Anybody running an Algae Scrubber?

[itz216]

I stumbled upon this article : http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=printview&t=71607&start=330

A new / old idea that is being tried again. Wondering if anybody is running one and what the results have been?

 

[JohnK]

That guy "santa monica" decided to try the more or less extinct ATS idea a couple of yrs ago. He did so and decided that it worked well, and then he proceeded to spam the entire reefing related internet aggressively pushing the idea.

Many old schoolers rolled their eyes and dismissed it as resurecting a dead/failed idea.

Many others have bought in and tried the newer modified ATS approach as preached by Santa Monica. Plenty have claimed/observed that it has worked well for them. Thus we are left with yet another reefing trend supported by anecdotal reports and little to no real solid facts.

It might be a great idea, maybe not? If you're really interested, maybe try setting something up and see what kind of results you get. IIRC it's not overly expensive to set up, the main cost is the time spent maintaining it. If you do consider trying it, I would suggest reading as much as you can both about Adley's old ATS approach, and about the Santa Monica modified ATS approach (and keep in mind that santa monica is in no way un-biased or objective).

Also, hang in there for more input here. I'm almost positive that at least a few people around here have at least tinkered with it. Hopefully someone with some first hand exp will chime in

 

[itz216]

good to know

Thx, John. Always good to know a bit of the background so I know who's in the fight: )

Moderation seems to always prove better than extremes - so I was thinking of setting up an algae scrubber and running the skimmer much less aggressively - in combination with my DSB, LR, refugium/cheato ball, carbon and regular water changes.

To be honest - I'm after phosphate reduction. I feed too many mouths (fish and corals). My nitrate/nitrite numbers are always very low(read - 0). My phosphate ...is a never ending battle.

Hoping someone on here has tried it and will share their results.

 

[JohnK]

That makes sense.

I'm thinking that with several means of nutrient removal on the same system, one will likely outcompete another or others. I suspect that an active ref with lots of cheato might work just as well but be more stable, but I don't have any facts to support that guess.

Gee, where's Leroy been hiding? IIRC he was experimenting with this thing?

 

[mnavick]

I tried this method and think I used that exact link................Even went as far as buying a pre-seeded sheet (forgot the Company). Easy to maintain and looked cool having a sheet of algae/water flow over my sump. Think the same person has gone to a fully enclosed acrylic contraption w/T5's (maybe on ReefCentral and over 20pages long). As far as results, hard to tell because back when I had this was doing so many other things wrong. Needless to say ditched it and went with a basic fuge/sump (LR,LS,Cheato).
Like John mentioned, know there are plenty out there that tried/researched it .

 

[mnavick]

Me bad, 2yrs later and 62 pages long....................http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/sal...a-powerful-nitrate-phosphate-remover-diy.html

 

[Sapooloo]

ive been looking into them myself, though i think im going the fuge/chaeto route, not beucase i think its a better nutrient export but because i would like a mandarin someday and think that is a better way to keep up a pod population.

santa has his own forum set up now and hes actually selling his own version.... for$650. i dont know if it was a smart marketing strategy to spam the world your next to free bucket algae scrubber then try to sell a $600 version.

http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=502

 

[jarrodsanborn]

good thread from your friends up north. some had good success. http://nhreefclub.org/index.php?topic=243.0