SantaMonica

Did you rough up the screen so it feels like a cactus?

Here are several updates: Milburnr on the SC site had this great pic of his flow: Quick review of why scrubbers work: 1. The light is very near the screen, and is not blocked by anything. 2. The flow is very rapid, which transports more nutrients to and from the algae. 3. The flow (on a vertical waterfall) is very thin, which breaks up boundary layer, and which lets the most light through. 4. 7-day cleanings keeps the bottom layers of algae from being shaded and dying. 5. Using FW to clean, kills the pods that normally destroy the algae. Seeding a new screen is no longer recommended, because (1) you get good growth in a week anyway, and (2) the seeding just washes off and adds nutrients to the water. Barbianj on the RS site made a great high-power CFL setup: Long vacations: Some people want to use a scrubber, but are gone two or three weeks at a time. Here are the options: The easiest is to do nothing. In this case, after three weeks, the underlying layers of algae will have died. When you return, the water may be cloudy and colored, and the nitrate and phosphate may be increased, but after a screen cleaning and some carbon, it will be back to normal in a few days. This option is ok if you leave only once or twice a year. Nothing should be harmed, however. The next option is to remove the screen. For very long trips, and for cases where you have lots of LR and DSB, this might be best. Of course your tank may develop nuisance algae during the trip because of lack of filtering, and you'll have to start the screen from scratch when you return. RonRon on the RP site built one with just a tupperware box: Here's another option to attach your screen: Curtain rings...

Ok Thex, easy fix. First, replace the screen with plastic canvas... your screen is way way too smooth, and that material will not get rough enough. Second, move the bulb to within 10cm of the middle (not top) of the screen. Third, clean every 7 days no matter what. You are actually causing more problems by not cleaning... the pods are eating the algae, and going back into the water and dying. 7 day washing in FW fixes this.

If both of you could post pics of your screens, lights, flow, that would help.

Update: Screens that are too small This is an example of why a too-small screen can cause problems. The algae gets thick too quick, and the bottom layers die and go back into the water, causing cloudiness and lack of filtering. If you must use a too-small screen, clean it every 3 days instead of 7. Click here if you can't see pic below

Well?

Did you rough up the screen?....

No, need better pics. Remove the skimmer and take pics with the scrubber lights on, and off. And try to show the flow.

pics

One sided or two? Tank size? Did you rough up the screen like a cactus on both sides? Bulb type? Move the bulb to 4"

Tarraza on the AS site: "THANK YOU SM. without this site my tank was a mess. Now I can enjoy this hobby for ever. 8 months now and i forget what NITRATE, PHOSPHATE IS ALL ABOUT, AHH!!, WATER CHANGE? NOT FOR ME ANY MORE!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU GUYS!!!!" Firestarter on the SG site: "I was rather hesitant to change to an algae scrubber at first and doubted it would really work, as it was too good to be true. Almost 1.5 weeks of converting to the scrubber, I can see such great results! My corals are finally doing better, pods population has almost tripled, and I don't even need to clean the tank glass at all (usually by now it would be covered my a thin film of brown diatoms). Its amazing what the results were. Forget expensive skimmers, denitrators etc, just a good light source and good flow will do. One of the main reasons why I changed to a scrubber was because of my high nitrate reading. When I finally bought a test kit and tested it, the reading was more than 100mg/l and now it has dropped significantly to 25mg/l. Another advantage was that I could skip the skimmer pump which resulted in my water temp dropping 0.5 - 1 deg." Craig on the NZ site: "My tank water is so clear and clean looking, and the sand is clean. I have a Dragon Goby and he has gotten fat ever since I moved to the scrubber and removed my skimmer, he moves a heck of a lot of sand. But I stirred up my sand like I occasionally do and this time there was no muck coming out as I stirred it. My [nuisance] algaes in my overflow have receded, and the coraline on the rocks has grown quite quickly over the last few days. Even the water in my sump (even thou there is a bit of crap on the bottom) is clear and clean." Gannet on the NZ site: "i have gone from cleaning the glass on the front of the tank 2-4 times a week to once every 2 weeks ... my nitrates has gone from 80ppm and is now 0-5ppm ... and the pods and mysis, i have that many in my sump now that i scoop them up with a net and feed them to my fish works a treat." ImDaring on the LR site: "I built mine [scrubber] because I had to clean my glass every day because of green algae, and then to top it off I had a Brown algae breakout... it had covered the bottom of my sand bed it; looked like slime. the first week of having my scrubber hooked up I only cleaned my glass 1 time, now on my 2nd week I have not had to clean it at all, and the brown algae is almost gone."

