Freshwater scrubber

[kerry]

I have three Saltwater scrubbers that are just amazing and do wonders for my tanks. Now I want to put them on my freshwater tanks so I can enjoy the same lavish comforts my SW has. My first victim would be my 150G tank. I am very successful with my SW builds, I have two of the three that are the successful slanted horizontal type which keep my nutrients anywhere between zero to just detectable. One of the slanted ones is going to get a LED upgrade here in about a week.
Anyway thats another thread.
My question is has anyone had any experience with using these ATS on FW. It will be the traditional vert. lighted on both sides type. I would like to be clear of any potential pitfall if I could avoid them. I am sure its pretty straight forward as the SW water is but, if anyone has any advice on problems they have encountered it would be highly appreciated.

[SantaMonica]

FW is the same, except possibly the growth sometimes is long thin hair, which can clog your drain. Other people can tell you about theirs.

[kerry]

I feared that with my 40G SW build so I incorporated a 2" bulk head drain in the scrubber tank and still have a couple left, I ordered extra with future builds in mind. I have an Oceanic 150 trickle filter sump tank (it has bio ball media) that I am not using so that is an option to. I thought I could incorporate it into my 150G FW system and put the screen over the inlet area that could be fed by a CPR CS150 Overflow Box 1600 GPH weir that I could control by ball valve. I can also use a small acrylic 6G tank as I did on my SW build which is similar to the SM100 build but just bigger. I can not think of a real good reason to use the Oceanic 150 trickle filter if I am running a scrubber besides the fact I have it laying around not doing anything. I think the small acrylic tank makes more sense as the bio ball trickle filter would be a bit redundant in my opinion. Please, any ideas, thoughts, or comments are welcome.

[kerry]

[attachment=0:1uegh6kl]2011-09-26_05-44-22_857fix.jpg[/attachment:1uegh6kl][attachment=1:1uegh6kl]2011-09-26_05-44-37_487fix.jpg[/attachment:1uegh6kl][attachment=2:1uegh6kl]2011-09-26_05-44-46_333fix.jpg[/attachment:1uegh6kl]Here are some pics of my FW scrubber. I will be posting the nutrient results as this tank can hit 80PPM nitrate in a weeks time.

[NarkyMark]

Hi Kerry,
I'm sure if your tank can hit 80 in a week you will be growing the green stuff in no time!
Also although it may seem a waste (depends on how you look at it I suppose) Co2 injection helps to green it up too, I only use 20 Bubbles PM, but I use that anyway to lower the PH of my tank slightly!
I found that until the green stuff starts growing greeeeeeen that nutrient reduction is limited, it still reduces just not as much!
Good Luck!!

[kerry]

At this point I have a very, very small growth of light brown. I decided to take some green algae from a SW screen and seed it into a small spot on the FW screen, we will see if this works. So far its all looks like the growth of a new SW screen. Its been up since last Sunday and its making progress so I guess all is good so far. I took a pic of the screen but the slight growth of brown algae cannot be seen. I hope to have enough growth by the weekend to get a good pic.
NarkyMark
I have never used the co2 as I have never really had a planted tank and I also dose my own homemade mixture (baking soda, Epsom salt, and instant ocean) to increase my pH to 7.4 on this tank so co2 would defeat that purpose I think. I have considered co2 as an experiment seeing I always have a couple large cylinders of co2 on hand for my paint-ball hobby but, I have not convinced myself I have a real need or reason for it yet.

[NarkyMark]

....Yeah Co2 will definitely lower the PH, via the production of carbonic acid - which is the result of carbon dioxide dissolving in water....You can also try dosing with chelated iron, that will kick start the motha greeeen But TBH you are probs just best sitting it out and being patient, unlike me

[NarkyMark]

....Also I'm not sure that the same strains of SW Algae can actually grow in FW conditions and Visa-Versa, so I'm unsure that the crossover seeding will have much effect - I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can confirm or deny this though.....

[kerry]

I think you are right on just sticking it out. I figured I would let it take the natural course of direction seeing I am going to be posting the progress every couple days or so.
I was patient on the SW scrubbers and they all came out just fine.
I have however, wondered about people putting iron nails in the filter areas of their tanks to get iron levels up I guess. Has anyone got an good advice on that?

[NarkyMark]

Plants do not readily absorb rust (Ferrous Oxide) unless they are totally desperate, it is the chelated iron that you need - As non-chelated iron (or Free Iron) is toxic to fish!! So AFAIK putting rusty nails anywhere near your biological filter is a no-no if you have any fish or invertebrates!