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SantaMonica
11-24-2013, 06:41 PM
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SURF4(TM)
Purchase Here (http://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=46)


Surf Scrubber(TM)
Floating Surface Upflow Algae Scrubber®
with Green Grabber(TM) surfaces,
and strings for saltwater




"It Floats Like A Boat!" (TM)




Eliminate water changes. Remove nuisance algae, nitrate and phosphate. Cultivate seaweed for feeding.



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Purchase Here (http://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=46)


Reef2Reef review of the installation of the SURF4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc8Z5QaGdsg
Ten cleanings (harvests) in four months:
http://youtu.be/0lcHakmG604
Ten more cleanings in three more months, with more air:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZLYPBkV8UY
Sixth 10 days of growth of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/2GGXoAcmA7E
Second 12 days of growth of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/0KNXwV0oOw4
First 17 days of growth of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/sFtQXIlM8h8
Video overview of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/fLTtOQUzmxY
Unboxing and installation of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/uDRFBhFwvL8


Videos of the smaller but similar SURF2:

First five cleanings in saltwater:
http://youtu.be/yXRhc07mXJo
Next eight cleanings in saltwater:
http://youtu.be/miWb4R8ajXw
First harvest at 13 days in saltwater:
http://youtu.be/2pxIB7FeJHo


Get the no-overflow advantage of an upflow scrubber: since it is ALL underwater, it can't overflow onto your floor.

Finally an aquarium or pond filter that offers drop-in installation, reduction or elimination of water changes and nuisance algae, along with almost no-light and almost no-sound, and possibly most important, one-handed cleaning with no disassembly required. It operates the way the oceans and lakes do, using algae to do all the filtering, and truly can replace all other filters in your aquarium or pond.

The SURF4 (TM) is the larger version of the SURF2, which was the world's first floating surface Upflow Algae Scrubber® (also called a UAS®). It is also a Ribbon Scrubber®, which is what allows the algae to be removed from the scrubber with one hand without needing to disassemble anything or take anything to the sink. Simply lift up the lid and pull the algae out. And you can feed some of the algae to your fish and snails if you want to!

This SURF4 floating surface scrubber has over 48 square inches (300 square cm) of extremely rough Green Grabber (TM) algal growth surface which can grow up to a 2" (5 cm) thick block of green hair algae. This is about four small handfuls, and is designed to absorb the nutrients from this much feeding per day:

4 Frozen cubes, or
40 Pinches of flake, or
40 Square inches (250 square cm) of nori, or
11 grams of pellets

The physical size or number of gallons or liters of water in your tank, sump or pond does not matter. If you feed more than the above amounts, you can get multiple SURF4 units; multiple units are preferred over one larger unit because you can clean one unit per week, and because you'll always have one unit filtering while the other one starts growing again after a cleaning. Multiple SURF4 units are also good for backup.


Purchase Here (http://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=46)

The SURF4 starts with four bubble openings at the bottom, where upflowing air bubbles (from strong air pumps, sold separately) flow up into the growth compartment and bring aquarium or pond water with it. As the bubbles and water enter the growth compartment they rub the algae-attachment ribbons and get blasted by the super-red 660nm LED light. The bubbles then circle around and around inside the growth compartment, rubbing against the ribbons and the Green Grabber super-rough rock-hard attachment textures as the bubbles rise up to the water surface. This repeated rubbing of bubbles causes algae to start growing on the ribbons and textures; freshwater grows thin stringy algae, and saltwater grows thicker, denser algae. The air then goes out of the top of the unit, quietly and with practically no salt spray, and the water goes down and out four holes in the bottom, without any bubbles remaining. The SURF4 growth compartment is one full inch deeper than the SURF2 (3" compared to 2"), which further keeps all bubbles at the top, and bubble-free water at the bottom, where the water exits.

A few features of the SURF4 provide real usefulness and are available on no other algae scrubber except the SURF2. First, the enclosed growth compartment increases the dwell time of the water and bubbles inside the unit so that they rub the algae many times before leaving the compartment. This actually reduces nutrients (nitrate, phosphate) to a level lower than the outside water, which allows greener growth to occur sooner (lower nutrients grow greener algae) inside the unit, especially in high-nutrient aquarium or pond water. In other words, the SURF4 creates a lower-nutrient ecosystem inside itself which is different from the rest of the outside water. Also, the position of the air bubble inlets (below the growth) causes the bubbles to flow through the growth no matter how thick the growth gets. This is in contrast to waterfall scrubbers, which mostly flow water on the outside of the growth, leaving the inner layers of growth without flow.

