Algae scrubbers?

Kenneth Wingerter · Dec 12, 2022

Who out there is running an algae scrubber on their reef tank (successfully or otherwise)?

I recently wrote a series of articles for CORAL Magazine on algal filtration (the first two of which have appeared in the last two issues, and the third will be in the issue coming out some time in the next couple of weeks). As the first couple of these articles have received an enormous amount of interest and attention, we've decided to publish a bonus installment. This article is already written and will appear in an upcoming issue (probably the issue coming out in a couple of months).

Even though a couple months might seem far off, in the world of print publication that's just enough time to really gather and edit your material before it's time to go to the printers. So, we're already looking to supplement this great article (we have some star contributors in there

) with some really great images. That's why I'm here right now.

Who out there in the world of R2R not only has an aquarium system that incorporates some form of algal scrubbing technology (including chaeto reactors) but also has some extremely high quality, high resolution images of the system? This certainly might be images of the unit itself, or algae you harvested from it, but could also be quality images of healthy (or unhealthy) animals, of whose health status you'd attribute (at least in part) to water quality issues related to the scrubber. Only very large, very high-res, well focused images please (CORAL is very picky about images quality, as one must be when publishing in print).

PM me with any inquiries, or simply send your full sized/uncompressed images directly to my email at [email protected]. Please send a short note along telling me (1) what I'm looking at in each image (numbering them might help) and (2) by what name you want the images attributed to.

Thanks!

HankstankXXL750 · Dec 12, 2022

I’ll try to get them for you.

w8lifts · Dec 12, 2022

Ha I run one….but mine is far from magazine worthy lol. It has helped keeping me from having a huge ugly stage, and I use it for dosing pumps and my calcium reactor. I like to think it helps with the added c02 but probably not…

Kenneth Wingerter · Dec 13, 2022

HankstankXXXL750 said:
I’ll try to get them for you.

That's awesome, thank you!

Kenneth Wingerter · Dec 13, 2022

w8lifts said:
Ha I run one….but mine is far from magazine worthy lol. It has helped keeping me from having a huge ugly stage, and I use it for dosing pumps and my calcium reactor. I like to think it helps with the added c02 but probably not…

This is great! We discuss this sort of combined use of calcium reactors and algal filtration (i.e., to scrub the excess CO2) with Tristan of Pax Bellum in the series. This is a nice example of that. So, this Clear Water unit appears to be modified somewhat to accommodate the dosing lines? If you can send me a high-quality image of this unit and maybe tell me a little more about the process of installing it and the results you get, I can almost guarantee that CORAL would publish this.

Let me know!

Kenneth Wingerter · Dec 29, 2022

bump!

Kenneth Wingerter · Jan 31, 2023

bump! Still more time. Would love to see what you've got.

ReefDreamz · Jan 31, 2023

What's the deadline on this? I'm traveling for a week but if you can wait I could take some high-res uncompressed RAW images when I get home. These are just cell phone pics.

Screwgunner · Jan 31, 2023

I think it has helped my fish I had two losses on start up .but they are very healthy . I am at work so I will try to explain. I have two screens hanging in my sump . The pipes that come out for my returns are cut and fitted with the screens they are 10"x 12" .I drilled a hole on top of the sump right in-between the screen and dropped a grow light in between them. I had problems with ALN so I cut some of the screen down.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 31, 2023

Kenneth Wingerter said:
Who out there is running an algae scrubber on their reef tank (successfully or otherwise)?

I recently wrote a series of articles for CORAL Magazine on algal filtration (the first two of which have appeared in the last two issues, and the third will be in the issue coming out some time in the next couple of weeks). As the first couple of these articles have received an enormous amount of interest and attention, we've decided to publish a bonus installment. This article is already written and will appear in an upcoming issue (probably the issue coming out in a couple of months).

Even though a couple months might seem far off, in the world of print publication that's just enough time to really gather and edit your material before it's time to go to the printers. So, we're already looking to supplement this great article (we have some star contributors in there ) with some really great images. That's why I'm here right now.

Who out there in the world of R2R not only has an aquarium system that incorporates some form of algal scrubbing technology (including chaeto reactors) but also has some extremely high quality, high resolution images of the system? This certainly might be images of the unit itself, or algae you harvested from it, but could also be quality images of healthy (or unhealthy) animals, of whose health status you'd attribute (at least in part) to water quality issues related to the scrubber. Only very large, very high-res, well focused images please (CORAL is very picky about images quality, as one must be when publishing in print).

PM me with any inquiries, or simply send your full sized/uncompressed images directly to my email at [email protected]. Please send a short note along telling me (1) what I'm looking at in each image (numbering them might help) and (2) by what name you want the images attributed to.

Thanks!

I run IceCap unit and prior to that was clear water unit

Screwgunner · Jan 31, 2023

Screwgunner said:
I think it has helped my fish I had two losses on start up .but they are very healthy . I am at work so I will try to explain. I have two screens hanging in my sump . The pipes that come out for my returns are cut and fitted with the screens they are 10"x 12" .I drilled a hole on top of the sump right in-between the screen and dropped a grow light in between them. I had problems with ALN so I cut some of the screen down.

This is 9 days of growth

Kenneth Wingerter · Jan 31, 2023

ReefDreamz said:
What's the deadline on this? I'm traveling for a week but if you can wait I could take some high-res uncompressed RAW images when I get home. These are just cell phone pics.

Kenneth Wingerter · Jan 31, 2023

Probably have a couple weeks, but the sooner the better. Yes, that would be awesome. Would like a hi-res shot of your whole system as above--would be nice to able to demonstrate how one might incorporate a scrubber into a system, and come to think of it, we don't have any such image yet. Thanks, please reach out after you get back! Ken

Kenneth Wingerter · Jan 31, 2023

Screwgunner said:
I think it has helped my fish I had two losses on start up .but they are very healthy . I am at work so I will try to explain. I have two screens hanging in my sump . The pipes that come out for my returns are cut and fitted with the screens they are 10"x 12" .I drilled a hole on top of the sump right in-between the screen and dropped a grow light in between them. I had problems with ALN so I cut some of the screen down.

Ah, so this is a DIY unit? I like how it was incorporated into the existing plumbing, nice idea. Interesting, we don't have any DIYs yet, send me a hi-res shot if you can get one (as it is when running). Would be a great addition to the article for sure!

Screwgunner · Feb 1, 2023

Kenneth Wingerter said:
Ah, so this is a DIY unit? I like how it was incorporated into the existing plumbing, nice idea. Interesting, we don't have any DIYs yet, send me a hi-res shot if you can get one (as it is when running). Would be a great addition to the article for sure!

See what I can do.