Micro-Small Algae Remover System for Nano's: Free!

[johnmaloney]

I stand corrected. I just knew there'd be at least one...and I was familiar with this particular one!

 

Any info on the life support? I know there's a deep sand bed...do they run skimmers as well? Activated carbon? Water change regimen?

 

 

yeah dsb and the entire aquarium is basically a seagrass refugium. It is also a far more complicated setup, far more complicated. big racks that are done horizontally and all that, mulitple racks etc...

[johnmaloney]

yeah, it is on a ton of sites, he doesnt answer questions though or discuss it. a shame, if it is something that can be done well but needs improvement opening up for discussion would help, but no you dont get that from him. he just ends up saying "everyone is bashing me", but there is a difference between personal attacks and criticism...

 

I think the thing about this easy to use, free and "mega powerful" scrubber is that:

 

vs. refugium:

it isnt as powerful as claimed

doesnt provide as much surface area for benthic critters

costs more than refugia

takes a lot of work and maintenance and potentially dangerous

 

vs. skimmer

 

i have no idea how the two can be compared - different purposes, unless my ideas on skimmers are way off

[Mr. Fosi]

vs. skimmer

 

i have no idea how the two can be compared - different purposes, unless my ideas on skimmers are way off

 

Comparing macroalgae or microalgae against skimmers is an apples/oranges type thing.

 

The issue here is that Mr. Monica claims that skimmers are actually bad for tanks because they remove "food" for the organisms. He is right that they remove things (lots of particulates and some dissolved stuff) but claiming that this is bad for a tank is pretty stupid given the evidence IMO.

[johnmaloney]

plus food is cheap and you can target feed for best efficiency. the idea of allowing liquefied food to float around willy nilly seems to be an inefficient way to feed.

 

ok so me and you are on the same page when it comes to skimmers, I was always confused by this part when I read this.

[Whacked]

 

great. along with the added work to maintain a nano lets have a built in way to ensure flooding.

Nothing tells the wife "I LOVE YOU" more than gallons of saltwater over the new hardwood floors

[lajz9]

I love coming on at night and seeing what's new in this thread.

[seabass]

My 3,000^th post

[Lalani]

lol, 'grats seabass!

 

noob.

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

Not true, he got shot down on every site when he began posting. He simply pulled a C777 and kept on yapping until he drowned out all criticism

 

ok you got me....i didnt really read that deeply into his posts....

 

it was more of a SM?? here too?? WTF.....then i got over it and was looking at pictures of cats or something....

[Deleted User 6]

pictures of cats or something....

 

 

or something....

[SantaMonica]

Updates/Reminders:

 

Nano scrubbers: In my last update, I said a coffee can would make a good nano scrubber. I meant a plastic coffee can.

 

Wattage: Your goal should be to get at least 0.5 watts of CFL (compact flourescent light) for each gallon of water, for medium filtering. For high filtering, get 1.0 watts per gallon. And don't use incadescent bulbs... they are much too hot and use too much power. The biggest CFL bulbs you should use should be 45W. If you need more, use extra bulbs, not a bigger bulb.

 

Be sure not to run bulbs 24 hours.

 

Be careful of overflowing skimmers; there is a lot of ammonia in that skimmate. A scrubber will help eat that ammonia if it overflows.

 

If you have cyano on your screen, you need more flow and/or more light.

 

If you smell any kind of "algae" smell while the scrubber is running, you need more flow.

 

If your tank has gotten rid of the nuisance algae, but cyano seems to be increasing, this is normal. Cyano does not eat nitrate and phosphate like algae does, so after your scrubber has starved the nuisance algae, the cyano has more room to grow. But if you keep your scrubber running strong and proper, the cyano will fade too.

 

If you have rubbery green algae, it means the flow is getting cut off and the algae is baking.

 

The best current spectrum for the bulb is 3000K (550 nm). This is yellowish-greenish, and it fits right in the middle of the red and the blue peaks of photosynthesis:

 

 

 

 

Pipe: Slots deliver much more water than drilled holes. Keep this in mind when figuring out how much flow you need.

 

Sump growth: Some people have open bulbs which light up the sump, and they are growing algae there. You don't want this to happen, so you need to use reflectors, or even foil, to block the light.

 

Coralline: Since phosphate will slow down coralline growth, you will start seeing more coralline as your phosphate drops in your water.

 

Advanced DIY trick: For those who can build such a thing, if you could build a top-off device which would shut off the flow to the screen, and then run your FW top-off water on it, then switch back to the regular flow, you would be able to extend the time between cleanings because the pods would be kept in control.

 

Dead fish: Scrubbers handle dead fish wonderfully; since ammonia is algae's favorite food, when a fish dies the algae will consume as much of the ammonia as it can, which could save your tank if the fish dies overnight. A skimmer, however, does not remove ammonia at all.

 

What equipment comes first: With regard to scrubbers, here are a few points to consider when planning which device should come before which other device (if you use them):

 

Skimmer: It should come before the scrubber and after the display, so that it does not remove the pods that come from the scrubber (if you need pods).

 

UV: Also should come before the scrubber and after the display, for same reason.

 

Mechanical filters/socks: Same as UV and skimmer. These trap food and pods (which rot and add Nitrate and Phosphate to the water), and thus should be the first thing you should stop using unless you change/clean them daily (but then you are removing the food for the corals.)

 

PO4/N03 removers: Really doesn't matter because N and P are the same throughout the system.

 

Fuge LR/LS/Macro: Doesn't matter, as far as nutrient removal is concerned.

 

Bio Balls (!): Should be removed slowly, unless you have massive amounts of fish, and little rock/sand.

 

Screens: I will be selling ready-to-use screens soon. But until then, it's best to use two layers of extremely-rough plastic canvas, using a hole-saw (and about an hour) to rough up all four sides of the two sheets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

To demonstrate how rough the screen should be, here is a video of a towel dropped on a rough screen:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CanvasTowellDrop1.mpg

 

...compared to a smooth screen:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CanvasTowellDrop2.mpg

[supernip]

lolz at wavelength and cyano parts. lolz at the entire post actually. lolz lolz lolz

[Mr. Fosi]

My fav parts:

 

If your tank has gotten rid of the nuisance algae, but cyano seems to be increasing, this is normal. Cyano does not eat nitrate and phosphate like algae does, so after your scrubber has starved the nuisance algae, the cyano has more room to grow.

 

So cyanobacteria isn't a nuisance algae?

 

... ammonia is algae's favorite food...

 

Mr. Monica is a barrel of laughs!

 

I love this assertion that dissolved nutrients are "food" and that algae "eats" them. I can just imagine the algae prowling around looking for nutrients to devour.

[jourdy]

Yeah, his facts may be off, but this idea works absolutely well.

 

I don't have an ATS because I don't have the space, but given the chance, I would try incorporating it with my skimmer if I can. Lots of people from my country use ATS without skimmer, and the tanks are beautiful.

 

Life here in the Philippines is not as abundant as it is in the USA, so people use ATS as a cheap replacement. I would say maybe half of the tanks I've seen from fellow reefers use ATS and the corals are thriving like crazy. I've never seen SPS with such PE and Yumas 5" big here before, especially since most of the equipment available are prehistoric compared to USA standards.

 

I've been to 2 exporters here (exports to Singapore, USA, etc) and was relatively surprised to see ATS as the main filtration in the holding tanks (about 50,000 gallons of water or more) and was even more surprised when I tested the water and the nitrates in some tanks are 0 while it is very minimal in some others. These are tanks that are used to hold thousands of fish before being exported.

[wombat]

Yeah, his facts may be off, but this idea works absolutely well.

 

I don't have an ATS because I don't have the space, but given the chance, I would try incorporating it with my skimmer if I can. Lots of people from my country use ATS without skimmer, and the tanks are beautiful.

 

Life here in the Philippines is not as abundant as it is in the USA, so people use ATS as a cheap replacement. I would say maybe half of the tanks I've seen from fellow reefers use ATS and the corals are thriving like crazy. I've never seen SPS with such PE and Yumas 5" big here before, especially since most of the equipment available are prehistoric compared to USA standards.

 

I've been to 2 exporters here (exports to Singapore, USA, etc) and was relatively surprised to see ATS as the main filtration in the holding tanks (about 50,000 gallons of water or more) and was even more surprised when I tested the water and the nitrates in some tanks are 0 while it is very minimal in some others. These are tanks that are used to hold thousands of fish before being exported.

 

Let's see photos of these tanks. SantaMonica says his tank looks fantastic too....the photos demonstrate otherwise IMHO.

 

I've been to many wholesalers to see how they filter their water and it's not something I'd try to emulate at home. Their end goal is to keep fish alive for a few days until they can bag them up and ship them out, not provide great water conditions that keep fish thriving for decades.

[lajz9]

aaaaaand......it's back!

 

I'd like to put in an order for 10,000 screens please.

[Rocket]

Ok I get it but why continue to sell this idea? You have expressed your opinion and come up with evidence to support it. But why continue to push the subject as the only way to keep a reef tank. Want to sell products on NR.com Become a reputable sponsor. Otherwise stop posting.

