anyone use an algae scrubber? (not magfloats)

[toytech]

Ive looked into the whole scrubber thing , and by the time i gathered all my supplies and mocked it up it just took up way too much space . I think a sump with a fuge and macro can do just as well if not better . Not to say that the scrubber wont work , and wont work well , the principals are all there and correct its just size, setup, and maintenance that seams to be a pain in the butt.

[MarkoD]

cant you do the same thing with a refugium?

my refugium grows crazy amounts of algae on the glass, and only clean the DT glass every 3-4 days

and i clean the inside of the refugium once a month

[Cade]

I have one set up on my system, I dont have any nitrate issues or algae problems.
My turf is growing like crazy! I have definitely noticed that I dont have to clean the glass as often. It has also given me some confidence to feed my fishies a little more.
I haven't had any large refugiums in the past so I cant really compare. I can only say that I'm happy and dont have any signs of unwanted algae growing in my system accept for in the scrubber.

[monocus]

i installed mine a few days ago and my nitrates fell from 90 ppb to 69 ppb and my phosphates from .2 ppm to .16 ppm.i've always had high nitrates and phosphates to feed my carnations and probably from my eels-but in about 4 days a good drop in my readings using hanna checkers.i didn't have a lot of room in my sump area so i made a 12x 18x4 "tank" with a bulkhead drain to flow back into my sump;that sits on top of my sump.i already had to use a pump to pump back water for my protean skimmer so i plumbed it into that-no problems.i only have 1 light shining on the 12x18 screen right now as i'm waiting on a driver for the leds i built for it(as i said i don't have a lot of room).the light i,m using right now is a compact florescent in a trouble light housing.i want to compare algae growth between the two sides and go from there on what lighting to permanently use

[dwerbs87]

I set up a new tank and tried setting it up with an algae scrubber from day one. I had the skimmer on for the first month. After all of my readings were 0 I unplugged the skimmer and haven't looked back. I have very little algae growing in the tank, and TONNES growing on my scrubber. Everything is undetectable, on multiple test kits and my pod population is through the roof.

[Nano]

reefwars just installed one a few weeks ago maybe he might jump in