Suggest me an ATS (algae turf scrubber)

[VintageReefer]

This SURF4 floating surface scrubber has over 48 square inches (300 square cm) of extremely rough Green Grabber® algal growth surface which can grow up to a 2" (5 cm) thick block of green hair algae.

So this would be equal to a screen 8x6 that has a 2” layer

Waterfalls don’t grow 2” thick algae, I would say it’s more like .5” thick? Tbh I don’t know

If waterfall grew .5” thick / deep algae then… 2” / .5 = 4
So it would be equal to 4 waterfall screens that were 8x6

If waterfall grows 1” thick then one surf 4 would be equal to a waterfall with two 8x6 screens

 

[VintageReefer]

SM invented the cubes per day measurement system. Some agree with it some don’t. If he specs a unit as x cubes of food per day, I would believe it as a very good starting point but take into account different foods are different levels of protein or phosphates or waste juice etc. better to oversize a little.

My surf is rated for 2 cubes a day, and I have fed that amount and had success with 3 anthias, 3 chromis, 1 clown, 1 full grown mono, and 1-2 other fish

Now I have currently only have 1 purple fire fish in my 75, as my other 3 had to be moved to QT/ new home, and I’m still getting great growth.

3 New fish arriving this week
Possibly a 4th

 

[vetteguy53081]

Love my ice cap unit which is very effective

 

[Devaji]

What is the screen size for the waterfall unit and is it lit from one side or two?

was just a random thought. most water fall scrubbers are 3D growth so 2 sides.
I just read somewhere the surf has limited grow area compared to WF scrubber . IDK

 

[VintageReefer]

Surf is 3d growth also. It’s literally a box that’s LxWxH giving you a 3d cube of algae

If waterfall is two sided then you would take Algae thickness on each side into consideration in the formula (which is why I asked). Keep in mind if it’s not lit on each side it possibly isn’t equal growth in each side

Surf can grow equal amount of algae in smaller footprint due to growing in a 3d cube vs flat sheets

Butttt…yes both can work great! I acknowledge that and honestly I think the turbo scrubbers are also great but you can’t get any at the moment

Algae mat on a WF screen is 3d as it has depth, but how thick is it? I don’t know. Maybe someone can take a tooth pick and measure screen surface to algae surface ? Also screen needs to be 100% filled and I’ve seen WF where the growth is nice and even over the whole screen and others where screen has partial growth, or burn spots which don’t count as it isn’t living/helpful algae

 

[cdnco2004]

you mush of be talking to vintageReefer. he loves his SM Surf 4...
I really looked into it it. I think it just way over priced for a DIY finish.
I did love the fact it could float in my fuge. but the air pump noise turned me off. also I have heard mixed reviews. like everything in the hobby.

that is odd he suggested HOG over the surf.
I made an upflow years ago there cheap and easy to make you could always DIY one then add a surf later?
I bet you could DIY a surf to, even if you did not want to do the lighting he offers it.

I like the in sump standing of the icecap pro. only reason I am not using my Ebay one.

It was people at Santa Monica who told me to start with a HOG3xx then in 6 months add the Surf4/4x. I have watched videos of the Surf4 in action and you can't hear bubbles with it setup right. I would be ok with the air pump noise. Its not nearly as loud as the skimmer I have on my big tank. Its an open stand currently. I need to build side panels to try to hold the noise in. The air intake on the IceCap 250 OVP skimmer is very loud. But its moving a lot of air and a lot of water. The tank is in my home office. I have to turn it off when I do Teams/Zoom meetings.

 

[cdnco2004]

I did give feedback on the surf, which I do like, but he also talked to SM directly and he would need a surf8, but his sump section isn’t deep enough. They then recommended a dual setup - hog and surf 4 I believe.

Yeah based on my feeding a Surf 8 would be perfect but my IceCap Reef Sump 48xl only has a 8.3" deep by 24" wide fuge chamber. The Surf 8 is 11" deep so would not fit in my fuge. I could fit 2 Surf 4/4X in there as they are only 8" deep. They recommended the HOG to get started with as its easier to generate and clean out the slime phase before you get to the good truf growth. They said its a lot harder to clean out the slime from the Surf than it is with the HOG. They said to wait on the second unit until after the HOG is dialed in and producing turf algae vs slime.

To harvest I lift the lid, scoop out a handful like this, close the lid and I’m done. I just toss this in the trash every 10-14 days. Takes 5 seconds don’t even need to turn anything off

I do like how easy the collection is for you. And I get what your saying about the CUBE growth chamber vs the flat screens. My mind is just rebelling at spending $1100 for Algae scrubber. Then I sit and think about it and I am like, well what if I get the IceCap at $650 and then find its not removing enough for me and I still endup spending $1200 by adding a HOG after the fact. That is one thing I am glad about. I could always add on HOG units. Plenty of exterior wall space on the sump. But that is then even more expensive if I just went with a HOG and a Surf to start with.

Mehh

 

[Devaji]

Yeah based on my feeding a Surf 8 would be perfect but my IceCap Reef Sump 48xl only has a 8.3" deep by 24" wide fuge chamber. The Surf 8 is 11" deep so would not fit in my fuge. I could fit 2 Surf 4/4X in there as they are only 8" deep. They recommended the HOG to get started with as its easier to generate and clean out the slime phase before you get to the good truf growth. They said its a lot harder to clean out the slime from the Surf than it is with the HOG. They said to wait on the second unit until after the HOG is dialed in and producing turf algae vs slime.



I do like how easy the collection is for you. And I get what your saying about the CUBE growth chamber vs the flat screens. My mind is just rebelling at spending $1100 for Algae scrubber. Then I sit and think about it and I am like, well what if I get the IceCap at $650 and then find its not removing enough for me and I still endup spending $1200 by adding a HOG after the fact. That is one thing I am glad about. I could always add on HOG units. Plenty of exterior wall space on the sump. But that is then even more expensive if I just went with a HOG and a Surf to start with.

Mehh

please keep us posted on how it goes for you. I am a huge fan of ATS personally I think there underrated and under used in the hobby.

 

[Coach v]

I purchased a used icecap pro medium ATS. I have only had it a few weeks now,but already growing algae.

 

[NanJ]

We just installed the Santa Monica RAIN 4 scrubber today. Actually we had to do 2 due to the amount of rock we have and the fish load (more fish, more food) in a 300g tank. Expensive, yes, but when I read and understood the details of the build I can kinda, sorta better accept it. This hobby is specialized - there is no economy of scale.

 

[hubble]

Really happy with my Clear Water V2. It's so efficient I took my skimmer off line and still have zero nitrates and phosphates. I guess I need to put it on a timer 12 hours on and 12 hours off or add more fish.

 

[Devaji]

We just installed the Santa Monica RAIN 4 scrubber today. Actually we had to do 2 due to the amount of rock we have and the fish load (more fish, more food) in a 300g tank. Expensive, yes, but when I read and understood the details of the build I can kinda, sorta better accept it. This hobby is specialized - there is no economy of scale.

let us know how it goes!

 

[NanJ]

let us know how it goes!

Will do!

 

[Snoopy 67]

There is a turbo Model 8 I believe, just listed for sale today if anyone is interested.

 

[Seansea]

Really happy with my Clear Water V2. It's so efficient I took my skimmer off line and still have zero nitrates and phosphates. I guess I need to put it on a timer 12 hours on and 12 hours off or add more fish.

Ya the clearwaters are amazing. Easy to pumb, clean and quiet as heck. Pricey but work like a champ.

My wife unplugged mine on accident while i was away for a week when a heater took a crap and she had to figure out which plug with me on phone. Got the heater but also unplugged pump to ATS so sat dry for a week. When i got back tank was riddled with algae. Keep in mind i have 17 fish in a mixxed reef with auto feeder feeding twice a day. Tank looked bad.

I plugged back in and had to wait a couple weeks for screen to reseed. A month later and all hair algae in tank is gone. Screen is loaded with it. These things just work its that simple

 

[Miami Reef]

After running for a while, a review would be appreciated

1 month and 1 week update. I haven’t ever cleaned the scrubber yet.

It works lol.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I have installed a few 4 Square Aquatics scrubbers and been very impressed. They are an easy design to clean and I have had no reliability issues. The tanks they are on have 0 algae in the display as well