Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

[SantaMonica]

This is an experimental fix for brown/black growth, and also for extending the life of the bulbs past 3 months:

1. Use bulbs with twice the wattage as recommended; so use 2 real watts per square inch (6.25 sq cm) of screen. Thus a screen 10 X 10 inches = 100 square inches would get 200 total real watts of light instead of 100 watts.

2. Run the lights for half as many hours as recommended; this would be 9 hours instead of 18.

3. Around 3 months, when the growth starts to get darker (because the bulbs are getting weaker), start increasing hours until it grows green again. When you reach 18 hours, it's time for new bulbs.

This does a few things: The first is obvious; you will get longer bulb life as long as you remember to increase the hours when you get to 3 months. But stronger light can also turn black/brown growth into green, no matter how high the nutrients are, if the light is strong enough. The trick is just to not burn the algae; thus the hours have to be less.

When the light is strong (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is physical algae, and it's also more green (less proteins). When the light is weak (compared to the nutrients), more of the growth is DOC and dark physical growth (more proteins).

[SantaMonica]

Coming Soon: Good news for nano owners who want scrubbers. If you have not been able to easily put a scrubber below or above your tank, this might work for you. And you probably already have the parts to make it.

[SantaMonica]

LED test on SM100:

9 days of growth after cleaning. Fluorescent on left, LED on right. LED is the 50 watt Grow Light from EshineSystems in China. Actually uses 41 watts per the KillOwatt. Was raised up 3/4 inch to fit in middle of scrubber window. Camera is unfortunately an old one, since new one is being repaired. Growth was very similar on both sides; too similar to tell them apart. Growth on the LED side was floating a bit higher since it had no light near the bottom. LED was about $140 including shipping, and I asked for the black case:

Video:

LED:

http://www.eshinesystems.com/growlight/50W-led-grow-light-3g.htm

[SantaMonica]

New Scrubber Sizing Guideline (Sept 2011)

Scrubbers will now be sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen)

1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen)

10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen)

5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen)

10 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen)

5 square inches (50 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen)

0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen)

0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

HORIZONTAL screens: Multiply the screen size by 4, and the wattage by 1.5

Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.

Clean algae off of screen every 7 to 14 days, so that you can see the white screen material.

[SantaMonica]

Updates on the LED test. 3 pics from 2nd cleaning, and 1 vid from 3rd cleaning:

2nd cleaning, 7 days, top:

2nd cleaning, 7 days, T5:

2nd cleaning, 7 days, LED:

3rd cleaning, 11 days:

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[bojyeo]

Santa Monica,

Can you sell me a custom made unit for my 5 X 2.5 X 2.5 FT tank? I prefer a standalone unit beside the cabinet using LED lights.

Thanks.

[SantaMonica]

How much are you feeding? Gallons or feet do not matter?

LED's are not available.

[bojyeo]

How much are you feeding? Gallons or feet do not matter?

LED's are not available.

Feeding mainly pellets and mysis cubes about 2-3 times day........occasionally I feed fresh prawns and salmon to the corals but it just spiked up the nitrates and make the SPS suffer........

Non LEDs are okie but do you know Singapore's incoming voltage?

Gallons or feet do not matter? -> my tank is in my backyard so there is space.........but not too monstrous becos my wife would be grumbling........

I hope to have a plug and play unit without having too much fuss on DIY.....

[bojyeo]

But I am betting on not using the skimmer once I install your ATS

[SantaMonica]

How many cubes per day do you feed?

[bojyeo]

I think during prime period, I am feeding like below : -

3 times a day

Each time will consist of below : -

1) 4 X mysis cubes

2) 4 X rotifier cubes

3) 3 X Brine Shrimp cubes

Thanks.

[bojyeo]

oh......not sure if you need me to include those coral additives as well......a couple of drops from quite a few range of Kent Marine supplements......

[SantaMonica]

11 cubes each feeding X 3 feedings a day = 33 cubes a day, plus the liquids. You will need at least 4 SM100 scrubbers (each one handles up to 10 cubes a day, once growing).

I think SG is 220v; if so, a cheap 220-110 converter works well, and you can still use 220v bulbs from SG. Also, the SM100 is not waterproof, so it must be kept out of the rain.

[SantaMonica]

Coming in 2012:

Algae Scrubber II

(nano owners rejoice)

[SantaMonica]

Two updates:

1. The cyano stage: Some people, who start using a scrubber for the first time, get rid of their nuisance algae but then get some cyano that they never had before. The reason for this is that cyano is able to "fix" it's own nitrogen, which means it is good at getting the last nutrients that are available. However, once these last nutrients are removed, the cyano will go away too. And the more powerful the scrubber is, the quicker this happens.

2. High coral-growth theory: Some people are wanting faster growth with their SPS corals. In a scrubber-only tank, when there are no other filters, you have higher amounts of dissolved and particulate food in the water than if you had other filters running. However, the lighting remains the same. In other words, growth requires light and food; a scrubber-only tank has more food, but the same light. My theory is that if you increased the light too, you would get much more growth; possibly more that natural levels.

