Blue Water 2000 Algae scrubber.

Nice job. That's about how long it took my tank to 0 out. Are you running any other filtration? I only run an ATS for filtration, nothing else. I probably should begin running some carbon though ...

Do you dose anything?

 

I still run my protein skimmer. I put in alk(kent marine buffer), mag(usually epsom) , calcium choloride, iron manganese occasionally. I have a carbon reactor that is running. I may set up the phos reactor too since I have a little algae left in display.. we will see if it goes away on it's own. I have a can of Rowaphos and purigen that I may sell or just use it up. My algae on the scrubber appears to be turf.. it's brownish red and pretty tough.
There is some cyano growing in my carbon reactor. All the stray light from my scrubber is going to have to be shrowded somehow. Coralline growing down there in the skimmer too.

 

zero?
wow right behind you ,still a couple of months behind lol nice to hear i had a scare with ammonia but its ok api expired
we will see ....

 

Update

My acrylic if falling apart. I used some epoxy and that fell off really fast. Then I superglued it but that's not very good either. Finally got some weld-on. Used the #4. For anyone that is going to make one of these save yourself a headache and get some weld-on for glue. I've been reading a lot about working with acrylic lately for another project .. I may even rebuild the whole box.

Nitrates are still 0, Phosphates show 0 on the API card but we all know that doesn't mean much. I ordered a Hanna Instruments Phosphate photometer to get a more accurate read on what my phosphates are. I started to run GFO again for the meantime because I have a very small patch of GHA.

One positive I've noted is the glass doesn't get dirty nearly as often...

I've been good about weekly cleanings or more often sometimes. I'm now switching to a system where I clean half of each side completely off once a week. The algae that was growing seem like a piece of cardboard when it comes off. A red brown hard piece of cardboard about 1/8 inch thick. Not sure if it is suppose to be like that so I'm gonna clean that completely off vs. where I was lightly scraping the top off.

 

I went to a LFS (not local to me i drove about 3 hours lol) called inland aqautics in indiana, they use almost all ATF they even sell ATF set ups, they had several set ups running atf only and they said the systems have been up for months, or longer, I couldnt/cant tell you the water values but a lot of healthy fish and corals were to be seen in every tank. They had some protien skimmers running on some of the set ups but id say less than 20%, they swore by em, Once I graduate from the bio-cube im going to look into this for my own setup.

 

Yeah, I'm a believer but it's not for everyone. They absolutely have to be cleaned and maintained properly.

I just got a Hanna instruments PO4 photometer and reading is .02. I have been running rowaphos for the last couple weeks but most credit goes to the Algae.

 

A few notes:

Bulbs must be in the 3-7K range.. the more watts the better.
Flow must be enough to fall off the bottom in a solid sheet of water.
Must be cleaned every week no matter what.
CFL lights need to be changed about every 3 mo. PC 6 mo., T5 1 year.
Screen needs to be very rough surface for algae to grab hold.
1st week cleaning completely clean all algae off.
Clean all black brown oily growth that will come during break in..There will be more for high nutrient tanks.
You may need to clean it sooner than a week if you have high nutrients. Always clean any oil slick off. Once the water is in good shape you won't see this...at least I haven't.
Clean with fresh water to kill pods.
Screen should be about 1 square inch for every gallon. 12X12 =144. 144 gallon tank.. Mine is smaller and I try to compensate with more powerful bulbs. (I have 180gal tank)
I use 40W CFL 150W equivalent. Most people will be fine with the 23-26W bulbs.(I plan on switching to T5 so it's cheaper and don't have to replace them as often)
Lighting cycle 18 on 6 off .. or I run mine 12 on 12 off.. just don't run 24/7.. the algae will die that way.
I like clean crisp water.. so I still run my skimmer. The algae scrubber will not pick up bigger particles so if you want a crisp clean look you will still need to run a skimmer. The downside to that is the skimmer skims out coral food. But that's fine with me.

 

Av8Bluewater, I'm still a newbie at the saltwater/reef game (tank up only since June). One of the things I read about whle studying reefs several years ago was the ATS and it's always intrigued me. My sump came with bioballs, a sponge filter, and a large area for a skimmer/ return pump. I've yet to buy a skimmer and am getting ready to pull the bioballs and sponge. I am wanting to try an ATS in this area and make a small refugium in the large return area. While contemplating a design for the ATS, an idea struck me to use a colander. With it's round shape it would "soak up" light really well on the concave side and pretty well from the convex side as well. If it was turned on a slight angle, the falling water would touch a large surface area without using a large space. Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hmm .. I'm not sure about that I would ask Santa Monica.. He's the guru for these things. He owns algaescrubber.net
Here's a thread with some of the best ideas and the most info:
Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, and Everything Else
You may want to read the whole thing as there is a wealth of information on that thread.