Cliff's 1&2 attempt at a algae scrubber

[Rue]

Batteries are available here
http://www.batterybob.com/category.asp?cat=9018

Woohoo! And they have some in stock...

I'll get the batteries...er, after we have a ship...

[Cliff]

I got a lot more growth in the first week than I thought would be possible. There is some cyano in the sump as well, but as long as it stays out of the main tank, I'm OK with that.

There was just enough algae for my first screen cleaning.

When I tested my nitrates and phosphates, both did not even register on my test kits. I took a water sample to our SW LFS today and they confirmed those test results.

The scrubber is working a lot better than I expected.

[jeffs99dime]

That is very cool.

[Strider199]

How is the noise coming from your scrubber Cliff? Every thing I'm reading about salt water set-ups seems to have water free falling which I take it makes some noise. I plan on having my s/w set-up in the living room and am just wondering about the noise factor.

[Cliff]

I don't get any noise

If you look at the pics, the bottom of the screen is about 4 inches below the water line in the sump. No additional noise as far as I can tell.

[Strider199]

Thanks for the quick reply. I like the fact that your also keeping the dB's down in your set-up. I've been reading up on s/w set-ups so much lately it's like overload to the brain. My goal is to do it right the first time.


Your links are very informative and the other members posts are making me feel more comfortable with my decision to go s/w.

Keep the info and ideas coming.

[Cliff]

Strider, from what I have found, there are three things that cause avoidable noise in a sumped set-up
1) a duriso stand pipe incorrectly set-up. Do it right and you have almost no sounds
2) a cheap return pump. You will have to spend a little extra to get a really good quality one that makes the least amount of noise
3) big hight differences between compartments in your sump. If there is a hight difference of more than 1 or 3 inches, you will hear the water falling. A filter sock in the compartment where the water enters the sump will get rid of a lot of noise as well

I hope this helps

[Strider199]

"A cheap return pump". Ok, darn, I'll have to upgrade my choice. Thanks Cliff.

[Cliff]

After a little more than a month with the scrubber running and I have seen a little more grow on the scrubber, but not as much as I was expecting. For the past three weeks or so, nitrates and phosphates remain undetectable by my test kits which I had the SW LFS confirm was well. The below pic was taken after I removed the light fixtures.



Right now, the tanks is only lightly stocked, but I do have a tendancy to overfeed a little. I do have about 250 lbs of good quality live rock in this system. I also have a skimmer on this tank that is rated for less than the total water volume of the set-up. Intersting to note, the skimmer is pulling less out of the water than before, but my macro algae (caulerpa. C. crassifoliait) is growing very fast. It looks like the macro algae is out competeing the algae on the scrubber for nutreiants.



Either way, I'm enjoying the fact that I have a 6 foot tank being kept clean by 16 asteria snails and a conch snail. It also looks like I will be postioned well to add more fish and corals latter on as the tank matures. Looks like I have a pretty good balance of different filtration types for this set-up.

[glarior]

Look like its working well!