This is based on watching "traditional" SPS tanks with lighting problems (low light/food ratio): The corals grow slow (if at all), and tend to stay brown. When the lights are fixed/replaced (high light/food ratio), the colors brighten up and the growth starts again. However a scrubber-only SPS tank has much more food in the water, yet still only has "traditional" amounts of lighting. So the light/food ratio is low again. So my theory is that if you increased the lighting to more than "traditional" levels, you would get "more than traditional" SPS growth. Bleaching is less of a concern in a scrubber-only tank, because of the larger quanitity of food that is available (studies have shown that more food reduces bleaching).

[kingic]

is the scrubber should place after the filter sock and before the skimmer?

[spyglass]

Hi SM,

Your algae scrubber II for 2012, would it be suitable for a tank size 2 x 2 x 1.5ft ? Not sure what would be the size of sump, hopefully your new model is suitable. Also, would an algae scrubber consume more electricity than a skimmer ?

[SantaMonica]

To reduce nutrients, it really doesn't matter where it goes. For the most pods, it should be the last thing before the return (and you should remove the sock and skimmer too).

The new design for next year can be any size you build. They won't be available for purchase for a while longer. Won't need a sump.

Scrubber electricity is not comparable to a skimmer because they don't do the same thing.

[SantaMonica]

Since I've been working on the new scrubber, I've not done much with the 25 nano model. So if anyone would like to test, build, and market it, I could sell you the patent application and you could take it over. It is a U.S. PPA which expires March 7, 2012. You would then file your own U.S. NPA.

[SantaMonica]

"Assessing Evidence of Phase Shifts from Coral to Macroalgal Dominance on Coral Reefs"

Ecological Society of America, June 2009

http://www.esajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1890/08-1781.1

"Our database included 3,581 quantitative surveys of 1,851 coral reefs (or sites) performed between 1996 and 2006. Our analysis was based on quantitative surveys that measured the percentage of the substratum covered by living coral and fleshy or calcareous macroalgae between 1 and 15 meters depth."

[A simplified version of Table 1]

Caribbean -- Corals: 20%, Algae: 23%

Florida Keys -- Corals: 8%, Algae: 15%

Indo-Pacific -- Corals: 33%, Algae: 12%

Great Barrier Reef -- Corals: 31%, Algae: 9% "

"Overall, our results indicate that there is no general recent trend (i.e., post-1995) toward macroalgal dominance."

"Macroalgal cover on these 'pristine' reefs is similar to the regional averages for three of our four study regions, suggesting that macroalgal cover may currently be close to the historical baseline across most the world."

"Macroalgal cover and coral cover are widely assumed to be causally linked and inversely related. Yet we found only weak negative relationships between coral and macroalgal cover. Surprisingly, macroalgal cover has not increased appreciably on most of the world’s reefs that have very low coral cover. For example, 379 of the 1,851 reefs had less than 10% coral cover, but macroalgal cover was also low (less than 20%) on nearly two thirds of these reefs. In fact, more than half the benthic cover on reefs in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Oceans consists of organisms other than hard corals and macroalgae, possibly because other taxa, such as sponges and gorgonians, have been the primary beneficiaries of coral loss."

[Raymondteo]

Hi SM, my tank is 5ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft, and refugium is 24" x 11", do you think SM120 will be suitable for my system? Think of getting one set of your SM120, how much u sell?

[SantaMonica]

It's not how big, but how much you feed. A SM100 will handle up to 10 cubes a day.

I have one left, for $649 at www.Santa-Monica.cc

[Raymondteo]

Oh I see.. I feed 4 to 5 cubes a day.. Then 1 SM100 is more than enough, that's cool.. Will log on to ur web and get back to you, thanks!

[SantaMonica]

Study shows that corals prefer to grow when they actually touch turf algae

Note: Scrubbers are supposed to grow green hair, which is not covered in this study. But many people still think that scrubbers grow turf, and this study does include the amount of microbes related to turf. Brackets "[ ]" added.

"Microbial to reef scale interactions between the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis and benthic algae", Proceedings of the Royal Society, Biological Sciences, Nov 2011

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/11/15/rspb.2011.2155.short

Page 2, Col 1, (a)

"This study was conducted on the island of Curacao, former Netherlands Antilles"

Page 4, Col 2, (...

The [...] coral-associated bacterial communities increased in tissues near [coralline] and [dictyota], but decreased for coral tissue adjacent to [halimeda] or turf algae.

Page 5, Col 1...

We found [anaerobic microbes] present in coral tissue near or at interfaces with three of the four groups of algae: 8.5 percent relative abundance at [coralline] interfaces; 2.2 percent relative abundance near [dictyota] interfaces, 2 percent relative abundance near [halimeda] interfaces; but absent near and at interfaces with turf algae.

Page 5, Col 2, ©...

Every coral colony observed [on the natural Curacao reef] was interacting with at least one type of alga, with an average of 61 to 80 percent of the coral perimeter involved in any type of algal interaction. Interactions with turf algae were the most abundant, accounting for 32 to 58 percent of the coral edge. [in other words, the corals grew this way, touching the algae, naturally. And more of them grew and reproduced while actually touching turf algae, than grew anywhere else.]

Page 7, Col 1...

This study is the first to identify the types of bacteria present along coral-algal interactions, and we find that bacterial stress response pathways were reduced at coral interfaces with [coralline], [dictyota] and turf algae.

[Raymondteo]

Installed 1 unit of SM100 done by Ying Kwang last night.

Day 1: Flow is good, but the canvas is still very clean, nothing on it yet.