# Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae



## SantaMonica

Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae from your aquarium (hopefully permanently).

This new version is much easier to build than the versions you may have seen before; it has never been posted before 2012. It works in both freshwater and saltwater.

If you are like most aquatic hobbyists, nuisance algae is an ongoing problem. You try to feed your livestock, and the next thing you know, you get algae. You've already tried many fixes; some work but are expensive; some kind of work but you're not sure; and some just don't work at all. 

Think about what is happening: Your aquarium is accumulating nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) because of the food you feed. Algae eat nitrate and phosphate to grow, so the algae are having a great time growing in your water because they are eating all your nutrients! What to do?

Well think about this: In order to grow, algae must be provided with nitrate and phosphate. So why can't you just use the algae to consume all the nitrate and phosphate? The answer: You can! How? With a simple device you build called an Upflow Algae Scrubber. It's simple, cheap, and you can make a small one in just a few minutes with parts you probably already have. I'll be posting more complex versions later, but here are some pics of the most basic design that you can use for testing:

(will be updated periodically)












An "algae scrubber" is a simple filter that actually grows algae in the filter, so that the algae do not grow in other parts of your aquarium. Simply put, the conditions for algae growth inside the filter are better than the conditions in the rest of your aquarium; thus the algae grow in the filter instead of your aquarium, and then you just remove the algae from the filter and throw the algae away. But in order for the algae to grow in the filter, the algae need to consume nitrate and phosphate; so guess where the nitrate and phosphate come from? Your water! 

If you stop and think about it, algae always grow in certain spots, and not in others. This is because some of the three growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) are better in some parts of your water than they are in others. An "upflow algae scrubber" simply optimizes these conditions, and does so at a place where the algae can be easily removed and thrown away. And once the nitrate and phosphate have been removed from your water, all other nuisance algae such as green hair, bubble, turf and slime, will have a hard time staying alive.

So where have these filters been all this time, and why haven't you heard of them if they work so well? Well the original waterfall version (the Mega Powerful thread posted in August 2008) was hard to build, and was not really for sale anywhere; so unless you liked to build things from scratch, you had no choice but to buy some other kind of filter. All the filter really needed to do was to create good growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) for the algae, by flowing the water across a piece of rough material, so that the algae would grow on the material instead of somewhere else in the aquarium. The waterfall algae scrubber did grow lots of algae in the filter, and it removed lots of algae from aquariums: Over 1,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers, and reported their results on various forums during a 4 year period; almost all of them wiped out their nuisance algae within 8 weeks, and many did so in 4 weeks. And on other forums that I never posted on, an estimated 10,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers with similar results.

A little over a year ago in April 2011, another idea came along: Instead of letting the water flow down a screen like a waterfall, how about you let the water flow up the screen using air bubbles? Why? Because as good as waterfall algae scrubbers are, they still need a place for the water to drain "down" to. This means that you need to have a sump below the aquarium, or you need to have the scrubber up above the aquarium. This is not easy, and is very difficult for a nano aquarium which usually has no sump below it, and no room above it. Also, the waterfall version requires it to be out of the water (in the air), which takes up extra space. The new "upflow" version, however, can be placed inside the aquarium, so that it takes up no extra space at all, and it needs no external plumbing or water pumps at all. Only air bubbles.

The Upflow Algae Scrubber (UAS) provides the best growing conditions for algae in your tank: Air bubbles provide rapid turbulent flow; Strong lighting provides the light; and the nutrients that are already in your water provide the nitrate and phosphate. All that's needed is a place for the algae to attach to, and that is provided by the roughed-up plastic screen. Thus the algae start growing on the screen because the flow and lighting are stronger there than they are in the rest of your aquarium; nitrate and phosphate are consumed in the process. This causes algae to start disappearing from your aquarium and start re-appearing on the scrubber screen, so that you can throw the algae away every week or two.

The most basic way to set up an Upflow Algae Scrubber, especially in small aquariums, is just to put some air bubbles beneath a vertical screen. If inside an aquarium, you just put a light on the outside of the glass, so that it shines inside to the screen. And if you want better performance (which means better filtering), just add a reflector to give the screen some light on both sides. The screen is best made with 7-mesh cross stitch plastic canvas that you get at sewing or craft stores, or online. Also, don't forget to rough up the screen with a sharp object like a hole saw; the screen should be so rough that the screen holes are almost filled in with all the little pieces of plastic that you roughed up.

One thing to remember is that an Upflow Algae Scrubber (or any algae scrubber) will not cause more algae to grow in your aquarium. Instead, the algae will disappear from your aquarium, and will start to grow on the scrubber screen instead. You then just remove the screen and scrape the algae off. And here's a surprise: Watch out for your fish or snails eating your filter! There's nothing tastier than live green algae, so your fish or snails may keep your screen from getting very thick. The simple solution is to just put some mesh or netting around it. 

There are a couple of requirements that have been learned since August 2008 which will get you started quicker. The size of the Upflow Algae Scrubber that is needed is based on how much you feed, and not how much water you have, because the nutrients that cause algae to grow come from the food you feed. The following updated picture has size guidelines:

(will be updated periodically)












And the following updated picture has examples:

(will be updated periodically)












So build a UAS and post your pictures!
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## SantaMonica

OK some growth pics...

Floyd R Turbo on the GIRS site:






































Rkyrickstr on the TF site:




















Ruddybop on the MFK site:











Fishuntbike on the scrubber site:





























And mine...


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## jrman83

Not sure the purpose of this....to grow algae or to eliminate it?


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## susankat

A turf scrubber grows the algae on it instead of being in the tank.


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## SantaMonica

Yes... the more nutrients removed by the algae, the less nutrients available for algae to grow in the display.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics

I just do PWC's, and add more oxygen to the water, within 3 days its gone, even brush and hair algaes.


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## susankat

Turf scrubbers work great with sumps and in ponds. I know a few people that utilize them. They not only help with algae the algae keeps all of the other toxins at bay.


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## majerah1

Thats pretty cool!


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## beaslbob

jrman83 said:


> Not sure the purpose of this....to grow algae or to eliminate it?


Yes!!!

(grow in this eliminate it in tank) *old dude


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## snail

I've never tried it but I have heard good things about them.


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## susankat

Bob its not the same as a filterless tank, This is used as a filter but with water flow and such.


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## beaslbob

susankat said:


> Bob its not the same as a filterless tank, This is used as a filter but with water flow and such.


Which is why I don't call my tanks unfiltered. Just no mechanical filters but still filtered with the plants. *old dude

.02


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## SantaMonica

Yes it's definitely a filter, just a natural one. The same filter that the oceans and lakes use.


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## susankat

But it does utilize flow so it optimizes its usefullness.


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## Donald Hansen

WhiteGloveAquatics said:


> I just do PWC's, and add more oxygen to the water, within 3 days its gone, even brush and hair algaes.


Add more oxygen? Do you mean just a lot of air bubbles?


