Algae scrubber vs. Chaeto algae

[LouieP]

@mocika follow my thread

 

[ReefNo0ob]

My L2 ATS from Bud @ Turbo's Aquatics has been set up for 40 days and my system is 2 yrs old and is an SPS dominate tank. Here are the photos of my most recent cleaning which is 8 days of growth. I believe that the DIY scrubbers just don't get the same growth results. They use the wrong type of lights at the wrong wave length & their screens are too large.

PO3 = 0.05 ppm
NO3 = 0

Before I got my L2 Scrubber my PO3 has tested as high was 0.92 ppm but ranged from 0.3-0.5ppm with Phosguard & PO3 pad.

Before cleaning


After cleaning


Harvest

I have a 55 gallon tank with the aqueon pro flex 3 sump system. My scrubber is hanging over the middle chaeto refugium section draining back into it and has been setup for about 10 days now. The screen looks arpund the same size as yours(8.5" wide X 5" tall)The grow light i have aiming at the scrubber is shared with the chaeto. I have decent growth on the waterfall screen but still have alot of hair algae growing in my refugium. Should i add another light pointing at my scrubber to promote growth on the scrubber instead of the fuge? Or is my scrubber still relatively new/how long did it take for you to have to do your first algae harvest?

Anyone who can give me advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[clowner]

Just to chime in
i belive the scrubber will do a better job as hair algea is a much simpeler organism then cheato so it will grow faster and actually uptake nutrients ...refugiums are usually too small to really do a big damage ..however refugiums provide a safe haven to a pleothera of organism that a scrubber wont

 

[ReefNo0ob]

Okay. So would you suggest leaving the refugium chamber empy so it will let my scrubber work at its full potential?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

You can run a scrubber and a fuge at the same time if you want to, no problem with that, but if your goal is maximizing algal filtration, if you were to separately light each "device" with their repsectively appropriate amount of light, usually the scrubber will beat out the fuge over time.

If the fuge is your active source and you are ramping up the scrubber, I would let the scrubber mature to the point where you are able to harvest a decent amount of algae before shifting over to it completely. Making small and/or gradual changes is always better

 

[Lowstorm]

@SantaMonica

This thread is made for him. I did an ATS when they were first coming out. May do it again, my chaeto isn't growing well since my cycle finished.

 

[ReefNo0ob]

Okay great. I also read last night that if your flow is too low the growth will be slow so i turned my valve open a little to increase flowrate and i will also be adding another light to point at my scrubber and see how that does!

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

Low flow is OK for startup. You really only need enough such that the screen has good coverage, as even as you can get it to be (after a day of letting it get an initial slimy coating). After you start to get some growth, you can slowing increase the flow. High flow right away has a tendency to make it harder for algae to stay attached. But once it's got a foothold across the whole screen (or most of it) then you can up the flow quite a bit and the growth will eventually even out the flow distribution

 

[cnseekatz]

I stole this guy's idea, and I love it!

I've never done a scrubber, but I think the idea is intriguing. But I love having this little structure in my fuge. The bonus for the chaeto refugium is the production of microfauna (pods, etc.) that you get. My leopard wrasses are fat and happy because of all the little critters that my fuge spits out for them. With the egg crate box, the chaeto is contained, it doesn't fall apart or flake off, and trimming it is easy... just shave the brick and put it back in.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chaeto-egg-crate-sandwich-idea.144659/

 

[biecacka]

How big do you let that box get @cnseekatz?

corey