Algae Scrubber Advanced

[2smokes]

You are 100 percent sure.The floating ,,glass,, box helps a lot by keeping the light fixture clean so the light is not obstructed by dirt(calcium deposits) and it also isolates thermally the leds from the aquarium water.With the 5 mm led diodes i did an experiment and i didnt expected too much from them.The inspiration to use 5 mm diodes for the scrubber was when ive read about a member here that used blue 5 mm diodes to light his mainly acropora tank and it worked for a while.My next challenge is to build an algae scrubber for the cold water aquarium.For cold water and scrubber i dont have any experience and i dont know wich plants should i use,maybe il use ulva lettuce instead of GHA.In any case il keep the cold water aquarium as hot as the algae wants because i trust algae scrubbers and bacterial filtration works really bad in cold.

[SantaMonica]

Scrubbers work good in cold water. But you can't choose the growth; it will grow what it wants.

[sandipan.ece]

Hi,

I use a Santa Monica HOG 1.x ATS. I am getting this discolored algae.
I run the ATS lights for 18 hours a day in 2 equal segments.
Is this discoloration due to excess lights? I have tried using the black cloth, that slows down the algae growth and I do not like that. Is this discoloration of algae a problem? Will this harm my tank?

Here is the photo:


Can someone with experience in using ATS, help me with this?

[vai6921]

For me I've been using an ATS now for a bit over 3 months and mine just started to grow yellowish. At first it was like slime which grew into huge dark green turf. It recently dwindled down to smaller and more yellow turf. May be related to the amount of nutrition in the tank. It's working as the algae in the tank has mostly disappeared.


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[SantaMonica]

Both yours and sandipan just need a little less light, or more nutrients. Try feeding nori to the fish, which has iron to help the growth turn darker green.

[Danielmx]

Hi santa monica im daniel from the philippines and im a fan of your ats systems. Im planning a uas build for my 35g cube. My question is this:

1. What are the main keys to make a uas very effective?

2. What is the most succesfull type of screen for a uas and how can i build it?

3. How do i know if a led is 600nm? Because here in the philippines only chinese leds are available and there is no label for nm.

4. Is there an advantage on putting more holes on the algae part of the uas? Holes on the sides too or just on top and bottom?

I know you've been asked the same questions many times but im having trouble finding answers on the forums. Thanks

[karimwassef]

Just posted in the basic forum - a circulating settling tank ATS with recycled export

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...77420&page=370

[MidwesternTexan]

In a never seemingly never ending quest to improve the function of my personal DIY - ATS's

I have found perhaps my final 'splash guard'

I had some black plastic piping around my house- the smaller one was an old basement sump pump discharge hose; the other was an old downspout discharge hose- hence for this project- $0 additional cost.





* Oh, and just to be clear, my DT systems' ATS had 2 of the standard sized sheets on it, and I went down to 1 sheet, 50% less about a month ago- it was stripping my tank TOO clean! Things are more in balance now- still no nuisance algae.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Perfect!

[MidwesternTexan]

Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo

Perfect!

Thanks Turbo!!

[Pny]

Whats the ideal width of the growth chamber of a waterfall ATS driven by LEDs? 2 inch, 3 inch?

[SantaMonica]

If you make the walls white, it won't matter because all the light will reflect to the screen.

If the walls are black, then you want wide enough to catch all the light.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Originally Posted by Pny

Whats the ideal width of the growth chamber of a waterfall ATS driven by LEDs? 2 inch, 3 inch?

Pretty sure you were asking the distance on either side of the screen, right? Meaning, perpendicular distance to the enclosure?

From one side to the other, 2 to 2.5" seems to work the best. 3" might be OK but the 3D growth fills in faster with a narrower chamber.

[Pny]

Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo

Pretty sure you were asking the distance on either side of the screen, right? Meaning, perpendicular distance to the enclosure?

From one side to the other, 2 to 2.5" seems to work the best. 3" might be OK but the 3D growth fills in faster with a narrower chamber.

Thanks!

[biglurr54]

I'm looking for someone to review my scrubber and see what I should do differently. I have a 4x6 inch screen. Water flows over the screen. I don't know the gph but I adjust it so the water covers the screen. I feed approximately a cube a day. My lighting is supplied by 8 660nm reed 3w leds and 2 rb leds. It's 4 red and 1 blue on either side. The driver is set to 700ma and is on a dinner but the dimmer is just about maxed out.

My scrubber lights come on at 8pm and turn off at 10am. I clean my screen once a week fairly aggressively.

My issue is I am getting hair algae in my tank yet my po4 is always at 0. Even after tank cleaning. The rocks are used and could be leaching but the tank has been up and running for over a year.

I am also Having an issue with mag being used up. Calc, alk, and pH are all stable right where I want them.

Should I alter my light schedule, cleaning schedule.

After 5 days

After cleaning

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[karimwassef]

check your salinity... where is it?

[biglurr54]

Salinity is at 1.024. I had high mag, higher Calc, lower kh and lower ph at 1.026.

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[br88dy]

Originally Posted by biglurr54

My issue is I am getting hair algae in my tank yet my po4 is always at 0

Are you physically removing hair algae from your tank? The hair algae will keep you from getting any phosphate readings because it uses the phosphate to grow. Your scrubber has pretty good growth though, I'm jealous.

[biglurr54]

I remove the algae in the tank. I'm wondering if changing the scrubber to a 24 hour light cycle with breaks would help it out compete with the tank.

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[Scrubber_steve]

Hi biglurr54

your screen is large enough, but if the other variables are not correct, size doesn't matter. LOL

Is the flow high enough over the screen?

Is the light intensity high enough?

If the scrubber is anything but too small, & tuned correctly, you shouldn't get hair algae growing in the display.

[biglurr54]

The flow is tough to judge. I have about 600 to 700 gallons flowing down the overflow. It's then split between a filter sock and the scrubber. The filter sock it throttled by a valve and the scrubber is wide open. The lights are, like I said before 4 3w red leds and 1 3w blue led per side running at 700ma. If anything I think the light is overkill but you guys are the experts.

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[biglurr54]

The overflow should be flowing around 650 gph and I only need 210 for the scrubber. 35 x 6 inch screen length.

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[Scrubber_steve]

Originally Posted by biglurr54

The lights are, like I said before 4 3w red leds and 1 3w blue led per side running at 700ma. If anything I think the light is overkill but you guys are the experts.

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I run two screens the same size as yours. I run 6, 660nm on each side of each screen at 700mA. I don't bother with another color because the growth I get couldn't be any better and its all emerald green hair algae.

PS. I'm no expert, just a hobbiest.

[karimwassef]

I usually push my photoperiod, flow and screen size to the most I have room for. When my algae gets pale or yellow, I start to trim back until I find the balance point.

[SantaMonica]

You must have a lot of rock supplying a lot of nutrients to that small screen. You'll need more light, yes you can do 24 hours for now. Add another screen if you can.