Santa Monica100 Algae scrubber!!

Discussion in 'Algae' started by Thatgrimguy, Aug 17, 2011.

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  1. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    I decided to plumb the system on top of my tank so I would get the full benefit of all the baby pods that breed in the system each week. This is causing a ton of bubbles to enter the tank, but they really don't make it past the far right rock tower. Actually... It's kind of cool looking lol... For now I'm going to leave it as is, I kind of like the lit bubble show lol.

    You can see the unit sitting on the top right of the tank
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    And here you can see where my plumbing isn't all the way out of the water.. I will redo it later... this was a quick install.
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    I know it must be coincidence.. But I already feel like there are a little less diatoms on my rocks and my sand bed!!

    I'll get a pick of the screen tomorrow night to check the status of algae growth in the scrubber. If it has started to grow there it would make sense that the small amount of diatoms I had are starting to vanish.
     
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  3. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    Quick update... This thing is crazy... There is clearly less diatoms on the sand bed and none to speak of on the rocks!! I can see lots of coralline in it's place (i'm guessing it was just covered up by the diatoms before) To be fair, I didn't have a lot of algae anyhow, It was covering the sand bed but not too bad on the rocks.

    The screen has a nice bit of diatom growth. I really hadn't expected any results till the screen had at least 2 full weeks of growth and development.

    Nitrate had crept up to just shy of 20 the day of installation of the scrubber. Now is closer to 15. I'm really shocked over all this. I didn't expect any real results till after at least the first cleaning. I have a new tank with low overall nutrient levels, so I'm sure that's part of it. Either way, I'm a very happy customer!
     
  4. SkyFire

    SkyFire Clown Trigger

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  5. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    Had my 2nd cleaning of the screen yesterday. It's easier to clean than my skimmer cup so far!! Smells less too! A lot of black tar type algae because my N and P are still relatively high! No water changes, no GFO and no carbon since I installed it. Just skimmer, live rock/sand and the scrubber.

    My Nitrate dropped from over 20 to under 10!! Nearly all problem algae has vanished and coralline is talking off! My Phospate is now .14, not sure what it was when I started. I also hooked up my auto water change last night so data from this point will be skewed because of that. Still great results in two weeks time!!

    2nd sunday since install this was my crop for the week! (cleaned it last sunday)
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  6. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    I should mention, I thought I had posted an update to post #42, but the algae decrease didn't last long and the bed was back covered with diatoms shortly after posting. I think it was coincidence that it ever cleared at all.

    At this point though, there is clearly less diatoms and really no algae to speak of. It still need at least 2 more cleanings of the screen if not more to really get working. But I'm still very happy with the addition.
     
  7. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    As of the week 3 cleaning, I am down to around 4 nitrate on my redsea low level test kit! Phosphate is now .09ppm on my hanna tester. I did also introduce a daily water change though. Either way... everything in the tank is doing well except for a beautiful elegance I got that died for no apparent reason... my other elegance is still going strong.

    I didn't take pictures this week. But it was a bunch of crud, no hair algae yet. My n and p were still too high. The screen looks much better seasoned though. I'll take pictures this weekend when I clean it for the 4th time.
     
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  9. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    Cool, glad to hear it's working so well for you. Thanks for posting all these updates :)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  10. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    Absolutely! Glad to. I do find myself wondering if anyone reads it or cares, lol.
     
  11. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    I post a lot, but lurk even more :) definitely have been trying to follow. I think it's a safe bet a lot of other are reading as well.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  12. Thatgrimguy

    Thatgrimguy Flying Squid

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    This past Sunday's harvest. (Week 4)


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    It's gross... Weird consistency. Nitrates are about the same as last week and Phosphate down to .07 ppm. Algae is about the same. My sps are finally starting to color up! And the coralline growth is really taking off as well!
     
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