IceCap Algae Scrubber Light Mod
- Thread starter Aquachristik
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Mine was relatively loud from water dripping off the screen and splashing in the bottom of the chamber. I put a small sheet of filter floss on the bottom (below the screen) and now it is essentially silent.
I don’t really have any growth yet, but mine has only been running a couple weeks on a brand new tank started with dry rock. Only life in the tank is pods.
VintageReefer
2500 Club Member
Surf 4 is a excellent unit. It’s the bigger version of what I run. These are completely silent and have no plumbing needed and no risk of leaking or overflowing outside your tank and there is zero light spill. I think surf 4 requires air pump - I can provide good compatible models if you need
If you have room for the surf 4 to float I would definitely recommend it
cdnco2004
Well-Known Member
My tanks are loud so used to the noise. My 220G has an open stand (need to finish it someday) and the Skimmer is a BEAST for my heavy bio load. That thing makes so much slurping noise from the air intake on the OV pump.
I really like these Surfs. I am going to get one I just can't decide if I want the 4x or not. Then a little down the road I will add a second unit.
Devaji
5000 Club Member
can you explain to us why you like the SM surf over other ATS?
have you tried others? if so what did you not like about them?
I am not sure I like the sound of the air pump with the upflow ATS. something about that noise get me.
I have rando Ebay one but thinking I either want a icecap or the surf. both have know over safty features over other brands.
anyway I know you're a huge fan of the surf ,so I though I would here you out.
cdnco2004
Well-Known Member
I watched youtube videos of this unit in a reef pond just floating on the surface of the stock tank. There was no noise from the unit at all until they lifted the lid off the Surf, then you could hear the air bubbles. As soon as they put it back on, you could not hear anything.can you explain to us why you like the SM surf over other ATS?
have you tried others? if so what did you not like about them?
I am not sure I like the sound of the air pump with the upflow ATS. something about that noise get me.
I have rando Ebay one but thinking I either want a icecap or the surf. both have know over safty features over other brands.
anyway I know you're a huge fan of the surf ,so I though I would here you out.
I have been talking to the people at Sata Monica about my tanks and they recommend I start with the HOG 3xx and then add in a Surf4x a little down the road after my neut levels drop.
I am going to try some of the smaller HOGs for my 2 75g tanks and maybe my 2 40s.
VintageReefer
2500 Club Member
I will gladly give my honest feedback on the surf and why I recommend not only the surf line of products, but also SMcan you explain to us why you like the SM surf over other ATS?
have you tried others? if so what did you not like about them?
I am not sure I like the sound of the air pump with the upflow ATS. something about that noise get me.
I have rando Ebay one but thinking I either want a icecap or the surf. both have know over safty features over other brands.
anyway I know you're a huge fan of the surf ,so I though I would here you out.
Convenience/ease of installation: it requires no plumbing work or connections, fits in any sump that has surface area to let it float. A completely new person could take It out of the box and install it in 3 minutes on any system.
I would argue it takes up zero space in my sump refugium chamber, and cabinet, as it floats on the surface and the space below it is still free. Below my surf I have several 3-5” pieces of live rock sitting on top of a 3” sand bed. I use the space under and around my surf as a cryptic refugium zone. Still has pods and feather things and worms and a gorilla crab, and with no light there is no algae or cleaning needed
flexibility - just as easy as it is to install, I can quickly remove it and transfer to another tank whenever needed. If the other tank doesn’t have a sump, I could float it on the surface. Not pretty, but equally effective.
safety - no connections or fittings to risk leaking, no chance of something getting clogged and flooding
noise - it’s silent as long as the lid is on, no waterfall sounds or splashing sounds. It’s silent
Clean - no salt creep as it’s all self contained and there is no splashing
Light spill - there is no light spill
Higher performance from smaller space/footprint - it will grow algae up to 2” thick which is far thicker than a vertical surface will grow. This allows more algae in a smaller area because it essentially is 3d growth vs 2d. For me to get equal filtration performance from a waterfall, I would need a larger unit.
ease of harvesting - no screens to remove and scrape - open the lid, grab a handful, throw it out. My harvests from start to finish are 5 seconds every 10-14 days.
Stability - if you had a power outage, let’s say extended outage. More than a few hours. The algae on the screen of a waterfall style would start to dry out, and depending on the length of the outage, your algae could die off. With the surf, even in an prolonged outage, the algae remains underwater and would stay moist and alive
Non proprietary design - if the led lid ever dies you can simply purchase a new SM led lid by itself and not need a whole new scrubber, or you could run it without a lid and use a grow light of your choice mounted above it. No need to find any special parts to retrofit or squeeze in
Company Reputation Knowledge and support - I can not tell you how much 1-1 free support and training was provided to me over the years from SM. They will look at pictures you send them and give you a custom plan with reactive feedback to help you get good growth and achieve your goals. These guys have numerous patents, thousands of hours of research and experiments, invented their own scrubbers, invented and perfected the upflow design, and have tons of experience. They know how to support their product.
