Algae Scrubber Basics

[Paul B]

Thats what I have always done. You can use wax paper instead of the saran wrap as the mortar won't stick to it. (I did say Saran Wrap but I meant Wax Paper) I have been doing this for many years. I noticed that algae loves cement or mortar because I make a lot of cement rocks and algae always grows on the cement much faster than real rock (or anything else) sometimes algae will cover cement rocks and not touch anything else. Who Knew? It may be the minerals such as calcium in the cement, or the different pH or just the texture. I really don't know, but I know it works.
I use it in my algae trough

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Thanks @Paul B correction made!

I'm pretty sure it the microscopically rough texture that does the trick, but you may be right, there could be something else that makes it a good substrate for growth.

 

[Windy]

How about not using a screen, but a concrete block with water running over it?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

That would work too, that's what @Paul B did in his trough essentially. Single sided though unless it's s thin block. I don't think concrete vs mortar matters, both have a pretty rough surface. The screen lets light through so it seems to me to be the best of both.

 

[Paul B]

You can use a slab of sidewalk, but that may not fit in your sink to clean it. :eek:

 

[Windy]

You can use a slab of sidewalk, but that may not fit in your sink to clean it. :eek:

I guess you are trying to be funny.

 

[Windy]

How about something like this in a waterfall scrubber, lit on both sides????

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/marinepure-ceramic-biomedia-plate.html

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Same as concrete block idea. No light is transmitted through it. What I'm talking about here is the small amount of light that penetrates from one side of the screen (with a thick algal mat growing) to the other side of the substrate, providing some light the the base of growth. This allows for a bit longer if a growth period before shading becomes too much and you start to get die off.

Any opaque material will shorten the growth cycle, including dark/colored mesh.

 

[dallas reefer]

Concrete in a reef tank?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Mortar and concrete are mostly the same, and both need to be cured in order to be safe, meaning, left to soak in FW for a while to leech out anything that might do the tank/inhabitants harm. So that is an important step in the process, as I understand it.

For a concrete block, this would probably take several months. For a thin coat of mortar smeared on a screen, we're probably talking a week.

Paul made many of his rocks out of mortar

 

[dallas reefer]

Ahh. Makes sense.

 

[Paul B]

There is probably 20 lbs of cement in my reef. Great stuff, but soak it a while. For a screen which is only a couple of tablespoons of mortar, or concrete a week is fine as Floyd said.
You can even build your entire tank out of cement as many large tanks are.

 

[SantaMonica Verified Sponsor]

For those interested in new screens, our first step in introducing Version 2 of the waterfall filter that we invented in 2008 will be a brand new screen concept, optimized for allowing slime to attach.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Why would you want to allow slime to attach? Also why not just tell us now?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Since this is a page back, here is the mortar screen method that Paul B uses.

Leave it to Paul B

Here's a new method for making an algae scrubber screen that, IMO, could very well be a game changer.

It's pretty simple. Smear the screen with a thin coating of a standard mortar mix (like you use for building a brick wall) and then sandwich it between 2 piece of plastic wrap wax paper, and place a wet towel over it. A couple times/day, take the towel and saran wax paper off and spray it with water. Keep doing this for a few days, 2 or 3. The point is to not let the mortar dry, because you want it to cure instead.

Then, place the screen in water for a few days or a week or something, to soak out the lime and anything else. You're not using much mortar here so it's not a ton of stuff you have to worry about, it's just an extra step.

Now you're good to go. According to Paul, algae loves mortar. Algae does not have this love affair with plastic, which is why the plastic canvas (in most cases) takes a while to get started growing algae thick and well attached: the material has to "slime up" and then build up a layer of calcification or another material so that the algae can attach well.

So what happens is that algae will grow very quickly from the mortar. The mortar is not really permanent though, it will flake off as you clean the screen, but this is not relevant. The plastic canvas still has to go through the curing/maturing process for long-term growth, but while this is happening, you get good growth (and filtration!) from the mortar. Over time, growth will transition to the plastic canvas.

Now, my recommendation for preparing the screen is simple - it's what I do now for my "first stage" of roughing up. I use a wire brush drill bit (the center-crimp kind) and a good drill, running at a low to medium-low speed. I run the bit back and forth with only light pressure (I'm not pushing down and smashing the bit into the screen). I go left-right, then up-down, then diagonal, then the other diagonal. Flip the screen and repeat. That should be good enough for mortar now.

The 2nd stage of roughing that I do involves using a saw blade in small overlapping circles. I'm not sure this is necessary anymore, or maybe it's not just as critical.

I know what I'm doing this weekend...

Thats what I have always done. You can use wax paper instead of the saran wrap as the mortar won't stick to it. (I did say Saran Wrap but I meant Wax Paper) I have been doing this for many years. I noticed that algae loves cement or mortar because I make a lot of cement rocks and algae always grows on the cement much faster than real rock (or anything else) sometimes algae will cover cement rocks and not touch anything else. Who Knew? It may be the minerals such as calcium in the cement, or the different pH or just the texture. I really don't know, but I know it works.
I use it in my algae trough

 

[Paul B]

Slime attaches to fish, but fish know how to make that happen. :D

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

I installed my mortar screen today. Here's my last screen cleaning, using the original screen (in use for probably 2+ years, I would have to look back to see when I actually put it into use)

So it's not like that wasn't working well....

Here's the new screen

I shot a bunch of video while I was making this screen (made 4 actually) and I"ll be throwing that up on YouTube soon.

Basically, I roughed up the screen initially with my stage 1 process as usual, which is a wire brush drill attachment. This preps the screen to better accept the mortar, otherwise, it slides off really easily.

I taped off the top edge of the screen (that gets inserted into the slot) plus the next 2 rows prior to the stage 1 rough-up, then I took that off and cut the screen down to it's final size. Then, I added the tape back to protect the top edge from mortar.

I slathered on the mortar really thick, like 1/4" all over the screen, then flipped it and "massaged" it so that it pushed up through the other side, making sure to coat the entire screen.

Then I used a toothbrush and squeegeed off the bulk of the mortar, which left the holes filled in but the screen pattern showing.

After that, I held it over a garbage can and used the toothbrush to swipe the loose mortar off the screen, flipped the screen and brushed more, and repeated that about a half dozen times. The result was what you see in the pics above: the mortar and the fine particles of the mix were stuck to the screen, with only a small percentage of the holes filled in. Most of the sandy/grainy particles got brushed away.

Next, I sandwiched this between 2 pieces of wax paper, put it in a container (sterilite bin) and placed a wet hand towel on it. I let it cure for 2 days, spritzing it with water once or twice/day. I was surprised that the mortar was very flexible and not at all brittle by this point. I expected to hear crackling when I bent the screen, but it flexed right with the screen.

I placed the screen in a 5g bucket with RODI and changed that water after 4-5 days. Soaked a total of 7 days, then swished it in the bucket (not much came off) and then ran it under tap water and scrubbed it a bit with a toothbrush. I thought a good amount of mortar would come loose when I did that, but it's really stuck on there like glue, hardly any came off at all.

I put it in the scrubber, but I had to remove my false bottom because I forgot about a dimensional difference. All in all, I'm impressed with how easy this was. Way better than roughing up the screen with a saw blade!

 

[zemuss]

I will be doing this soon.

Let me know how it goes.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

I've committed myself to taking daily pictures of the screen to track the progress. I saw a few sprigs of algae already but that might just be algae that got snagged as water flowed down the screen. I'm still running my LEDs 24/7 like I have been for months on this scrubber, but I might engage the timer again and give it some dark time if I don't see any growth within a few days. In case I didn't post it here, about 6 months ago I accidentally flipped the timer switch into the "ON" position, 5 days later my scrubber was full so I left it there just to see if I ever had a drop off in growth, so far, um...no.

For a brand new screen I typically recommend 9 hrs ON time per day so I'm breaking my own rules :mad:

 

[zemuss]

I run my lights for 18 hours and 6 off..

I will be taking the mangroves out of the Fuge area and planting them on the coast of Florida. I don't really think they are helping much anyways.

Then I will start redesigning my ATS first applying the clips we discussed and the Mortar. Then lights going back to all red 660NM LEDS. Unless you recommend something else.