Question on what type of algae for ats

[fatzech]

I am running a DIY ats. Currently it has dark brown/somewhat greenish color on the screen. Is this the type of algae I want to cultivate? Should I be getting GHA on it instead or maybe go to the local fish store and ask for some GHA from their stock?

Sorry if this question is answered somewhere else on here but I could not find the answer.

What type of algae should we be growing that's best for an ATS?

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

You can't really plant the kind you want; it will grow based on conditions. Sounds like your screen might be big compared to the amount of nutrients in the water.

[fatzech]

My screen is 9 wide by 13 long. I know not all the screen is getting the right amount of light. Maybe 117 square inches of double-sided screen is too much for my 50 gallon tank?

I have 3 yellow tail damsels, 1 Mai Tai clown, a 6 line wrasse and a purple Dottyback. Some soft coral frags, one spa frag and 50 pounds of live rock and live sand.

[fatzech]

Oh and a few snails, 2 hermits, 2 peppeminti shrimp and a tuxedo urchin.

[SantaMonica]

Yes it's probably too big.


Scrubbers are sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons or liters you have. So...

An example VERTICAL upflow or waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real florescent watts (not equivalent watts) of light, or half that for LEDs, for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts (6 watts LED) are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If the watts are divided on each side of the screen, it is a 2-sided screen. This should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen), or
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen), or
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen), or
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen), or
10 square inches (60 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen), or
5 square inches (30 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen), or
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen), or
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

Problem rocks: Each 50 pounds (2.2 kg) of nuisance algae covered rocks you have adds 1 cube a day.

Flow or air bubbles is always 24 hours; water flow is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

FLOATING SURFACE SCRUBBERS WITH STRINGS: Screen size is the size of the box (Length X Width), and is 2-sided because the strings grow in 3D.

Clean algae:

Every 7 to 14 days, or
When it's black, or
When it fills up, or
When algae lets go, or
When nutrients start to rise