Durability and quality - I bought this exact surf September 2013 and its been running daily ever since. In July 2023 I had a bad storm and afterwards my leds would not work. My power supply blew out from a power surge. The power supply cord was silicone sealed directly to the internals of the lid. I contacted SM stating I’m far out of warranty and asked what to do. He told me they updated the surf design years ago to have a typical pigtail connection so the power supply can be replaced individually but I must have an earlier model that was before the change. He thanked me for being an early supporter and sold me a brand new replacement led lid for 50% discount, of the newer style, and threw in the matching power brick for free.
Let me say that again. 9 years past warranty expiration - free power supply and 50% off a new upgraded LED lid. For a failure from a storms power surge. Let’s see Ice Cap match that…
Finally - simply put - it works. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do, and it does it easily and consistently. It’s easy to install, it grows algae like a champ, it’s easy to harvest, it’s well designed and it’s a relief to buy a product that actually does what it’s supposed to do, every day, for a decade or more.
Others may hit some of these boxes but not all of them!
Pictures attached of no light spill with lid shut, lid opened, and two harvests that were around 10 days apart
Devaji
5000 Club Member
Hey thanks for the detailed response. It made the list and I am looking into in now. I wanted to do a cryptic area in the fuge section and was planning the ATS to be in the skimmer chamber and with it. but this could work.I will gladly give my honest feedback on the surf and why I recommend not only the surf line of products, but also SM
Convenience/ease of installation: it requires no plumbing work or connections, fits in any sump that has surface area to let it float. A completely new person could take It out of the box and install it in 3 minutes on any system.
I would argue it takes up zero space in my sump refugium chamber, and cabinet, as it floats on the surface and the space below it is still free. Below my surf I have several 3-5” pieces of live rock sitting on top of a 3” sand bed. I use the space under and around my surf as a cryptic refugium zone. Still has pods and feather things and worms and a gorilla crab, and with no light there is no algae or cleaning needed
flexibility - just as easy as it is to install, I can quickly remove it and transfer to another tank whenever needed. If the other tank doesn’t have a sump, I could float it on the surface. Not pretty, but equally effective.
safety - no connections or fittings to risk leaking, no chance of something getting clogged and flooding
noise - it’s silent as long as the lid is on, no waterfall sounds or splashing sounds. It’s silent
Clean - no salt creep as it’s all self contained and there is no splashing
Light spill - there is no light spill
Higher performance from smaller space/footprint - it will grow algae up to 2” thick which is far thicker than a vertical surface will grow. This allows more algae in a smaller area because it essentially is 3d growth vs 2d. For me to get equal filtration performance from a waterfall, I would need a larger unit.
ease of harvesting - no screens to remove and scrape - open the lid, grab a handful, throw it out. My harvests from start to finish are 5 seconds every 10-14 days.
Stability - if you had a power outage, let’s say extended outage. More than a few hours. The algae on the screen of a waterfall style would start to dry out, and depending on the length of the outage, your algae could die off. With the surf, even in an prolonged outage, the algae remains underwater and would stay moist and alive
Non proprietary design - if the led lid ever dies you can simply purchase a new SM led lid by itself and not need a whole new scrubber, or you could run it without a lid and use a grow light of your choice mounted above it. No need to find any special parts to retrofit or squeeze in
Company Reputation Knowledge and support - I can not tell you how much 1-1 free support and training was provided to me over the years from SM. They will look at pictures you send them and give you a custom plan with reactive feedback to help you get good growth and achieve your goals. These guys have numerous patents, thousands of hours of research and experiments, invented their own scrubbers, invented and perfected the upflow design, and have tons of experience. They know how to support their product.
Durability and quality - I bought this exact surf September 2013 and its been running daily ever since. In July 2023 I had a bad storm and afterwards my leds would not work. My power supply blew out from a power surge. The power supply cord was silicone sealed directly to the internals of the lid. I contacted SM stating I’m far out of warranty and asked what to do. He told me they updated the surf design years ago to have a typical pigtail connection so the power supply can be replaced individually but I must have an earlier model that was before the change. He thanked me for being an early supporter and sold me a brand new replacement led lid for 50% discount, of the newer style, and threw in the matching power brick for free.
Let me say that again. 9 years past warranty expiration - free power supply and 50% off a new upgraded LED lid. For a failure from a storms power surge. Let’s see Ice Cap match that…
Finally - simply put - it works. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do, and it does it easily and consistently. It’s easy to install, it grows algae like a champ, it’s easy to harvest, it’s well designed and it’s a relief to buy a product that actually does what it’s supposed to do, every day, for a decade or more.
Others may hit some of these boxes but not all of them!
Pictures attached of no light spill with lid shut, lid opened, and two harvests that were around 10 days apart
thanks again.
oh what air pump are you using? noise level?
VintageReefer
2500 Club Member
I have been through many air pumps. There are two I like
The OG pump that SM reccomended for the surf was the Fusion 700. I had it. Worked great. It eventually died after many years and looks like the company went out of business.
My current one is a oxymax 200, they also are branded under eheim but are exactly the same. But the eheim branding is 10$ more.
OxyMax 200 Air Pump - Oase
Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.
www.saltwateraquarium.com
Air Pump 200 Silent (200L/H) - Eheim
Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.
www.saltwateraquarium.com
I’d recommend any of these. Nearly silent
My skimmer area is more live rock packed in
Fuge section is scrubber and cryptic zone
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