Hello everyone. New posting here. Just wanted to document the addition of my algae scrubber to my 75 gallon reef tank here and see if there are any tips or suggestions that people have as I go along. I've enjoyed stalking the site so far, hope now I have something to actively share.
Some background... I've had this 75 gallon reef tank up and running now for almost 9 months. Things have gone well for the most part, a stumble here and there, but overall fine. Its a mixed reef, with some softies, LPS, and SPS's. For the last 2 months, I've been battling an outbreak of green hair algae in the display, and its getting worse despite my efforts so far. Tank parameters have stayed the same, no major additions or subtractions. Automated water changes of about 3%/day, automatically dosing 2 part. Everythings on the money as far as test kits go. Here's some shots, sorry for the blue quality, only iPhone photos for now.
Full tank shot
Problem areas
Have been reading about algae scrubbers and the great success many have had, so thought I'd give this a try. My phosphate and nitrates have never been high, but I assume that I'm getting some leaching from the dry rock I used for the base. The green hair must be chewing them up. I built the scrubber feeding off a T on my return pump. Perhaps not ideal, but it was the easiest and least invasive method right now, plus I had the room. As you can see, the scrubber hangs over my center sump section. Its approximately 8 x 11 inches, and lit on each side by a 23W CFL 2700K in a reflector about 3-4 inches away. Flow is adjustable, and right now water cascades down both sides completely running over the mesh. As an aside, I have been using filter socks, a skimmer, a chaeto algae ball, and a combo GFO/carbon reactor since tank start up, and these current remain in place and active.
Sump with algae scrubber
I'll try to continue to post updates as it matures. Please comment and let me know your thoughts on my setup. Hopefully this green algae will finally be on the run, at least in the display tank!
Thanks for reading. Regards.