Need help getting green

[jaz]

Hey guys

Not sure if my scrubber is still building up or whether i need to make alterations.
Getting yellow/brown slime, have done 3 cleanings now, slowly seeing more green.
My scrubber has been running for 2 months now, i started a new 130L (35G) tank with dead rock which had been cycling in a bucket for another 2 months prior.
Display has purple/brown stringy algae growing from rocks and substrate.

Live stock: 1 fire fish and 3 coral frags.
Feeding: small amount of frozen

Was originally made using older design guidelines, pre-feeding guiding lines.
Screen size: 17cm wide x 25cm high, double sided
Flow: 700 litres per hour
Watts: 2 x 20 cfl
Distance from light: 4cm, 1.5 inches, physical space limitation cant move lights any further away unless maybe drop to single sided
Photo period: 12 hours

No other filtration/skimmer is running.

Most recent cleaning, 8 days growth.
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/6ccc0a66.jpg

Other side
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/b785b822.jpg

After cleaning
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/385d09ef.jpg

Size comparison with pen
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/0de59489.jpg

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/e31a718c.jpg

Screen is fed directly from tank overflow to sump, aluminum foil for reflector
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/422cfc01.jpg

Lights off
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/394d78fa.jpg

Lights on
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/e0f448d1.jpg


Any suggestions on how i can improve this?
SM, am i better to wait for the new design? Eta?

Thanks for a brilliant and informative site :)

[kotlec]

Your flow is not enough for that size screen I thing. And I know that Santa will tell you find proper reflectors :D

[SantaMonica]

If you can't increase flow, add iron, and/or reduce hours by 2.

[jaz]

Ok thansk SM, ill try reducing hours to 10.
Its easy to do so ill give that a go.

I could also increase flow per cm by reducing screen width, maybe chop it from 17cm to 10cm that would bump up flow to about 63 litres per cm.
Any easy methods of reducing the width of existing pipe?
Or should i just make a new one?

[SantaMonica]

Any narrower and you won't catch the light from the bulbs.

Do get some iron.

[MorganAtlanta]

Make sure your flow is a minimum 35 US gallons/hour per inch. If it isn't, you'll struggle to get good growth without burning the algae, and to out compete algae in the display. Actually measure the flow. Don't go by what the pump manufacturer says it should put out. I think you are better off getting a bigger pump than trying to dose iron.

[jaz]

I've decreased the hours by 2, will see how i go.

MorganAtlanta, yeah i know im not flowing as per Santas guidelines, pump is rated at 2000LPH, actual flow is 400-800 LPH which i measured, it has dial to change the flow.
I've had it at 800 LPH before but get micro bubbles going straight through sump and back to display, so ive dialed it back to 700 LPH.

My baffles are not optimal for a scrubber, i could possibly add another baffle to the sump and then dial up the flow again to 800 or even purchase a stronger pump.

I'll check growth again next week and post results, before i make any major design changes i want to wait until i see Santas new design.

[jaz]

Well its been 12 days and i've cleaned my scrubber today.
One of my 20 watt bulbs blew, the only spare bulb i had was 15W, so had to put that in, and decided to leave it in for the entire cycle so i could compare between 15W and 20W.
The 20w bulb came out the better side.

This side here is the 15W bulb.
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/3d89a9ec.jpg

This side here is the 20W bulb.
Slightly more green.
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/fa32aa2a.jpg

Also some news to report on my foil reflectors.
They are no good for use around salt water, i've noticed little holes have appeared, looking a bit closer you can see they are caused by corrosion.
I've even found a little bit of foil inside my display tank, so it must've fallen into the water then pumped to the display.
Thats no good im gonna have to rip it all out and figure out something else for a reflector.
http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/jazius/5ea4de8f.jpg

I'm gonna have to figure out how to up my flow without increasing micro bubbles, perhaps add a fourth baffle to my sump, might have to get onto that sooner rather than later.
I was hoping to wait until SM released the new design but since that will be a few months away ill just bite the bullet and see what i can do with my existing design.

[SantaMonica]

For now add some iron, and/or reduce hours by 2.

[jaz]

Ok thanks SM, wow i can reduce my hours even further, so from 10 to 8, ill do that.
I'm not familair with iron dosing, ill pop into my lfs to see what they have, is it the same stuff used for planted fresh water tanks?

[SantaMonica]

Same

[jaz]

Popped in a 4th baffle, which was pretty easy, just purchased a piece of perspex cut to size and slotted it right in, nice firm fit, no glueing needed, 5 mins to install, i should've done this sooner.
Set the dial on my pump to max, which will make it about 800 LPH, only slightly more flow but at least now micro bubbles have been reduced.
Dropped hours to 8.
Ordered some Seachem Flourish Iron, my LFS didnt have it in stock but should be here in a day or 2, so ill dose the iron and report back when i do my next cleaning.

[kentth]

I dissolve one Fergon tablet in 100 ml of water. I have been dosing 3 ml of that solution once a day. 45 gal plus sump, about 50 gals. Got the Fergon at the drug store, it is an iron supplement. You have to watch which iron supplement you get and Fergon has the correct active ingredient. Do a search for which ones are good to use or not.

Kent

[jaz]

I dissolve one Fergon tablet in 100 ml of water. I have been dosing 3 ml of that solution once a day. 45 gal plus sump, about 50 gals. Got the Fergon at the drug store, it is an iron supplement. You have to watch which iron supplement you get and Fergon has the correct active ingredient. Do a search for which ones are good to use or not.

Kent

Thanks mate, i did some researching, Seachem Flourish Iron is based off Ferrous Iron (fe+2) Gluconate which i think is similar to Fergon.
I've read multiple accounts of people using Seachem Flourish Iron in their reef tanks mainly for supplementing macro algae, i couldn't find any negative feedback on it so ill give it a go.

How did iron dosing work for you?

[jaz]

How did iron dosing work for you?

Oh just read your thread Kentth, so iron did make a difference for you, thats cool, hopefully it does the same for me.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I like Kent's Iron & Manganese

[kentth]

I am not really sure if it has made a difference or not. I am still attempting to dial in the length of time on the lights and the Iron dosing. At this point am attempting to only vary one variable at a time. So this week I am going to keep dosing the iron at 3ml a day, but bumped the time to 17 hours. The only problem is, that since there is not a good way to check your iron level, you do not know how much residual iron you have in the system, once you quit dosing.

Kent

[jaz]

I like Kent's Iron & Manganese

Sounds like an interesting concoction.
Soluble potash (K20) 3%
iron 0.24%
manganese 0.01%
modybdenum 0.000005%
zinc 0.00014%

Are you currently dosing with this product?
If so, how is it working out for you?

My Seachem Flourish Iron arrived today so ive done my first dose, it has a higher concentration of iron 1%.
Not really sure on how often i should be dosing, it gives directions on how much to dose based on tank water volume but doesn't tell you the frequency....doh!
However it does mention that recommended levels should be 0.10 mg/L which is nice but ive read that test kits for iron aren't very accurate.
I guess its gonna be trial and error.

[Floyd R Turbo]

haven't used it in a while...

[kerry]

I have used what Floyd does but, only dose it about once a week just to be sure I have some in the system.

[SantaMonica]

If I'm not feeding a lot of nori, some green corals will start lightening up. Dose some iron, and in a few days they are dark green again.

[jaz]

Ok cool, so ill just have to watch closely and observe changes and increase or decrease as necessary, ill dose twice a week for now and see how it goes.