DIY Simple Algae Turf Scrubber

[MicrobeMan]

Hi everyone!

So it's been about a month since I last updated and I thought I'd share some progress. I decided instead of harvesting weekly, I'd do a test and see if it grows well when left longer. In this case, I left it for a few more weeks. What I would say as that it preformed really quite well and I'm impressed! I've attached photos of 2 weeks of growth and the newly cleaned surface. As you can see, there's a lot of algae in there! For context, I've fed less than 1.5 cubes of frozen food during this entire period. I believe that's probably more or equitable biomass to all that algae. My skimmer has also been running well. I think this means that I still have a steady amount of nutrients still in the water that are still slowly being depleted.

As far as testing goes, my nyos kit places NO3 somewhere between 1 and 3 PPM which is really exactly where I want it at the moment (down from 20ppm initially bit I have done a few water changes).
The real trouble I have here is that I'm still having some issues with GHA in my display!!!
I'm nervous to try and drop nitrate even more as eventually you starve your corals but I might try to do so in order to kick this outbreak. I've also added a filter sock for the time being as I've gotten to brushing the rocks with a toothbrush every few days (I change and clean the socks every 3 days). The GHA is certainly growing more slowly than before but it's ever present and still a challenge to eradicate. I think that if I can really get ahead of it, I can kick it but we'll see. It's an upward battle!

Hopefully, as the scrubber keeps growing algae, the nutrients will hit a sweet spot where the GHA can't keep it up but the corals are all still alright but we'll have to see!

Also, the thicker mesh is epic! I'm a huge fan and to clean, I just blast it with the hose and rinse in RODI. It gives the algae tons of texture to latch on to! I recommend it if you're looking for a good substrate.

 

[Bryknicks]

Hi everyone!

So it's been about a month since I last updated and I thought I'd share some progress. I decided instead of harvesting weekly, I'd do a test and see if it grows well when left longer. In this case, I left it for a few more weeks. What I would say as that it preformed really quite well and I'm impressed! I've attached photos of 2 weeks of growth and the newly cleaned surface. As you can see, there's a lot of algae in there! For context, I've fed less than 1.5 cubes of frozen food during this entire period. I believe that's probably more or equitable biomass to all that algae. My skimmer has also been running well. I think this means that I still have a steady amount of nutrients still in the water that are still slowly being depleted.

As far as testing goes, my nyos kit places NO3 somewhere between 1 and 3 PPM which is really exactly where I want it at the moment (down from 20ppm initially bit I have done a few water changes).
The real trouble I have here is that I'm still having some issues with GHA in my display!!!
I'm nervous to try and drop nitrate even more as eventually you starve your corals but I might try to do so in order to kick this outbreak. I've also added a filter sock for the time being as I've gotten to brushing the rocks with a toothbrush every few days (I change and clean the socks every 3 days). The GHA is certainly growing more slowly than before but it's ever present and still a challenge to eradicate. I think that if I can really get ahead of it, I can kick it but we'll see. It's an upward battle!

Hopefully, as the scrubber keeps growing algae, the nutrients will hit a sweet spot where the GHA can't keep it up but the corals are all still alright but we'll have to see!

Also, the thicker mesh is epic! I'm a huge fan and to clean, I just blast it with the hose and rinse in RODI. It gives the algae tons of texture to latch on to! I recommend it if you're looking for a good substrate.

Yes I've seen others state that it still takes a while to start seeing an impact on the GHA in the display once the ATS starts taking off. Looks like yout ATS is doing well now so keep it up and I'm sure you will see an impact on the display soon enough. What are your phosphate levels?

 

[MicrobeMan]

As far as phosphate goes, I only have the API kit which is essentially garbage so I really can't give an accurate reading. I suspect that what with the low nitrate but persistent algae, phosphate is likely the culprit. I was sort of hoping that I could get away with using nitrate as a proxy since biological methods tend to reduce both in conjunction but I'll probably just go in for the Hanna UL phosphate checker.
I've read that keeping a high pH with Kalkwasser can help reduce phosphate but I've been using kalkwasser since the start of this tank and still probably have a PO4 issue.
I hope that pressing on with this ATS will keep things moving in the right direction but we'll have to see! There's a decent chance that I'll get the Hanna checker and dump some GFO into a media reactor out of impatience but we'll see.
As I currently have it, the ATS light is only on 14 hours a day but I'm certainly considering upping that significantly. Does anyone have experience with 18+ hours of light a day for more aggressive growth? I've basically solved the whole evap issue so I'm willing to experiment.

