+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: 3 weeks

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    3 weeks

    Hey, 6 month old, 29 gallon sps/lps/clam reef. 10 gallon sump. 2 mocha clowns, starry blenny, shrimp goby pair.
    rapidled leds

    Algae scruber 5" wide x 10" pipe to water
    240gph measured flow
    2 x 23w spiral 2700k

    single sided
    18 hours on/ 6 off


    feeding less than one cube a day.

    finally getting green 3d growth after 3 weeks of not cleaning. i cant make the screen any less than 10" tall... how, when do i clean?

    Growth is much lighter green than in photos.


    suggestions, complaints?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version

Name:	3weeks2.jpg‎
Views:	277
Size:	96.1 KB
ID:	1899   Click image for larger version

Name:	3weeks.jpg‎
Views:	250
Size:	93.3 KB
ID:	1898  

  2. #2
    Administrator
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
    Posts
    10,565
    Clean as soon as you start getting those dark areas. And clean everything off the screen.

  3. #3
    kerry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    1,406
    Those horizontal screens take a LOT longer to grow in. I have also noticed and only clean mine (now that the screen is mature) every three weeks. Here is a pic of my horizontal 3D growth. This took over a month to get just OK growth. If I had a better reflector this may not have taken as long. Good luck.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version

Name:	2012-04-01_15-40-04_865fix.jpg‎
Views:	251
Size:	79.4 KB
ID:	1918  
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    sorry if i wasnt specific....

    It is a vertical screen....not.horizontal.

    The dark growth in the picture is actually in person looks like light green how do i clean it....last time i cleaned there was sheets of algae coming of and i had to clean it completely off...it left nothing to seed.

  5. #5
    Administrator
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
    Posts
    10,565
    And during this extra time of darker growth, the roots die. That's why horizontal is not as effective.

  6. #6
    kerry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    1,406
    I wondered about that, it was hard to tell by the pic, the single sided are still a little slow going like the horizontal due to the single side of light. I use the card in the pic above to clean mine. Some times I take plastic bristle brush to it.
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

  7. #7
    kerry's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    1,406
    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    And during this extra time of darker growth, the roots die. That's why horizontal is not as effective.
    Very true, the nutrient reading on the horizontal tank are never as good as the vert double for sure. I have noticed that if I go 3 weeks on the horizontal I get little better nutrient readings but its not much. With two week cleaning on the horizontal I get about 5-10ppm nitrate with three week cleaning its closer to 5ppm. I have not done a scientific report and charted the numbers it was just something I noticed since I have been doing 3 week cleanings for the last 2-3 months.
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts