Bad Algae / New Scrubber

[Soinreef]

I have a 120G (4x2x2) reef tank that has been set up since March, 2009. It has a sump underneath it with about 35 gals of water in it, heaters, skimmer, etc. Over the course of the last year, I have been fighting algae constantly. I have tried multiple approaches to controlling it (GFO, carbon, CUC, chemicals, etc), but few have helped and none have eliminated it. With my tank having GHA so bad, my last "treatment" was to use Algaefix Marine. This killed all of the GHA, but at the same time, apparently released all of the nitrate/phosphate locked up in the algae into the tank which resulted in a black turf-looking algae (which may be dinoflagellates) and cyano. My tank is overrun to the point that my corals are starting to fade and, in some cases, die. My phosphate and nitrate tests always come up 0, but I assume it is because there is no freely available nutrients because of the amount of algae and cyano in the tank.

With that background and after reading multiple accounts of turf scrubbers and their success, I decided to set one up and see how things go. I figured it couldn't hurt because I am about at the point of a total tear down and restart on the tank anyway. I set up the scrubber on 12/20/2010 based mainly on instructions from Santa Monica. It is a 10.5in X 11.5in piece of hobby netting set in 3/4" PVC with a 400gph pump pushing water to it. It is lit by two 6500K CFL spot lights, one on each side. This is how it looked at startup.
[attachment=2:3eo7vp31]ATS1 Resize.JPG[/attachment:3eo7vp31]
[attachment=1:3eo7vp31]ATS2 Resize.JPG[/attachment:3eo7vp31]
It has now been 2 weeks and 5 days since startup. The screen almost immediately started growing a brown slime. Then, at about 1.5 weeks, some green started to show and has been increasing. Also, I noticed a few changes in the tank, not all of them may be good. The black algae has started to change color a little to a yellow-green and it has begun to get some streamer-like growths to it. Maybe starting to fight for nutrients? Also, the stuff that may be dino and the cyano have significantly increased in spread. Most of the tank, including the corals, are covered in algae or cyano at this point. I am in the process of replacing my T5 tubes because they are at about 9 months age. Maybe they are reacting to increased PAR levels? This is what the scrubber looks like at this point. I have not cleaned it since startup as I wanted to get a good growth going on it first.
[attachment=0:3eo7vp31]ATS1 20110108 Resize.JPG[/attachment:3eo7vp31]
My other parameters appear to be OK.
Calcium - 410
Alkalinity - 9 dKh
Magnesium - 1480
pH - 8.4

I feed about a cube of frozen food along with some flake to the fish daily. I change about 10 gals of water every 2-3 weeks. I am trying to be patient with this as I know nothing good happens fast in a reef tank, but it is very trying to look at the tank every day and wonder what to do next.
Thanks

[SantaMonica]

My phosphate and nitrate tests always come up 0, but I assume it is because there is no freely available nutrients because of the amount of algae and cyano in the tank.

Correct. The algae and cyano eat all the nutrients.


6500K CFL spot lights

Need to know the wattage. Also, if you are going to use reflectors, you should not use spotlights; use curly-Q spirals instead.


The black algae [in display] has started to change color a little to a yellow-green

It is losing nutrients to the scrubber.


it has begun to get some streamer-like growths to it.

It is letting go or dying.


Also, the stuff that may be dino and the cyano have significantly increased in spread

Is temporary. The nuisance algae started letting go, giving the cyano more room. Cyano is the last to go.


Most of the tank, including the corals, are covered in algae or cyano at this point.

You have a lot of stored phosphate. Is going to take 6 months to fix it with your current scrubber since your current build is not very strong.


I have not cleaned it since startup as I wanted to get a good growth going on it first.

Always clean it. Also, it looks yellow... typical of burn spots from spotlights. Are you turning it off each day?


I feed about a cube of frozen food along with some flake to the fish daily.

Not much at all for a 120g. Still, the problem is how much phosphate is stored in the rock and nuisance algae. Your current scrubber will fix it eventually, but as fast as the scrubber eats the phosphate, the rocks and nuisance algae will be putting it back into the water for several months.

Easiest improvement: Switch to curly-Q spiral bulbs, 2700 or 3000k. Get bigger reflectors... the kind that look like big salad bowls. And increase the wattage to 33 or 42 watt bulbs (on each side). This will really speed things up. Since you are not feeding nori (which has lots of iron), get some Kent's Iron+Manganese (or similar) and dose weekly to help the green grow. Is the screen really really roughed up? It does not look like it in the pics; the holes should almost be closed:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/ScreenHoleSaw.jpg

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CanvasCompare.jpg




The next level of improvement requires re-building: Increase the width as much as possible. Use two 33 watts curly-Q spiral bulbs on each side, each with a big reflector, pointed at different parts of the screen. This will cut the time in half that it takes the tank to fix itself.

Either way, you will get a clean tank with pink corelline, it just a matter of how long you want to wait.

[Soinreef]

Always clean it. Also, it looks yellow... typical of burn spots from spotlights. Are you turning it off each day?

The lights are on for a cycle of 18 on, 6 off each day. The bulbs say they are 65W equivalent and use 16W each.

Is the screen really really roughed up? It does not look like it in the pics; the holes should almost be closed:
I sanded the screen with a sanding block before use. It roughed it up but not like the picture you show above.

The next level of improvement requires re-building: Increase the width as much as possible. Use two 33 watts curly-Q spiral bulbs on each side, each with a big reflector, pointed at different parts of the screen. This will cut the time in half that it takes the tank to fix itself.
I will see what I can do. To make the scrubber larger will require some modifications to my sump. It currently has three chambers, one with a DSB. I can combine two chambers and remove the DSB to make more room. Large reflectors may be a problem due to space, but I will see what I can squeeze in.
Thanks much for the feedback.

[Vannpytt]

They can't be equivalent. They need to be real watts. you would need about 10 of your current lights to get the 1w/g for high filtration.

[Soinreef]

I missed that somewhere. Is that the goal for an ATS? 1 watt per gallon?

[SantaMonica]

16 watts is too small. With high bioload, or phosphate problems, you want 1.0 watts per gal. So you need 120 total watts.

If you are limited to reflector size, then just use one bulb on each size, and get a 42 (real) watt curly-Q spiral bulb for each side. Put it 6 inches from the screen. Clean off the screen, and rough it up with a hole saw. Sand paper does not work well. This will be the best you can do without rebuilding.

[sklywag]

I sense a good witness when this guy gets it figured out and it solves his problems.

Soinreef. It's going to take some time to leach all the phosphates out of your rock. Depending on amount of rock and condition it's currently in and from who you got it. Like out of an old reef tank break down or what not. Or fresh off the boat out of the ocean somewhere.

[Soinreef]

I sense a good witness when this guy gets it figured out and it solves his problems.

Soinreef. It's going to take some time to leach all the phosphates out of your rock. Depending on amount of rock and condition it's currently in and from who you got it. Like out of an old reef tank break down or what not. Or fresh off the boat out of the ocean somewhere.

Thanks sklywag. My rock is about 100 lbs of Tatoka fresh off the boat. Actually picked it up from a wholesaler on his way back from the airport to pick it up. Maybe I should have done something different from a quarantine standpoint before I used it, but it was going in a new tank build so I thought I would be OK. It did come with hitchhikers like crabs, sponges, tubeworms, etc. I guess the stored phosphates were another "gift". I am confident that the ATS will solve my problems and I am trying to make the improvements that Santa Monica recommends above. It sure is hard being patient, looking at your tank every day and it looks like crap, and not reacting to it.