 

Mods is nothing you can do?

[Phyto4life]

Yeah, his facts may be off, but this idea works absolutely well.

 

I don't have an ATS because I don't have the space, but given the chance, I would try incorporating it with my skimmer if I can. Lots of people from my country use ATS without skimmer, and the tanks are beautiful.

 

Life here in the Philippines is not as abundant as it is in the USA, so people use ATS as a cheap replacement. I would say maybe half of the tanks I've seen from fellow reefers use ATS and the corals are thriving like crazy. I've never seen SPS with such PE and Yumas 5" big here before, especially since most of the equipment available are prehistoric compared to USA standards.

 

I've been to 2 exporters here (exports to Singapore, USA, etc) and was relatively surprised to see ATS as the main filtration in the holding tanks (about 50,000 gallons of water or more) and was even more surprised when I tested the water and the nitrates in some tanks are 0 while it is very minimal in some others. These are tanks that are used to hold thousands of fish before being exported.

 

 

I know there is such overwhelming evidence that a ATS work's it's a wonder why people try so hard to silence it?

[Mr. Fosi]

Not sure who's trying to silence him...

 

His blatant misrepresentation of others' work doesn't inspire confidence vis a vis the claims he has made. He also refuses to provide photographic evidence demonstrating the superiority of his cyano gardening system.

 

His claims are being ridiculed, but that's what you get when you play deaf just because you aren't smart enough to answer tough questions.

[Jacobnano]

I think this should be moved to the lounge.

 

Wouldn't want some newbie seeing this and spending a ton of money, just to have his/her house burn down. I think the idea that he is selling things (lots, not the occasional frag or extra used equipment) should be reason enough to close/move the thread.

[Phyto4life]

post 164 show's a safe scrubber in action

 

Also post 220 seems safe the only thing I would add is a second bulkhead as a drain

 

for anyone that runs systems with no refuge or no skimmer and small fishload I think it would be a easy transtion that would allow you to have more fish and feed more heavily

 

But yes I can see how things can go wrong just like how my first tank's skimmer ended up overflowing and almost draining my entire tank on the floor

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

I know there is such overwhelming evidence that a ATS work's it's a wonder why people try so hard to silence it?

you know em dont you? j/k

 

 

lets start with the title....micro-small algae remover system for nano's: free

-its not free, and can cost more and is more complicated than a fuge to set up....

-algae remover? this is blatant cultivation of algae.

-most shown are NOT small

 

he fails from the jump....if he presented this as an alternative system/style and was more resptive to input/critizism he probably would have been recieved better.....

 

oh and the fire harzard thing kinda kills it too

 

nanoreef members can be kinda harsh at times, but when legit Q&A takes place and he is critiqued on this method and the info, he just blocks folks....he just puts garbage info up.....alot of claims he makes dont make any sense.....

 

i believe/know that a scrubber can work, to an extent like any other method, but to claim its some sort of holy grail is an insult and can mislead some who are not ready to accept responsiblity/concequences of such a system.

 

there also has not been a mention of the possible salt-creep monster one could make

 

--jourdy, no life in the PI??!!?? are you trapped in the volcano or have no legs? http://www.poppe-images.com/images/search_...category=divers

 

i lived in the PI.....the beach cant be that far away.....

[Whacked]

I love this assertion that dissolved nutrients are "food" and that algae "eats" them. I can just imagine the algae prowling around looking for nutrients to devour.

 

Think I saw that in a horror flick

[jourdy]

--jourdy, no life in the PI??!!?? are you trapped in the volcano or have no legs? http://www.poppe-images.com/images/search_...category=divers

 

i lived in the PI.....the beach cant be that far away.....

 

I was talking about people's lives. It is too expensive for many people to have a good SW setup, and considering most of the good equipment are imported stuff from the US, only a limited amount of people can afford it because of the really poor Peso to Dollar exchange rate.

 

The Philippines is the center of marine biodiversity in the whole world. I know that.

 

And some of the exporters who hold these animals keep them in ATS powered tanks before shipping. [most of them to the US]

 

Let's see photos of these tanks. SantaMonica says his tank looks fantastic too....the photos demonstrate otherwise IMHO.

 

I've been to many wholesalers to see how they filter their water and it's not something I'd try to emulate at home. Their end goal is to keep fish alive for a few days until they can bag them up and ship them out, not provide great water conditions that keep fish thriving for decades.

 

Sorry, I don't go picture taking in stores/wholesalers. I will try taking a picture the next time I go there

[SantaMonica]

An updated Algae Scrubber FAQ is up:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewto...hp?f=9&t=68