Santa Monica RAIN2 Algae Scrubber Follow Along

[Scrubber_steve]

@Scrubber_steve other than being a big cheerleader for ATS use, how would you help the OP with his DT nuisance algae issues? It seems with your scrubber experience that since it took you a mere 6 weeks to eradicate all nuisance algae in your DT, are you saying that the OP’s issues should disappear in the next three weeks by using his quick fix Rain2 ATS?

It almost seems like you’re going overboard preaching that an ATS is in fact a magic bullet cure... We all seem to be proponents of ATS use (I will be using a Turbo’s ATS on my build) but within reason coupled with responsible husbandry. What is your advice to the OP to help him through his current issues?

Why the sarcasm dog?
If you had read the posts I have made in this thread I stated that it took a few months for my screen to mature. After it had matured it took another six weeks for the nusiance algae to disappear. This is simply what happened. If you choose not to believe this I don't particularly care.

 

[Water Dog]

No sarcasm at all... maybe it’s just me, but a bunch of us are trying to help the OP understand that an ATS isn’t a magic bullet cure all and it takes time (for the screen to properly mature), but proper maintenece and husbandry in the meantime are still required.

Your posts on the other hand make it seem like an ATS is in fact a magic bullet cure all with no real advice for the OP and his underlying issues. Maybe I’m just cranky tonight, who knows...

 

[Scrubber_steve]

No sarcasm at all...

use a dictionary & look up the meaning of the word!

maybe it’s just me, but a bunch of us are trying to help the OP understand that an ATS isn’t a magic bullet cure all and it takes time (for the screen to properly mature), but proper maintenece and husbandry in the meantime are still required.

Also, look up the meaning of strawman!

Your posts on the other hand make it seem like an ATS is in fact a magic bullet cure all with no real advice for the OP and his underlying issues.

Provide the evidence

Maybe I’m just cranky tonight, who knows...

I know

 

[Water Dog]

@Reeftang a very effective option is to do a quick cure using lanthanum chloride in a separate Brute container. This is what I used to pull out PO4 from my Pukani in a Brute container. Took about a week.

https://www.amazon.com/SeaKlear-902...8-2-spons&keywords=Sea+Klear+commercial&psc=1

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Any way we can see some pictures to see how bad it is.

Yeh, I'm quite interested myself now.

 

[Water Dog]

@Scrubber_steve whatever dude, if you’d like to go back n forth, feel free to PM me. To everyone else, my apologies for derailing this thread.

I’m gonna continue to try to help the OP.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

@Scrubber_steve whatever dude, if you’d like to go back n forth, feel free to PM me. To everyone else, my apologies for derailing this thread.

I’m gonna continue to try to help the OP.

Yes, ok, apology accepted dog. Have a lay down now, you might be a bit over worked & angry, & looking to start fights with a straw man.

 

[Meat locker]

My apologies too for the derailment too.

 

[Water Dog]

 

[Reeftang]

Uncured Pukani is tough stuff. I actually have 40# of it curing in a Brute can for over a year cuz my build is taking waaaay longer than anticipated. How much coral do you have attached to the rock currently?

I dont have much coral right now thats why im thinking about it because a friend of mind told me he had the same rock and he acid dipped an bleached it and never had an issue.

Hare are some pics of how bad it is.

 

[ca1ore]

Based on the available recommendations I aim for 1W to 1.54Watts per 4 square inches of screen, per side. That's for red 660nm LEDs - 2.2V @ 700mA = 1.54W. I imagine that the higher figure is nearing photosaturation.

I'm not even close to that at this point, 22x18/4 = 99. Growstar is 65 watts, nominally. Seems sufficient - time will tell.

 

[JDtimk]

You can recover from this situation, no doubt in my mind. You should look at a time frame of two months to rebalance your system if you do the following:

1. Get a container that is large enough to hold all your DT rock temporarily.
2. Prepare enough salt water to replace all the DT volume.
3. Fill the temporary container with DT water and put the rock in with heat and circulation.
4. As you remove each rock to the temporary container scrub the algae off the best you can. Just get the big chunks, don't go crazy.
5. After all the rock is transferred over to the temporary container, vacuum out any detritus from the DT and sump if you can find it. If you have a shallow sand bed, just vacuum it all to remove detritus.
6. Make sure you are running a filter sock before you refill the tank.
7. Thoroughly rinse the rock in the temporary container with the water in that container before returning it to the DT. If the water in the temporary container is real dirty try to run a temporary mechanical filtration in the container to reduce the amount of detritus in the water column as you are rinsing the rocks.
8. After you rinse the rocks and return them to the DT, fill the DT with new saltwater.
9. Get an appropriately sized CUC to manage your GHA as it regrows while you're rebalancing your nutrient level.
10. Perform weekly large water changes until you reach your target nutrient levels.
11. Adjust your ATS and your feeding to maintain those nutrient levels going forward.

