Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Waterfall Turf Algea Filter: CHEAP and EASY to build

SantaMonica · 07/25/2008, 11:40 PM

I must have used the wrong terms in describing the air component of the turf; when I said co2 I just meant the co2 in the air that the turf uses. I did not mean adding co2 directly. When I first hooked up the bucket (without a fan), it seemed very humid in the bucket, kinda stale. So since it was so easy to clip on a fan, I thought it would be a great thing to be supplying co2-rich air to the turf, especially when the pump is off and the air hits the turf directly. And now, looking at sump designs, I can see that the plastic lids and such will block fresh air, thus needing those lids to be opened up a bit. I reference the availability of co2 in the air to the water evaporating rate: The more evaporation that can be had from the screen, the more supply of co2 (air) it's getting.

Question about the turf's diet: Does anyone know if turf consumes ammonia directly? If someone considers turf for a FO tank (no rock, no sand, no wet/dry), I'm trying to figure out if the turf will help at all with ammonia conversion.

Week 2 Pics: Ok here they are:

Seeded Side at 2 weeks:

Hi-Res: www.radio-media.com/fish/ScreenSeeded2weeks.jpg

Unseeded Side at 2 weeks:

Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scre...eded2weeks.jpg

...the seeded side is completely full, except for a one-inch spot that was originally a big bare spot. It has green, but not turf yet. The un-seeded side is getting thick all over too, just less. I'm going to scrape the seeded side this weekend, and I'll take some front-on shots of it before and after.

Here is the tank after the two weeks:

Hi-Res: www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank-2weeks.jpg

(Note the open cabinet door; that's where the turf tubing currently enters/exits). Almost all of the original green algae patches are gone (most of the ones remaining are in the shade of the powerheads. It's amazing to watch fish waste go through the powerheads and get blended all over; my BB training instinctively wants to siphon or skim that stuff out before it get blended, but it just does not affect N and P anymore. It just becomes more coral food, and when it finally does decompose into N and P, the turf zaps it.

Today I got my first N reading in a while... a very slight tinge of pink (Salifert) visible only if looking from the side (would be about a .2). It was taken immediately after a large food/phyto feeding. This, after dumping whole frozen cubes in several times a day (unwashed), along with one or two pumps of frozen phyto (plus some refrigerated phyto), cyclops, daphia, and a weekly silverside for the eel. And I've not turkey-basted the rocks in a month, nor cleaned out the powerheads or sump. Makes sense and seems to coincide with the screen getting full and growing less (supposed to be scrapped every week, but it's been two weeks already.)

Here is a growth sequence, starting with the screen as received from IA, then 1 week, then 2 weeks:

Seeded side:

Unseeded side:

07/25/2008, 11:40 PM	#113
SantaMonica Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Santa Monica, California, USA Posts: 2,511	I must have used the wrong terms in describing the air component of the turf; when I said co2 I just meant the co2 in the air that the turf uses. I did not mean adding co2 directly. When I first hooked up the bucket (without a fan), it seemed very humid in the bucket, kinda stale. So since it was so easy to clip on a fan, I thought it would be a great thing to be supplying co2-rich air to the turf, especially when the pump is off and the air hits the turf directly. And now, looking at sump designs, I can see that the plastic lids and such will block fresh air, thus needing those lids to be opened up a bit. I reference the availability of co2 in the air to the water evaporating rate: The more evaporation that can be had from the screen, the more supply of co2 (air) it's getting. Question about the turf's diet: Does anyone know if turf consumes ammonia directly? If someone considers turf for a FO tank (no rock, no sand, no wet/dry), I'm trying to figure out if the turf will help at all with ammonia conversion. Week 2 Pics: Ok here they are: Seeded Side at 2 weeks: Hi-Res: www.radio-media.com/fish/ScreenSeeded2weeks.jpg Unseeded Side at 2 weeks: Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Scre...eded2weeks.jpg ...the seeded side is completely full, except for a one-inch spot that was originally a big bare spot. It has green, but not turf yet. The un-seeded side is getting thick all over too, just less. I'm going to scrape the seeded side this weekend, and I'll take some front-on shots of it before and after. Here is the tank after the two weeks: Hi-Res: www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank-2weeks.jpg (Note the open cabinet door; that's where the turf tubing currently enters/exits). Almost all of the original green algae patches are gone (most of the ones remaining are in the shade of the powerheads. It's amazing to watch fish waste go through the powerheads and get blended all over; my BB training instinctively wants to siphon or skim that stuff out before it get blended, but it just does not affect N and P anymore. It just becomes more coral food, and when it finally does decompose into N and P, the turf zaps it. Today I got my first N reading in a while... a very slight tinge of pink (Salifert) visible only if looking from the side (would be about a .2). It was taken immediately after a large food/phyto feeding. This, after dumping whole frozen cubes in several times a day (unwashed), along with one or two pumps of frozen phyto (plus some refrigerated phyto), cyclops, daphia, and a weekly silverside for the eel. And I've not turkey-basted the rocks in a month, nor cleaned out the powerheads or sump. Makes sense and seems to coincide with the screen getting full and growing less (supposed to be scrapped every week, but it's been two weeks already.) Here is a growth sequence, starting with the screen as received from IA, then 1 week, then 2 weeks: Seeded side: Unseeded side: