SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
Part 1 of 3
Are you tired of green on your rocks? Do you have to clean your glass more than once a week? Well then I'm sure you've been told (or you've figured out) that your Nitrate and/or Phosphate are too high. Sure enough, if these are too high, the green starts growing. Phosphate is the important one: If you can detect any phosphate at all with a hobby test kit (like Salifert), then it's high enough to cause algae to grow. So, what can you do?
Build an algae scrubber! An algae scrubber, also known as a turf algae filter, a turf scrubber, or an algae filter, basically filters your water clean of nitrate and phosphate so that the green on your rocks and glass goes away. It does this by "moving" the growth of the algae from the tank to a "screen" outside of the tank. The idea is that you create a better growing environment on the screen than occurs in the tank, so that the algae grows on the screen instead. It works great! Here is my display, December 2008:
Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank-12-29-2008.jpg
Details: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Tank.htm
Here's what you can expect: If you build your algae scrubber properly, your nitrate and phosphate will be incredibly low, sometimes unmeasureable by hobby test kits, within eight weeks. I use Salifert test kits, and the readings I get are "clear" (zero) for both the Nitrate and the Phosphate tests. This is what you want. If you have been trying to get this yourself, then an algae scrubber is for you.
Here is the original DIY Algae Scrubber in a 5-gallon bucket that I started off with; it was the only filter I had (other than the live rock) on my 100 gallon reef:
Here is the filter in operation with the lights on:
I have since had an acrylic version made, using T5HO bulbs; it is the long black box setting here on the sump:
Here are the only things you need to build a bucket version of this filter:
My nitrate and phosphate are zero (clear, on Salifert test kits), and the only thing in my sump is water and the scrubber pump. I removed the skimmer, carbon, phosban, polyfilter(s), and filtersock; I don't use ozone, vodka, zeo, or anything else. I'm feeding massive amounts too; enough that if I had my previous filtering setup, I'd have to clean the glass twice a day, and everything in the tank would be covered in green or brown algae. Amazing. And it's not just my tank; over the last six months, hundreds of people have built their own versions of an algae scrubber. Every one has gotten reduced nitrate and phosphate readings, and many of them have completely wiped out all nuisance algae, right down to the bare rock, sand and glass.
The only thing you need to decide on is how big your scrubber screen needs to be, and if you want it to be in your tank's hood, or in a bucket, or in your sump. The basic rule is one square inch of screen for each gallon of tank water (if the screen it lit on both sides); the screen size should be twice this if the screen is lit up on just one side. A 12 X 12 inch screen, lit on both sides, = 144 square inches = 144 gal tank; a 7 X 7 inch screen lit both sides = 49 gal tank; a 6 X 6 lit both sides = 36 gal tank. Algae scrubbers get really small as you can see. A 12 gal nano tank needs just 3 X 4 inches! This small thing can replace the skimmer, refugium, phosphate removers, nitrate removers, carbon, filtersocks, and waterchanges, IF THE PURPOSE of these devices is to reduce nitrate, phosphate and nuisance algae. If these devices have any other purpose, then they can't be replaced. If your tank is bigger than a 75, then just start with a 5 gallon bucket size and see how it goes. You can always add a second one, or build a bigger one later.
My example bucket version takes about 4 hours to build. Water goes in the pvc pipe at the top, flows down over the screen, then drains out the bottom. That's it! Oh, and it has clip-on lights. I can feed the tank a lot of food, and anything not eaten by the corals or fish eventually ends up as algae on the screen (instead of algae on your glass or rocks.)
Here are some examples of DIY algae filter screens already built, from a simple nano one:
Part 1 of 3
Are you tired of green on your rocks? Do you have to clean your glass more than once a week? Well then I'm sure you've been told (or you've figured out) that your Nitrate and/or Phosphate are too high. Sure enough, if these are too high, the green starts growing. Phosphate is the important one: If you can detect any phosphate at all with a hobby test kit (like Salifert), then it's high enough to cause algae to grow. So, what can you do?
Build an algae scrubber! An algae scrubber, also known as a turf algae filter, a turf scrubber, or an algae filter, basically filters your water clean of nitrate and phosphate so that the green on your rocks and glass goes away. It does this by "moving" the growth of the algae from the tank to a "screen" outside of the tank. The idea is that you create a better growing environment on the screen than occurs in the tank, so that the algae grows on the screen instead. It works great! Here is my display, December 2008:
Hi-Res: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/WholeTank-12-29-2008.jpg
Details: http://www.radio-media.com/fish/Tank.htm
Here's what you can expect: If you build your algae scrubber properly, your nitrate and phosphate will be incredibly low, sometimes unmeasureable by hobby test kits, within eight weeks. I use Salifert test kits, and the readings I get are "clear" (zero) for both the Nitrate and the Phosphate tests. This is what you want. If you have been trying to get this yourself, then an algae scrubber is for you.
Here is the original DIY Algae Scrubber in a 5-gallon bucket that I started off with; it was the only filter I had (other than the live rock) on my 100 gallon reef:
Here is the filter in operation with the lights on:
I have since had an acrylic version made, using T5HO bulbs; it is the long black box setting here on the sump:
Here are the only things you need to build a bucket version of this filter:
My nitrate and phosphate are zero (clear, on Salifert test kits), and the only thing in my sump is water and the scrubber pump. I removed the skimmer, carbon, phosban, polyfilter(s), and filtersock; I don't use ozone, vodka, zeo, or anything else. I'm feeding massive amounts too; enough that if I had my previous filtering setup, I'd have to clean the glass twice a day, and everything in the tank would be covered in green or brown algae. Amazing. And it's not just my tank; over the last six months, hundreds of people have built their own versions of an algae scrubber. Every one has gotten reduced nitrate and phosphate readings, and many of them have completely wiped out all nuisance algae, right down to the bare rock, sand and glass.
The only thing you need to decide on is how big your scrubber screen needs to be, and if you want it to be in your tank's hood, or in a bucket, or in your sump. The basic rule is one square inch of screen for each gallon of tank water (if the screen it lit on both sides); the screen size should be twice this if the screen is lit up on just one side. A 12 X 12 inch screen, lit on both sides, = 144 square inches = 144 gal tank; a 7 X 7 inch screen lit both sides = 49 gal tank; a 6 X 6 lit both sides = 36 gal tank. Algae scrubbers get really small as you can see. A 12 gal nano tank needs just 3 X 4 inches! This small thing can replace the skimmer, refugium, phosphate removers, nitrate removers, carbon, filtersocks, and waterchanges, IF THE PURPOSE of these devices is to reduce nitrate, phosphate and nuisance algae. If these devices have any other purpose, then they can't be replaced. If your tank is bigger than a 75, then just start with a 5 gallon bucket size and see how it goes. You can always add a second one, or build a bigger one later.
My example bucket version takes about 4 hours to build. Water goes in the pvc pipe at the top, flows down over the screen, then drains out the bottom. That's it! Oh, and it has clip-on lights. I can feed the tank a lot of food, and anything not eaten by the corals or fish eventually ends up as algae on the screen (instead of algae on your glass or rocks.)
Here are some examples of DIY algae filter screens already built, from a simple nano one: