bbyatv September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 (edited) After getting involved in this thread, http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...pid=216456& I decided to try a turf scrubber in my refugium. The main source of the idea came from here: http://www.reefland.com/forum/tanks-filtra...everything.html I added a screen as shown in the pics below. I have 66 square inches of screen. Bruce Edited September 11, 2008 by bbyatv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 Cool. Keep us posted. I know that turf scrubbers have been around for years, so it seems they're getting some renewed attention. I have a couple of questions on why you did things the way you did, however. I see that you selected eggcrate for your grid. Why is that? Other screens that I've seen have been finer to allow a smoother flow of oxygenated water over the grid surface while providing an increased surface area for algae growth. I would have thought that something like a needlepoint screen or even window screen would have been more conventional. Also, I like the idea of using the PVC frame as for buoyant support but it seems that the four-sided support that it offers might restrict (slow) the flow of water (and thus nutrients) over the grid. A different approach might have PVC pontoons at either side of the grid while leaving the grid edges that are at right angles to the flow open to improve flow. I do see that you're beginning to see some algal growth, though, so obviously it is providing some nutrient capture. How long did it take to get the growth that we see in the picture? Also, what kind of algal growth do you see in other parts of your sump where this kind of growth might be happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv September 11, 2008 Author Share September 11, 2008 Tom, I added the scrubber 4 days ago on Monday. I have a large compartment of macro algae, a large skimmer, tons of water flow, a phosban/carbon reactor, use DI water, and do weekly 5% water changes. As a result, I have no other algae in the tank what so ever. You can see the sides of the refugium and the lower egg crate show no algae. The main tank has no algae at all other than coraline. The scrubber has a very fine screen on it. If you look closely at the pics, you can see it. The egg crate just supports it. The fine screen is all above the level of the PVC and supported in the middle by the egg crate so the water flows smoothly over the surface of the screen. As the algae gets more dense the water flows further down the screen. I will update with some pictures in a few weeks. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 Bruce - Nice job on the Turf Scrubber (version 1 ) By the way, thanx for the links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 Awesome Bruce. Tagging along to see the your results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3fan8ic September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 Bruce, looks great.. what kind of screen did you use? I might use window screen next time to see if that is any better. I also would like to see which set up is more effective yours or mine? Keep us posted. Sid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 11, 2008 Share September 11, 2008 Tom, I added the scrubber 4 days ago on Monday. I have a large compartment of macro algae, a large skimmer, tons of water flow, a phosban/carbon reactor, use DI water, and do weekly 5% water changes. As a result, I have no other algae in the tank what so ever. You can see the sides of the refugium and the lower egg crate show no algae. The main tank has no algae at all other than coraline. The scrubber has a very fine screen on it. If you look closely at the pics, you can see it. The egg crate just supports it. The fine screen is all above the level of the PVC and supported in the middle by the egg crate so the water flows smoothly over the surface of the screen. As the algae gets more dense the water flows further down the screen. I will update with some pictures in a few weeks. Bruce Thanks for the clarification, Bruce. I missed seeing the screen but, now knowing that it's there, it's become easier to see. It's pretty cool that you're seeing the growth that you are given all of the other nutrient-trapping mechanisms that you have. I may try it myself though I probably have fewer surface square inches available than you have for a scrubber (I could go with a vertical scrubber). The only algae (besides coraline) that I've seen in my tank is mostly the green stuff that I have to clean off my glass every few days but maybe this would even get that in check. Looking forward to your reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv September 11, 2008 Author Share September 11, 2008 Sid, I used mosquito netting for the screen. The cool things about the way I have my scrubber set up (horizontal) are that one it should not smell so bad as water flows over top and there is water under as well and two the evaporation should not be so bad either as I have glass over that area of the refugium. Any how, I will keep this thread updated. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv September 25, 2008 Author Share September 25, 2008 Here is an updated picture two weeks from the original post. The algae is starting to come in and so far no bad smell or additional water evap. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 25, 2008 Share September 25, 2008 Ewwww..... Lookin' good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k September 25, 2008 Share September 25, 2008 If you really want to test the effectiveness of your refugium and algae scrubber, turn off the protein skimmer. After all, it is just pulling out nutrients that would otherwise be used by the algae. You should be scraping the algae from the screen every 2 weeks or so, drying it, and feeding it back to the tangs and other herbivores. Have you read "Dynamic Aquaria" by Loveland and Adey? It has all sorts of info on algae scrubbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3fan8ic September 25, 2008 Share September 25, 2008 Bruce, Looking good, I had to clean the screen of my turf scrubber this past sunday..that was covered totally and needed to be cleaned I totally forgot to take pic..:( . I don't have any smell, I do have some evop but that's understandable and I'll be checking my H2O parameters soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBoy98 September 25, 2008 Share September 25, 2008 I thought you had to do some sort of "surge" thing on it. I seen it where people put a power head on a timer and have it turn on every 30 mins or so. It looks like you have that PVC platform with the mosquito netting floating in the sump? Is it that simple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak October 1, 2008 Share October 1, 2008 How about before and after testing data? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv November 28, 2008 Author Share November 28, 2008 I thought I would update the pictures of my turf scrubber. I farm the algae from the scrubber periodically. My phosphate levels are very low. Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami November 28, 2008 Share November 28, 2008 Very cool, Bruce. Remind us, did you have much of an algae (or other) problem in your display before you started this? With the scrubber in place, how have things changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla November 28, 2008 Share November 28, 2008 Bruce- Wow, that's alot of turf. Are you going to harvest some of the turf (Remove the green and leave some of the red)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv November 28, 2008 Author Share November 28, 2008 I at one time had some algae in the display tank. I added a media reactor loaded with carbon and phosbgone. This took my phosphates and algae to none. Shortly after that I added the scrubber to keep them gone. I wanted to stop using the phosbgone as it is kinda expensive. Any how, I use a Salifert Phosphate test kit and use the low range test and get 0 phosphates. The test water is clear with no color. I have stopped using the phosbgone but still use the carbon. I pull about 1 liter of skimmate a week with my skimmer. So all in all I like the scrubber. I will say there is a failnt oder that comes from the scrubber. Bruce Very cool, Bruce. Remind us, did you have much of an algae (or other) problem in your display before you started this? With the scrubber in place, how have things changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv November 28, 2008 Author Share November 28, 2008 Believe it or not, I farm it every saturday morning. I do not pull all of the algae off the screen, but I get 50% or more. I also farm my macro algae. I pull a softball size wad of macro out of the refugium every Saturday morning as well. If anyone ever needs Cheato, I always have some available. Bruce Bruce- Wow, that's alot of turf. Are you going to harvest some of the turf (Remove the green and leave some of the red)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla November 28, 2008 Share November 28, 2008 Believe it or not, I farm it every saturday morning. Bruce Wow => Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highland Reefer November 28, 2008 Share November 28, 2008 Great Thread. How large of a system do you have and how many fish do you have in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv November 28, 2008 Author Share November 28, 2008 This scrubber is on a 90g that I started up in March of this year. Here is a link to the Dedicated Tank Thread on this tank: http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=20640 There are 13 fish in the system today. Bruce Great Thread. How large of a system do you have and how many fish do you have in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k November 28, 2008 Share November 28, 2008 Would you like some Dragons' Breath macroalgae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbyatv November 28, 2008 Author Share November 28, 2008 Thanks a ton for the offer. I had some a couple of times but the Cheato always smothers it out. I would have to keep it in a seperate area of the refugium and I do not have one at this time. Thanks again. If I come up with a place to put it I will take you up. I love the look of it. Bruce Would you like some Dragons' Breath macroalgae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoozilla December 2, 2008 Share December 2, 2008 I didn't see it posted; but, what's the wattage/spectrum of lighting? Are you using Reverse Photoperiods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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