Write Up: My adventure with an algae scrubber

[Tomoko Schum]

Rick, I am running 14 hours of light at the moment although I've tried 24/7 in the past as well. When I run GFO and keep phosphate down to nearly undetectable with a Hana checker, my macroalgae stops growing completely. They stagnate and get covered by detritus. Adding iron and potassium does not seem to help much, either.

My GFO has expired now (more than 30 days old) and I am trying Lanthanum sulfate at the moment to keep phosphate down. I have not found the right frequency for adding the Lanthanum solution. This may be the cause of the coarse red turf algae, but they are almost all gone now, thanks to my new cleanup crew. Too bad they don't eat bubble algae.

 

[Hassablad]

Rick, I am running 14 hours of light at the moment although I've tried 24/7 in the past as well. When I run GFO and keep phosphate down to nearly undetectable with a Hana checker, my macroalgae stops growing completely. They stagnate and get covered by detritus. Adding iron and potassium does not seem to help much, either.

My GFO has expired now (more than 30 days old) and I am trying Lanthanum sulfate at the moment to keep phosphate down. I have not found the right frequency for adding the Lanthanum solution. This may be the cause of the coarse red turf algae, but they are almost all gone now, thanks to my new cleanup crew. Too bad they don't eat bubble algae.

My emerald crabs like it. I only had a few but now none can be found. Yea One of the two I got in the group buy for cleanup crew is becoming a monster. He's twice the size he was when I got him. I need to do some photos of him. I put in a sheet of nori rubber banded to a rock and he picks up the rock and carries it off to eat. lol

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I put in a sheet of nori rubber banded to a rock and he picks up the rock and carries it off to eat. lol

Wow, he must be a monster. The best bubble algae eater is a foxface in my experience. I am trying to do without it since all of them eventually discover zoanthids. It's such a pain in a butt to catch a fish out of a reef tank.

Oops, we are hijacking the thread again. Sorry about that, oneboldguy.

 

[Onebaldman]

Its cool, algae is part of the topic.

 

[Goodgreef]

I think one important thing is to be sure you can adjust the flow of the pump for a waterfall algae scrubber. Each tank is different so its hard to predict the exact gph that is going to grow turf and other grern algaes as opposed to cyano and slime. Screen width is a good prediction of gph needed but it also depends on nutrients availible and lighting period.

 

[Onebaldman]

This evening I met up with Eric (Thanks Eric) to see how his was setup, and he provided me with a screen full of algae.

(Thumbnail, click the image for bigger version)



I wish I had took pictures of his sump, but hopefully he also informed me that he was int he process of redoing his sump...so maybe we will get some pictures from him when he finishes up.

So now I have a better algae starting point, the next step will be to integrate this into my current sump setup.

I also want to say Hi to everyone who his now watching this thread from the Facebook share today. Tag along and feel free to bring up your experiences and concerns!

 

[richiero]

Hey whats up OBM? I just put a skimmer on my tank 2 months ago and its doing good, i built my own with a lot of help for Floyd from turbo aquatics. Google turbo aquatics. I think that might be his video also. https://www.turbosaquatics.com/threads/richieros-tank-scrubber.316/page-4. He is really good and knows his stuff, i have a four page thread on his site with him helping me out, tell him richiero recommended you to him. I run my scrubber off my ret pump and i bought grow light from china.

10W 20W 30W 50W Blue 554nm Red 660nm Hydroponic Plant Flood LED Grow Lights | eBay

 

[ShinerMaginer]

Is the consensus to run algae scrubber lights 24hrs, or on an off cycle like a refugium?

 

[Onebaldman]

Is the consensus to run algae scrubber lights 24hrs, or on an off cycle like a refugium?

You have to give the algae enough time to process the sunlight they just took in. So from what I have been reading, 12-16 hours of light.

 

[richiero]

I run mine 12 hrs alternating from one light to another

 

[dbg]

Just saw this on facebook.. looks pretty awesome! Does anyone have a DIY of an algae scrubber they would like to share???

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Scrubber lighting recommendations have changed a bit since LED really came into the picture, but it's mainly about intensity. LEDs are generally more intense so you have to run them in shorter bursts when starting a screen compared to CFLs, then when the screen is mature you can ramp up the photoperiod.

 

[dbg]

These websites have great scrubber info:

Algae Turf Scrubbers ? How To Remove Algae

Algae scrubber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Does anyone run a skimmer along with their algae scrubber?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Hehe that first link is a copy/paste of my Algae Scrubber Basics thread (with my permission), start on post #37

 

[richiero]

I run a skimmer with my scrubber

 

[richiero]

I posted earlier the Floyd was the man when it comes to scrubber info and more.

 

[pickupman66]

I've been running one for a while now. I harvest a baseball sized handful each week with my high Bio load. I'm about to disconnect my biopellets this wweekend. My phosphate is .02 but my nitrates hang between 5 and 10. I use 4x100 watt cfl. The more yellow the better. I built mine in a 13 gallon kitchen trash can.

 

[richiero]

https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=b0tmj6d91ce368ee542aba6b2b670ae00412b

great for screen size , light type , and flow rates

 

[EFSleeper]

Anybody got any info on building one. I've been looking into making one for a while they seem easy to make but can't find a write up that don't involve spending 100+ on building one

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Did you see the link in my post #34 above? Slot pipe, screen, lights, pump. Those are really the only 4 things you need.