 

[Bryknicks]

As far as phosphate goes, I only have the API kit which is essentially garbage so I really can't give an accurate reading. I suspect that what with the low nitrate but persistent algae, phosphate is likely the culprit. I was sort of hoping that I could get away with using nitrate as a proxy since biological methods tend to reduce both in conjunction but I'll probably just go in for the Hanna UL phosphate checker.
I've read that keeping a high pH with Kalkwasser can help reduce phosphate but I've been using kalkwasser since the start of this tank and still probably have a PO4 issue.
I hope that pressing on with this ATS will keep things moving in the right direction but we'll have to see! There's a decent chance that I'll get the Hanna checker and dump some GFO into a media reactor out of impatience but we'll see.
As I currently have it, the ATS light is only on 14 hours a day but I'm certainly considering upping that significantly. Does anyone have experience with 18+ hours of light a day for more aggressive growth? I've basically solved the whole evap issue so I'm willing to experiment.

I think the Hanna ULR PO4 checker is a great tool to have for a reef. We aim to keep our PO4 within a certain range, too little or too much will cause issues. I personally would not utilize GFO without getting a solid number of your PO4 with a proper testing kit. I have made this mistake in the past and had a long battle with dino's as a result. Again, in regards to changing the photo period, I would get a propert test kit to figure out the system demand.

 

[MicrobeMan]

Hey Guys,

So I went ahead and ordered the Hanna UL Phosphate kit. I've included a pic of my API test this morning but it's pretty useless. At least I know it's not crazy high though. I also tested nitrate with my NYOS kit and got a reading of 1 PPM (down from 5ppm 2 weeks ago). I'm slightly worried that I'm into dinos territory and I have a slight diatoms dusting on my sand bed.

In addition, an encrusting montipora I got a couple weeks ago is going pale. I've really never been any good at keeping encrusting montis but plating ones seem to do well with me so I'm not too worried but it is interesting.

What I also find interesting is that I'm still getting some hair algae growth in my display! It's far less than before but it's still going and I find that really surprising. The default is always that nutrients are "leeching out of your rocks" and algae are using them at the same rate they're leeching which is why you're testing nothing. This may have some merit but it's challenging to combat. I assume all I can do is keep up with the ATS and stick with these low nutrients but it does eventually take a toll on the system.

I've added some amino acid coral food stuff from AquaVitro that I won at RAP a while back to see if it might keep my corals fed while I try to beat out the algae but I'm curious how much of it just gets removed by the ~protein~ skimmer. I sense an N15 tagged heavy isotope analysis test in the works... If only I could allocate lab resources to my home aquarium!

I'll keep updating with the conditions of the tank and algae growth and let you all know what my phosphate reading is when the Hanna meter comes in next week. I suspect it will be low but not totally bottomed out but who knows.

 

[TripleTruble]

I enjoy some DIY projects a had made a waterfall one myself as well. Just waiting for it to kick in. I am getting the slim Algae currently. Here’s mine as of now for a set up.

 

[MicrobeMan]

I enjoy some DIY projects a had made a waterfall one myself as well. Just waiting for it to kick in. I am getting the slim Algae currently. Here’s mine as of now for a set up.

That looks so legit! Nice skimmer too ;). I gotta say that's some seriously dark skimate!! How big/ well stocked is your tank and how much do you feed? That ATS is gonna be an algae producing machine!

 

[Bryknicks]

Hey Guys,

So I went ahead and ordered the Hanna UL Phosphate kit. I've included a pic of my API test this morning but it's pretty useless. At least I know it's not crazy high though. I also tested nitrate with my NYOS kit and got a reading of 1 PPM (down from 5ppm 2 weeks ago). I'm slightly worried that I'm into dinos territory and I have a slight diatoms dusting on my sand bed.

In addition, an encrusting montipora I got a couple weeks ago is going pale. I've really never been any good at keeping encrusting montis but plating ones seem to do well with me so I'm not too worried but it is interesting.

What I also find interesting is that I'm still getting some hair algae growth in my display! It's far less than before but it's still going and I find that really surprising. The default is always that nutrients are "leeching out of your rocks" and algae are using them at the same rate they're leeching which is why you're testing nothing. This may have some merit but it's challenging to combat. I assume all I can do is keep up with the ATS and stick with these low nutrients but it does eventually take a toll on the system.

