turf scrubber protein skimmer combo

I plan on getting a HOB reef octopus skimmer for my tank. From what I've read you need a lot of bubbles and a lot of light. OS I was wondering could I put a screen in the skimmer and a light behind it?


Another completely unrelated idea.... If you were to hook a large enough turf scrubber to a swimming pool and of course remove decaying leaves, could you theoretically do away with harsh chemicals that fight algae growth in the first place?

 

I have a reef octopus in my sump and we also made a turf scrubber. It's in the experiment phase right now. I don't have much livestock in the tank yet because it's a new setup. I'm still waiting for algae to grow on the turf scrubber. It's been about 4 days now. I'm going to give it some time because we didn't have much algae in the tank to start with.

We have 3 astrea snails, 2 turbo snails, 2 red leg hermits, 1 emerald crab, 1 coral banded shrimp, a ricordia mushroom frag, and a kryptonite candy cane coral frag.

I like the idea of a giant swimming pool scrubber. Sounds like it would work, but there might still be some algae in the swimming pool still. Sounds like a healthy alternative to chemicals. You could find a way to harness sun light for it and save more money. Bet you could make massive amounts of money if you could pull off an invention like that (and not take up too much yard space). People would still have to take time to clean the scrubber though (power washer would do it).

 

I meant is it possible to put the screen inside the skimmer. With a swimming pool skimmer you could go more vertical with it. But I don't know exactly what size you would need as most swimming pools are several thousand gallons.

 

i keep hearing about the algea scrubbers, ik they work or else ppl wouldnt use them but if you have a fug do you need one or would you create to much competition for the nutrients. i plan in building a sump with a fug and skimmer would it be wise to build a turf scrubber?

 

From my understanding they work sort of similarly. Fuges are good for cultivating copepods and other small food sources and use a macro algea to take out nutrients. It can also house animals you don't want in the main tank. Scrubbers are a more "high tech" aggressive form of nutrient removal.

 

i will stick to a skimmer and fug for now i can always add on a ATS down the road if i feel its is needed

 

I'm a little confused. You want to run a algae scrubber in your skimmer?? That's not a good idea, they get nasty enough, quick enough on their own. I wouldn't want algae growing in it, IMO. I like the concept of a pool ATS, but its not that realistic, especially outdoors. Too much water, too many nasties to control and keep out of the tank. I'd do something more along this idea;

http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/joining-ats-crowd-diy-style-update-plumbing-pics-123023.html

 

Yep, the theory is controlled growth. You provide an ideal situation for algae to grow somewhere beside your DT. And that algae uses up the nutrients so it won't grow in the DT

 

so what you saying is algae growing in the fug is all natural and should be scrubbed out every now and then even if its cyano or something?

 

No, you can't.