DLH


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## jrman83

I see the lowest cost and easiest way to control or eliminate algae is to control the light. Doesn't get any cheaper than that and much more effective. But....whatever works for you.


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## SantaMonica

Yes reducing light will control algae in the display. But if you don't want to reduce light, or if you want to feed more, or if you want to stop waterchanges, a scrubber can help.


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## SantaMonica

The new Hang-On-Glass UAS with bubble remover:


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## SantaMonica

Everybody loves growth pictures:

Day 1:









Day 2:









Day 3:









Day 4:









Day 5:









Day 6:









Day 7:









Day 8:









Day 9:









7 Days of growth after first cleaning:









Video of first cleaning after 9 days of growth from a new screen:
UAS HOG.5 -- Day nine cleaning - YouTube

Video of 7 days of growth after the first cleaning:
UAS HOG.5 -- seven days - YouTube


Time to eat more TV dinners and save those trays


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## jrman83

Looks like more than one experiment.....Guppy and Goldfish in the same tank.


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## SantaMonica

Yep my fw animal know-how needs to improve.


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## whitetiger61

i understand the principal and how it works, and would be great in a sump system, but i wouldn't want something of a eye sore in my display if you dont have a sump..most freshwater people run either canister filters or HOB filters on their tanks..although i have mess around with a sump system in my freshwater tanks and have found they work but need a ton of plants in your sump as a filtering media.

Rick


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## SantaMonica

Wait for the future designs then... will be better looking


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## zero

am i doing something wrong, ive never had an algae problem??? let alone even seen a speck of algae in my tanks???


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## SantaMonica

Nothing wrong with that 

Try doubling your feeding.


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## beaslbob

SantaMonica said:


> Nothing wrong with that
> 
> Try doubling your feeding.


and doubling your lighting *old dude

my .02


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## SantaMonica

A useful way to stop bubbles if your UAS is not in a box:


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## SantaMonica

Some success stories of people using waterfall algae scrubbers on different sites:

Aydee on the scrubber site: "I'm going to call this a success. My nitrates had been sitting steady at about 10 or so for over a year. For it to drop to undetectable in 2 weeks.. THAT is impressive. I have got my skimmer running still, but once my ATS is running, I'll turn off the skimmer (not remove.. Yet....) If situation remains excellent as the trend currently is, I'll remove the skimmer. However, I came into ATS thinking "It can't hurt, as I'll keep my skimmer running" and now I'm thinking "WOAH! They're right!".
Obviously, the proof will be in 2 years time, ATS sans skimmer.. But.. So far, the numbers are fantastic."

Robert_Patterso on the RC site: "Best thing I have ever put on any of my tanks in over 25 years of being in the hobby" 

Pskelton on the RC site: "I personally have not done a water change in 6 months ever since I implemented my scrubber. long story short my tank was a mess, kid dumped container of food in tank. I got a snow flake eel that dug up my sand bed and I was running a very under powered cheep skimmer. This lead to my nitrates peeking at 160. I did water changes for a while but the nitrate just keep coming back up to 160. The water changes were getting expensive and I was about to give up when I tried the scrubber. Within a few weeks nitrate dropped to 60 and slowly came down from there. As of my test last week I am finally at 0 nitrate and I haven't done a water change in six months. The protean skimmer has been removed and my tank is healthier than ever. I am just waiting for the algae on my rocks to finish dieing off." 

Murph on the scrubber site: "my ATS is coming along fine. I think I spent about 30 bucks making it. When I compare that to the thousand or more I have spent on skimmers over the past ten years or so that made little to no difference when it came to nuisance algae in the display I want to pull my hair out. My ATS has out done them all in a matter of a few months."

Spotter on the RC site: "Nitrate Day 1: 5ppm, Week 1: 0ppm, Week 2: 0ppm. P04 Day 1: .035,
Week 1: .015, Week 2: .0092 I am liking this very much." 

JohnnyB_in_SD on the RC site: "I feed about 6-7 cubes a day on a 100gl tank, and 10-12 cubes two days a week when I do the nems & corals too. N&P have been undetectable since I started using ATS, which is a mickey mouse rubber maid tub version. Since I am always looking for the easiest way to do everything, I will continue cleaning the whole screen once a week. For me, it was a real struggle maintaining water quality with just a fuge: starving my fish, super skimming, massive weekly water changes - just to keep Nitrates near 20ppm and Phosphate under 1.0. That all went away with an ATS, the hobby is much more enjoyable and not a huge chore." 

Thedude657 on the scrubber site: "So my screen finally filled out with greenish algae. Water quality is excellent and now I have all sorts of cool things growing on my live rock. Little white sponges are popping up everywhere, some stuff I have no clue what it is yet. Just wanted to say thanks to help me get started."

Chrisfraser05 on the RC site: "I just wanted to jump in and say after bumping into Santamonica on a forum a while back and also watching Lafishguys videos I started a marine tank [8 months ago]. Obviously I started my first tank with a DIY algae scrubber and have NEVER seen either nitrate or phosphate."

Redneckgearhead on the scrubber site: "Heres the pics of my HA problem. [algea all over]These where taken just before I added my scrubber. I had tried EVERYTHING nothing helped. I paid a small fortune for a skimmer that I was told would surely take care of the problem. The HA laughed and kept on growing. My lights where down to 3 hours a day, my fish where only fed a small amount every two to three days, I was doing 10 percent water changes twice a week. And keep in mind those picks are only about 3 days growth, I would remove about 80 percent of the HA during my water changes. These are pics I took today just before my weekly water change. [almost no algae] I am feeding daily, my fish are now fat and happy. My scrubber is working beautifully! I am so glad I found out about scrubbers. I am still using my skimmer, but I may take it off line as soon as all the HA is gone. From the looks of things that shouldn't be much longer."

Fragglerocks on the RC site: "Ive gotten rid of 95% of all "bad" algae in the DT and my P04 Level is 0.12 checked by Hanna meter. Nitrates - Zero. I feed the equivalent of 2 frozen cubes per day, along with pellets whenever I think about it. up to 2 times per day."

Scrubit on the scrubber site: "have been running a scrubber-only 90gal tank for over a year now with great success. [...] I was ready to buy a big ol skimmer for my new tank build when I came across some of the info SM had posted. That was all it took, and I've never looked back. NEVER had algae in DT, NEVER had readable nitrates/phos after cycle, and have probably changed out maybe 40gal of water since setup. Personally I find running a scrubber almost as fun as the tank itself!"

Psyops on the RC site: "I had a DSB and chaeto fuge. When I added a ATS, the chaeto disappeared. I don't know if the DSB is doing anything. I feed my fish and tank from 1-2 times daily depending on my schedule. The ATS is doing really well, especially when I added a Calcium reactor 3 months ago. I did not believe some of the stuff people were saying on how effective an ATS system could be, but they were mostly correct."

