Algae scrubber vs Algae reactor...

[Stege_saurus]

I'm deciding on which route I want to go and which one is best for my tank, but I'm stuck unfortunately. Which would be better for a 75g (30g sump)?

Right now I don't have a huge bio load but as time goes on it will increase

 

[Peace River]

I'm sure others will chime in and there is likely a wide range of opinions. In my experience, I have a name brand algae reactor and multiple name brand algae scrubbers and I have had better long term results with an algae scrubber.

 

[exnisstech]

I've never used a reactor I always just placed chaeto in a chamber of the sump and ran it as a fuge. I'm happy with the scrubber on my latest build. The tangs love it also. No more dried nori, now they get fresh algae and love it.

 

[VintageReefer]

I'm deciding on which route I want to go and which one is best for my tank, but I'm stuck unfortunately. Which would be better for a 75g (30g sump)?

Right now I don't have a huge bio load but as time goes on it will increase

I have a 75 with sump and 10+ years experience with scrubbers. I will confidently say a scrubber is superior

A scrubber will grow turf. A reactor will grow Chaeto.

Turf > cheato for nutrient control
Scrubber > reactor for many reasons but main one is it allows the growth of turf

 

[Stege_saurus]

I've never used a reactor I always just placed chaeto in a chamber of the sump and ran it as a fuge. I'm happy with the scrubber on my latest build. The tangs love it also. No more dried nori, now they get fresh algae and love it.

For whatever reason, I never have luck with chaeto. Regardless of nutrient levels and dosing and lights it always does on me. I've given it more chances than I should but still no luck.

 

[Stege_saurus]

I have a 75 with sump and 10+ years experience with scrubbers. I roll confidently say a scrubber is superior

A scrubber will grow turf. A reactor will grow Chaeto.

Turf > cheato for nutrient control
Scrubber > reactor for many reasons but main one is it allows the growth of turf

On my previous build I had a scrubber plumbed at the end of my drain and it worked fairly well most of the time. I don't want to build one into my drain this go around so I was thinking of doing a DIY option. Do you have any pics of your scrubber that you wouldn't mind sharing?

 

[Stege_saurus]

I'm sure others will chime in and there is likely a wide range of opinions. In my experience, I have a name brand algae reactor and multiple name brand algae scrubbers and I have had better long term results with an algae scrubber.

That's interesting . I've had some luck with a scrubber but never used a reactor and was curious.

 

[exnisstech]

For whatever reason, I never have luck with chaeto. Regardless of nutrient levels and dosing and lights it always does on me. I've given it more chances than I should but still no luck

I've had decent luck with chaeto but I have had it not do well in some tanks. I've heard of dosing iron to help but I never bothered. If it grew fine if not oh well. I didn't use chaeto for nutrient control but more to provide a habitat for little creatures to populate.

 

[Stege_saurus]

I've had decent luck with chaeto but I have had it not do well in some tanks. I've heard of dosing iron to help but I never bothered. If it grew fine if not oh well. I didn't use chaeto for nutrient control but more to provide a habitat for little creatures to populate.

Ahh I see. I guess I didn't think of that

 

[VintageReefer]

On my previous build I had a scrubber plumbed at the end of my drain and it worked fairly well most of the time. I don't want to build one into my drain this go around so I was thinking of doing a DIY option. Do you have any pics of your scrubber that you wouldn't mind sharing?

There is no comparison when it comes to ease of installation and performance. The Surf by Santa Monica is a perfect design. It floats in your sump. No plumbing needed. It connects to an air pump. I can reccomend one for 30$ that’s powerful and silent. It’s 1000par of 440nm led growing a 2” thick brick of algae. It’s silent and can not leak or overflow, it’s completely contained inside the sump. When the lid is on there is no light spill and it’s quiet.

I reccomended this one to Exnisstech and his results are great and here he is on his own showing it off

I use the surf 2, he uses the surf 4 I believe.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Used both, and I agree with scrubber.

Algae reactor is (in my opinion) a niche thing or just something cool to look at.

 

[Peace River]

There is no comparison when it comes to ease of installation and performance. The Surf by Santa Monica is a perfect design. It floats in your sump. No plumbing needed. It connects to an air pump. I can reccomend one for 30$ that’s powerful and silent. It’s 1000par of 440nm led growing a 2” thick brick of algae. It’s silent and can not leak or overflow, it’s completely contained inside the sump. When the lid is on there is no light spill and it’s quiet.