There is no UV light. The scrubber lights are regular 2700K flourescent. I have not used any media for the coralline. Do not use a filter before the scrubber... you want all the stuff to circulate back to the tank to feed the corals and small fish.

Update: Signs of scrubbers wearing out Since my acrylic scrubber is approching one year old, it's the first one to experience signs of wearing out. Of course I'm also experimenting with large amounts of continuous feeding (which makes things worse), but I'm still seeing some of the same signs in other peoples' scrubbers, even though they are feeding normal amounts, and even though they've replaced the bulbs every 3 months. This is typically what starts happening: Glass-cleaning is needed more often Scrubber starts growing darker algae pH stays at a lower point Rocks get a light green covering Cyano starts showing up Nitrate and phosphate start staying at higher levels What is probably happening (and what happened to mine) was that the flow had been greatly reduced to the scrubber. My screen is 22" wide, and only half of it was getting any flow at all (I'm surprised half of it did not die); the other half was still getting some flow, but it was so little that the bottom of the scrubber was almost dry. My problem was the pump: This is a case of scrubbers causing their own unique problem. When you run a scrubber (without skimmers or mechanical filters), not only do the corals and small fish get much more of the food that you feed, but you will also grow all sorts of filter feeders like the ones you see all over the pump in the picture. They grew all through the display, of course (to be eaten by a wrasse), but they also grew up into the impeller area of the scrubber pump, which was the problem. Also in the pic, you can see the brown stuff which was the result of my experiment in large amounts of continuous feeding in a system with a poorly designed sump (which allowed too much settling). The case/impellor was so locked up that I had to soak it in pure vinegar for several hours to even get it open. So while waiting on that, I opened the Eheim 1262 (900 gph) that I ordered as a backup So now my scrubber pump is pumping 2X as much as my return. Once the new pump was in place, there was a forceful waterfall across the screen again. There is so much water in the acrylic box now that it is 1" deep before it goes out the drain hole (whereas before it was almost dry). Point is, check your scrubber pump often for internal fan worms or food buildup. Just like the lights, you may not be able to see the lower output (since it happens very slowly over time), so you have to open it up and check. Running the pump in vinegar every three months should keep it clear (vinegar disolves fan worms).

Great to hear!

I'm surprised you have any growth at all with that light. That light needs to be no more than 4 inches from the screen, and it must have a reflector to direct all the light to the screen. Your scrubber won't do anything at all until you move the light. Also, get a sheet of plastic canvas, rough it up with a hole saw, and lay it on top of the cutting board.

Update: Best way to rough up your plastic canvas:

Correct, 18 hours On, 6 hours OFF

You actually don't want to filter out the particles that are floating in the water, because those particles are food for the corals and small fish. When feed the tank, the small particles of food that the fish miss needs to circulate back around so the corals (or small fish) can eat them. Also, the waste from the fish (which is food also!) needs to circulate around so the corals (or small fish) can eat them. And lastly, the mucas and waste that come out of the corals needs to circulate around so the other corals can eat it. Even bacteria participate (invisibly) by eating all all of the above items; then the bacteria become food for the corals too. So every single thing you see floating in the water (and even stuff too small to see) is somehow food for something in your tank. That's why you don't want to filter anything out. But there is more! If you try to filter out the particles by using foam, floss, or some other material, not only do you keep that food from being eaten, but the food will end up just rotting and releasing ammonia back into the water (which eventually will increase your nitrate and phosphate). So although you are trying to do good by "removing bad stuff", you are actually doing bad by removing good stuff (food), and causing that stuff to rot and put nitrate and phosphate into the water. The solution: Do not remove any floating particles at all, anywhere. Keep them circulating throughout the system. You can even feed less if you do this, and all your food goes to actually feeding, not rotting.

FiveSmallWorlds on the TCMAS site: Craigg on the UR site: Wormside on the UR site:

Creetin on the SRC site: Darasy on the TCMAS site:

Milburnr on the SC site:

Kiwiman456 on the RS site: Markm3 on the RS site: Ender on the SARK site: Punk on the SARK site:

GrAhF11 on the RP site: Rav888 on the RP site: Ronron on the RP site:

Sl1me on the NZ site: Birador on the RP site: Boom_Smashers on the RP site:

Craig on the NZ site: