SURF2 Question

[maleci]

Well after having really good results with the HOG1 in my peacock mantis tank I got one of the initial batches of the surf2 which showed up Monday and was immediately hooked up and is being driven off a danner ap8 air pump which does up to 549 cu/in per minute. So far it has actually caused negative affects as my apartment doesn't have windows I can easily open and the air is rich in co2 to the point I hooked up a co2 scrubber to my skimmer. Since this is a second source though it's just dumping in co2 from the air at a second source and causing my ph to plummet by .3 so far in this initial week. Now as algae colonizes it I expect some to be absorbed but will it be able to offset the co2 being added to the system once it gets established or will I need to setup a scrubber for the air line for the turf scrubber? Now my second question is has anyone else notice it take longer to get started than other scrubber systems? I started it scraping some hair algae on the screen Monday and have run the lights 18 hours a day since then and it is still completely white. The tank is really high nutrients as I added a new cbb a few weeks ago and been kinda overfeeding short term while he gets settled to make sure the tangs in my reef don't bully him away from dinner so I've had excessive hair algae growth the past few weeks which seems odd the scrubber would still be completely white after 6 days.

[SantaMonica]

Glad the Hog1 is working well.

I don't think 0.3 pH is going to change anything. However, just like the ocean, the more photosynthesis you have via growing algae, the higher the pH will go. Most scrubbers, especially when packed with gha like the SURF2 in SW, can raise the pH about 0.2

I wouldn't even measure pH unless you are dosing kalk. I have two meters, and have not used them for years, even though I do dose kalk.

The SURF2 attachment surfaces should start having color by day 5, and by day 14 the box should be full.

[maleci]

Yeah, mostly just trying to track down issues. Since adding it I've noticed all my acros seem to close up and lost a few to overnight rtn. I've barrage tested for everything and the only thing that seems to be off is the ph drop from adding the surf2 scrubber so just trying to cover bases.

[maleci]

Well tonight has officially hit 7 days from initial setup and I still don't see any growth. There are a ton of bubbles going through it and the lights are running for 18 hours a day and I know the system has algae since my fuge grew like crazy and I harvest a ton of hair algae from the display.

[SantaMonica]

Don't worry it will grow.

[SantaMonica]

I bet if you look at the textures and ribbons with a flashlight now, you'll see them covered in green.

[Devs]

Any updates on this, growth etc ?

[maleci]

So far growth has started, but it has been very very slow. This is with running the lights 18 hours a day since setup.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/56c27pe9smvz2a2/20130716_181410.jpg

[SantaMonica]

The bubbles must be way to low. Can you video them?

[maleci]

It's being driven by http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/MAG-40518.html with all outlets being combined down to a single line which according to the documentation is 549 cubic inches per minute and run through the BRS co2 scrubber and then split to the 2 outputs that the SURF2 accepts.

Here is a short video of it running with the light removed to see bubbles.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zug507u0yjo6515/20130716_204812.mp4

[SantaMonica]

Well my old video player can almost play it... the bubbles seem good, but it looks like it's burning under the LEDs. So drop to 12 hours.

[maleci]

Done. How long should it take to fill out?

[SantaMonica]

10 days

[Chaz D]

run through the BRS co2 scrubber and then split to the 2 outputs that the SURF2 accepts.

Why would you do this? Aren't you depriving the algae of a nutrient source it needs to grow (CO2 in small amounts). I thought that was the whole idea of introducing air to a scrubber.

[maleci]

Yeah, algae needs co2 in trace amounts. PH is a function of alk and co2 though and with 10dkh which is higher than I really like running the ph still barely breaks 8 during the day even with the co2 scrubber hooked up. There isn't really an absence of co2 in the system so any flow bringing water into the growth chamber will bring in co2 for the algae to use. Honestly I could only wish it grew large enough to really make lack of co2 be the limiting factor for growth lol

[Nick28]

Why would you do this? Aren't you depriving the algae of a nutrient source it needs to grow (CO2 in small amounts). I thought that was the whole idea of introducing air to a scrubber.

Algae can use bicarbonate just fine as a carbon source however algae require more energy to utilize bicarb (more light wattage for the same growth) then CO2 gas.

[budblue]

hi maleci
did turning the light down to 12 make a difference please
any chance of some more pics :)