Algae scrubber with chaeto in my refuigm. Is that ok?

[Pisquini]

My 150g tank is 9 months old, I have a 10 gallon refuigm with Cheato growing like crazy in it. About 200 lbs LR. Skimmer that runs 24hrs a day. My Sump is a old 24g wet/dry filter system. I have my return dropping thu a poly filter and onto some LR rubble. I light my refuigm and my sump on a 12 hr night cycle, with my main tank on moon lights. When main lights on, sump/refuigm off. All my stats on my water are perfect.

Question:

Can I add a Algae Scrubber to my return in my sump, taking away the poly filter? I have read that cheato and algae scrubber are a problem?

Also, if I do make the Algae scubber....does it have to be lighted 24hrs a day or is my cycle ok?

Thanx in advance

 

[ToXIc]

bump for you..

i cant remember the exact number but you dont want the scrubber lit 24hrs.. dont recall any negatives of having both and algae scrubber and cheato.. i'll probably have to revisit google and this thread..
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-yourself-diy/63113-algae-scrubber-basics.html

 

[Murfman]

I light my scrubber 24x7 but alternate sides 12 hours each. The scrubber will eventually take away the nutrients that the cheato uses and it will shrink to nothing. I do keep feather caulerpa along with the TAS.

 

[Pisquini]

Thank You guys!

 

[dallas reefer]

I had an ATS with a mini fuge next
To it. With a little rock in it. I bought some rock of a guy and I found a couple strands of chaeto. I mean literally, a COUPLE of strands.

Before I sold that setup, after running it for 5 months from scratch, I was giving/ throwing away about 3 ziplock bags of it a week!

I loved that setup. Could keep anything I wanted.

So from MY experience, yes you can keep both.

 

[Pisquini]

thank you guys again for your help...I wanna get the poly filter out...so i am gonna set up my ATS this weekend.

 

[Pisquini]

Worse case I change it back! lol

 

[dallas reefer]

It won't be over night. I can assure you. Keep your skimmer until your scrubber produced algae on it. (since your tank is up and running.) otherwise it MAY shock your tank.

Emphasis on the 'MAY'

 

[Salty Dog]

I have a 45g fuge with a scrubber draining into it. I built it above the fuge and it rolls down into it, never had any issues with cheato, I clip mine back monthly and wash my scrubber every other week

18 hours light only, 6 off

 

[Pisquini]

Ok guys....finally got my Turf Scrubber up and running today!

Here are some pictures....

Did it a little different from others I seen, my return dropped right in the middle of my sump. So I just built my tube and cut my slot thru the tee and everything. It is working fine so far. Just have to wait a while to see if any algae grows on it....lol. Must have got the calculations right, cause my main tank water level hasn't moved!
Like to thank all for the help here and to Floyd R Turbo for his guide, it was awesome!

 

[subielover]

Looks good dude, did you really rough up the screen? It is hard to tell in the pics. That will help the algae attach and make it more efficient faster.

 

[Pisquini]

Yep! Roughed up both sides, just the way the guide sed....the hole saw blade works great!

 

[Pisquini]

Wow! only 3 days and I am seeing brown stuff growing on my scrubber...lol

 

[Pisquini]

OK one month later! Too Cool!

 

[AsphaltPays]

Looking good..How often do you clean it ?


Sent from my iPhone 4S
using Tapatalk

 

[Pisquini]

Haven't cleaned it yet. That is just a month old...working great...at this rate probally next month I will clean. I am gonna open the slot just a tad more cause it makes a little noise...like a squirting noise! LOL driving me crazy...hehe

 

[subielover]

For it to be most effective, you want to religiously clean it every week. Looking good though.

 

[beaslbob]

I'm late to this thread and am glad it is working.

FWIW I think you will find that not only do you not need the sponge or pad or whatever filter the scrubber replaced, but that also that algae (refugium or scrubber) will also replace skimmers and all other filters as well.

But that's just me and my .02

 

[Pisquini]

Hey Sub! So I should clean every week? Ok didn't know that! Thanx!

 

[SantaMonica]

Couple of changes in the new guidelines. You can let it go 14 days now, instead of 7. Take the screen out and clean the slot with a toothbrush; this will probably fix your slot noise/spraying. Also you can reduce your size greatly; it will help it grow greener quicker, and thicker; just cut the screen in half vertically, and tape up the slot. Other new stuff:

Scrubbers are now sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen), or
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen), or
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen), or
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen), or
10 square inches (60 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen), or
5 square inches (30 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen), or
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen), or
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

HORIZONTAL screens: Multiply the screen size by 4, and the wattage by 1.5Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.

Clean algae off of screen every 7 to 14 days, so that you can see the white screen material.