Another feature which was highly requested was quiet operation. Since the SURF4 does not touch the aquarium glass or sump glass, and since it's made of heavy material surrounded by foam, it is by far the quietest algae scrubber ever made; as a matter of fact it's almost silent (the air pump is usually louder). The thick and heavy gauge plastic growth container is coated internally by even thicker and heavier Green Grabber textures, and is surrounded on the outside by 1" (2.5 cm) of closed cell polyethylene foam. This stops virtually all sound from going sideways. And the 3/4" (19 mm) thick LED lid is filled with super dense polyurethane, which absorbs more sound than a rigid structure would, and much more than a non-sealed structure would. Lastly, the path that air has to take to get out of the top requires the air to first go sideways towards the foam, and then upwards along the foam; this allows the foam to absorb any remaining sound exactly the way foam absorbs sound in a studio. So while you may hear very muffled bubbling if the filter were next to your bed at night, you will hear nothing if there is any other activity occurring in your house. And as growth fills the compartment, even more sound is absorbed.

Another great feature is the elimination of salt spray (for saltwater). Since the air must come up through the narrow space between the LED lid and the foam, all the salt spray remains in the growth compartment where it is washed away by the water. Sometimes there is the occasional bubble that comes out the top, but it's practically nothing compared to the splashing of waterfall scrubbers. And if the unit does ever need to be "washed", just push it under the water surface for a few seconds and let water flow over the top; no need to take it to the sink.

Bubble removal is probably the most-requested feature. Any and all algae scrubbers, whether they are upflow, waterfall or horizontal rivers, all have bubbles which must be removed. The internal growth compartment of the SURF4 keeps bubbles inside the almost 3" deep internal water level, only letting water out of the four small holes at the bottom after the air has escaped out the top. Thus, no bubbles get into the aquarium, sump or pond water; only a little red light, which gets less as growth gets thicker.

The Green Grabber algal growth attachment surface is so rough and prickly that is might be the roughest thing you've ever felt. A cactus might be sharper, but that's about it. Rough surfaces are critical for allowing algae to attach and grow and thus provide strong absorption of nutrients. The rock-hard protrusions stick straight out 1 to 3 mm. Previous algae scrubber screens were made from "slippery" plastic canvas that is used for sewing and knitting; algae take a long time to attach to it. Green Grabber growth surfaces are not plastic at all; instead they are rock hard and have jagged rough edges and points (don't let children play with them). Green Grabber surfaces are so good at grabbing algae and letting it grow, that if you have high nitrate and phosphate you may start seeing tiny growth spots within hours instead of days. And the white color of the Green-Grabber surface reflects as much light as possible, allowing lots of light to reflect back to the algae.

The main advantage of the SURF4 or any algae scrubber is that if you size and operate it properly, it can be the only filter for your pond or tank, even replacing waterchanges. It can, however, also be used with other filters. Some other filters such as carbon dosing (Zeo, pellets, etc) may slow down the scrubber, but nothing will really "hurt" the scrubber except possibly large amounts of algaecide or copper medications. The SURF4 cannot even dry out, since it's always under water.

The SURF4 comes with dual power supplies, each one powering four LEDs (total of 8 LEDs). Not only does this provide backup, it allows you to start the scrubber with less light which sometimes helps growth start faster in low-nutrient water or new tanks.

The SURF4 will run on both 120V and 240V, and each power supply comes with a 10 ft (300 cm) power cord with a U.S. plug. If you require a different plug you can get two adapters at any local hardware or travel store, or online, or you can cut off the U.S. plugs and install your own plugs from a hardware store. They are simple 2-wire plugs.

Comes with 6 ft (180 cm) of quad vinyl airline, but requires a 4-outlet air pump that can pump at least 10 total liters per minute (0.4 cfm), which small low-cost pumps cannot do. Pumps that say they can handle 20 or more airstones, or pumps with 4 tubing attachments instead of one, are best. You can have as much air as you like, however; 10 lpm per inlet (40 lpm total) is no problem, because the bubble rings which circle around the air inlets prevent large bubbles from escaping. It is the air bubbles which move water into the growth compartment and up the growth surfaces, and also supply carbon dioxide (CO2 in the air) to the surfaces, which allow algae to grow in the filter. The more bubbles, the thicker the algae can grow. Large bubbles even create openings in the algae for light to reach further down into the growth; thus reducing dark areas.

One powerful pump which works exceptionally well for a low cost is the Fusion 700 from JW Pet, which we sell separately HERE (https://santa-monica.3dcartstores.com/product.asp?itemid=39). It is quiet and has two outputs which are adjustable by turning the control knob; the two outputs perfectly match two of the air inlets on the SURF4, and thus you will need two of these pumps for the four inlets. Another even more powerful and completely silent pump, although more expensive and without a control, is the Whisper 300 from Tetra, which has 2 outlets, thus requiring 2 pumps. Possibly an easier solution is a large capacity multi-outlet pump like the Coralife Super Luft SL-38, which has 4 adjustable outlets built in, and makes plenty of air, but is relatively noisy. Make sure to put any pump above the aquarium so that it will not drain any water if it shuts off.

The LED lid contains 8 red (660 nm) 3-watt LEDs, which are attached to an aluminum heat sink which is painted black to reduce heat; it does get warm. The LEDs will give the pond, aquarium or sump a slight red color at night when the aquarium lights are off, but this will occur less as the SURF4 fills with growth. You will need to get a timer so you can run the LEDs for up to 22 hours per day (not 24!). The LEDs never needs replacing.

The SURF4 will need to be cleaned ("harvested") every 7 to 21 days or when thick with growth. Just lift up the LED lid, grab a handful of algae, and pull it out. You can even feed some of the algae to your fish. You usually do not need to take anything apart, or take anything to your sink, once the growth get thick.

The SURF4 comes with a 6 month warranty: Warranty is for replacement or repair only; not a refund. Costs for shipping back to us are covered if you are in the U.S. Costs for shipping back to us are not covered if you are not in the U.S., however we will pay for shipping back to you. In either case, you will need to ship the entire unit back to us before we can ship a replacement. Warranty is limited to repair or replacement, and does not cover fish loss, personal injury, property loss, or direct, incidental or consequential damage arising from the use of it. The warranty and remedies set forth above are exclusive and in lieu of all others, whether oral or written, express or implied. We specifically disclaim any and all implied warranties, including but not limited to lost profits, downtime, goodwill, damage to or replacement of other equipment and property, and any costs of recovering animals, plants, tanks or other aquarium related items and/or equipment. We are not responsible for special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any breach of warranty, or replacement of equipment or property, or any costs of recovering or reproducing any equipment, animals or plants used or grown with this product.

Can be shipped to any country; you can find shipping costs by using the shopping cart; be sure to click "display rates". If you don't have a zip code, enter "zip code" instead. Note that shipping outside of the USA will probably require you to also pay an import charge when it arrives. We cannot mark it as "gift". The lowest cost overseas shipping is generally USPS First Class Mail International. The size of the shipping box is 12 x 9 x 6 inches, (30 x 23 x 15 cm).

SURF4 size: 8" wide by 10" long by 4" thick (20 cm wide, 25 cm long, 10 cm thick). It requires at least 4" (10 cm) of water to operate in.

SURF4 Instructions:
English (PDF) (http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions.pdf)
English (Word) (http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions.doc)
Arabic (PDF) (http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions-Arabic.pdf)
Arabic (Word) (http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions-Arabic.doc)

Selection chart:
http://algaescrubber.net/WhichOne.jpg

Comments:


"SURF4 is very well put together, and it's almost silent (my overflows are actually louder)". -- Unknown

"There are many types of filters available for aquariums, but none are as natural as algae scrubbers. They can even serve as auto-feeders of fresh algae for the fish. Here is the SURF4 I just started; when the lid is on, it's almost completely silent" -- Mdbannister on the R2R site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasMdbannisterOnR2R-1.jpg



"I'm getting good results from my SURF4 and HOG3.. It's bringing my phosphate down and starting to get some decent hair algae my tangs love" -- Dane Wilcox

"WOW! 173grams. Two weeks growth [on the SURF4]. We LOVE it! The growth rate of the chaeto in our refugium had been steadily decreasing over the past six weeks or so. Yesterday, it became obvious that the chaeto had started to melt/die-off and needed to be removed from the system" -- Mike&Terry on the R2R site:
6133

"Has been up and running now for a few weeks [SURF4] and seems to be working pretty good took awhile to get the growth growing but now it is working really good." -- Jeff D. Battilocchi on Amazon

"I love how my four SURF4 units are constructed" -- Tim Caldwell

"Happy to report that the SURF4 is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site

"Currently I have two algae scrubbers that I purchased from Santa Monica. SURF2 and SURF4. SURF2 is powered by Fusion 700 and SURF4 is powered by Coralife Super Luft SL-38. I can grow significant amount of algae in both" -- Tomasz Cop pic of SURF2:
5540

Growth from Reef4Life here on the scrubber site:
5547

"I love how my four SURF4 units are constructed" -- Tim Caldwell

"Big fan of SM Algae Scrubbers. Loving my SURF4" -- Kidtango on the R2R site.

"The scrubber is working great! It is growing well now and has made a huge change for the good in my aquarium. I will definitely be purchasing from you guys again when I upgrade my tank" -- Laura Jans


Purchase Here (http://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=46)

SantaMonica
01-07-2014, 08:17 PM
Big harvests!

Sixth 10 days of growth of the SURF4:
http://youtu.be/2GGXoAcmA7E

SantaMonica
03-02-2014, 09:16 AM
Looks like scrubbers may grow more pods than first suspected. Especially upflows, when you don't take them to the sink for cleaning (in other words, you just reach in a grab algae). This explains why chromis always hang out downstream of the scrubbers, catching stuff coming by.

My SURF4 was going consistent, and apparently had a huge pod population below the growth, consuming the growth almost as fast as it was growing. It had been running over 3 months without going to the sink, and, fish could not get into the scrubber either, so there was nothing to slow the pods. But then growth slowed down when 2 of the 4 air outlets clogged with carbonate. I did not notice for over a week since I don't pay it any attention. Since the pod population was the same, but growth was less, the pods could keep up with the growth and the growth never increased. When I looked, the pods completely covered the bottom of the scrubber, and would jump right on your hand if you touched the bottom. So I cleaned it in the sink and soaked it for 5 minutes, to kill all the pods. Also cleaned out the air outlets with a paper clip.

This could explain why some SURF2 or SURF4 users have growth in SW but it never "takes off"; it just reaches a certain level and stays there. Pods! Solution: pour some FW in after harvesting. Last resort: take to the sink, and soak it.

SantaMonica
03-09-2014, 03:07 PM
Ten cleanings (harvests) in four months:



http://youtu.be/0lcHakmG604

SantaMonica
06-17-2014, 07:15 PM
After three more months of filtering, and ten more harvests, did the extra high output air pump help?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZLYPBkV8UY

The SURF4 is available here:
http://www.Santa-Monica.cc

Resellers and Distributers log in here:
https://santa-monica.3dcartstores.com/myaccount.asp

SantaMonica
08-10-2014, 05:06 PM
"Currently I have two algae scrubbers that I purchased from Santa Monica. SURF2 and SURF4. SURF2 is powered by Fusion 700 and SURF4 is powered by Coralife Super Luft SL-38. I can grow significant amount of algae in both" -- Tomasz Cop pic of SURF2:
5540

SantaMonica
08-15-2014, 04:40 PM
Growth from Reef4Life here on the scrubber site:
5547

SantaMonica
11-08-2014, 12:19 PM
"I love how my four SURF4 units are constructed" -- Tim Caldwell

"Happy to report that the SURF4 is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site

tasso
01-13-2015, 09:13 AM
I am also looking into buying the Surf2 or Surf4 and would be interested in one with a discount like this if you have any. I'm new to this concept of algae scrubbers and want to incorporate it in my system. My total water volume is about 300gallons but i dont really have room for a waterfall type scrubber and this Surf scrubber would be perferct. I feed about a pinch of flake food a day along with live black worms and also 1-2 cubes of frozen. My only method at the moment of exporting nutrients is water changes and i am running GFO every other month along with a sulfur denitrator. My nitrates are between 10-15ppm and PO4 is showing up on my hannah at 0.04. Would the Surf2 be enough?

SantaMonica
01-13-2015, 10:07 AM
Welcome.

How much rock do you have, and do they have an algae problem?

tasso
01-13-2015, 10:13 AM
Probably around 200lbs worth...most of my rock does not have a problem but some of it does. Some of it has green slime algae growing on it and one of them has a bit of dense hair algae. Also have green slime algae growing in certain spots on the sandbed. My nitrates used to be 50 but was able to bring that down to around 10-15 by getting rid of my refugium and a few massive water changes. I used to have sand, rock and some chaeto in the refugium and all that did was grow cyano in there and accumulate detritus. Once i cleaned that out completely, 75% of my issues went away including cyano in display but now i just have a bit of this green slime algae left.

