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Thread: Scrubber not strong enough?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    usa
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    Scrubber not strong enough?

    Hoping to get a little input on my scrubber that's been running about 8 months or so. My DT is 125gal, it houses 10 fish and just a few corals. I feed 5-6 frozen cubes and maybe a half sheet of nori a day. The screen is 15"X12" (well lit area) and is fed by its own pump (mag9.5) in the sump. Until about a month ago I had each side lit by 2 reflected 40W cfls, but due to my concerns I added a third 40W to each side making a total of 240W of light. The screen has always grown a mix of darker green and and brown and gets extremely thick and long by the time it needs cleaning (usually about 10 days). Going by the feeding/sizing guidelines my screen is way too big, but due to the good growth I've left the screen its original size.

    The problem I'm having is a slow build up of the fuzzy grey detrius on rocks and back glass. Anywhere there is high flow and something rough for it to attatch too it builds up, which also encourages patches of cyano to appear (have never had any hair algae appear in the DT, which I love). This build up tells me my scrubber is weak, and the good but darkish growth indicates high nutrients and flow, and a need more light, which is why I added the 2 bulbs. The sand bed stays pretty clean, it seems to be limited to the rough rock and glass, and collects the way a fan grill collects dust after awhile.
    I haven't added any livestock in months, and there have been no changes in feeding in that time.

    Would sizing my screen down and using less light actually make it stronger? I can't imagine the amount of algae that grows on the 15" screen packing on one that's half that size, and filtering as well...Or would it be better to persue the more-light/more-time direction with the screen I have now?

  2. #2
    Administrator
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    Oct 2008
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    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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    Many things I would ask first, but without knowing the answers I think I can say your system is actually doing good.

    What you actually getting on the rocks and walls is periphyton and foraminifera, and they either are the "stuff' you see, or they are collecting the stuff you see, just as occurs in the ocean. So many people have tanks that don't support real ocean life that they think the smooth rocks are natural. They are not. Every millimeter of every rock on the ocean is covered with something alive. That's why rocks are not white.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    usa
    Posts
    21
    thanks for the response

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