I reccomended this one to Exnisstech and his results are great and here he is on his own showing it off

I use the surf 2, he uses the surf 4 I believe.

Interesting. I have a Santa Monica and an IceCap scrubber. The IceCap is messier, but I have had better results and used it for a long period of time. I may need to take another look at the Santa Monica.

 

[VintageReefer]

Interesting. I have a Santa Monica and an IceCap scrubber. The IceCap is messier, but I have had better results and used it for a long period of time. I may need to take another look at the Santa Monica.

Which SM one is it

 

[VintageReefer]

Interesting. I have a Santa Monica and an IceCap scrubber. The IceCap is messier, but I have had better results and used it for a long period of time. I may need to take another look at the Santa Monica.

This surf 2 is 11 years old

I just had to replace the foam on it from worms boring holes in it. The foam piece was inexpensive and SM shipped fast.

I had my leds blow out from a power surge during a storm, SM gave me a hefty discount on a replacement upgraded lid/led piece. Out of warranty by 9 years, failure was not the products fault, and still they hooked me up and took about 50% off the price of the part I needed.

This scrubber is the only filtration that runs my tank…aside from live rock/sand

 

[Stege_saurus]

This surf 2 is 11 years old

I just had to replace the foam on it from worms boring holes in it. The foam piece was inexpensive and SM shipped fast.

I had my leds blow out from a power surge during a storm, SM gave me a hefty discount on a replacement upgraded lid/led piece. Out of warranty by 9 years, failure was not the products fault, and still they hooked me up and took about 50% off the price of the part I needed.

This scrubber is the only filtration that runs my tank…aside from live rock/sand

Not gonna lie, that's quite impressive. Both the tank and the warranty situation. I really love companies like that. I'm definitely gonna be looking into them now. Thank you!

 

[Gtinnel]

It connects to an air pump. I can reccomend one for 30$ that’s powerful and silent

I have wanted an algae scrubber for a while but have never had space for one. I’m considering making some changes in my sump that would allow me to fit one of the SM Surf scrubbers. I was looking at the Surf4 or 4x and was curious what you would recommend for an air pump?

 

[VintageReefer]

@Gtinnel

Surf 2 series - 8 watt
Surf 4 series - 12 watt

https://a.co/d/bKq9hSb

I have been through several air pumps in 10 years of running the surf. I find they last 6 months to 3 years. (Don’t buy eheim air pumps!)
I can’t speak to the longetivity on this one, but it is both the quietest and strongest one I’ve encountered. Price is good also. It feels solid and appears well made. Turn the control dial up to max, then back off slightly and it’s completely silent. Also it’s the only one that doesn’t buzz like a bees nest if something comes in contact with the outer shell

 

[Gtinnel]

@Gtinnel

Surf 2 series - 8 watt
Surf 4 series - 12 watt

https://a.co/d/bKq9hSb

I have been through several air pumps in 10 years of running the surf. I find they last 6 months to 3 years. (Don’t buy eheim air pumps!)
I can’t speak to the longetivity on this one, but it is both the quietest and strongest one I’ve encountered. Price is good also. It feels solid and appears well made. Turn the control dial up to max, then back off slightly and it’s completely silent. Also it’s the only one that doesn’t buzz like a bees nest if something comes in contact with the outer shell

Thanks. I’m was actually looking at an Alita air pump. The one you recommended is much more affordable.

 

[VintageReefer]

Thanks. I’m was actually looking at an Alita air pump. The one you recommended is much more affordable.

Surf 2 wants a pump at least 5 LPM - and the 8w I suggest is 10 LPM

Surf 4 wants at least 10 LPM - and the 12w I suggest is 16 LPM

Both these pumps pair up well with the corresponding surfs.

Glad I could save you some bucks also. Use it and buy a coral and consider it from me!

 

[mjszos]

Surf 2 wants a pump at least 5 LPM - and the 8w I suggest is 10 LPM

Surf 4 wants at least 10 LPM - and the 12w I suggest is 16 LPM

Both these pumps pair up well with the corresponding surfs.

Glad I could save you some bucks also. Use it and buy a coral and consider it from me!

I've been looking into the SM scrubbers, but I have a hard time understanding their sizing guide. Is it really as simple as the amount of food you're feeding? I have a 100G DT + 50G Sump and only feed 1 cube per day (may get up to 2 once it's more stocked). It seems crazy to me that the Surf 2 would be sufficient, but that's their claim.

Any thoughts?