Bobba's UAS HOG.5

[Bobba]

Received and installed on Saturday and so far seems to be working ok. Removed filter floss and GFO from canister filter but left it running with a bit of carbon and for the added flow. I bought a wire brush from Home Depot to scrape the rock hoping it would work better than a toothbrush. Big mistake!!! All the bristles from the cheap ass Chinese brush starting falling out. Spent a half hour just picking them out of the rock. I seeded the screen with some of the algae by just kind of smearing it onto it. Anyone else using the HOG.5?

[Bobba]

Hopefully posting a few photos here.2756275727582759

[Bobba]

Not perfect but hopefully you can get an idea of my setup and algae issue. Kind of dieing off in the one shot because of massive amounts of GFO and water changes. Comes right back to life when I feed though.

[SantaMonica]

There are a few others that may post soon.

What is your feeding?

[Bobba]

I have 2 very small clowns and a cleaner shrimp that get fed directly. Also have a small clam, 7 LPS, a Sun Coral and a few snails that get whatever is left. I feed by alternating Cyclopeze, Rods Reef Food and Spectrum small fish pellets. Very sparingly in my opinion!

[SantaMonica]

Put everything you feed (in one day) in a cup and let it dry out. Then measure how many teaspoons it is.

[Bobba]

I will try to measure my average feeding amount by adding it to an empty cube in a mysis pack I have. My guess would be 1/4 to 1/2 cube max. If the cleaner shrimp wasn't such a pig it would be far less! Woops, I will try the teaspon measurment also.

[Bobba]

So I measured how much food I feed per day and they all seem to be about 1/8 to 1/3 of a teaspoon. About the same using an empty frozen cube to measure. I know that the pellets do not all get eaten as they sink to the sand relatively quickly.

[SantaMonica]

Sounds like always less than 1/2 cube.

[RkyRickstr]

Hey guys not trying to high jack here but if u put all the food in a cup, let it dry, then u cqn measure how many teaspoons and figure out the cubes???

[HeavyTy]

call me a slow leak....but where did you purchase the premade model? santa monica himself?

[Floyd R Turbo]

www.santa-monica.cc

[HeavyTy]

Oh ok, I was just curious. My leds from led-dna just came today :) now im just trying to find a wall wart that'll work.

[Bobba]

Just a little update. Took a peek at my screen today and nothing on it. I really don't even see the hair algae mush that I seeded it with on Sunday. Patience is not my strong suite! Good news is algae on the rocks does not seem to be getting worse since I removed the GFO.

[SantaMonica]

All seeded algae should be washed off; you should not see anything. Only spores remain.

Will be at least 4 days before you see any growth. You'll need to use a white light to look at the screen.

[Bobba]

I suppose the bubble action washed away the little bit I smeared into the screen. I did use a flashlight to check it. Upon closer inspection the screen may have a very slight greenish cast at the bottom near where it's epoxied. Nitrates read 0 on an API test (ordering Salifert test) and .015 phosphates on a Hanna 736 so I probably should not expect rapid growth.

[Bobba]

Still nothing on the screen but I read on another post that the HA on the rocks can outcompete the scrubber if you have low nitrate/phosphate levels in the water. Maybe good idea to scrub the rocks (outside of tank and rinse well) again. Also, would decreasing DT's photoperiod help kickstart the scrubber?

[kerry]

You could do a H2o2 treatment on the rocks, that would kill the algae.

[Bobba]

Also was getting alot of gurgling noise and splashing from the little vent hole so I took a short length of plastic straw and attached a short piece of airline tubing to it. Stuck the straw end in the hole and the tubing just hangs over water surface. Much quieter and just drips instead of sprays. Looks stupid but is fine for now. Any other owners out there yet?

[Bobba]

Hi Kerry! I did the peroxide treatment twice before and it did kill the HA but it comes right back. I think the dead/dying algae just fuels growth again. I also wondered about its effect on the beneficial bacterial population?

[kerry]

I would not do all the rock at once, this will keep the BB up and this should help fuel the scrubber growth if the light there is stronger then the DT lights.

[SantaMonica]

Nothing will change how fast the first-growth is, except maybe rubbing the algae into the screen when you start.

