Cliff's 1&2 attempt at a algae scrubber

[Cermet]

Really fantastic - both the results and design. You know that the national aquarium in Washington, back in the seventies, they invented the worlds first algae scrubber and then used that device to create the worlds first fully stable and reproducing coral reef. Those things are amazing but I really like your hydroponics, too; growing live plants can only improve your water quality and really allow you to stock your tank. Really amazing that such a simple device can do so much...

[Cliff]

Thanks guys.

That's good pc of info Cerment. I really find it amazing when you think about how algae scrubbers (as they are currently used today) have only been around for ~40 years when macro was used as the main filtration back in 1846 when Anne Thynne maintained the first stable marine aquarium keeping a tank for around 3 years with corals. But I do find reading about the history behind this hobby very very interested. I'm a little bit of a nerd that way

[Cliff]

Looks like the scrubber is really truly seeded now with a good amount of algae. The below pic is only one weeks worth of growth and, as you can see, it is thick enough to block the light from the 30W CFL bulb jusr behind it.



One interesting observation is that it now looks like the scrubber is out competing the macro algae for nutrients. Over the past week, about 25% to 30% of the macro algae have died off. The only change that was made is that I have almost completely stopped feed frozen foods now, only feeding flakes. My guess would be this changed the exact make-up of the nitrates & phosphates being put into the water from feeding the fish and that allowed the scrubber algae to really grow and thrive.

Either way, nitrates and phosphates are still undetectable by my salfert test kits so I am still happy with the results. I have even been getting our SW LFS to verify my test results just to make sure there wasn’t a problem with my test kits or how I was using them