Input on Algae Scrubber Wanted

[Science/G]

So I have a Drop .6 Algae Scrubber I am going to try out. Nitrate reduction, pH buffering and competition for algae in my display are my desired outcomes. My question is, what algae should I grow? I have chaeto in my classroom reef sump, and some turf and bubble algae in the display of the reef where I will be setting up the scrubber. I read here once that chaeto has more of an impact on N03 than other macros, but my thought is, to beat the display algae with the same stuff in my scrubber. P04 is actually low .03 with carbon dosing but N03 is stuck around 20. I am looking for 10-15 ppm. I feed flakes, mysis and reef roids. I am just looking for just a little impact on N03 here and will probably run the scrubber 8 hours opposite of my light cycle, and increase feeding to achieve my desired numbers.

Thanks in advance,
Frank

 

[Dragen Fiend]

I was actually looking at the drop .6 scrubber. Looked really interest but opted for a 3d printed simple drop-in refugium instead.

Chaeto won't work well with algae scrubbers. You want something that will stick to the sides. Hair algae is probably the best.

You may have to experiment with it. From most videos discussing it. They scrape some algae off from the DT and place it in the scrubber.

 

[UMALUM]

Personally I wouldn't seed it at all as it's gonna grow what it wants. If that makes sense? Mine took about 3 weeks and grows a funky turf like hair. Funny thing is I bought mine for nitrate reduction and it cut my phosphate in half so maybe keep an eye on that. As for nitrate it seems to hold it steady but I didnt see a big drop so I did that manually to get it where I wanted. Now between the skimmer and scrubber things seem to stay somewhat balanced. If you feel your nitrate is stuck consider raising your phosphate temporarily until you hit your number.

 

[Science/G]

Personally I wouldn't seed it at all as it's gonna grow what it wants. If that makes sense? Mine took about 3 weeks and grows a funky turf like hair. Funny thing is I bought mine for nitrate reduction and it cut my phosphate in half so maybe keep an eye on that. As for nitrate it seems to hold it steady but I didnt see a big drop so I did that manually to get it where I wanted. Now between the skimmer and scrubber things seem to stay somewhat balanced. If you feel your nitrate is stuck consider raising your phosphate temporarily until you hit your number.

My thought exactly. I may start dosing P04. Daily reef roids isn't cutting it

 

[BryanM]

My thought exactly. I may start dosing P04. Daily reef roids isn't cutting it

I am battling dinos again, and I'm sure its due to not paying attention to phos after I got my ATS running.

I am now dosing phos and will continue to do so until I find some sort of balance.

#hatedinos

 

[VintageReefer]

You typically can’t seed a scrubber. It will grow algae from spores the the water that are appropriate to the environment in the scrubber.


I even tried taking turf algae from a scrubber on one tank to seed a new scrubber on a different tank. Took a handful and moved it over. In a few days all the algae i moved over was gone.

I asked Santa Monica and they told me this rarely works and the scrubber has to establish and grow its own algae.

 

[Science/G]

The chaeto that I added to the Drop .6 scrubber is growing. It really hasn't made a dent in my nitrates yet, but it just started going. I'm optimistic. I may increase the light cycle a bit. I'm dosing phosphates now so I hope that will positively impact the processing of my nitrates.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

You typically can’t seed a scrubber. It will grow algae from spores the the water that are appropriate to the environment in the scrubber.


I even tried taking turf algae from a scrubber on one tank to seed a new scrubber on a different tank. Took a handful and moved it over. In a few days all the algae i moved over was gone.

I asked Santa Monica and they told me this rarely works and the scrubber has to establish and grow its own algae.

I made a scrubber for my classroom reef by taking some plastic pegboard and putting it at a ~30 degree angle and then I have a line running a small amount of water over it. I had a few different types of turf algae (never put it under the scope so never keyed it out) that I then super-glued to the plastic.

It’s only been a few weeks, but it has stayed intact and in place, and has increased volume with some small new patches showing up.