tank.

 

[Holy_makerel]

I have been using a scrubber for years. I just cleaned off a load of algae an hour ago. But I built mine so it cost about 2 bucks.
It's the red thing over the tank.

Thank you for posting Paul!