SantaMonica
01-13-2015, 10:29 AM
Ok so there is 200 pounds of problem rock, which adds 4 cubes to the feeding.

How many cubes would the black worms fill up?

tasso
01-13-2015, 10:31 AM
Ok so there is 200 pounds of problem rock, which adds 4 cubes to the feeding.

How many cubes would the black worms fill up?

Probably one

SantaMonica
01-13-2015, 12:38 PM
Ok so plan on 5+ cubes a day.

If you leave the GFO and denitrator, one SURF4 would be a good start. If you are going to remove the GFO and denitrator, two SURF4 (or a SURF8) would be good.

Here are some additional tips if you have not seen them:
http://www.santa-monica.cc/Which-one_p_63.html

tasso
01-14-2015, 02:18 PM
Just purchases Surf4, once received i will start a thread and post updates

drthompson
01-19-2015, 10:08 AM
Looks like scrubbers may grow more pods than first suspected. Especially upflows, when you don't take them to the sink for cleaning (in other words, you just reach in a grab algae). This explains why chromis always hang out downstream of the scrubbers, catching stuff coming by.

My SURF4 was going consistent, and apparently had a huge pod population below the growth, consuming the growth almost as fast as it was growing. It had been running over 3 months without going to the sink, and, fish could not get into the scrubber either, so there was nothing to slow the pods. But then growth slowed down when 2 of the 4 air outlets clogged with carbonate. I did not notice for over a week since I don't pay it any attention. Since the pod population was the same, but growth was less, the pods could keep up with the growth and the growth never increased. When I looked, the pods completely covered the bottom of the scrubber, and would jump right on your hand if you touched the bottom. So I cleaned it in the sink and soaked it for 5 minutes, to kill all the pods. Also cleaned out the air outlets with a paper clip.

This could explain why some SURF2 or SURF4 users have growth in SW but it never "takes off"; it just reaches a certain level and stays there. Pods! Solution: pour some FW in after harvesting. Last resort: take to the sink, and soak it.

When the pods grow like this in the scubber, are phosphates still lowered?

SantaMonica
01-19-2015, 10:34 AM
If the pods get eaten by the animals, then all nutrients including phosphate (inorganic phosphorus) are lowered less, because they are not exported out of your system. Your animals get more, fresher food however.

BUT if the animals eat the pods (and maybe the scrubber algae) INSTEAD of you feeding them, then all nutrients including phosphate are lowered much more, because you are not adding nutrients to the system, and the animals are putting the organic phosphorus ("food") into building their bodies.

It's actually possible to design a system that requires no feeding at all, doing this.

SantaMonica
09-26-2015, 04:21 PM
Reef2Reef review of the installation of the SURF4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc8Z5QaGdsg

SantaMonica
11-22-2015, 09:08 PM
"SURF4 is very well put together, and it's almost silent (my overflows are actually louder)". -- Unknown

"There are many types of filters available for aquariums, but none are as natural as algae scrubbers. They can even serve as auto-feeders of fresh algae for the fish. Here is the SURF4 I just started; when the lid is on, it's almost completely silent" -- Mdbannister on the R2R site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasMdbannisterOnR2R-1.jpg

SantaMonica
09-12-2017, 06:01 PM
Here are some SURF comments without pictures:

http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?3287-Customer-comments-and-pics-of-Santa-Monica-Filtration-scrubbers&p=40155&viewfull=1#post40155

SantaMonica
07-26-2018, 02:05 PM
Best video so far on installing the SURF4 on top of a display:


https://youtu.be/JE4fdZcjssE

7496

SantaMonica
03-31-2019, 04:10 PM
Here is a photo of the growth of the SURF4 posted above:

7793

SantaMonica
08-31-2019, 01:37 PM
Arabic instructions for SURF scrubbers®

http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions-Arabic.pdf
http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions-Arabic.doc

(Need English? http://algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions.pdf )

7919

SantaMonica
10-06-2019, 04:19 PM
7933


Comments about all our larger Surf units:


SURF8x

"I have a SURF8x and a Pax N24 on the same tank, and I have to de-tune the Surf because it kills the chaeto in the Pax. The Pax is over 2 feet high, and the Surf is only 4 inches high. And the Surf harvests in about 10 seconds" -- Chuck Lee, Danbury, Connecticut, USA.

