well its done!

[new2scrub]

i built a turf scrubber! its 6.75" wide and 13.25" top to bottom =89.5 square inches for my 45 gallon reef tank. i sure hope it works! this will be my third type of filtration method that i try on my reef. the scrubber is a vertical waterfall type lit by a 43 watt cfl flood lamp. any tips that will help make me stick with a ATS would be great,,as i am tired of switching methods

[SantaMonica]

What happened before...

[new2scrub]

berlin method problems : 1 skimmer loud and made very wet skim-mate
2 micro bubbles from skimmer hard to arrest
3 water seems to clean ie no pods/worms come out at night(no gobbys or sand sifters)

ecyosystem MM method problems: 1 sump becomes breeding ground for cyano
2 if you so much as look at the mud the wrong way becomes a dust storm
3 hard to maintain macro under tanks stand

water change only method problems : 1 money, money,money!
2 water is heavy and spills on floor when your in a hurry
p.s. this method did give me incredible results my corals looked great for the few months i tried changing about 2.5 gallons EVERY day

[SantaMonica]

Don't forget that waterchanges remove coral food from the water, so growth is less. And it adds metals, which build up and help cause old-tank syndrome.

[new2scrub]

i see. your train of thought is way off track compared to most reefers i have talked to ,,but your methods on how to keep a reef make more sense to me than a lot of the traditional methods. do you have any pictures of your scrubbed tank?

[SantaMonica]

In here, although I need to update them:

viewforum.php?f=7 (http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=7)

[new2scrub]

nice looking tanks! i have been having a problem with my mushroom corals over the past year they have been dying one by one and they are in all different places in the aquarium.and other corals are fine. i have also had my water checked several times to confirm my readings,everything is A-1 on the tests! most of the LFS tell me to add trace elements and or iodine witch i dont realy have any confidence in. do you think that my skimmer(gone now) took to much of the "elements" or particulate food out of the water? have you seen anything like this reversed by switching to a ATS system? any stories?

[SantaMonica]

Mushrooms need dissolved organics (food) in the water, which skimmers "sort of" remove. Scrubbers add dissolved organics, so this is not a problem. However, if the tank is scrubbed very strongly, like mine is, I still have seen mushrooms that have trouble growing. Not dying, but just not expanding fully, and not multiplying. So I'm guessing that mushrooms need a combination of dissolved organics and a higher level of nitrate and/or phosphate.

[new2scrub]

i see......do you dose anything besides CA & ALK? like iron or iodine?

[new2scrub]

just wanted to tell ya that my screen has the slightest green tint showing up on it! seeing how my scrubber is built into my sump i am sure i will get a ton of growth in the sump itself,should i get a clean up crew for the sump when this happens?

[SantaMonica]

I dose lime water (ca and alk) on auto top-off. And manually dose mag, iron, strontium.

[new2scrub]

got a new bulb today ,,but the only 40 watt spiral screw-in bulb i could find is a "cool white" with a color temp of around3000- 3700k will it still be ok?? it looks blue compared to my old 23 watt bulb witch is 2700k

[SantaMonica]

Ok for now, get a 2700 or 3000 next time.

[new2scrub]

ok will do,, thanks! getting some green coverage but it looks like slime right now.

[new2scrub]

by the way,,, i have no means to measure the flow rate with any accuracy. my screen measures about 7x13 and my 40 watt coolwhite bulb is 3" away at its closest point,,is there a rule of thumb for flow? i turned the flow just past where the screen is getting totaly wet........

[SantaMonica]

Get as much flow as you can without splashing.

3" is too close for 40 watts. Try 5.

[new2scrub]

ok 5"

[new2scrub]

you will be happy to know i got the right bulb 42 watt 2700k cfl,got it at target of all places lol

[new2scrub]

I think it's day 10,and I am getting some nice green coverage on my screen!! My water is clear and free of ammonia and nitrites. I have seen a few amphipods in the sump but no copopods yet. Hey santa,,what does the presence of the green hair algae tell you about my water? Note: there is a touch of red and green/brown slime algae/cyano on the botton 2" of screen as well.

[SantaMonica]

Green mean nutrients in the water are not too high

[new2scrub]

cool. when should i start seeing copopods?

[SantaMonica]

Already.

They are tiny white specs.