Comment on my Scrubber

[dzapata55]

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This is my first post. I would like some comments on my scrubber. I have had an algae problem for quite some time now. I have added pics of the tank so you can see what I am dealing with.

The Scrubber is 8 X 12. The only reason I made it 12" high is so it could rest in the water.
I have one 24 watt CFL blub on each side.
The water is supplied by my overflow. It is capable of handling 320 GPM but right now it is running at about 200. The return pump is not strong enough and I am in the process of getting a bigger one.
The light reflectors are 3 inches from the screen.
The lights run 18 hours a day.
The growth pictures are from 2 weeks and I have cleaned once after 7 days. The attached pics are after the second cleaning.
I feed 2 cubes a day.
I figured the larger screen will take care of the feeding and will be able to attack the current algae problem.
I have 0 nitrates and .25 - .50 phosphate.

I really want to know if I am on the right track and if there is anything I should change.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

I assume the bulb is a spiral of 2700 to 3000k.

It's off to a good start, and is going to grow well. Once it get thick, and after you increase flow, you could to 33w each side.

Looks like you have rock on the back wall, which is full of phosphate. It's going to take that scrubber about a year to fully clean up things. Nothing will appear to be happening in the display for the first few months, but then loose algae will start clogging up everything in the display (and probably your scrubber slot) for a few more months. Then one day the loose algae will just go stop and you'll have a fairly clean tank that will coralline-up based on how strong your scrubber is at that time.

At least you won't have to do any work or buy any more stuff.

[dzapata55]

Thanks SantaMonica.

You are right, it is a 2700 spiral.

You are also right about the back wall being rock but, it is lava rock. Do you know if Lava absorbs phosphates as more or less than normal rock?

And again, thanks for a great site.

[SantaMonica]

Well lava rock can sometimes come already loaded with phosphate. But I'm not sure of how much/little it can bind phosphate since it's not aragonite.

[dzapata55]

I purchased the SURF2 Algae Scrubber to replace the algae scrubber in the previous post. I may be expecting to much to soon.

I feed 2 cubes per day.
The ph is 8.4
Nitrates are 5 ppm
Phosphates are .25 ppm
Scrubber light is on 22 hours per day

When you compare the previous pictures to the current ones, here is what I have done: The lava rock wall across the back is completely removed. I put the SURF 2 into the sump the last week of January. I pulled much of the remaining algae off the rocks.

The first 2 pictures of the SURF 2 as it was on March 2. What little algae there was, I removed.

I know the SURF 2 is starting clean up the tank because the algae has been disappearing on it's own. Very slowly though.

The next 2 pictures were taken today, March 25. I cleaned the scrubber before I took the pictures. It has been about 23 days and this was the first time I cleaned it and I took about 1/4 cup out. The algae was very dark green, almost black and looked like cooked spinach.

Do I need to change anything or do I just need to wait longer?

Thank you.

[SantaMonica]

Get any dark/black stuff out, so that light can reach the roots. Keep it at 22 hours since it's is still dark. Let it go 10 days and take a look.

[dzapata55]

Thanks for the advice. I will post an update in 10 days.

[Doug G]

Wow, lots of algae in that display! I think you should feed 1 instead of 2 cubes to lessen nutrient load. I have greater stocking than that and 1 is fine. That foxface is supposed to eat the algae, unless it's really a nasty sort.

[dzapata55]

Thanks Doug. That is probably some good advice. I only have the 3 fish and they should do fine on 1 cube. Plus, if i cut the load in half, it will make it that much easier for the scrubber to do it's job. I sure am getting tired of that damn algae.