algae scrubber

[kksg2000]

i am new to algae scrubber. Do i need to clean the scrubber every week?

[brojj]

Yes. Depending on the growth of the algae on the screen, sometimes 4-5 days is possible, if they grow fast. This is to prevent underlying algae from dying and release NO3 back. At least once a week even if growth not much & one side per week/ cleaning. This is to ensure other side still have algae to work.

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[kksg2000]

I setup the algae scrubber today. When can I see algae forming? Do I have to on the light 24x 7?

[Tian85]

I setup the algae scrubber today. When can I see algae forming? Do I have to on the light 24x 7?

Do a 16 on 8 off lighting schedule

[brojj]

Jus one more thing to share, last time, I normally on the lights for ATS when my tank light is off & off my ATS lights when my tank light is on. This helps to minimize alk swing. Of course, ATS light still need to follow 16hr 'on' & 8 hr 'off' general rule, unless speical case. Algae needs to rest too. You can find more info in this forum, under 'General ReefKepping- Mega NO3 & PO4 powerful remover'. (Something like that).

[kksg2000]

When can I start seeing algae on my ats? Been running for 3 days.

[brojj]

Normally you should see algae in 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes even up to a month, depending on your NO3 & PO4 level. Meanwhile, if you see any brown- black patches, please clean them off.

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[cutedragon]

Which kind of algae? Color?

[AngGuKueh]

maybe it some king of cynobac ?

[AngGuKueh]

I think it some kind of cynobac he mean

[brojj]

If your nutrient high, you would normally see black brown algae 1st ( like oil slick) which does not help much in removing PO4 & NO3. However they still must be cleaned off. Green black ones will come after your nutrient starts to drop & eventually green ones would come. I took one year to see whole screen green ones. But dun worry, by then your NO3 & PO4 will be low. And different tank different result. Some will be faster. For my case, i feed too much, that is why one year for my case. I fed my fishes 3 times every day. Corals three to four times a week. FYI, i now decomm my ATS & running biopellets already. Juz sharing my past experiences. Good luck to u.

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[kksg2000]

If your nutrient high, you would normally see black brown algae 1st ( like oil slick) which does not help much in removing PO4 & NO3. However they still must be cleaned off. Green black ones will come after your nutrient starts to drop & eventually green ones would come. I took one year to see whole screen green ones. But dun worry, by then your NO3 & PO4 will be low. And different tank different result. Some will be faster. For my case, i feed too much, that is why one year for my case. I fed my fishes 3 times every day. Corals three to four times a week. FYI, i now decomm my ATS & running biopellets already. Juz sharing my past experiences. Good luck to u. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

1yr? Wow...

[brojj]

Dun worry too much about the color. I got my NO3 & PO4 down to almost 0 even without whole screen green algae. 4 months was all it takes for my case, from > 100 for NO3 & > 3 for PO4. That time my algae was 50% green, 50% brownish black.

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