I'll get a FTS once my turf scrubber picks up its duties and starts starving the GHA that's currently in the display.
So some updates (will have pics tonight)
I re-created my small algae turf scrubber that was working extremely poorly in its own tank / setup, I was running it off the overflow from my 10g frag tank, unfortunately I had to run so much flow (about 300gph) into that tank that it was taking away from the water that should be going to the display, also that much flow through a 3/4" standpipe was causing a lot of noise and still was not enough water for the ATS.
Last night I did some re-working of the plumbing off the display and routed one of the two overflows through the ATS. I'm getting a lot more flow to the screen and now it's virtually silent.
I've also almost entirely stopped dosing vodka. I think this is actually the source of my recent algae bloom.. as the bacteria that were feeding off the vodka & nutrients die off, I expected some measurable spike in overall nutrient levels and it looks like the ATS at only 3 weeks mature (isnt growing solid enough algae yet) plus my skimmer couldn't take all of it in so I've got a bit of a fight on my hands right now... Manual removal is helping for the GHA, but the devil-weed bryopsis is not so easy... hopefully that will get out-competed soon too.
Another thing is that my heater controller went on the fritz and the tank jumped to 84 degrees the other day. Luckily I caught it, now running without a controller on 2 heaters which I don't feel safe about so I ordered an Apex Jr. to keep that under control and send me some alerts if things get out of whack.
I feel for you XSiVE. Even the mention of GHA makes me cringe...brings back my own battles with that stuff and then it was in my lil 8g..the tank of hair You'll win the battle though for sure
Algae scrubber working like a champ, just passed the 3 week old mark for the screen.
I have the scrubber plumbed into one of the overflows on the display, it's getting around 400gph through it and it's lit with just under 100W(actual) of CFL. In this video it's got about 3 days worth of algae built up on it, the crazy part is that it had the same amount at 7 days last week.. it's really taking off now that I changed the water flow on it.
What it is:
an algae turf scrubber or ATS is a medium for algae to grow on and be easily exported from the aquarium, it causes a high amount of air/water exchange as well as massive surface area for light on the medium to promote maximum algae growth.
What it involves:
In the case of mine, which is built around a relatively standard model involves the listed materials:
-"plastic canvas" - purchased from any craft store, roughed up like crazy with a hole saw so it is no longer smooth and the algae can hold on to it and grow. Sized at approximately 1 sq inch per gallon of display.
-PVC pipe with a 1/8" slot cut in it for the screen to insert into (1 inch PVC in my case)
-Zip Ties to hold the screen in the pipe
-CFL lights ~1 (actual) watt per gallon of aquarium
-Water flow from the display's overflow (many people run a separate pump for their scrubber to get more consistent flow)
What you do:
-Run the lights on the screen (about 4" away) for 18 hours a day on, 6 hours off, preferably outside the normal lit time of your display to avoid large pH swings.
-Rinse the screen with fresh water and scrape the algae off every 7 days.
-Replace CFL bulbs after 3 months.
An algae scrubber is one of the best natural nutrient export methods available. Many people run them instead of a skimmer but I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon.
There are more designs out there and mine is relatively simple. Some people get 1-2 CUPS of dried algae a week on their scrubbers, these things will out-compete a refugium, and typically consume all of the nutrients that the nuisance algae in your display is trying to get ahold of.
You'll win the battle though for sure
or would you be willing to explain it to me? Please
Hi my name is Larry and I'm a coral addict!
Originally Posted by larryandlaura
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