The power of the scrubber

[quote=“bnelson, post:17, topic:7924”]
Mine as very little noise and the main noise comes from the discharge back into the sump, I have a lid on mine with just a small crack to let excessive heat build up. It was the addition of one other power compact bulb ( running 2 v/s 1 on the fuge. No more evaporation then normal with the lid covering the bin and I have the drain water hit the back side wall of the sump which elminates any micro bubbles.[/quote]

Makes sense. That flowing/dripping water sound drives me nuts. Then again, the hum of an air pump and/or skimmer isn’t too pleasant either :slight_smile: I like the idea of having it contained to reduce evap. I’m going to add it to the list for potential inclusion with the tank. I’d like to think about ways to tweak the designs a bit to fit my plans more.

What I’d like to try is a combo waterfall scrubber/evaporative chiller. Basically adding a fan to the screen and putting it on a controller.

A quick update on not cleaning the glass. I can start to see a little biofilm accumulating, but the tank still has the WOW factor from when I cleaned it last week. I noticed that I missed a spot with my glass scraper so this algae is much older than 1 week, but it’s the dirtiest part of the glass. It’s kind of hard to see, but it’s to the left of where the favia is encrusting onto the rock.

And here are some progress shots for the other corals I’m tracking for this experiment. I cleaned the scrubber on Sunday so I should get a small algae bloom on the glass tomorrow or Thursday, but I’ll post those pics then.




I’m gonna call this experiment over. I was finally able to get a pic of the front glass that actually shows the algea. It’s been 13 days since scraping the front glass and this includes heavy feeding.

So what is your final call on it? Yes, good everyone should do it? Meh, it helps, but whatever…? No way, the sound of the waterfall makes me have to go to the bathroom?

I’m just posting my experience and you can make the judgement call yourself. The point on THIS experiment was to show how little I have to clean the glass. It took me almost 2 weeks to get the same amount of algae on the glass that most people (without scrubbers) get in a day so… the results speak for themselves.

With regards to the noise issue you keep bringing up, the feed pump for the ATS is louder than the water and if I turn on my skimmer that’s WAY louder than the ATS. As long as the sheet is touching water at the bottom, then there’s no splash.

I’ve been running my ATS for 4 years, 2 without a skimmer and I’m never going back.

I think your next experiment should be dosing two part calcium and acklinity solution to obtain obtimum levels and see the difference in your corals growth and growth forms. This would however require an occasional water testing to make sure you have the dosing dialled in. It would be a great experiment. The corals are begging for calcium.

Loosen up a bit. I was trying to be funny. I’m not trying to flame you. I’m trying to gain insight from your experience. You made no claim as to why you were doing this experiment that I saw and posted pictures that didn’t really explain clearly to me what was happening. So I asked questions.

I also don’t think one mention of considering the noise is something I “keep bringing up”, but tomato, tomahtow. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ll draw my own conclusions rather than rely on your experience.

[quote=“icecool2, post:28, topic:7924”]
Loosen up a bit. I was trying to be funny. I’m not trying to flame you. I’m trying to gain insight from your experience. You made no claim as to why you were doing this experiment that I saw and posted pictures that didn’t really explain clearly to me what was happening. So I asked questions.

I also don’t think one mention of considering the noise is something I “keep bringing up”, but tomato, tomahtow. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ll draw my own conclusions rather than rely on your experience.[/quote]
I meant no offense, but I can see where you got that from. My bad.

It’s all good. We can still be friends :slight_smile: :BEER

Your experiment has changed my mind about including one. I like the thought of using algae to fight algae and seeing some real experiences is always a plus.

what type of lights are you guys using on your scrubbers? what wattage? Led? heard someone at the meeting say red?

I’m just running 4 24" T8s But 660nm red leds work the best.

I’m interested in putting these in my sump on one of my overflow outlets. Do you have sizing specs? I would probably not be able to build it big enough. Is there anything against running a skimmer and a smaller scrubber?

If your running a fuge and a skimmer the scrubber is not needed. The scrubber will eventually starve out the fuge. This is why I took my scrubber off. Fuge is less work and less maintance imo. Never mind the fact that now your adding extra lights(CFL OR led still uses electric) plus the skimmer,plus the fuge lights.

I think the scrubber is good for those who are limited on space for a fuge.

Your right, scrubbers will starve out your fuge bc they are better at removing nutrients by growing algea faster. Because of that, they require more maintenance. but you don’t have to run a skimmer, so overall it’less maintenance.

I have a fuge and a skimmer and still have some minor hair algea popping up in the display. Would a smaller scrubber be benificial or is that too much? It would be no bigger than 12x12 one sided prob.

Yes, but like I said before, it will out compete your fuge for nutrients.12x12 one sided should be able to filter a tank that’s fed 5-6 cubes of food per day.

I haven’t added a clean up crew to my system yet…

Will I need one?

If the scrubber eventually outcompetes the algae in the display, wouldn’t the cleanup crew starve?

Is that regardless of tank size? I have a 180.