Hello, I just found this site and concept today while surfing other forums. I have a 90 gallon tank populated by a cumberland slider (close relative of the more common red eared slider). I've had a few battles with algae developing on my white sand substrate which detracts from its esthetics. I am interested in setting up a scrubber, but I have a few questions:
1) Since a scrubber does pretty much what a canister filter does, are scrubbers effective enough (if done properly) to completely replace a canister filter?
2) If not, do you scrubbing veterans know if a scrubber can be established that will combat algae growth, but not dictate all of the nutrients to completely disrupt/eliminate the beneficial bacteria one would find within a canister filter?
3) ALthough not completely related to scrubbers, my other option to combat algae is to install a refugium-type setup for aquatic plants + my canister filter. It seems that scrubbers might require less maintenance, but does anyone have any planted aquariums and scrubber experience to compare the two in regards to cost and time of maintenance?
Thanks!!