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Thread: Algae Scrubber Keeps Crashing My Tank

  1. #1

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    Algae Scrubber Keeps Crashing My Tank

    The last two times I've cleaned my algae scrubber, it crashes my tank. I always have to perform an immediate water change afterwards. I've lost an Achilles, three Bartlett anthias, and a sharknose goby already. I don't get it. It's growing algae like crazy. When I remove it, a small amount of the water thats absorbed into the algae gets squeezed out but I wouldn't think that's enough to cause this much damage. I always remove it to clean it but the contamination happens before I replace the screen. It's definitely happening when I take it offline and remove the screen. I modified a large aquafuge in order to build a waterfall scrubber so that water from my sump gets pumped up to the top of the aquafuge and falls down the screen and empties out the bottom back into my sump. But because it's under my tank in the cabinet, I had to make it tall enough so that the bottom of the scrubber is above the top of my sump so it empties back into the sump. As a result the top of scrubber is only an inch and a half from the ceiling of my stand. When I pull the screen out I have to bend it over the top of the scrubber and it tends to squeeze a bit against the acrylic of the aquafuge and ends up straining a bit of the water that's in the algae back into the sump. Just water though, no algae and barely any water at all. That's why I'm so surprised at how quickly it affects the breathing and overall health of my fish. Within 5 minutes they start swimming into rocks and each other and their coloration looks horrible. Definitely looks like ammonia spiking to me. I just can't understand why its happening and how it's happening so quickly. I do have a large bioload but my parameters have been WAY better since adding the algae scrubber and they should be more reliable than this. It's a mature scrubber too so it's nice thick green hair algae that's growing.

    Can somebody help?

  2. #2
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    My ATS on my 60G is similar to how you describe yours.. mine is stuffed in my sump and actually touches the inside/top of the stand. I have to fold the screen to take it out to clean. It is the only filtration on this tank and I have never had any problems like you describe (and I have much more delicate fish than some of the ones you lost), which leads me to think something else is going on that is causing your problems. It may have something to do with the ATS in some way (materials used?) but I can't see how simply cleaning the algae off the screen would cause the issues you describe.

    Questions: Is it a reef tank or fish only? Do you use any other types of filtration? Sounds like at a minimum, a bag of carbon during the day you clean the screen would help out if it is something chemical related getting released. If it is ammonia (which is highly unlikely, but possible) then a simple ammonia test a few times during the day of cleaning and the following day should tell you if it is indeed ammonia related.


  3. #3
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    I can't say I've ever heard of that before. Then again, I am very careful not to squeeze the algae water out of the screen and into the tank, and always have been.

    I would not think it is ammonia, as this would not get stored and squeezed out of the algae.

    Can you post some pictures of your build? There may be a way to modify things so you don't have this problem.

  4. #4

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    When do I clean the algae off the screen and shake entirely within the display to release some copepods and algae to fish, never had any problem with that

    So I think the problem is on the other side

    regards

  5. #5
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    Without seeing pics or knowing more, I'd say the screen went too long and/or grew too dark and the roots were rotting with ammonia.

  6. #6

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    My guess : You are very low on oxygen in the tank to begin with, and when you remove the scrubber,
    you stop all flow of O2 into the tank. (both from scrubber, and possibly skimmer)
    Plus, various oils from your hands and dead algae may cause a surface boundary layer.

    Suggest : Put a power head in the tank, pointed toward surface a bit, and make sure top is totally open,
    so there are a LOT of ripples on the tank. Then clean ATS.

  7. #7
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    But that would cause the fish to go to the surface to breath.

  8. #8
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    Yeah I don't think you can drastically lower the O2 content by just removing the screen. I know people who have had power outages lasting hours and done nothing and everything was fine.

  9. #9
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    I lasted a two days without power by moving the water with my hand every few hours, at least it was summer.

    If sm is right that would make sence, when you clean the screen the roots are too weak to do anything, so they die and you start from scratch.

    I put my hand in the tank all the time, the other day with hot sauce in my hand (greenbay game), and that doesnt crash my tank. I dont think that would do it.

    U got pics of the scrubber?

  10. #10

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    May not be a solution but might help to only clean half the screen per cleaning. That way you always have a growth of algie on the screen.

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