What do you expect out of an algae scrubber and what difference has it made?

[revhtree]

Well after many years of seeing people use, make and talk about algae scrubbers I have decided to throw my hat into the scrubber ring and purchase one of my own! Lately I have seen an uptick in hair "like" algae in my frag tank and some short haired type algae in my main tank. They are both plumbed together. I want to be more careful with the steps I take to eliminate the algae due to the many acro frags I have in the tank now, so I decided on an algae scrubber and more of a natural approach. I needed a big one for my 450g or so system so I talked with Josh over at Clear Water Scrubbers and he suggested a CW-300. So I should have it this week.

So hopefully this will be a good discussion to learn about scrubbers and what to expect from them. I have questions for those who run scrubbers and those who do not run scrubbers.

1. For those of you who run algae scrubbers what difference has a scrubber made on your reef tank and does it meet expectations?

2. For those who have never ran a scrubber, that may be thinking about one, what do you expect to accomplish by running one.

3. What should we NOT expect to happen from running a scrubber?

Also found this video from @Afishionado where Josh talks about scrubbers and shares some great info.

 

[Kevan Sharp]

I have researched Algae scrubbers but have not decided to take the plunge since I am also considering dosing systems.. .that being said, I have a continual problem with cyanobacteria algae. I have had 3 'invasions' this year and am wondering if an algae scrubber would do the trick. I have been dosing with Dr. Tims, as per instructions, but it takes 3 weeks to get it to go away and some of my LPS are stressed when I am dosing.

 

[revhtree]

I have had 3 'invasions' this year and am wondering if an algae scrubber would do the trick.

Good question and one I would like to know the answer to! Anyone?

 

[MrWheelock]

Im considering an algae scrubber for similar reasons as you, I've seen some hair growth in my display despite having a two bar rabbit fish, a yellow eyed kole and a yellow tang. My cheato refugium just isnt cutting it, and I'd rather not have to test and dose for more stuff just to keep cheato growing. Hair algae has made my refugium a mess, granted it and the cheato are great places for pods, I'd rather not have to clean it from anywhere other than a algae scrubber.

Regards

 

[Brew12]

I will be getting one soon to replace my refugium. I want the space savings in the sump.

 

[AquAttila]

I had purchased the clearwater scrubber and so far it has done nothing in reducing phosphates in my system. I am getting very disappointed in buying expensive equipment, yet, no results! I will say this thing is growing algae, but no reduction in my phosphates at all. I am at about 1.0 and just gave something else a try "PhosBan-L" which is actually reducing and plan on dosing this daily at very small portion of course.

 

[c.poindexter]

I would expect it to do what it says and scrub algae off my rocks. LOL
Really just to out compete the algae potential in the tank.

 

[Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers]

You should be able to feed more and hence see more growth from your corals. It will keep your PO4 and NO3 at lower levels due to the fact that GHA is a simple algae and is much more efficient at nutrient uptake. You will see a reduction in maintenance of your glass cleaning and reduced skimmate in the cup. And an overall healthier tank because this is exactly how nature does it. You will see a slight rise in the PH and depending on length of light cycle, a more stable PH.

What you shouldn't expect are overnight results. This will take some time to fix the issues in your tank. It took time for those issues to pop up and it will take time for the scrubber to return them to normal. You will need to dose trace elements overtime. The algae consumes more than iron to grow. So along with the corals using them, the algae will too.

 

[Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers]

I had purchased the clearwater scrubber and so far it has done nothing in reducing phosphates in my system. I am getting very disappointed in buying expensive equipment, yet, no results! I will say this thing is growing algae, but no reduction in my phosphates at all. I am at about 1.0 and just gave something else a try "PhosBan-L" which is actually reducing and plan on dosing this daily at very small portion of course.

