Marc's HOG.5 UAS

[mtbeeson]

SM - I just received my new HOG.5 UAS and got it up and running. The only negaitve so far is the magnets were not strong enough to stay upright in my sump (1/4" glass). The inside and outside pieces stayed together but I had to tape the outside piece to keep it from falling down. Has anyone else had this issue?

Here are some pics of my tank before the UAS. I will continue to post and update as to the progress.

[SantaMonica]

I'll send you some more magnets, so you'll have 6 on each spot instead of 5. It's a trade-off, because people with 1/8" glass may not be able to get the covers apart once they are attached, and I've not heard back from anyone else recently with the same problem.

Are you trying to get the purple stuff off of the rocks?

[mtbeeson]

Yes, I am trying to get the purple or red algae off the rocks. I have some red algae and some brown algae. What do you suggest?

[SantaMonica]

Getting the scrubber growing.

[mtbeeson]

So after four weeks I have some growth on the ends of the UAS. The middle still has not filled in but at least there is some growth, finally. I will try to post some pics this weekend. It seems, however, that most posts I read, people seem to have a lot more growth after four weeks than just on the ends. Is there something I need to do to get better growth or just be patient?

[SantaMonica]

Less hours.

Those two 3-watt LEDs are very strong and only 1/2 inch from the screen. Cut the hours down to 12.

[pitzenmj]

Interesting Marc, I've been up and running for 2 weeks with my HOG .5 and I have some green around the edges starting, with the center still white. I'm on for 18 hours, off for 6. sounds like i may want to reduce my hours as well then.

[mtbeeson]

SM - question for you. If I make a UAS that is approximately 4 times bigger that the UAS you sell, will that give me four times the feeding capacity? I love the UAS I bought from you but I need to be feeding my tank between 1 and 1 1/2 cubes per day, now that I finally have a decent amount of coral and fish. I would prefer to only have one big UAS, versus having three or four smaller UAS' with multiple air pumps, etc. Please advise.

I will take pics of my screen and post. I am completely amazed at the results.

[mtbeeson]

pitzenmj - sorry for the long delay but I have not had much time for my tank or posting on this site. I hope your UAS is working well. If not, definitely drop the amount of hours your lights are on. What I did was dropped my hours to 10 on and 14 off. Each week I increased my lights by one hour. Now I am at 18 per week and my scrubber is working awesome.

[SantaMonica]

Yes bigger is for more food. But with only one, when you clean it you will have a spike in nutrients. At least give it a split screen so you can clean one per week.

[mtbeeson]

A split screen? So split the screen and only clean one side at a time? Like clean one side on a Wednesday and the other side on a Saturday?

Do you sell bigger UAS'?

[SantaMonica]

Split vertically, and clean one each week.

No bigger sizes.

[mtbeeson]

Can you give me your website so I can order LED lights? I think I will make a bigger scrubber with a split screen and use that in conjunction with the UAS that I have already, which should be plenty for my tank.

[SantaMonica]

Santa-Monica.cc

[mtbeeson]

SM - I am going to build a bigger UAS but have a few questions. First, do you sell the LED lights, because I did not see them on your website. Also, in building the UAS, should I only put holes at the bottom of the black plastic or all the way around. The one I bought from you has holes at the bottom and one hole on top. There are no holes on the sides. Lastly, I see you have several newer UAS'. Does that mean the UAS you sell is not the best for collecting algae, or are you just coming up with different scrubbers for different uses?
Thanks for your time.

[SantaMonica]

The HOG.5 is the only one. Magnet or suction cup version. All the needed parts in linked there. The holes on the sides of the inside shell are needed if you use it as a bubble remover. If you keep it down lower so it makes bubbles, the sides holes are not needed.

[mtbeeson]

Thanks. The only part I need are the lights, which I do not see on your site.

[SantaMonica]

This page...
http://www.santa-monica.cc/HOG5-Parts_c_10.html

[mtbeeson]

With an algae scrubber, does the tank still produce coppapods?

[SantaMonica]

Yes it should produce more.

[mtbeeson]

The UAS should produce more coppapods than what, a refugium? Also, while I have the HOG 5, I am also still running my protein skimmer. I haven't decided whether or not to turn my skimmer off after I add another UAS. Will that affect my coppapod growth?

Here are a few photos of my tank. The algae is not perfect but much better than before. I attribute the HOG 5 and more water flow to the biggest differences in my water quality improvement. Thanks for all your advise. I'm sure I'll have many more questions as time goes on.

373437363735

Happy Holidays.

[SantaMonica]

A scrubber will make pods, not remove them. A skimmer will remove them.

Tank is off to a good start... lots of rock. Don't move them or change flow; you want the most periphyton possible to grow the most pods.

[sabbath]

A scrubber will make pods, not remove them. A skimmer will remove them.

Tank is off to a good start... lots of rock. Don't move them or change flow; you want the most periphyton possible to grow the most pods.

Oh Boy, So are you saying that blowing stuff off of the rocks is bad. As I use a turkey baster once a week or so to blow out the detritus and the slime algae that starts up in spots. Is this the smoking gun of my HA troubles? The guys on RC say to mix up the flow and do the turkey baster thing....?

[SantaMonica]

Blowing stuff off is a different issue.

Changing flow, or rock positioning, is what kills perphyton.

[sabbath]

Blowing stuff off is a different issue.

Changing flow, or rock positioning, is what kills perphyton.

How do you fell about wave makers or I have heard of people running one head power during the day and a different one at night?

I think that you might be onto something with this. I used to hit the rocks with a turkey baster and did not hit one area at the back right. Ironically this area is the one area that did not have algae on the rocks. I started to hit this area a while back and now I'm starting to get algae there as well.
Have you found my algae troubles smoking gun?
Thanks

[SantaMonica]

Wave makers are alternating flow, which are fine. Moving a powerhead to a new location, or removing the power head entirely, is changing flow which will starve the periphyton in the old location.

Blowing off the rocks simply gives algae a place to attach to that is not so dusty.

[sabbath]

Wave makers are alternating flow, which are fine. Moving a powerhead to a new location, or removing the power head entirely, is changing flow which will starve the periphyton in the old location.

Blowing off the rocks simply gives algae a place to attach to that is not so dusty.

Sounds like we want dusty rocks to me. Do you have any Periphyton info for dummy's links. I would like to read more on this as it is sounds interesting and important.

[SantaMonica]

Just google it... lots of info.

[mtbeeson]

Thanks for the info. I want to get a Mandarin but want to make sure I have sufficient pods in the tank. I know the protein skimmer takes them away but I am so leary of not using the skimmer. First, I don't have a big enough scrubber for what I'm feeding, plus I'm just someone who has always used a skimmer. It is like my security blanket. Other than removing pods, are there disadvantages to using my skimmer along with my scrubber?

[SantaMonica]

Removes food, and does not remove ammonia. There is no security.

[mtbeeson]

Santa Monica,
I love my UAS 0.5 My tank looks so amazing. I was going to make a bigger UAS but things looks so good in my tank I am afraid to change anything. That being said, I started a 24 gallon nano cube that is getting a lot of hair algae. Is the UAS 0.5 the smallest scrubber u offer? I will have to put it on the side of my tank and want the smallest scrubber possible.

[SantaMonica]

Yay!!!

Yes the .5 is pretty strong, even with only one LED, if you don't already have any nutrient export.

It is the smallest. The new ones now have bar magnets instead of the round disc magnets, but otherwise they are the same.