I've added some amino acid coral food stuff from AquaVitro that I won at RAP a while back to see if it might keep my corals fed while I try to beat out the algae but I'm curious how much of it just gets removed by the ~protein~ skimmer. I sense an N15 tagged heavy isotope analysis test in the works... If only I could allocate lab resources to my home aquarium!

I'll keep updating with the conditions of the tank and algae growth and let you all know what my phosphate reading is when the Hanna meter comes in next week. I suspect it will be low but not totally bottomed out but who knows.

The tank photo doesn't show the hair algae problem you speak of. Has the scrubber started to eliminate the growth of GHA in the display?

 

[TripleTruble]

That looks so legit! Nice skimmer too ;). I gotta say that's some seriously dark skimate!! How big/ well stocked is your tank and how much do you feed? That ATS is gonna be an algae producing machine!

The tank is a 54 gallon Corner BowFront. Quit a few coral frags at this point and a couple fish. I did feed a bit but now I cut down I added some cured dry rock to change my set up and got another algae bloom. Tank is 4 months old

 

[MicrobeMan]

The attached photos may better demonstrate the GHA in the tank. It's not awful by any means but that's also likely because I've been extremely diligent at manual removal (picking algae off and removing and a toothbrushing with a filter sock every few days). The rate of growth seems to have slowed but It's still going. About a week without removal and it beings to seriously encroach on coral colonies.

I'm curious to see if one day it just begins to die back or if I'll be stuck in this position while it slowly begins to stop growing for months. I know everything good takes time in a reef tank but at this point it's getting on a delicate battle between starving inhabitants (and potential dino bloom) and eliminating hair algae. I've tried to remove major rocks and scrub them clean but typically within a week they have new sprouts so the GHA is still able to grow. For one rock, I scrubbed and then bathed it in H2O2 for a while and now about 3 weeks later it's again fairly covered in GHA (although the coralline algae on it died off).

I'm almost hoping the Hanna PO4 checker reads high so I can use some GFO or turn the ATS into higher gear but I'm not sure of a contingency plan if its actually under control. I suspect this will be a battle of my patience rather than primarily a chemical/biological battle. Luckily, most of my inhabitants seem to be faring well so all is fine for the time being.

 

[MicrobeMan]

The tank is a 54 gallon Corner BowFront. Quit a few coral frags at this point and a couple fish. I did feed a bit but now I cut down I added some cured dry rock to change my set up and got another algae bloom. Tank is 4 months old

Sounds like a cool tank! I think with just about any addition to the tank, you have some potential for an algae bloom but hopefully your ATS helps. Mine has certainly made an impact but we'll see how it goes in the end. I've successfully beat out dinos and some cyano in this system a year or so ago so It's definitely possible to contain outbreaks but GHA has stuck with me!

I also think that outbreaks that come from a sudden addition are much easier to deal with than ones in your established tank. For me, this issue has likely been building for a year so I have a deep hole to dig myself out of whereas if its mostly tied to new rock, it can be easier to get under control. I wish you the best of luck and I'll keep updating on what works well for me.

 

[MicrobeMan]

Hi everyone! Quick update - I got in the Hanna checker for phosphate and it read 30 ppb or .03 ppm. This is challenging because my nitrates are between 1-3 ppm and my phosphate is .03 ppm. I'm exactly where I wanna be nutrient wise but I'm still having GHA actively growing! I feed maybe a cube every three weeks and this is a 60 gallon system.
This is likely one of those "rocks leeching" things since all of my live rock is at least ten years old but it's extremely challenging to remedy. I don't want to lower nutes and risk hurting my corals or getting dinos but I'd love to get rid of this algae.
I realize this thread has left the original purpose of being an ATS thread and has evolved into one of the many GHA eradication threads but at least it tracks my full journey. In the last few days I've fully removed a rock, scrubbed it thoroughly with a toothbrush and put it back in clean but I now have more GHA growing on it. It isn't growing at an insane rate but I'd like to be able to leave the tank for a week without algae growing so much it starts ticking off coral. I suppose my best bet now is to just let it run its course, keep up with the ATS and hope the rocks fully leech out but that seems like giving up. It's mysterious but we'll see. For now it seems like I'm in it for the long haul...
Any advice would be appreciated but unless I have an ATS related development or update, I'll leave this thread be.

 

[MicrobeMan]

Update: I'm such a fool! I completely missed that the Hanna Checker is phosphorus and not phosphate so my conversion was off! My actual level is .09 ppm phosphate! As my nitrate is still 3ppm, I'm going to resume my ATS in full force in an attempt to bring it down. If that fails, I'll tumble some GFO. I'm pleased to see there's a tangible reason for my GHA though! Something to target at least!

