Algea scrubber

[Chops30]

SO been reading alot about these things, wondering if anyone in the club has used or is using one these things. Sounds like a very interesting idea but like most things sounds almost to good to be true. The idea is to not only replace your fuge but your skimmer as well. Read alot about it on this site and Marine Depots forum Eric Bourneman and Chuck ahhh IDK his last name but he runs Chucksaddiction.com both avid ATS users.


http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/index.php?sid=498d9e40b5ebefa0957470614f61eaf6

[blueroof]

The only operational ones I have seen are at Inland Aquactics in Terra Haute. They are also very cool surge device. They don't seem to to do a great job of cleaning the water however and leave the water downright yellow. It would be interesting to see how they would work in conjunction with a skimmer and carbon.

[Chops30]

Well, according to Santa Montica from the site. He says this replaces the Skimmer as it removes the inorganic N and P but leaves the organic material "food" in the water. According to the users on that site Yellowing happens becase of improper maintence and not growing the right algae on the screens. The screen has to be cleaned every 7 days, or else the old growth dies causeing a yellowing of the tank. Or the screen is not rough enough to keep the algea clung to it causing algea to break free. There seems to be 2 types a Surge one like that and a trickle flow one which seems to be what most of them use.

[blueroof]

Yes I know that to the people who ardently advocate for "natural" methods of filtration (ATS, DSB, No pumps, etc) it is more of a philosophy/religion. Check out the book "Dynamic Aquaria Building Living Ecosystems" by Walter Adey the guru of these ATS. It seems though in practice all natural systems are better suited for keeping softies than acros, just not enough effeciency.

[davedunbar]

Hey Chops I had one running about 2 summers ago on my back porch with WC water. Cant remember where I got the starter culture from but they do a good job of removing P & N. Mine was running on sun light which was really too much as the algae grew too fast and soon cyno took over. I'm thinking if run with just a small light bulb it would work better. I had a pic of the setup I had on the old site. I'm really thinking of using one again in my new fish room that is under construction.
Dave

[7Hogwarts]

Dave, I'm confused, If you had too much algae growing due to the sunlight, then why would the Cyano get going? The algae should've consumed more nutrient N&P. Unless of course it was due to too high of the amount of nutrient that fed both the algae and the cyano. Although the idea of trying to grow corals outside in the summer is interesting, keeping temp and salinity consistant would be a "bear".

[Funky187]

the cyano could have been due to the spectrum that the sunlight is giving the algae. i know that if you use a lower spectrum of light in your fuge, or your bulbs get old, cyano will start to take over. if you have problems cooling your tank this will help ;).

[ReefnRod]

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/m_lidster_100498.html this is starting to sound like a good idea!!