[SantaMonica]

Did you move the unit up past the water surface so the bubbles would stop?

[Bobba]

Yes. The edge of the HOG is even with the top edge of the glass so the little hole is out of the water. Maybe I have too much air flowing? I do have a little adj. valve so I could turn it down.

[SantaMonica]

If set correctly, only air should come out. However is does make more sound when above the water than when below. Less air also makes less sound, but the screen should still be covered in bubbles.

[Bobba]

27872788Okay, I moved the HOG.5 up until only air is pushed out the hole. There is a gap between the inside top edge and the top edge of the tank that probably relieves most of the air pressure. Newest resident from new pet store also.

[Bobba]

Sorry about the cat pic! I really can't figure out this whole picture posting thing. The Turbo Snail is new and I hope he has an appetite for algae!

[kerry]

She is a very pretty cat, She looks comfy and happy.

[Bobba]

Actually, she was an abandoned stray until a week ago! My wife feeds a bunch of strays in the park across the street and trapped a few to take and have fixed. She was one of them. When my wife released the others, this one wouldn't go. She just wants attention. She's already got the run of the house and been the perfect cat since.

[kerry]

This is our Queen of the house. She was outside taking a cat nap.
http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q566/kerryconklin/2012-06-30_17-36-35_240.jpg

[Bobba]

Well, checked the screen today and I am definitely getting some green growth!!! The weird part is that it seems concentrated on the back of the screen. Is this normal? Will try and get a picture tomorrow. The other good news is my new Turbo snail is an algae eating machine! Not seeing any new growth in the tank and the old growth seems to be struggling.

[ruddybop]

Well, checked the screen today and I am definitely getting some green growth!!! The weird part is that it seems concentrated on the back of the screen. Is this normal? Will try and get a picture tomorrow. The other good news is my new Turbo snail is an algae eating machine! Not seeing any new growth in the tank and the old growth seems to be struggling.

Hmm..This is interesting... My first experiment with the UAS was 2 screens... Meaning the bubbler was bubbling up through the middle of the two screens and algae grew on the outside of each screen....My thought was that the bubbles would get to the roots of the ALGAE....

I tie-wrapped the top of the screen together so the bubbles had to work their way through the top...

[SantaMonica]

It's probably because the LEDs are very strong. Mine had a burn spot for a while, which finally grew in.

[Bobba]

Not a very good pic but you can see the green growing mostly on the back of the screen. Bubbles do not really touch the screen except at the very top where they accumulate. I tried bending the screen forward but it bends right back because of the bubbles I guess.

[SantaMonica]

They are touching more than you can see.

[Bobba]

I am happy to be seeing a positive trend! There is something that I can't quite put my finger on happening in the tank. Removing the filter floss has not resulted in any particles visible in the water and removing the GFO (and adding the scrubber) has resulted in the HA slowly diminishing. Another wild guess here but with no more peroxide treatments to the rock perhaps bacteria populations are climbing. Still feeding same amounts as before the changes and have not done any water changes.

[SantaMonica]

Nice.

If you want to put something behind the screen to push it forward, you could try it.

[Bobba]

Well, I spaced the screen out a little using one of those small peel and stick ty-rap bases and used a very small ty-rap with a label flag on it. No holes through the screen and should be easy to remove if needed. Bubbles seem to be touching the screen now. Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly and 1 set of the little magnets fell off. Still holding together ok but need to get some super glue.

[SantaMonica]

You should probably reduce hours to 10.

[Bobba]

Certainly not questioning your expertise SM but why would this be beneficial? Oh, as a side note, you think we have problems? Here is what showed up at the next door neighbors for the 4th!!! BEES- Looks like millions of them.

[Bobba]

Maybe a bee scrubber is in order?

[SantaMonica]

Because if you look at the screen... white in the middle, growth on the edges. There is not enough nutrients in the water to allow growth fast enough in the middle, compared to how much light there it. So reduce hours until the middle fills in, then increase again later. Will fix bees too.

[Bobba]

Checked screen today and the hair algae has taken off! Several small tufts around the edges and one slightly bigger one that looks like it's growing out of the silicone that holds the screen. Not sure if spacing the screen out helped but it literally grew overnite. Will cut lighting back two hours as per SM's advice and hope to see it growing in the middle too.

