New scrubber for my system, last hope

[vinchud]

Mr Monica,
I have purchased a newjet pump that is capable of 2300lph as i was not getting a full curtain of water falling from my scrubber.
I am starting to get concerned about this bacterial bloom that is happening right now
Have you had or ever come across a scrubber that has caused a bloom.

My concern is i have burnt the algae on the medium.
Its going to be one of two things.
1st. I raised my mg in the past to combat a algae problem i had, it ran up to 1500. I decided to let it drift down to 1400 therefore i stopped my doser. When my mg got to 1380 i decided to switch it back on and start dosing. All was good for a few days then the milky look to my tank appeared.
I then remembered that my mg had been sitting in a flask for some time so i looked at my spreadsheet and i had it sitting there for eight weeks.
So it could be the anerobic bacteria in my mg that started it off.
Or it could be the algae scrubber as both was put on my tank around the same time.
These are the only things that have changed.

[SantaMonica]

It's just the nutrients coming out of the rock, after you killed the rock. You should never dry out rock or spray it or put bleach on it. Now you have to wait for all the dead animals inside it to rot away. Also don't move the rock in your tank, or you will kill the periphyton and cause more delays.

Anyway, the bloom is not hurting anything; actually it's absorbing nutrients, so leave it alone. Just get your scrubber growing, and don't change anything else for 3 months.

[vinchud]

cool, thanks for the reply

[vinchud]

Hello Mr Monica
I know it has not been ten days but i thought i would give you an update,
The bacterial bloom has cleared and the tank is looking better than it has ever looked.
The scrubber has algae on it some green which the camera wont pick up but only a few bits of green, I dont seem to be getting a linear growth over the scrubber which suggest to me the pump is not strong enough, i get better growth only on some parts of the screen.

Should i clean the screen?
Can i change the pump for a newjet 2700 varable pump as ive only got a nj1200 at present?
How do i clean the screen as i have been doing it with a credit card. Should i just swill under tap water?
My params are all still great, have noticed a couple of little bits of hair algea but just tiny

[SantaMonica]

Your slot is probably un-even, cause erratic flow, and also the pump is low flow too.

That screen is huge for the amount of rock you have, although I understand that you want to capture all the light from those reflectors.

Since it is all built and running, just run it the way it is and let's see how it goes.

Don't clean for another 7 days. Then post a pic.

[vinchud]

see you in seven days
Thank you again........

[vinchud]

Eziiiiii Mr Monica
So its been six days lol, I needed to do some work on the scrubber. The water flow slowed to nothing so out with it, i didnt clean the screen but took the chance to take a few pics.
I have green growth which looks like bubble algae and i found some bubble algae in the DT.
Ive changed the pump and increased the flow considerably. so much it went all over the kitchen.

What shall i do know
Thanks

[SantaMonica]

Nothing will happen in your display until your scrubber has been growing thick for many weeks.

What side of the screen does the water come in?

[vinchud]

the nearest side on the picture so if you look at the first picture the pump would be closest to you.
I have a realy good curtain of water right now and some spitting so now i need to do some sort of perspex box over the top of it.
Am i right in thinking when the algae scrubber is growing thick that the more flow the more phos removal.
Also when can i remove my skimmer. 3 months plus
Thanks

[SantaMonica]

No, more flow does not remove more phosphate. More growth is what removes more phosphate.

You can remove your skimmer any time, since it does not remove any nitrate or phosphate at all. But you might as well wait until your nutrients start coming down.