DIY in tank waterfall scrubber

[isenhart]

I didn't feel like typing it all out so I made a video.

[SantaMonica]

Nice and easy filter cleaning coming up for you

[isenhart]

Up and running.

[SantaMonica]

Love back walls that are covered.

[isenhart]

The color comes out better on the camera in white light.

[isenhart]

I converted my tank to salt about 3 weeks ago. I have 3 ~2" chromis in a 20 gallon tank. I could use a little help with an algae diagnosis. There is some green algae growing, but its covered in a yellow and/or white crust. It seems an awful lot like lime scale you might find inside an old shower head. Any thoughts?

[SantaMonica]

Looks pretty good.

[isenhart]

I'm at a loss. My scrubber was working really well in fresh water. The only thing I've change is adding salt, and different fish. A month ago, other than having a lot of white in color, the algae was growing and spreading. Now with the same setup it is shrinking and dying. I thought maybe there were no nitrates and phosphates to feed the algae, but my nitrates are really high. (I don't test for phosphates, the what shade of blue guessing game isn't accurate anyway.) I did a 50% water change, and 24 hours later the nitrates were high again. I tried reducing the led lighting, both the intensity and the duration with no effect. I then thought maybe there wasn't enough oxygen getting to the screen, so I added another piece of knitting canvas folded in half to break up the water flow. I even added my old upflow algae scrubber that has no life in it after a week.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
(About a 10 days ago I added the chaetomorpha to try and help my tank. It hasn't really grown any either.)



I have a couple spots of this brown algae growing on my rocks if that helps the diagnosis any.

[SantaMonica]

Looks like basic high-nutrient dark growth. Brush the screen, do 22 hours of light. Strong bulbs would help.

[isenhart]

After 2 months my waterfall scrubber isn't working. Brown algae is all over the main display tank and the green algae on the screen all but disappeared. It was working really well when set up in fresh water. I'm not sure why salt water doesn't work with the same conditions. Running the led's at 100% power seemed to work the best, so I'm going with more power!



I removed the entire integrated filter and made it a little taller and wider. I then put into a 40 gallon breeder tank. I scratched up the old tank quiet a bit building the background in the tank. Lesson learned there, and petco had the $1 per gallon sale. $40 for a bigger tank, or $120 for new glass on the old smaller tank... The old tank will make a good sump some day.

Instead of placing the leds in the tank and trying to water proof them, I placed them outside the tank. I had a scrap piece of 7" channel aluminum I cut the sides off to use as a heat sink. I now have 10 3 watt red leds on two circuits I can dim or turn on/off separately.



Redesign day 1.