"I still have my algae turf scrubber running from inland aquatics on this system and it is still producing algae each week, however, I would guess it to be about half of what the SURF8x produces. Once the green hair algae took hold its been growing extremely well. I run both lights on a 22 on, 2 off cycle. The last two weeks I have harvested a full solo cup of nice green hair algae from both sides of the scrubber total. I thought about adding a waterfall type scrubber, but I really like how easy the surf scrubber is to clean, so I'll get another one" -- Ritchie Jenkins

"My fish love eating the algae from my SURF8x" -- Dror Ben yoav, Israel



SURF8

"Just removed 12 ounces of growth from my three scrubber units [one is a freshwater converted SURF8]. I do it lightly, but more often, so a decent bunch is still in the surf units thus assuring me a constant ongoing process. It’s the stringy [freshwater] stuff and comes out easily with a toothbrush. Btw... the basement pond units are getting the highest amount after the slow start... sure is growing plenty of slime these days. Due to the bioload I'm also using a refugium and denitrifying canisters. Last nitrate reading was about 4.0 or so -- William Garthe, Illinois, USA

"My SURF8 is a beast!" - Sandy Dobak, UK

"So far is working great as advertised; fantastic little scrubbers" -- RissasDad on the AS site.

"It's growing like crazy; every time I lift a lid up, it's packed with growth" -- Lowell
Sharron, Pacific Palasades, California, USA

"The SURF8 is doing more filtering than anything I've had on my tank; I love it!" -- Richard Neal, Santa Clara, California, USA.



SURF4x

"A HIGH PERFORMER! Great build quality and a nutrient uptake. Have a 175 gallon reefer with 20 fish and 40+ coral, so it’s safe to say I have a high bio load. I have been battling GHA with NoPox, manual removal w/ water changes, and a chaeto reactor. NoPox is great but it has limitations, manual removal is necessary with any route you take, and chaeto doesn’t stand a chance against hair algae. The Surf scrubbers grow an impressive amount of hair algae to out compete what is growing in the display tank. I have two (Surf4x & Surf2xx) and clean them at different times of the week so there’s always enough algae to export NO3 and PO4. I turn them off for 4 hours in the middle of night (at different times) so they’re running while the display lights are on to uptake nutrients before the GHA on the rocks gets it. This is the highest performing nutrient uptake method that I have encountered so far and I have tried them all. I run both Surf’s with one Alita AL15A air pump. Definitely worth the investment for high nutrient systems!" -- BigBossReefer on the MD site.

"Product is amazing" -- Joseph Oliver , Riverhead, NY, USA

"I had a 55 gallon predator tank with a big eel and zoas and I had a hair algae outbreak. So I removed the zoas and t4 lights to a quarantine tank, and starved the algae of light while also using the surf4x. It worked great. Within a week I had lots of [scrubber] algae and within two weeks was getting a fistful of algae every week" -- Terry Martin, Belmont, Massachussetes, USA

"Just got my first SURF4X last month looks wery professionaly made. This is a situation of the actual growth after 14 days from new; After the black shade removing and running full high power lights 18h cycle, entire surface and strings as well as the walls were completely covered solid green growth carpet. On the touch the growth is a bit sticky but also clearly shows some thin hair algae growth within its mass. The whole water parameters are very good and stable the feeding was slightly increased and all look very happy" -- Yjeen, Israel, on the scrubber site.

"working amazingly" -- Brandon Bassett

"I use the Santa Monica scrubbers and they work great. a little expensive. I have the SM 4x. I can feed up to 4 cubes of food daily without increasing nutrients" -- m0nkie on the RC site.

"I run the HOG3xx, SURF4x, and a waterfall system. The fish are extremely happy and energetic, took out the skimmer and NoPox since installation of ATS system" -- Lawrence Lai, Hong Kong.

"I personally like the quality of the unit. It does work as advertised for me." -- seregus on the UR site.

"SURF4x appears to be working great and I think PO4 has started behaving. Thanks!" -- D. Issa.

"Still working great after 6 months. I clean it probably every 5 days and pull still a half cup with no bioload on my system but feed heavy. Also my tangs love the stuff. Scrubber floats right above where my return pump intake is. It only takes me a few minutes to clean it. Very easy and a great design. All in all, I have zero hesitation telling someone to buy one even for a little bit of a premium price" -- conrad on the WRS site.



SURF4

"i buy from you surf4 scrubber before a year, its best product, i see its work great, i buy from you another one for my another tank" -- Dani Gerzon, Isreal

"It works, fyi Awesome product" -- ZooTshaj Xiong, Orlando, Florida, USA.

"I get an unbelievable amount of growth and filtering from the SURF4 on my high-end service customer's tank" -- Marc Lampasona, Aquarium Designs by Michael, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA.

"I'm from Singapore, and im a repeat and regular customer of Santa monica, i’ve bought 2 units of Surf 4 & air pumps back in year 2014, and purchased another Surf 4 last year in July" -- Raymond Teo, Singapore.

"I really like the SURF4 scrubber size and ease of cleaning" -- Graham Pither, Cambridge, UK.

"It is working really good" -- JB on Amazon.

"I have found that the SURF4 scrubber works fantastically! Was very easy to set up and your product instructions were very helpful" -- Alex Smirthwaite, UK.

"It works well" -- Andy Gonzalez, Laredo, Texas, USA.

"I've been running my SURF4 for a couple of years with great results"-- Raoul5Duke on the RC site.

"It's working great! [SURF4] -- James Kim.

"I have the SURF4 and Im very happy with it. I want to get a 2nd unit so that I will always have one working when I clean the other. The SURF4 is very quiet" -- Steve Cantor.

"surf4 Thanks! Great product! labasmari on ebay" --

"I do love mine! I have the SURF4 on a 180g. There are many types of filters available for aquariums, but none are as natural as algae scrubbers. They can even serve as auto-feeders of fresh algae for the fish. When the lid is on, it's almost completely silent (my overflows are actually louder)" -- mdbannister on the R2R site.

"The SURF4's are running very well. They started growing healthy green algae on the strings almost immediately. I get good growth every week. I don't use a skimmer, reactor or mechanical filtration, and I don't do water changes. The scrubbers alone have served me fine" -- Sean Whelan, Brentwood Tennessee, USA

"I've been using Santa Monica [SURF4] scrubbers for a few months. I've been reefing fairly successfully for a fair while now. Once these things kicked in, I've been giddy with excitement at how well they work and how easy they make keeping everything happy" -- Servillius on the 3R and R2R sites.

End

SantaMonica
10-22-2019, 05:48 PM
Here is a super packed SURF4 or 4x scrubber® floating in a saltwater sump, and the growth is so thick that you cannot see the Green Grabber® strings or white rocks; you can however see the 4 bubbling outlets, and the red lights of the LED lid that are on the right. Most of the growth is Cladophora species, usually with some Ulva Fasciata mixed in. All edible, and great fish food and fertilizer too.

When UAS® bubble upflow scrubbers grow like this you can reach in and grab the growth without having to turn anything off or take anything apart; however if it's still new, or the growth is not thick, you will need to take it to your sink for cleaning.

As usual, don't expect or try to get the same growth with yours... the goal is not growth, it's filtering. Other types of growth don't look as fun, but still filter just as well (especially black slime, if you brush it out soon enough).

If you have freshwater, even with a sump, you are better off with a model without strings (because strings get stuck in your freshwater cleaning brush) such as the HOG1 or 2 or 2x scrubber® to hang on to the glass, or a DROP.6 or .6x or 1.2 or 1.2x scrubber® to drop to the bottom. Waterfalls are not good at all for freshwater because the long growth flows out the bottom and gets stuck in pumps.


7940

SantaMonica
11-17-2019, 05:31 PM
Our long-running intro vid, which uses a SURF4...

https://youtu.be/on145oBb_kw

SantaMonica
12-26-2020, 02:16 PM
Like instruction manuals? Here's ours for the SURF models..
http://www.algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions.pdf

Also in Arabic...
http://www.algaescrubber.net/SURF-Instructions-Arabic.pdf

8106

SantaMonica
01-10-2021, 12:22 PM
SURF4 next to a RAIN2

8115

SantaMonica
06-17-2021, 05:17 PM
Opening a SURF4 or 4x to see the growth in the box and on the light.

