HOG.5

[duganderson]

I've been running a HOG.5 since Jan on my nano cube 28 with CF lights and 2 RBTA, 3 fish, sofites, LPS, a few sps, macros and a few snails. I have not changed my water for 2.5 months and my water quality is still great (nitrate 0.2 (salifert) and phosphate at 0.018 (Hanna Phosphorous checker). Obviously, I need to dose Alk and Ca.

I don't run a skimmer and have live rock, purigen, and occasional carbon and phospban in a sock for filtration. I'm planning to quit carbon, phosban and purigen and I'm hoping to see similar results.

[SantaMonica]

Nice!

Here another one: Comment from Jim Stime the LA Fish Guy: "The HOG.5 has produced lots of algae growth each week, and the inside of the [customer's] tank is starting to be more coralline algae than green algae."

[SantaMonica]

Nice HOG.5 video in FW:
http://youtu.be/y59C7mjR-e0

[SantaMonica]

Purchase here:
http://www.santa-monica.cc/HOG5-Hang...SION_p_21.html


Comment from Masgatigata on the R2R site: "I added my [HOG.5] scrubber almost 2 months ago. Since then I've noticed less and less nuisance algae in my display. I ordered a second one about two weeks ago bc I tend to feed heavy. I've been very happy with my purchase!"

Comment from Brendan Farrell: "3 months after installing it my tank is spotless. I fought that algae bloom for 2 years and nothing worked but you guys saved my tank. Thanks for the great product!!!"

Comment from "Adam_T" on the CFT site: "The HOG.5 worked as intended. It grew a thick turf of hair algae inside of the casing...which prevented algae from exploring the rest of my tank."

Comment from "mtbeeson" on the scrubber site: "I love my HOG.5 UAS. My tank looks so amazing. I was going to make a bigger UAS but things looks so good in my tank I am afraid to change anything".

Comment from Jim Stime the LA Fish Guy: "The HOG.5 has produced lots of algae growth each week, and the inside of the [customer's] tank is starting to be more coralline algae than green algae."

Comment from "duganderson" on the scrubber site: "I've been running a HOG.5 since [8 months ago] on my nano cube 28 with CF lights and 2 RBTA, 3 fish, softies, LPS, a few sps, macros and a few snails. I have not changed my water for 2.5 months and my water quality is still great (nitrate 0.2 (salifert) and phosphate 0.018 (Hanna Phosphorous checker). Obviously, I need to dose Alk and Ca. I don't run a skimmer, and I have live rock, purigen, and occasional carbon and phospban in a sock for filtration. I'm planning to quit carbon, phosban and purigen and I'm hoping to see similar results."

Comment from "blade1buster" on ebay: "Thank you for sending me the [HOG.5]... your product is great"

Comment from "Michael T": "The scrubber [HOG.5] is working great. It's amazing how it attracts all of that algae. It really was a great investment. I recommended it to all of my reefing buddies"

Comment from "BigAl07" on the Reef Sanctuary forum: "I've been running an Algae Scrubber on my work tank for months now. After using one I don't plan to run another tank long-term without one. I've reefed for several years and I admit I was more than just a little skeptical about this whole ATS thing. Well not any more. I installed the Santa Monica UAS (HOG.5) on my work tank and the tank has never looked better. I was close to giving up on this tank and tearing it down (It's been up and running here in my office 5+ years now) because I could not get the GHA under control. Because it's in my office it gets the least care/love of all my tanks I've ever owned. It's just a pain to come back to the office after hours to clean/maintain it. I now have zero GHA in this tank and only a small patch of receding Bryopsis in this tank and it's crystal clear. This all came about with NO changes other than the UAS. I didn't treat the tank or increase my water change regimen or anything. By growing the algae in an optimal environment (UAS) and then harvesting the growth I'm removing whatever the algae is feeding on in the main tank and exporting the growth from the system. I've noticed a slow-down in the GHA inside the UAS and I can only assume it's because the tank is more stable now and found it's equilibrium with the UAS installed."

Comment from Dennis B: "Letting you know that I really think the [HOG.5] scrubber you have is outstanding - really controls my phosphates - the #1 cause of uncontrolled algae growth and something that has really been an issue for me - until I added your unit. Also, helps with my nitrates, too! I have continued to suggest these units to fellow fish keepers - you really have a great unit due to its small size, little upkeep and great performance. Thanks again for creating this clever and so useful device! I really feel this is the best filter that anyone has produced in twenty years for tank upkeep."

