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Thread: SURF4

  1. #11

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    Probably around 200lbs worth...most of my rock does not have a problem but some of it does. Some of it has green slime algae growing on it and one of them has a bit of dense hair algae. Also have green slime algae growing in certain spots on the sandbed. My nitrates used to be 50 but was able to bring that down to around 10-15 by getting rid of my refugium and a few massive water changes. I used to have sand, rock and some chaeto in the refugium and all that did was grow cyano in there and accumulate detritus. Once i cleaned that out completely, 75% of my issues went away including cyano in display but now i just have a bit of this green slime algae left.

  2. #12
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    Ok so there is 200 pounds of problem rock, which adds 4 cubes to the feeding.

    How many cubes would the black worms fill up?

  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    Ok so there is 200 pounds of problem rock, which adds 4 cubes to the feeding.

    How many cubes would the black worms fill up?
    Probably one

  4. #14
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    Ok so plan on 5+ cubes a day.

    If you leave the GFO and denitrator, one SURF4 would be a good start. If you are going to remove the GFO and denitrator, two SURF4 (or a SURF8) would be good.

    Here are some additional tips if you have not seen them:
    http://www.santa-monica.cc/Which-one_p_63.html

  5. #15

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    Just purchases Surf4, once received i will start a thread and post updates

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    Looks like scrubbers may grow more pods than first suspected. Especially upflows, when you don't take them to the sink for cleaning (in other words, you just reach in a grab algae). This explains why chromis always hang out downstream of the scrubbers, catching stuff coming by.

    My SURF4 was going consistent, and apparently had a huge pod population below the growth, consuming the growth almost as fast as it was growing. It had been running over 3 months without going to the sink, and, fish could not get into the scrubber either, so there was nothing to slow the pods. But then growth slowed down when 2 of the 4 air outlets clogged with carbonate. I did not notice for over a week since I don't pay it any attention. Since the pod population was the same, but growth was less, the pods could keep up with the growth and the growth never increased. When I looked, the pods completely covered the bottom of the scrubber, and would jump right on your hand if you touched the bottom. So I cleaned it in the sink and soaked it for 5 minutes, to kill all the pods. Also cleaned out the air outlets with a paper clip.

    This could explain why some SURF2 or SURF4 users have growth in SW but it never "takes off"; it just reaches a certain level and stays there. Pods! Solution: pour some FW in after harvesting. Last resort: take to the sink, and soak it.
    When the pods grow like this in the scubber, are phosphates still lowered?

  7. #17
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    If the pods get eaten by the animals, then all nutrients including phosphate (inorganic phosphorus) are lowered less, because they are not exported out of your system. Your animals get more, fresher food however.

    BUT if the animals eat the pods (and maybe the scrubber algae) INSTEAD of you feeding them, then all nutrients including phosphate are lowered much more, because you are not adding nutrients to the system, and the animals are putting the organic phosphorus ("food") into building their bodies.

    It's actually possible to design a system that requires no feeding at all, doing this.

  8. #18
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    Reef2Reef review of the installation of the SURF4:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc8Z5QaGdsg

  9. #19
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    "SURF4 is very well put together, and it's almost silent (my overflows are actually louder)". -- Unknown

    "There are many types of filters available for aquariums, but none are as natural as algae scrubbers. They can even serve as auto-feeders of fresh algae for the fish. Here is the SURF4 I just started; when the lid is on, it's almost completely silent" -- Mdbannister on the R2R site:

  10. #20
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    Here are some SURF comments without pictures:

    http://algaescrubber.net/forums/show...ll=1#post40155

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