8220

SantaMonica
07-23-2021, 05:15 PM
Update: Since the Fusion 700 air pump is no longer available, the Danner AP-4 is now recommended for most scrubbers, except the SURF4 or 4x which can use a Danner AP-8, and the SURF8 which needs a large single-outlet pump.

Note that all HOG and DROP models have 1 air inlet, therefore the 2 outlets of the Danner AP-4 pump can be combined into 1 with a "T" or "Y" fitting, and this will give you a lot of air which can still be reduced with the control knob. If you don't want to combine the outlets, then the smaller Danner AP-3 pump has only 1 outlet, but it also does not have a control knob.

https://www.dannermfg.com/supreme-oxy-flo-low-volume-air-pumps

SantaMonica
08-17-2021, 12:47 PM
Multiple scrubber styles for different areas of larger sumps. This also lets you decide what style you like better.


8269

SantaMonica
10-29-2021, 10:56 AM
This SURF4 or 4x (cannot tell without counting the number of LEDs) is overgrown and sticking to the light.


8317

SantaMonica
12-14-2021, 03:20 PM
This is why you need waterproof submersible lights for a scrubber in sump water. Yes this is a SURF light, and not a screen.

8359

SantaMonica
01-03-2022, 10:09 PM
This is a rare photo of cyano filling up a scrubber. This SURF4 or 4x has contained a lot of the floating red cyano, without letting it escape out the drain holes on the bottom. This cyano will be removed/cleaned/harvested with the regular cleaning of the scrubber. You don't see this amount of red cyano on a waterfall scrubber screen because it would let go and wash away.

8384

SantaMonica
02-10-2022, 08:51 PM
Packed SURF4 or 4x showing what looks mostly like Cladophora species, and maybe a little Ulva Fasciata. It is growing on the light too, which needs to be scraped off with a plastic card (like a credit card) to get the most illumination into this growth.

8406

SantaMonica
05-24-2022, 07:07 PM
Looking inside a SURF4 to check the bubbling and growth

8455

SantaMonica
12-04-2022, 07:59 PM
This SURF4 or 4x scrubber (tm), or one half of a SURF8 or 8x scrubber, shows worms and tar!
http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?3740-Slime-is-the-best-filter

8495

SantaMonica
02-12-2023, 07:07 PM
This brand new SURF4 scrubber® has its LED lid removed, and is floating in a large saltwater sump. It takes very little space; it stays above the live rock below it, and below the top of the sump, which can be easily closed if needed to reduce evaporation. Also, the water level in the sump can vary greatly, with no effect on the Surf.

8513

SantaMonica
05-29-2023, 07:45 PM
This SURF4 or 4x in a saltwater sump shows clearly the four air bubble pathways that the bubbles make from the bottom of the Surf, through the growth, and up to the light at the top (light is removed for photo). These bubble pathways let light and water pentetrate deep into the growth, thus letting the growth get thicker before dying.

8531

SantaMonica
06-02-2023, 07:43 PM
This is not pink dice. It's the low-power mode (using just one power cable) of a SURF4 scrubber®. When new, the white rocky Green Grabber® growth surfaces and strings reflect too much light for algae to start growing, so low-power mode reduces the light.

8532

SantaMonica
08-06-2023, 03:11 PM
New black epoxy finish:
https://youtu.be/ks9ccPZNu5Y
https://fb.watch/mfQGt2kw22/

SantaMonica
10-24-2023, 06:09 PM
Green Grabber® strings holding onto growth at the bottom of a SURF4 or 4x scrubber® with the water drained out.

8621

SantaMonica
11-02-2023, 06:20 PM
Surf, Surf, Surf!

8627

SantaMonica
06-25-2024, 08:29 AM
Growth box of a SURF4 or 4x with the saltwater drained out. This growth can be pulled out and fed to fish.

8750

SantaMonica
08-23-2024, 11:34 AM
This SURF4 or 4x is fuffy and full of growth. The red arrow is the light, removed and set down in the water.

8789

SantaMonica
09-09-2024, 03:07 PM
This is an older style SURF4 or 4x floating in a saltwater sump (now they have a black epoxy finish)...

8794


https://youtu.be/ks9ccPZNu5Y
https://fb.watch/mfQGt2kw22/

SantaMonica
11-11-2024, 08:14 AM
Here is a ready-to-harvest screen of green hair algae on a RAIN4.

8806

SantaMonica
01-26-2025, 03:52 PM
The first new thing to happen to waterfall scrubbers in 2025... any idea what it is?

8881