 

[cymonous]

You may want to try on/off/on/off with your Display Lights. Turn lights off for 3 days, back on schedule again for 3 days, off again for 3 days. But leave your ATS running. The GHA in your display will have less chance of competing with your ATS.

 

[MicrobeMan]

You may want to try on/off/on/off with your Display Lights. Turn lights off for 3 days, back on schedule again for 3 days, off again for 3 days. But leave your ATS running. The GHA in your display will have less chance of competing with your ATS.

I've been very tempted to do this for quite some time but I have a few sticks that I'm acclimating to my light and I don't wanna stress them too badly. Also, in some brief forum browsing I haven't seen an off/on cycle really make a massive long term difference as it seems like it always ends up growing back. I would love to hear success stories! I have a few areas where no matter how much I brush (even when removed and scrubbed) I still get algae growing back and I'm worried a three day blackout would upset everything in my tank more than it would help with the algae issue.

I added a small amount of GFO in the filter sock to try to bring down PO4 since nitrate is pretty low and tuning up the ATS could really bottom it out and in 24 hours the PO4 dropped from .09 to .06 ppm. Everything looks happy and that's not an insane drop so I'm alright with it. Of course it could be just a quick dip and it'll come back up. I'd like to see it consistently lower than .09 for a week.

I think I really might be on the tail end of this outbreak since I have faith that I can get phosphate under reasonable control. The algae is also growing noticeably slower than before. That being said, I think it'll be a drawn out finish to this battle since I'm rather unwilling to take any massive dramatic steps for fear of making anything in the tank unhappy. I doubt I'll check and one day it'll be gone but if it continues to grow progressively slowly, eventually it wont grow back.

Even so, I might be pulling my hair out in a few days trying to figure things out and decide just to black it all out for 72 hours...

 

[peterj66]

I had similar problems with hair algae that I decided to do something about a couple of months back. My solution was similar to yours. I built a waterfall ATS with homemade lights consisting of two 36W plant led spots. I keep them on a reverse light cycle at 16on/8off. Flow is produced by a 300gallon/hour pump soon to be replaced by a more powerful one. The screen is 10"x12". In combination with the ATS I did manual removal when algae came back and turned off all white light over my tank keeping the blue and violets on the same setting as before. This course of action led to a GHA free (almost) tank. Once I saw GHA receding I slowly turned the whites on over my tank again.

 

[MicrobeMan]

I had similar problems with hair algae that I decided to do something about a couple of months back. My solution was similar to yours. I built a waterfall ATS with homemade lights consisting of two 36W plant led spots. I keep them on a reverse light cycle at 16on/8off. Flow is produced by a 300gallon/hour pump soon to be replaced by a more powerful one. The screen is 10"x12". In combination with the ATS I did manual removal when algae came back and turned off all white light over my tank keeping the blue and violets on the same setting as before. This course of action led to a GHA free (almost) tank. Once I saw GHA receding I slowly turned the whites on over my tank again.

Nice! I think once my new acros get a little more settled in the tank, I might have to try this! I figure just blues is probably a safe bet for all the tank inhabitants. Did you notice it affecting your coralline algae growth at all though? I’m starting to see a huge growth spurt of coralline on my rocks and back glass and I quite like the idea of getting a coralline “biofilm” to outcompete nuisance algae. I’d be hesitant to delay that growth with adjusting the lighting but I might have to just try it.

 

[peterj66]

No, it was just a couple of weeks and I have more coralline algae growing now that the rocks are free of GHA. I had a really bad outbreak so they where covered in GHA. My LPS however prefer white light to be on.

 

[Devaji]

nice! I always love a good ATS build.
I have made a few space saving upflow one in the past even made a super nano one for the R2R secret Santa.
I am a big believer in them.

 

[MicrobeMan]

nice! I always love a good ATS build.
I have made a few space saving upflow one in the past even made a super nano one for the R2R secret Santa.
I am a big believer in them.

Thanks! It’s also good to see positive testimonials. They certainly make a lot of sense for nutrient export. It definitely takes some time to really get going but you wouldn’t want to go too quickly using things like vibrant or GFO/carbon either. I have certainly seen beneficial changes to nutrient levels and algae growth since installing it so I definitely have to advocate for them - I’m just getting a tad impatient now of course! I’ll reduce the photoperiod slightly once I get rid of this GHA outbreak but I do really think they’re a great tool for regular use and a perfect compliment to a protein skimmer, especially for a newer and slightly less balanced tank.