Aquatop media reactor as chaeto scrubber? Thoughts

[Ohmegg]

My long battle with hair algae that nothing eats has spurred on a project idea. Thinking about getting this Aquatop media reactor for my 10 g nano reef, not putting any media in it except chaeto, wrapping the outside with red led strip lights, then covering the whole think in black out cloth or ductape. Any problems with this unit that anyone has experience with?

[mcarroll]

On 2/2/2024 at 12:23 PM, Ohmegg said:

My long battle with hair algae[....]

 

Has it gotten worse or better since that 2022 thread?  (Assuming the same tank.)

 

On 2/2/2024 at 12:23 PM, Ohmegg said:

that nothing eats

Gotta remove by hand – and be persistent about it.  Can elaborate, but better in another thread...

 

On 2/2/2024 at 12:23 PM, Ohmegg said:

has spurred on a project idea. Thinking about getting this Aquatop media reactor for my 10 g nano reef, not putting any media in it except chaeto, wrapping the outside with red led strip lights, then covering the whole think in black out cloth or ductape. Any problems with this unit that anyone has experience with?

There are some pre-built kits out there just like that – the idea is definitely solid so far as it goes.  By which I mean, as far as your system having a problem with high nutrient levels.  👍. (Does it?)

 

You have to ask whether that specific reactor you linked actually fits your needs though....the price is right to be sure, but I'm not sure I'd use it external to the tank due to the risk of leaks...maybe OK in-sump.  Not sure "in sump" works for your setup tho.  There are other ways to do a reactor.  You could even do an in-tank ATS (algae scrubber) where your red LED's go on the outside of the tank and grow algae on a screen that is anchored inside the tank.  A light shield for the inside and outside are usually part of the construction – upcycled black plastic microwave food containers or takeout containers are commonly used.

 

One more thing – relying on a nutrient limitation strategy to eliminate an existing algae problem in the display is probably not a great gambit.  If the reactor works and you run it "full tilt" to get nutrients down, any corals in the display will be likely to suffer long before the algae – mature algae can be very hardy.  Further, there is at least some risk of provoking a Dino bloom with levels ultra low levels.  You have a bit more room to experiment if you have no corals, but I would still only take nutrient levels so low.

 

Whether you use a reactor like this or any other additive approaches, physical removal of almost all of the algae is still of primary importance.  Certainly remove everything you can get to by hand and you can decide what to do about inaccessible areas on a case by case basis.

 

If your tank does have high nutrient levels, one thing that lowering them ought to do is to slow new algae growth.  This will give your CUC (which includes you as the #1) a bonus in productivity vs the algae.  It should take less time for you and them to get the tank cleaned vs leaving nutrient levels high.  👍

[Ohmegg]

Thank you. But this is the kicker...there IS NO Nutrients! My nitrates were at 0! The phos was low. I don't feed the tank. I just do small water changes once a week. CUC doesn't touch the stuff. I have a feeling this isn't even hair algae as hydrogen peroxide doesn't kill it or even lyse the cells under the microscope. I think I have some sort of giant photosynthetic  bacteria. 

[mcarroll]

3 hours ago, Ohmegg said:

there IS NO Nutrients! My nitrates were at 0! The phos was low. I don't feed the tank. I just do small water changes once a week.

How much algae growth is there now (do you wanna post a pic)?

 

Do you have corals too?

 

If there's any significant level of green algae presence, then under the circumstances you described there it would have NO PROBLEM keeping nutrient levels ultra low.  

 

Other critters (eg corals, coralline algae, etc) are likely to have trouble under those conditions.

 

3 hours ago, Ohmegg said:

CUC doesn't touch the stuff.

CUC (snails, hermits) can only go for "fresh algae sprouts" since they don't have teeth or any serious way to chop into tough, mature algae.  Their "superpower" is NOT in cleaning up mature algae that was allowed to grow – it's preventing algae by working 24/7 cruising the tank.   Their obvious limit is their speed, which is why it takes a lot more than one CUC to do the job.

 

Speaking of that, YOU are the #1 member of the cleanup crew and are generally going to be responsible for removal of all algae that has been able to grow out past the "sprout" stage – if the algae is clearly visible then chances are it's going to be yours to remove.

 

There are some unusual CUC like urchins that work differently and could make an impact on the algae, but they do so by removing the surface layer of your rock.

 

Sounds OK, but if you have rock that's LOADED with algae, you'll have almost totally bare rock again (like Day 0) when the urchin is done – leaving the tank open for another round of algae spores to settle and bloom.  You need your rock to mature so it's less hospitable to algae, and urchins applied like this would set you back from this goal.  If you still wanted to use an urchin, I'd still say to manually remove ALL the algae you can by hand and ONLY apply the urchin to clean up the places you can't physically get to by hand.

 

3 hours ago, Ohmegg said:

I have a feeling this isn't even hair algae as hydrogen peroxide doesn't kill it or even lyse the cells under the microscope. I think I have some sort of giant photosynthetic  bacteria. 

It's not your imagination that this can be TOUGH stuff – but it's almost certainly green hair algae.  🤷‍♂️ It's just ancient and VERY VERY well adapted for survival....and even that might be understatement.

 

It's also true that most of the "common knowledge" about hair algae is sketchy....such as treating an outbreak with peroxide and/or various low nutrient strategies.  (Both have their uses, but won't solve an existing outbreak.)

 

Something about green hair algae that I think is interesting, that doesn't get talked about a whole lot, is that it appreciates the SAME general conditions as coral....this is why coral and algae compete for the same spaces in the wild.  The single factor that lets corals dominate over algae in the wild is manual removal of the algae – there are MANY more numbers and variety of CUC in the wild.  You and your CUC have to leverage that in your tank.  👍 

 

Once the algae is gone, corals should thrive just like the algae has.  (You'll want to undo any "anti-algae strategies you might have employed and "go back to normal" though.)

[Ohmegg]

Thanks for all the great recommendations! My corals are doing great, just getting choked out from hair algae and manual removal is damaging as trying to pull it out sometimes dislodges the glue under a LPS frag or bumps the skin/skeleton of an LPS. I've thought about an urchin but they are way too big for a 10 g and would likely cause damage by wearing a LPS frag as a "hat". I travel for work so my system is set up to run without maintenance for about 2 weeks at a time max (covered top with an air bubbler running in for gas exchange and reducing evap to almost nothing). Sounds like I just need to get out the hemostat (roach clip) and go at it every two weeks. 🤦‍♂️ 

[mcarroll]

5 hours ago, Ohmegg said:

I travel for work so my system is set up to run without maintenance for about 2 weeks at a time max (covered top with an air bubbler running in for gas exchange and reducing evap to almost nothing). Sounds like I just need to get out the hemostat (roach clip) and go at it every two weeks.

I'll be honest it's going to be hard making headway every other week while the algae are growing gangbusters 24/7.  Since it's such a small tank maybe you can really put in some elbow grease while you're around and knock it out all in one shot.  👍

 

It will pay in spades if you can make sure your CUC is ALWAYS up to date.  If you can (it's not automatic) the CUC will be what preserves any clean/open spaces you create with your work.

 

Cleaning the corals can probably be done with peroxide spot treatments, but cleaning a single coral isn't going to mean a lot if they have to go back into a tank that's still teeming with algae spores...bare skeleton is a favored landing zone.  

 

Gonna have to work this from both angles....tank cleaning AND coral cleaning.

 

Running a UV filter would also help, BTW....another tool that does NOTHING against the existing algae crop, but it WILL kill up to 100% of the algae spores in the system, which makes your CUC's job easier AND means your corals and other areas you clean should stay cleaner longer.