[Bobba]

HOG.5 has been running for 2 weeks now. Even though there is not a lot growing yet, should I be giving it a light cleaning? Between the Turbo dnail and HOG.5, I have hardly any HA left in the tank! No GFO, floss or water changes. I even started using my diy led light strip (9 royal blues) again to supplement the 3 par30's over the tank. When I tried using it before, HA growth increased dramatically. Amazing!

[SantaMonica]

Let it go a few more days. Let's see how long it takes to fill in. And start feeding more.

[Bobba]

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks with the HOG.5 and 2 with my lone Turbo snail. I am happy to report that I have no Hair Algae left in the tank. No signs of any regrowth of what the snail has eaten either. The algae in the scrubber is still mostly on the edges but the little holes are pretty filled in with a brownish/yellowish growth. I will probably clean it tomorrow. Very happy with things so far!

[SantaMonica]

Nice! Now reduce the hours even more... two less. Also let it grow a few more days before cleaning.

And start feeding more.

[Bobba]

Okay, 2 more hours. I don't want to say I have been feeding alot more but I am definitely not as conservative as I was. I was literally afraid to feed the tank before!

[Bobba]

Oh, by the way, what can I feed my Turbo snail to keep him happy? I feel like I owe him something!

[SantaMonica]

Just move the scrubber along the glass every couple days, and let him eat the film that grew in the old spot.

[Bobba]

Cleaning day! Cleaned the HOG.5 today and took a few pics. Took about 10 minutes with a toothbrush. Did notice that the little magnets are rusting. Any solution to that? Tank looks better than ever and now I think I can focus on adding a few more corals and 1 more fish. Very happy so far!

[SantaMonica]

Well at least the algae is getting a supply of Iron from the magnets :) Maybe the black epoxy was scratched; you can always just put some silicone, or even super glue, gel over it.

That's a good bit of gha for a first harvest; should get even better.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Did notice that the little magnets are rusting. Any solution to that?

Neodymium magnets should not be exposed to saltwater, they can leech toxic metals. So this is a problem.

Sealing them up with silicone is fine, but keep in mind that the same rules apply for silicone, in general that means use a reef-safe silicone like all-glass or marineland, or RTV-108 and let it cure for 2 weeks.

Some say you can use standard 5-minute epoxy which might be a better option, but still you would want to let it dry for 24 hours, longer if you can. This of course is a problem with the screen attached to the tray.

[SantaMonica]

If so, fortunately algae consumes toxic metals. However, in my readings, many people have used these magnets to plant frags, and even if they rusted the frags grew right over them :O

[Bobba]

Just an honest little update here. I have become quite frustrated with my HOG.5 for the following reasons. First is the little magnets. I have attempted to reattach 5 of the magnets that have fallen off. I have scraped all residue, cleaned with IPA and reattached with superglue and they still keep falling off! Also after scraping away the rusty corrosion the magnets appear to be made of copper (at least it looks like copper). The other issue is that I have spent hours trying to adjust the position of the slits in the tubing and cannot get the bubbles to come out evenly. I know the scrubber is not performing well because I amm not seeing any growth. Any suggestions?

[SantaMonica]

Well the magnet issue is resolved; epoxy is being used now and is as strong as the cover itself. And of course the epoxy covers the underlying copper and zinc coatings. So just brush some 5-minute epoxy over it and it should be fine.

The bubble do not have to be even. They will vary anyway when they route around growth. You can see in my video that I only have 2 bubble streams operating when I clean it. But if you have enough airflow, then just tilting the unit should do it. Otherwise I need a video.

[mtbeeson]

Bobba, thanks for your frequent updates. My buddy and I just orderd the HOG.5 and hope to receive them next week. I have a 210 and will probably need a second scrubber in time but want to get one up and running. I am only feeding a 1/2 cube a day so one should be fine.

SM - I currently have a sump with a refugium. Should I get rid of my refuguim completely and should I also remove any socks/filters that I currently have running in my sump?

I will post pics once I get my HOG.5. I can't wait. Have a good weekend all.

[SantaMonica]

You should remove any macros from the fuge. Sock too. The smoother you make the sump, the less particles will get stuck and rot there.