 

[Reeftang]

You can recover from this situation, no doubt in my mind. You should look at a time frame of two months to rebalance your system if you do the following:

1. Get a container that is large enough to hold all your DT rock temporarily.
2. Prepare enough salt water to replace all the DT volume.
3. Fill the temporary container with DT water and put the rock in with heat and circulation.
4. As you remove each rock to the temporary container scrub the algae off the best you can. Just get the big chunks, don't go crazy.
5. After all the rock is transferred over to the temporary container, vacuum out any detritus from the DT and sump if you can find it. If you have a shallow sand bed, just vacuum it all to remove detritus.
6. Make sure you are running a filter sock before you refill the tank.
7. Thoroughly rinse the rock in the temporary container with the water in that container before returning it to the DT. If the water in the temporary container is real dirty try to run a temporary mechanical filtration in the container to reduce the amount of detritus in the water column as you are rinsing the rocks.
8. After you rinse the rocks and return them to the DT, fill the DT with new saltwater.
9. Get an appropriately sized CUC to manage your GHA as it regrows while you're rebalancing your nutrient level.
10. Perform weekly large water changes until you reach your target nutrient levels.
11. Adjust your ATS and your feeding to maintain those nutrient levels going forward.

Thanks for the advice, but honestly i did something similar even a step farther (i used hydrogen peroxide) a short while ago, and it all came back. i think my friend might be right that my rock is leaching p04.

I think at this point im just going to wait until my scrubber is matured as i dont mind having the nutrients right now for the scrubber, and then take care of my rock.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I'm not even close to that at this point, 22x18/4 = 99. Growstar is 65 watts, nominally. Seems sufficient - time will tell.

It will still grow algae of course. Greater intensity, up to a point, will increase the rate of photosynthesis. At a lower intensity the photoperiod will need to be longer.
You may know this, but for the benifit of anyone else interested, the light intensity recommended for a mature screen is different to the intensity needed to self seed a virgin screen. For self seeding, the intensity needs to be much lower or photo-inhibition will occur & prevent algae from establishing on the screen, or at least the area of screen with the highest intensity.

eg

 

[Scrubber_steve]

To describe an algae scrubber as a "magic bullet" is a misnomer, & I cannot recall anyone ever suggesting this is the case.
A properly designed & sized algae scrubber will simply compete against display tank nusience algae by creating the perfect environment for algae to grow in & take up the necessary elements that algae require. In many cases, such as mine, nusience algae will completely disappear, & be replaced by the prolific growth of coralline algae instead. No doubt at all that my scrubber was both directly & indirectly responsible for this.
A scrubber is essientially just a very effective inorganic nutrient export method that also removes the carbon atom from CO2 leaving O2, helping to maintain higher pH levels, especially when run opposite display lighting. Nothing necessarilly "magic" about that.

 

[Reeftang]

It will still grow algae of course. Greater intensity, up to a point, will increase the rate of photosynthesis. At a lower intensity the photoperiod will need to be longer.
You may know this, but for the benifit of anyone else interested, the light intensity recommended for a mature screen is different to the intensity needed to self seed a virgin screen. For self seeding, the intensity needs to be much lower or photo-inhibition will occur & prevent algae from establishing on the screen, or at least the area of screen with the highest intensity.

eg

wow that algae looks different. Did you seed it?

 

[Scrubber_steve]

wow that algae looks different. Did you seed it?

No. It obviously had to be in my tank to self seed, but I had never seen it growing anywhere. It was not one of the nusience algaes I spoke of.
Its just a species of Ulva, though I'm not sure exactly which species.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

@Reeftang, this is the proliferation of coralline I spoke about, on my bare bottom

 

[Reeftang]

No. It obviously had to be in my tank to self seed, but I had never seen it growing anywhere. It was not one of the nusience algaes I spoke of.
Its just a species of Ulva, though I'm not sure exactly which species.

you seeded the screen with Ulva?

 

[Scrubber_steve]

you seeded the screen with Ulva?

No, it self seeded.