My Algae Scrubber Experience

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Money pit

You might find it a good idea to stop the GFO until the niyrates come down. Just thinking it could become a limiting factor.

im going to leave the gfo for now i mean after a couple weeks if im not getting any results then i have the option to haul the gfo and see if its the cause but right now im just curious if it will show me results for nitrate(which i have no doubt it wont) if they are dropping as the mesh ages then ill feel a bit better about pulling the gfo.

so i tested tonight and my nitrates are around 40ppm (high) besides the scrubber im only running a fuge for nitrates its a good size fuge so we will see if the ats is more aggressive than my fuge.my nitrates have been from off the chart from the move(was expected as i kept everything the way it was and did a fast move)that was about three mths ago i got them down to 40ppm pretty quick and thats where we sit at most times.

[ALang]

Denny, that light fixture...you got that at HD??
Nice fisherman's knot, btw.

[Delphinus]

Heh, awesome. I like how you've done that. Are you basically pumping up the pipe and back down again and letting it spill into the T where the mesh is hung?

[pterfloth]

I recommend that the lights get some kind of protection against splashing water. As the algae growth builds up rivulets of water get diverted off the mesh and could splash on the lights causing a serious hazard. I have my mesh in an acrylic box to contain this. Hanging clear plastic between the mesh and the light would work as well.

I'm very happy with my results and I'm looking forward to other's success as well, but I don't want anyone to have a fire, blow a breaker, etc.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by pterfloth

I recommend that the lights get some kind of protection against splashing water. As the algae growth builds up rivulets of water get diverted off the mesh and could splash on the lights causing a serious hazard. I have my mesh in an acrylic box to contain this. Hanging clear plastic between the mesh and the light would work as well.

I'm very happy with my results and I'm looking forward to other's success as well, but I don't want anyone to have a fire, blow a breaker, etc.

thats a good idea actually,im gonna rig up some sort of barrior between them

[ALang]

Nice work, Denny.
I'm wondering if the little single LED desk lamp will have enough light/spectrum for algae growth.

I have one here from IKEA. It has a bendable stem/neck to swivel to wherever you want, and it is not bulky. If it can grow algae, then it may bear looking into, if people have issues with space for two bulky lamp fixtures.

I am hoping to see some great results from all of you.
So that I can hop on board as well.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Heh, awesome. I like how you've done that. Are you basically pumping up the pipe and back down again and letting it spill into the T where the mesh is hung?

the mesh gets all the flow from the maxijet the "t" just goes back down for support, i could have done a 90 there but then i would have to support it up somehow, the other end is capped off. i kinda had to do it like this as im limited for room and my sump sits flush with the outside of my stand so with the skirting slid on it would stick out.right before my bubble trap is where the mesh sits.

Originally Posted by reefwars

[reefwars]

so i took this pic yesterday this would have been day 3

[reefwars]

brown algae is now covering up the mesh i imagine in a few days ill be ready to clean it a bit and it should grow back even faster

[Edmonton newbie]

once a week denny thats it as long as you have 1 square inch per gal double sided