Have you checked your food to see if there are phosphates in it? How long did your system run with high phosphates? Rock loves to absorb the PO4 so it may be leaching from the rock. If the scrubber is growing, it is removing them but it's not an overnight fix. You can email us at [email protected] or send a pm thru here and we can help you get it dialed in correctly. But again, it took time for your tank to have these issues, it's going to take time for the scrubber to fix them.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I just added a DIY scrubber to my system, but it won't actually get used for another month or more, so I don't know yet what effect it will have. If it performs I will buy or make a much better and more permanent one.

 

[RJ Murphy]

Just ordered a Tunze Macro Reactor, I'm hoping it will help with the Cyano, red Slime I had in my old tank, and prevent an outbreak in my upgrade.

 

[ThunderGoose]

How about I tried one but I was disappointed? I switched to a refugium and I've been very happy with it.

 

[Pny]

I tried run a DIY algae scrubber on one tank for a while, but it didnt grow much algae. I now run an algae reactor instead (which i also had some difficulties getting started until i started dosing some trace elements, so that was probably the problem for the ats too).

 

[Brew12]

It will keep your PO4 and NO3 at lower levels due to the fact that GHA is a simple algae and is much more efficient at nutrient uptake.

If I may add to this, GHA will use NO3 and PO4 in a relatively fixed ratio. If the food being adding has a higher ratio of PO4 to NO3 than GHA uses to grow, a supplemental method of reducing PO4 or an additional source of NO3 needs to be used to regain balance.
I suspect other types of algae may grow on an ATS to favor higher PO4 consuming algae but its effectiveness will still be limited.
ATS's are a great tool for removing nutrients but not a silver bullet that balances nutrients.

 

[Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers]

I have researched Algae scrubbers but have not decided to take the plunge since I am also considering dosing systems.. .that being said, I have a continual problem with cyanobacteria algae. I have had 3 'invasions' this year and am wondering if an algae scrubber would do the trick. I have been dosing with Dr. Tims, as per instructions, but it takes 3 weeks to get it to go away and some of my LPS are stressed when I am dosing.

The scrubber won't stop Cyano. Cyano is a bacteria. It usually thrives in clean water environments, as we have seen when customers are running a scrubber and it strips the water clean, they get an outbreak. It can be caused in dead zones, that's where the flow myth comes in, as food can mold in your tank and cause it. I would check to see if that is the case and make sure all food is eaten in the tank.

I just fixed a bad issue of it in my tank with some chemiclean but I didn't clean the powerheads so it might be coming back. Bad case of LAR on my part.

 

[blue.flyzz]

I followed King of DIY instructions, cost around $35 for entire setup, running 4 years, eliminated my GHA.

 

[Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers]

If I may add to this, GHA will use NO3 and PO4 in a relatively fixed ratio. If the food being adding has a higher ratio of PO4 to NO3 than GHA uses to grow, a supplemental method of reducing PO4 or an additional source of NO3 needs to be used to regain balance.
I suspect other types of algae may grow on an ATS to favor higher PO4 consuming algae but its effectiveness will still be limited.
ATS's are a great tool for removing nutrients but not a silver bullet that balances nutrients.

They actually use more PO4 to grow than NO3. What most hobbyists don't realize is that most pellet and flake foods have a source of PO4 in them. It's how they get the pellets to stay together and also it creates a feeding response from the fish and corals. So while it might not be the silver bullet to balance nutrients, you won't find a better natural way of removing them.

 

[MnFish1]

I choose 'Yes - but not meeting expectations'- but If the choice were available I would've said 'No,I stopped using it because it didnt meet expectations'

 

[Billldg]

I have thought about it because they only thing I seem to be able to grow in my refugium successfully is GHA. Though it may remove N03 and P04, I am getting tired of having to clean GHA off of my skimmer and return pump.

 

[lapin]

I dont run one of those fancy new fangled ones. I dont know if this counts....
What I do have is egg create covered with clear screen, like you would use for a tank cover. It is clamped to my coast to coast overflow keeping small critters out of the overflow box. That box is 12x12x48. It has its own light for macro and frags. The screen grows a good crop of algae that gets hosed off every 2 to 3 weeks.