Comment from "Clavius" in the Netherlands: "I've been running a 500 liter tank now for 5 years. It is very well stocked with SPS, LPS, softies, filter feeders and a modest amount of fish. The nutrients were being kept very low by a combination of a giant skimmer and the ZEOvit method. Off course, this results in very lightly coloured corals, which was my goal. Generally I'm very pleased with the colouring and growth of my corals, and please with my tank in general. But one battle I've always lost: brown algae covering my sandbed. I could not, for the life of me, find what was causing those algae. Not to mention solve it. I've tried many many things to solve it, but up untill recently, without luck.

Almost three weeks ago though, I installed a HOG.5 unit. It was a little experiment that I wanted to do ever since I learned about algae scrubbers. I was never creative enough to build one myself, as the space in my 100 ltr sump is very limited. The HOG.5 was affordable and tiny enough to enable my experiment. I could even fit 6 of those units in there with ease. Off course, with the ZEO-method, my nutrients already were really very low. I couldn't measure any NO3 or PO4 with my Salifert test kits. And I never bothered with more expensive kits; unmeasurable should be good enough. I wanted to see if the vitamins and amino acids that the algae scrubber produces would add anything to my reef. And, more importantly, if the algae would consume "something" that the brown algae on my sandbed require.

The result in my sandbed is staggering. After only 3 weeks, not a trace of the pesky brown algae is left! An extra benefit, that I didn't expect, is that my lightly coloured corals now all have noticably much more colour. Without getting darker. They seem to glow! I don't know if it is from the vitamins that are released in the water [from the algae scrubber]. Or maybe the ugly brown algae [on the sand] were also covering my corals and that I now finally seeing my uncovered corals! Strangely enough, the algae in my HOG.5 aren't light green, as you would expect with nutrient-poor tanks. But they're a mix of dark brown with red tints here and there. So, I have no idea why that is or how that works. But at this stage I'm just so happy that I really don't care."

[SantaMonica]

"The [HOG.5] is working well" -- JT Powell

"Boom... 7 days growth from my HOG.5" -- rdevoe11 on the R2R site, pic:

Attachment 5698

[SantaMonica]

Updated HOG.5 listing (finally after 3 years).

[SantaMonica]

Michael Langerman loves guppies, and hand-made a nice little aquarium for them and put our HOG.5 on it to filter the water. The HOG.5 consumes ammonia and nitrate so you don't have to change the water, and it feeds the guppies too, so you don't have to buy food anymore. That's how algae works!...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z9OR8pTcHs

Any of our HOG scrubbers without strings are good for freshwater guppy tanks; this includes:

HOG.5
HOG1
HOG1x
HOG1.3
HOG2

They can go on saltwater too, however our other HOG's with strings are for saltwater only.

Available at: http://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=21

Other HOG.5 videos:

HOG.5 - seven days growth after its its first cleaning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0K4UCp9_aA
HOG.5 - cleaning at nine days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0K4UCp9_aA

[SantaMonica]

Another one for freshwater: This HOG.5 in a guppy tank makes food that is fed back to the guppies. Filtering and feeding all in one...




Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STzPzSJL454

[SantaMonica]

This customer's HOG.5 show a rare pattern of growth only in the middle. The growth is Ulva Fasciata and is common in saltwater; it looks just like Easter basket grass and is probably the favorite food of tangs.

This scrubber would be too small to do enough filtering for a typical tank with tangs, but if the only purpose is to feed the tangs, then it would supply a good bit of food a few times a week, by opening the case and letting the tangs pull the growth off.

This customer also made larger holes in the case, but this is not required unless you want the growth to flow out and feed the fish automatically. Matter of fact, the fish will learn to pull the growth out of the holes themselves, and will thus auto-trim the growth, so that no cleaning or harvesting is ever needed by you.

This same auto-feeding process happens in freshwater, although the growth is the thinner Cladophora (angel hair) or Spirogyra growth which goldfish, guppies, and of course herbivores love.

[SantaMonica]

Update: Since the Fusion 700 air pump is no longer available, the Danner AP-4 is now recommended for most scrubbers, except the SURF4 or 4x which can use a Danner AP-8, and the SURF8 which needs a large single-outlet pump.

Note that all HOG and DROP models have 1 air inlet, therefore the 2 outlets of the Danner AP-4 pump can be combined into 1 with a "T" or "Y" fitting, and this will give you a lot of air which can still be reduced with the control knob. If you don't want to combine the outlets, then the smaller Danner AP-3 pump has only 1 outlet, but it also does not have a control knob.

https://www.dannermfg.com/supreme-ox...lume-air-pumps