JohnnyBinSD on the RC site: "I finally got around to putting an ATS on my tank 3 weeks ago. Just harvested a pile of algae off it tonight. In those 3 weeks I have doubled the amount of daily food I put in the tank, run the skimmer 6 hours/day instead of 24/7, and removed the lighting from the chaeto in the old fuge. Nitrates & phosphates are undetectable, algae in the display tank is almost nonexistent, fish are fat & happy. An ATS is the cheapest & most effective thing I've ever done to improve water quality. I wish I had built one sooner." 

Kcmopar on the MFT site: "Its been about 5 weeks (started the weekend before fathers day) or so and the green hair algae has stopped growing in my 40G. Yeah!!! Its all receding, maybe just a few percent left at the base of a couple rocks that my coral beauty snacks on. Just amazing. Started this 40G salt from Jump with an ATS. IT NEVER CYCLED!!! I have little pods, tiny feather dusters, and other critters thriving like crazy. Coraline already starting to spread across the tank. Nutrients are always zero to just barely detectable on both the 10g and 40g. Also a note on the 40G, I never had to do a water change yet!!! No test results ever got past barely detectable. I have been dabbling with an ATS on a 10 gallon Freshwater as well. Same results so far. I am building a bigger one for my 150G FW in a few weeks."

Reeftanker on the MFUK site: "i have cleaned it about 8/10 times now, about 50-90 grams of algae each time and i have just tsted my tank i have on my test kits; Phosphates = clear that means undetectable levels on my test kit, Nitrates = 1ppm maybe 2ppm, what more do i have to say im am chuffed to bits and over the moon"

Etan on the MFUK site: "Just to share some of my results with my scrubber. I set up my new tank at beginning of Jan(Rio 400). The only filtration I have on the tank is a scrubber and about 50kg of live rock. After the tank had cycled my nitrates peaked at about 25ppm about 2 weeks ago. There were only 2 clowns and 2 chromis in tank and small cuc. Just tested today after all stock and cuc from old tank have been in there for about 1 week and nitrate reading is only 2ppm and not much signs of algee in main tank or on glass. It seems to me the scrubber is doing its job."

Weatherby68ss on the scrubber site: "i have been into this hobby for 3 years now and was using a wet /dry filter for the first year and a half or so untill i found out about algae scrubbers. i have to admit i would not still have an aquarium if not for my ats. its simply to much time, work and $$$ using any other type of filtration. with the ats i can actually sit back and enjoy my tank and keep my fish fat and happy with out worrying about the next water change because i hav'nt done 1 in over a year!  anyone thats thinking about building 1 all i can say is go for it THEY WORK!!! nuff said"

Mgraf on the RC site: "I have been running a scrubber for about 8 months now, at first I had a skimmer running, macro's, rock rubble, and deep sand bed. Same setup as you almost. I still have the deep sand bed but, eliminated the other stuff over time for the sake of simplicity. I clean the scrubbers algae once a week, do monthly water changes, feed often and alot, and my corals and fish have never been happier or fatter in the year and a half it has been set up. Many may disagree but, for me it is the easiest way to run a salt water reef."

Jukka on the RC site: "I used to have various carbon sources + ATB Supersize skimmer as filtration for my 400 gal reef. I never succeeded to outcompete nutrient problems with those, no matter how much carbon I added. I also tried the pellet version. Since building a large scrubber with lots of light, all problems are gone. But I didn't take the skimmer out of the system and didn't stop carbon dosing, and don't intend to. I just reduced carbon amount to about 1/10 of the original. I like the effects carbon does for fungi, and other stuff like that, growth. Though other reason for keeping skimmer online is the amount I paid for the supersize ATB."


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## SantaMonica

Some UAS builds...

"Acorral" on the scrubber site:





















"Badfish" on the RC site:







































"Cmaxtian" on the scrubber site:












"Deneed4spd" onthe TCMAS site:












"Ewerd" on the scrubber site:







































"Fishuntbike" on the scrubber site:





















"FloydRturbo" on the scrubber site:





















"Hugbert" on the scrubber site:





















"Jaz” on the scrubber site:

























































“Kalgra” on the R2R site:






























“KelliZackMOMon” on the LR site:






























“MorganAtlanta” on the scrubber site;







































“Octavia-vrs” on the UR site:





















“Othello” on the scrubber site:






























“OwenReefin” on the PNWMAS site:





















“Pecker115” on the UR site:





















"Cermet" on the AC site:












“Promazine” on the UR site:





















"Bobba" on the scrubber site:







































“Reefnjunkie” on the PNWMAS site:






























“RkyRickstr” on the scrubber site:







































“Ruddybop” on the MFK site:






























“Smann” on the PNWMAS site:












“Strayrex” on the UR site:





















“Swhite” on the scrubber site:
















































“Tonymar” on the scrubber site:


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonica

Important videos to help you understand algae filtering...

Ocean Productivity - Intro - YouTube - Ocean Productivity
Ocean Productivity - Photosynthesis Part 1 - YouTube - Photosynthesis part 1
Ocean Food Webs - Food Chains vs Food Webs - YouTube - Food Chains vs. Food Webs
Ocean Productivity - Nutrients & Primary Production- YouTube - Nutrients and Primary Production
Ocean Productivity - Chlorophylls & "Helper" Pigments - YouTube - Chlorophyll
Ocean Productivity - Zooplankton & Primary Productivity - YouTube - Zooplankton and Primary Production
Ocean Productivity - Role of Heterotrophic Bacteria - YouTube - Bacteria
Ocean Food Webs - Introduction - YouTube - Food Webs
Ocean Food Web - Microbial Food Web - YouTube - Microbial Food Web
Ocean Food Webs - Trophic Pyramids - YouTube - Trophic Pyramids


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## SantaMonica




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## coralbandit

bravo! not only useful to remove algae, but this is a filter,removing nitrates and phosphates.Simple and effective.Should be used by all with any of these issues.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Some more successes from waterfall scrubbers:

Damon on the IM site: "I have been completely skimmer less for over a month now, and my ats has brought my nitrates from off the chart above 50ppm and with yesterday's test it has come down to 5 on the high end with color choosing(can't wait for a Hanna to make a nitrate). I am extremely happy with my ats as it is now, but I do believe I'm going to build a second one next to it. I built this size for a small (75-90g heavy bioload), but I'm going to add a second one that will be a more professional build quality now that I have figured out how I want it to run. I still love the fact that I have dropped $25 a month in electricity, haven't done a water change in a month while still dropping nitrates and getting amazing coral growth. The best part is I am making these to utilize my overflow drains, so in essence I adding a more efficient form of filtration without adding any heat or extra electricity. I can't report on long term results as I've only been running an ats since last fall. But from where my tank was to where it is now is enough for me to jump ship, lol." 

Kerry on the scrubber site: "I was hard for me to believe that this device worked. It took about a year before I built one and now I wish I knew about this years ago. Who would have thought algae would provide so much success? I even have one on my 150G FW Jack Dempsey tank as well. And yes, its so nice not to have a skimmer anymore!!!!"

Reefkeeper2 on the RC site: "I run a skimmer, biopellets and an ATS. The skimmer and the pellets worked well keeping nitrates at 0, but there was room for improvement with phosphate control. I tried GFO, and lanthanum. My sps do not like the GFO. I got STN often when I changed it out. The lanthanum worked, but was very labor intensive and so unpractical. The ATS did the trick nicely. I have been a reefer for a very long time. I think I have tried every method of nutrient control thought up by anyone. I really enjoy trying out new ideas and trying to improve on old ones. I have to say that this combination has worked the best of all I have tried over the years." 

N728NY on the RC site: "Just chiming in to say I really hope this thread keeps going! Lots of good info. I'm still pretty new to keeping a reef tank. I have been running a scrubber with my skimmer for the past three months. Before then I could never get my nitrates below 15, and since I added my scrubber I never been able to detect any nitrates, even after feeding twice as much. I know with my 75 gallon set up, I made my scrubber slightly over sized (sized for 100 gallons) and I dump huge amounts of pellets and frozen shrimp in my tank on top of spot feeding my corals on a regular basis and I still have yet to register any nitrates on my test kit. Being that I'm still new I still haven't built up the courage to unplug the skimmer yet. I may try it once I know for sure my scrubber is fully matured, got plenty of ro water made up and salt ready just in case I need to do an emergency water change lol. I still have a clump of cheato left that I suppose would be good back up if the scrubber couldn't keep up. The cheato doesn't really grow very much right now because of the scrubber. I love these scrubbers, I'm so glad I took the time to read "both sides" of the arguments on them to find out the facts about them." 

Kentth on the scrubber site: "overall the tank is much healthier, a lot of feather dusters, coming out of the rocks, yellow sponges, other opaque sponges. big thing is no water changes for over 8 months, almost no silt, it has really cut my maintenance"

Langtudatinh01 on the RC site: "i completely redo my 40B with the ATS from beginning, i barely see much algae on my display tank but i now have a mature ATS. i relocated all my fish and add another one without any issue. the dead rocks i use bleach quite a lot of phosphate back into the water, but the ATS has handle the issue like a cham. i do not see much algae on my display. everything is green like grass down at the ATS. i am very happy so far.'

Bicolour on the MFUK site: "quick update, so my ats has been running since [6 weeks ago] and i gotta say all the algea in my tank and on the sand has gone, wow. gotta say it was well worth doing. i dont monitor growth at the moment but this is something i will be doing in the future, my set up was basic costing very little as i wanted to try this before i really looked into the idea. very impressed and can only say if you got space look into it"

Rysher on the RC site: "i have a 6x9 screen, 1 inch is submerged so only 6x8 is really used, i also have a 40b. it has been my only form of filtration ever since i started the tank [months ago], i feed almost 2 cubes a day, only have 2 fishes but u cant see any algae on my DT, almost non existent film algae too, i clean my DT glass maybe once a week." 

Packman90 on the RC site: "I have a 72 Gallon bow front and until a couple of months ago I was going to throw my tank away and give up on saltwater tanks all together. I was brand new, took a lot of advice, started my system and watched as it became more and more green, until i found out about scrubbers. I lost all of the coral frags I bought, about $400.00 worth, and just felt that I would never get it. I have it now, and just bought my first new frags in over 8 months. Thanks to all of you scrubbers out there who showed me the way. Here is the tank after the scrubber did it's magic. this took a total of 1 month for it to clear up, and I did not remove any of the algae, it just melted a way. Only problem I have is that i have some sea grass that is melting away as well and cheto in my sump is also slowly dieing."


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Here are the requirements for building a UAS.

Screen material:

1)
Use plastic canvas as the algae screen. Remember to roughen it up properly using a wood saw or hole saw. You can get plastic canvas at craft store (under sewing section) or sewing store or online at places like Everything Plastic Canvas Home Page or ebay. Screen should look like this:


















Lighting

2)
The lighting needs to be 1 watt per square inch (6.25 square cm) of screen material. A 3 by 4 inch screen is 12 square inches not 24. Make sure you have enough wattage and use a reflector if the light doesnot focus on screen. For fluorescent bulbs, it needs to have a spectrum of 2700k-3000k. For LEDs, it needs to be red 660nm. You can cut the wattage in half if you are using LED lights. In order for algae to grow, make sure that the light is on for 18 hours a day. Here are some bulbs and reflector type:


















Bubbles:

3)
The bubbles need to be rapid and large and distributed through out the screen evenly for algae to grow. The best way to do this is by slicing the air tubing. Make sure the air pump is good so that the bubbles can constantly flow across the screen for 24 hours a day. This is why you need bubbles:


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## SantaMonicaHelp

This is the new design with bubble remover.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Do you have any suggestions for the best manufacturer for making these?


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## SantaMonicaHelp

This is the Collector UAS Scrubber.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Some success stories of people who built upflow algae scrubbers...

ReeferMat on the MASC site: "So I decided to build one of these [UAS scrubbers] today. It's huge because all I had was a 12 inch airstone, but I'm hoping that won't matter too much. It cost me less than $20 to build, so if it works that is the best bang for the buck I have ever seen in the war on algae! It has been up and running for 3 months now and I have to say my tank looks a lot better. Every time I clean it it grows a new type of algae, slime, turf, etc... and it grows fast. I would say I have seen a decline in nuisance algae in my tank, but to be honest that would be an understatement.... It has all but eradicated it. Every time I look at the scrubber I can't help but think that all that junk would be growing in my DT"

Owenreefin on the PNWMAS site: "The first two months of running this UAS scrubber thing I was convinced I was going to rip it out for the algae growth was dismal, and I figured that my system just couldn't make it work. (I also have algae in my fuge) WELL I WAS WRONG. The thing started to really kick in. So much so that I just conducted my only water change in 2 months and I hardly think it was even necessary. I usually do a change of 30% every 2 weeks. My sand bed has cleared up big time too. With the water change I pulled out a good baseball sized amount of algae off the scrubber, couldn't be happier! I will always be running one of these. I will post pics of its growth next time I change water. Many months from now.  " 

Bobba on the scrubber site: "Well, it's been almost 3 weeks with the HOG.5, and 2 with my lone Turbo snail. I am happy to report that I have no Hair Algae left in the tank. No signs of any regrowth of what the snail has eaten either."

Clavius on the scrubber site:

"I've been running a 500 liter tank now for 5 years. It is very well stocked with SPS, LPS, softies, filter feeders and a modest amount of fish. The nutrients were being kept very low by a combination of a giant skimmer and the ZEOvit method. Off course, this results in very lightly coloured corals, which was my goal. Generally I'm very pleased with the colouring and growth of my corals, and please with my tank in general. But one battle I've always lost: brown algae covering my sandbed. I could not, for the life of me, find what was causing those algae. Not to mention solve it. I've tried many many things to solve it, but up untill recently, without luck. 

Almost three weeks ago though, I installed a HOG.5 unit. It was a little experiment that I wanted to do ever since I learned about algae scrubbers. I was never creative enough to build one myself, as the space in my 100 ltr sump is very limited. The HOG.5 was affordable and tiny enough to enable my experiment. I could even fit 6 of those units in there with ease. Off course, with the ZEO-method, my nutrients already were really very low. I couldn't measure any NO3 or PO4 with my Salifert test kits. And I never bothered with more expensive kits; unmeasurable should be good enough. I wanted to see if the vitamins and amino acids that the algae scrubber produces would add anything to my reef. And, more importantly, if the algae would consume "something" that the brown algae on my sandbed require.

The result in my sandbed is staggering. After only 3 weeks, not a trace of the pesky brown algae is left! An extra benefit, that I didn't expect, is that my lightly coloured corals now all have noticably much more colour. Without getting darker. They seem to glow! I don't know if it is from the vitamins that are released in the water [from the algae scrubber]. Or maybe the ugly brown algae [on the sand] were also covering my corals and that I now finally seeing my uncovered corals! Strangely enough, the algae in my HOG.5 aren't light green, as you would expect with nutrient-poor tanks. But they're a mix of dark brown with red tints here and there. So, I have no idea why that is or how that works. But at this stage I'm just so happy that I really don't care."


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## LTruex

Algae is good to keep unwanted nitrate and phosphats from the tank, and this scrubber seems to offer both a way to consume unwanted problems, and ease of removal in display tank...I consider this to be a good design that does have beneficial use in aqauarium more so with a refugium to fw aquariums where this can be applied on a larger scale. Larry


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Some more UAS upflow algae scrubber (tm) examples...

"Joey2525" on the CMF site...







































"Alexleblanc" on the scrubber site...







































"Disney" on the PH841 site...




















"Cdm2012" on the scrubber site...






























"Bicyclebill" on the PNWMAS site






























"Mbonus" on the scrubber site...












"UasIslakkie" on the UR site...





















"Alman" on the AH site...












"JosephAcquario" on another site...





















"Ericsson" on the scrubber site...





























"FotisGt" on the AZ site...






























"Colin" on the PNWMAS site...












"Accrod" on the PH841 site...












"Atari" on the MC site...












"Kaykay" on the SG site...












"Jameshopper" on the UR site...


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## Dukenukem713

3


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## Raymond S.

I've read some of this already but have yet to see (will read all sooner or later) a / the place where it explains how the nitrates are used(?) up.
A very simple answer is what I'm looking for because I've read/googled and searched for a while and have yet to find any list etc which might
list those plants which are known to use nitrates as their food. I keep running into references to plants which use ammonia as food. There is one 
type of a Duckweed that does better than most on this. But the articles all say the same basic statement...that given both chemicals in the
water in which they live, the plants prefer to use the ammonia.
I do have a motive for this however. I noticed that those people who talked about their systems talked about removing the algae which grew
on the screen. I can see some of it needing to be removed. But really I have been thinking that in some way a display of some kind could be
built in the tank where you could allow some of it to grow, but in a concentrated aria. I had imagined getting an old piece of board/wood and
directing the incoming water flow from the filter across it. Just have not been able to incorporate the air bubbles into that scene in any way
yet. Just a strange dream I guess.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Algae eat nitrate when there is not enough ammonia. It grows very well on just phosphate and nitrate


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## Raymond S.

Let's not get into the pro's and con's of them as I'm only using it as an example, but could/would this replace a bio-filter such as an under gravel.
I used this type for the example because of it's singular nature as opposed to say a bio wheel by Penguin.
Here is my apprehension with the algae scraper.
I like the algae on the walls,rocks and logs. Just not a fan of it when it develops into such as hair algae. I will give a link to my photo's so you
can see what I mean. Most are photo's of fairly new or just built but I included a couple that have some age also. One is labeled "Algae on wall"
and though a poor picture, is still a good shot of how they look after a few months. I had tanks when young but have just started back into it
and only have about two years/w only a few months access to this forum and all the great info it has. 
I guess I'm heading towards making one of these scrapers but thinking of reducing the size to deliberately reduce it's effectiveness so that I
still get some of my algae covering the rocks and wood. Any feedback on this I truly would appreciate.
Aquarium Gallery - Raymond S. Gallery


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## SantaMonica

Are you trying to grow algae on the walls?


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## Raymond S.

Rivers and lakes don't have a person who cleans them even though in some streams it's clear. But in most cases the algae looks good and is a natural part
of it all. So guess how that water gets rid of the nitrates. But a picture is worth a thousand words so look at my gallery. There are two ten gal tanks in
there and one is a re-do. The other is actually the second design of the biological built in filter. Works better just because it's larger but took up too much
room in my tank to suit me. That one has pix at three points of algae growth. new / a few months / and more time. This summer/w direct sunlight it got
a heavy overgrowth of hair algae which is yet to be removed but getting rid of it to a friend to make room for the third generation of the filter in tank#3.
Moral to that one is if you don't already have lots of plants growing well don't put in mega lights and ferts.
The other tank(the re-do) has pix of it when first built when it had no wall covering (my version of 3D just gravel on silicon) and pix of the covering being 
added/w slight mods to the actual filter at same time. This tank is now in it's third month. The tens are so the experimenting/w the filter don't run me into
the poor house. The wall covering is also evolving. Had tanks when young and just started back two years ago. Found this forum seems like mid Jan. of
this year.
Aquarium Gallery - Raymond S. Gallery

Quote: Are you trying to grow algae on the walls?


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## SantaMonica

What is your question?


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## SantaMonica

Air Pump Recommendations for UAS® upflow algae scrubbers®. Having bought and tried all of these, here are the best ones:


Flow (highest to lowest):

Coralife Super Luft... TONS of flow for multiple outlets or multiple scrubbers
Tetra Whisper 300... High flow if both outlets are combined into one
JW Aquatic Fusion 700... High flow if both outlets are combined into one
Tetra Whisper 150... Good flow for one outlet
Coralife Luft (regular)... Good flow for one outlet


Noise (most to least):

Coralife Super Luft... (Loud; vibrates)
Coralife Luft (regular)... (Vibrates)
JW Aquatic Fusion 700... Slight vibration
Tetra Whisper 300... Silent
Tetra Whisper 150... Silent


Size: (big to small):

Tetra Whisper 300... Large
JW Aquatic Fusion 700... Medium
Coralife Super Luft... Medium
Tetra Whisper 150... Medium
Coralife Luft (regular)... Small


Cost (most to least):

Coralife Super Luft	
Coralife Luft (regular)	
Tetra Whisper 300 
Tetra Whisper 150 
JW Aquatic Fusion 700	

Overall winner for a single UAS scrubber used at home: JW Aquatic Fusion 700 (also is the only one with adjustable flow)
Overall winner for multiple UAS scrubbers if noise if ok: Coralife Super Luft


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## SantaMonicaHelp

1982: The original dump-bucket style algae scrubber (works, but very hard to build, install, operate, and harvest)

2008: Waterfall style algae scrubber (works good but hard to build and install; must be removed to harvest)

2011: Upflow style scrubber (work goods, easier to build and install on the glass; must be removed to harvest)

2013: ??? (work great, all 3D growth, easy to build, and instant in-place harvesting without needing to remove anything or turn anything off).


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## SantaMonicaHelp

If anyone has been waiting to build a waterfall or upflow scrubber, we 

will soon be posting plans of the new floating surface scrubber. It 

floats at the top and does not need a waterfall, and it does not shine 

through the glass.


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## SantaMonica




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## SantaMonicaHelp

First 13 days of growth in a floating surface scrubber. This one used four LEDs of 3 watts 

each, 660nm (red), but you could also use a CFL bulb...


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## SantaMonica

More harvests from the floating surface scrubber:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/miWb4R8ajXw[/youtube]


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## SantaMonica

Phosphate flow out of rocks

Many people, when they get their scrubber running for the first time, get worried when more (not less) algae starts to grow on their rocks. It seems really strange, especially when nitrate and phosphate have gone lower than before. What is happening is that phosphate is coming out of the rocks. Remember, phosphate is invisible, so you can only see the effects of it, and it always "flows" from higher concentrations to lower concentrations (just like heat does). 

Example: If your room is warm, and you put a cold object on the floor, heat from the air in the room will "flow" into the object until the object and the air are the same temperature. Example 2: If you put a hot object on the floor, heat will "flow" out of the object and go into the air in the room, again, until the air and the object are the same temperature. Now suppose you open your windows (in the winter). The warm air in your room will go out the windows, and it will get colder in the room. The object on the floor is now warmer than the air, so heat will flow out of the object and into the air, and then out the window.

Think of phosphate as the heat, and your rocks as the object, and your windows as the scrubber. As the scrubber pulls phosphate out of the water, the phosphate level in the water drops. Now, since the phosphate level in the water is lower than the phosphate level in the rocks, phosphate flows from the rocks into the water, and then from the water into the scrubber. This continues until the phosphate levels in the rocks and water are level again. And remember, you can't see this invisible flow.

This flow causes an interesting thing to happen. As the phosphate comes out of the rocks, it then becomes available to feed algae as soon as the phosphate reaches the surface of the rocks where there is light. So, since the surface of the rocks is rough and has light, it starts growing MORE algae there (not less) as the phosphate comes out of the rocks. This is a pretty amazing thing to see for the first time, because if you did not know what was happening you would probably think that the algae in the scrubber was leaking out and attaching to your rocks. Here are the signs of phosphate coming out of the rocks: 

1. The rocks are older, and have slowly developed algae problems in the past year.

2. The scrubber is new, maybe only a few months old, and has recently started to grow well.

3. Nitrate and phosphate measurements in the water are low, usually the lowest they have been in a long time.

4. Green hair algae (not brown) on the rocks has increased in certain spots, usually on corners and protrusions at the top.

5. The glass has not needed cleaning as much.


Since skimmers, filter socks, etc don't remove any nitrate and phosphate, and waterchanges and macro's in a fuge don't remove much, most people have never seen the effects of large amounts of phosphate coming out of the rocks quickly. But sure enough, it does. How long does it continue? For 2 months to a year, depending on how much phosphate is in the rocks, how strong your scrubber is, and how many other phosphate-removing filters you have (GFO, carbon dosing, etc). But one day you will see patches of white rock that were covered in green hair the day before; this is a sure sign that the algae are losing their phosphate supply from the rocks and can no longer hold on. Now it's just a matter of days before the rocks are clear.


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## SantaMonica

Advanced Aquarist Feature Article for December 2013: Coral Feeding: An Overview
Feature Article: Coral Feeding: An Overview — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog 


The picture in the article shows that in the 1000 litre test tank:

98% of the food particles go to the skimmer when there are 2 coral colonies
71% of the food particles go to the skimmer when there are 40 coral colonies
92% of the food particles go to the skimmer when there are 2 coral colonies, when skimming is cut in half
55% of the food particles go to the skimmer when there are 40 coral colonies, when skimming is cut in half


"This trade-off between food availability and water quality can be circumvented by using plankton-saving filtration systems, which include [...] algal turf scrubbers" 

"Corals are able to feed on a wide range of particulate organic matter, which includes live organisms and their residues and excrements (detritus)."

"...bacteria [...] can be a major source of nitrogen."

"...when dry fish feeds or phytoplankton cultures are added to an aquarium, a part of this quickly ends up in the collection cup of the skimmer.

"...mechanical filters (which can include biofilters and sand filters) result in a significant waste of food."

"Detritus is a collective term for organic particles that arise from faeces, leftover food and decaying organisms. Detrital matter is common on coral reefs and in the aquarium, and slowly settles on the bottom as sediment. This sediment contains bacteria, protozoa, microscopic invertebrates, microalgae and organic material. These sedimentary sources can all serve as coral nutrients when suspended, especially for species growing in turbid waters. Experiments have revealed that many scleractinian corals can ingest and assimilate detritus which is trapped in coral mucus. Although stony corals may ingest detritus when it is available, several gorgonians have been found to primarily feed on suspended detritus."

"Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an important food source for many corals. [...] scleractinian corals take up dissolved glucose from the water. More ecologically relevant, corals can also absorb amino acids and urea from the seawater"


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## Raymond S.

Can this info have any relevance to fresh water tanks ?
I am especially interested in finding out if clams can use detrius if for no other reason the micro bugs it contains.
For years I've been asked if I could get out all the particles from my tank with a better filter...LOL...
Little do they know that I actually designed this filter to allow such as those particles. I use some of that light
defuser plastic for the bottom of my filter just so the media A. won't fall out, but B. it needs a separation of the
media in one compartment and the water being drawn through it to the next compartment type thing for the
filter to function correctly. But for media I use Fluval Pre-Filter ceramic nodes(the six sided ones) under some
of what is called Bio Bale from e-bay. No pads/sponges/screens/floss are employed.



04/04/12


And this is it today.


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## SantaMonica

I think that leaving particles in the water is the same for fresh or salt. As long as the particles are broken up and eaten by micro animals, then the larger animals can eat more of the smaller ones. Of course you still need to remove nitrate and phosphate, and that's what the scrubber if for.


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## SantaMonica

Nutrient Export

What do all algae (and cyano too) need to survive? Nutrients. What are nutrients? Ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and urea are the major ones. Which ones cause most of the algae in your tank? These same ones. Why can't you just remove these nutrients and eliminate all the algae in your tank? Because these nutrients are the result of the animals you keep.

So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients come from pee (urea). Pee is very high in urea and ammonia, and these are a favorite food of algae and some bacteria. This is why your glass will always need cleaning; because the pee hits the glass before anything else, and algae on the glass consume the ammonia and urea immediately (using photosynthesis) and grow more. In the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton consume the ammonia and urea in open water, and seaweed consume it in shallow areas, but in a tank you don't have enough space or water volume for this, and, your other filters or animals often remove or kill the phytoplankton or seaweed anyway. So, the nutrients stay in your tank.

Then the ammonia/ammonium hits your rocks, and the periphyton on them consumes more ammonia and urea. Periphyton is both algae and animals, and is the reason your rocks change color after a few weeks. Then the ammonia goes inside the rock, or hits your sand, and bacteria there convert it into nitrite and nitrate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.

Also let's not forget phosphate, which comes from solid organic food particles. When these particles are eaten by microbes and clean up crew, the organic phosphorus in them is converted into phosphate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.

So whenever you have algae "problems", you simply have not exported enough nutrients compared to how much you have been feeding (note: live rock can absorb phosphate for up to a year, making it seem like there was never a problem. Then, there is a problem). 

So just increase your nutrient exports. You could also reduce feeding, and this has the same effect, but it's certainly not fun when you want to feed your animals


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## jrman83

Getting rid of all of your nutrients, if it were possible, may have a limiting affect on algae to the point that it affects its growth. However, in a planted tank this would not be a very viable solution. The same limiting factors that would affect your algae would severely impact your plants and make them growth limited as well. Not too much of a factor in a low light tank, but up the lighting and you also up the effect. Algae requires micro amounts of nutrients to grow.

Not saying that what you have here doesn't work, but I am saying that do this in a FW planted tank with a medium light level or higher and you will severely impact plant growth and potentially have dying plants - if what you are saying is that the purpose of this thing is to completely remove nutrients like nitrates and phosphates. My high light tanks "require" manual dosing from me of both of these nutrients. If I do not they are impacted and can become targets for algae. This is just how it is in a high light planted tank that also requires pressurized CO2.


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## SantaMonica

Yes planted tanks probably are the last ones too need extra nutrient removal, but there is the occasional one that has algae problems and probably could benefit from it.


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## jrman83

SantaMonica said:


> Yes planted tanks probably are the last ones too need extra nutrient removal, but there is the occasional one that has algae problems and probably could benefit from it.


That assumes that nutrients or maybe even excess nutrients, are the cause of the algae. All of those theories have been proven wrong many times. It is not to say that someone with a planted tank couldn't benefit from something like this, but the likelihood that it could impact plant growth is pretty good.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Great video showing a basic upflow scrubber, similar to a Hang-On-Glass (tm)...

HOW TO: DIY algae scrubber - No more nitrates - YouTube


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Nutrient Export

What do all algae (and cyano too) need to survive? Nutrients. What are nutrients? Ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and urea are the major ones. Which ones cause most of the algae in your tank? These same ones. Why can't you just remove these nutrients and eliminate all the algae in your tank? Because these nutrients are the result of the animals you keep.

So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients come from pee (urea). Pee is very high in urea and ammonia, and these are a favorite food of algae and some bacteria. This is why your glass will always need cleaning; because the pee hits the glass before anything else, and algae on the glass consume the ammonia and urea immediately (using photosynthesis) and grow more. In the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton consume the ammonia and urea in open water, and seaweed consume it in shallow areas, but in a tank you don't have enough space or water volume for this, and, your other filters or animals often remove or kill the phytoplankton or seaweed anyway. So, the nutrients stay in your tank.

Then the ammonia/ammonium hits your rocks, and the periphyton on them consumes more ammonia and urea. Periphyton is both algae and animals, and is the reason your rocks change color after a few weeks. Then the ammonia goes inside the rock, or hits your sand, and bacteria there convert it into nitrite and nitrate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.

Also let's not forget phosphate, which comes from solid organic food particles. When these particles are eaten by microbes and clean up crew, the organic phosphorus in them is converted into phosphate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.

So whenever you have algae "problems", you simply have not exported enough nutrients compared to how much you have been feeding (note: live rock can absorb phosphate for up to a year, making it seem like there was never a problem. Then, there is a problem). 

So just increase your nutrient exports. You could also reduce feeding, and this has the same effect, but it's certainly not fun when you want to feed your animals


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## SantaMonica

From new to green, in 3 cleanings and 2 LEDs...


[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utu2SADmj2g[/video]


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## SantaMonica

Very nice scrubber-only tank, although is SW:
180g Show Tank - Page 2

His personal page:
Introduction


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## SantaMonica

What is Periphyton?

Periphyton is what turns your rocks different colors. You know... the white rocks you started with in SW, or the grey rocks (or brown wood) you started with in FW. After several months or years, the rocks become a variety of different colors and textures. Why? Because the periphyton that has grown on it is a mix of different living things, of different colors, and thicknesses. And the important part is: It is LIVING.

That's right: The colored stuff that has coated your rocks is all living organisms. Sponges, microbes, algae, cyano, biofilms, and of course coralline. After all, "peri" means "around the outside", and "phyto" means "plant". Ever slipped in a slippery puddle? That's probably periphyton that made it slippery. It's a very thin coating on the rocks, sometimes paper thin.

There is a lot of photosynthetic organisms in periphyton, and this of course means that they need light; but they need nutrients too (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate). And as you might figure, they will be on the lighted portions of the rocks. And they will grow to intercept food particles in the water, based on the water flow. Just think about how sponges orient their holes for water flow; the micro sponges in periphyton do it too but on a tiny scale. 

What about under the rocks, in the dark areas? Well these periphyton don't get light, so they are primarily filter feeders. So they REALLY grow and position themselves to be able to intercept food particles. And they don't really need to fight off algae, because algae does not grow in the dark, so they have no need for anti-algae tactics like plants in the light have.

Reef studies have show that at certain depths, more of the filtering of the water comes from periphyton and benthic algae than comes from the phytoplankton which filters the deeper water. And in streams, almost all the filtering is done by periphyton. So, what you have on rocks that are "mature" or "established" is a well-developed layer of periphyton; and all the things that comes from it.

This is why mandarin fish can eat directly off the rocks of an "established" tank (tons of pods grow in the periphyton), but not on the rocks of a new tank. Or why some animals can lay their eggs on established rocks, but not new ones. Or why established tanks seem to "yo-yo" less than new ones. Even tangs can eat periphyton directly when it's thick enough. Yes periphyton can also develop on the sand, but since the sand is moved around so much, the periphyton does not get visible like it does on rocks. So thick periphyton on established rocks is your friend. And totally natural too. Keep in mind though I'm not referring to nuisance algae on rocks; I'm only referring to the very-thin layer of coloring that coats the rocks.

But what happens when you "scrape the stuff off your rocks"? Well you remove some of the periphyton, which means you remove some of your natural filter and food producer. What if you take the rocks out and scrub them? Well now you not only remove more of your natural filter and food producer, but the air is going to kill even more of the microscopic sponges in it. And what if you bleach the rocks? Well, goodbye all filtering and food producing for another year. It's an instant reduction of the natural filtering that the periphyton was providing. 

However, what if you just re-arrange the rocks? Well, some of the periphyton that was in the light, now will be in the dark; so this part will die. And some of the periphyton that was in the dark will now be in the light, so it will not be able to out-compete photosynthetic growth and thus will be covered and die too. And even if the light stays the same, the direction and amount of water flow (and food particles) will change; sponges that were oriented to get food particles from one direction will now starve. So since the light and food supply is cut off, the filtering that the periphyton was providing stops almost immediately from just re-arranging.

Starvation takes a little longer. The periphyton organisms won't die immediately, since they have some energy saved up; but instead, they will wither away over several weeks. So on top of the instant reduction in filtering that you get my just moving the rocks, you get a somewhat stretched-out period of nutrients going back into the water. And after all this, it takes another long period of time for the periphyton to build up to the levels it was at before. Even changing the direction of a powerhead will affect the food particle supply in the area it used to be pointed at.

So a good idea is to try to keep everything the same. Pick your lighting, flow, layout, and try to never move or change anything. It's a different way of thinking, but you should have a stronger natural filter and food producer because of it.


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## SantaMonica

Shade cloth:

All new scrubbers which use white growth surfaces should have a black cloth placed over the LEDs for the first week or two. Because the all-white interior reflects so much light, when it is new the light levels are way above the highest amount that can grow anything. Once growth starts, the white surfaces get covered with growth and the total light levels drop, and the cloth can be removed. Any cloth, stocking, or t-shirt can work; just don't melt the cloth with hot LEDs 

This covering of the lights can be done by anyone, on any scrubber, even waterfalls. Waterfalls use plastic canvas which has more holes than material, and they are not in white compartments, so the light levels when new are not that high. But it still might help if a new screen stays completely empty or had bald spots.

The reason for a white colors, of course, is too allow more light to reach the base of the growth that does the attaching to the surfaces. As the growth gets thicker, the bottom layers will almost be in darkness, so the white surface doubles the light there by reflecting instead of absorbing the light.


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## silvergourami1

Great idea for algae harvesting....not great for display tanks as it would not look very attractive in most cases inside an aquascape environ. A lot of work for the average aquarist. 

Kudos on the effort though....I might set up a 10 gallon just to grow this for my shrimp and algae consumers. I would provide a natural and healthy food source.










YUMMERS!!!!!!!!!


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## SantaMonica

Scrubbers compared to refugiums (consider for SW too)...

If you are starting a new tank, then the obvious difference is that a scrubber gives you the option of not having a fuge at all because an upflow scrubber can be placed on top of, in, or behind, the display. There are other uses for a sump/fuge of course, but we'll only cover the filtration concerns here.

A not-so-obvious difference is that a scrubber, if run together with a fuge with macros, will kill the macros even though the macros are much larger. This is because the scrubber thinks the macros are nuisance algae. Some people do run both together without killing the macros, but this is just because their scrubber is not strong enough, and actually the macros might even be slowing down the scrubber because the scrubber thinks it has to remove the macros, along with the nutrients in the water and the nuisance algae in the display. However if this works for them, good. 

But assuming you have to decide on either a sump/fuge or a scrubber (not both)...

o Filtration with algae is proportional photosynthesis, which is proportional to Light X Air Water Turbulence Flow X Attachment. Meaning, stronger light grows more algae; stronger air/water interface turbulence grows more algae; and stronger attachment lets more algae grow without it detaching and floating away. A scrubber is thus designed to maximize Light, Flow, and Attachment.

o The main problem with macros in a refugium is the self-shading that the macros do. Any part of the macro which is not directly in front of the light at any moment is not filtering. And any macro inside of a "ball" of macro (like chaeto) is self-shaded all the time. Only the surface macro that is directly in front of the light is doing any real filtering. A scrubber is designed to have all the algae in front of the light at all times. Rotating the macro does not solve the problem, because the time that the macro is rotated away from the light is time that the macro is not filtering. This is why it takes a much larger size of chaeto to do the same filtering as a scrubber.

o Self-flow-blocking is another problem of macros in a refugium, for the same reason as light-blocking. And the thicker the "ball" of macro, the worse the flow-blocking. 

o Particle trapping is another result of a ball of macro. These particles need to cycle back around to feed the corals, but instead they get trapped in the macro and they rot, and in doing so they block even more flow and light.

o With a scrubber, there is very little water standing in the way of the light. Also, the light is (or should be) very close to the scrubber... 4 inches (10cm) or less. The power of light varies with the inverse square of the distance, so going from 8" to 4" actually gives you 4X the power, not 2X. And the nutrient removal power of algae is proportional to the power of the light, because it's the photosynthesis that is doing the filtering.

o Rapid flow across the algae in a scrubber gives more delivery of nutrients, compared to the slow moving water in a fuge. Filtering is proportion to nutrient flow.

o The turbulence of water moving over the sections of algae in a scrubber help to remove the boundary layer of water around the algae. This boundary layer slows the transfer of metabolites in and out of the algae. There is no turbulence in a fuge (if there were, you'd have waves and bubbles). The interface between the air and water is what provides the most turbulence and boundary layer removal; there is no air/water interface in macros.

o Scrubbers do not let food particles settle like a refugium does; most particles flow right out of the scrubber.

o Scrubbers do not (if cleaned properly) release algal strands into display, like chaeto does.

o Scrubbers do not go sexual, like caulerpa can.

o Scrubbers do grow lots of pods; more than was previously thought, especially if not cleaned with freshwater.

o Scrubber don't, obviously, provide a place for snails and crabs, etc.

However, if you already have a sump with an empty compartment, and you don't mind using all of it and putting a light over it, then maybe it's easier and cheaper to try macros first.


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Cleaning Off Slime On New Scrubbers

When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden. 

This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.

So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light. 

Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.

-NP


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## SantaMonicaHelp

PowerPoint presentation for clubs, schools, etc., to learn the basics of scrubbers:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/AlgaeScrubbers.pps

or

http://www.algaescrubber.net/AlgaeScrubbers-plain.pps


Nancy


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Here are some scrubber results I collected:

"[Scrubber] is working incredible well. Went from constant algae outbreaks (3-4 per year), to no algae at all. 10 yr old 250 gal reef tank, started developing blooms at year 7. Nothing else worked, even breakdown and rebuilds." -- Joe Lopez

"I recent removed bio-pellets, GFO, and trimmed off a lot of macro algae. Oh yeah, overfeeding now to try and bring up my phosphates. Since removing a bunch of nutrient exporting systems like bio-pellets, GFO, and a second algae scrubber, my [scrubber] has been growing nuts. It's been less then 7 days and I have to remove more. People are surprised when I open up the [scrubber] and show them what I pull out with one hand" -- ReeferEric on the R2R site. pics:












"I pull a handful out every week" -- Choff on the R2R site.

"Everything is working great, got two of them on my system" -- Kenneth Salomon

Dan Budz:













"The [scrubber] is working well" -- JT Powell

"All I can say about the [scrubber] is WoW. It completely wiped out my severe case of Cyano Bacteria in 4 weeks, it is working like a champ. I was a little skeptical that it would work at first because it's very compact, but I am completely amazed on how great it's working." -- John Quezada

"My [scrubber] is working great" -- Stefan Kolev

"Happy to report that the [scrubber] is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site

"[Scrubber] is growing thick and fast" -- Carl Knowles

"Boom... 7 days growth from my [scrubber]" -- rdevoe11, pic:












Other pics:

Matthew Coulthard:











Nicolay Oganesian:











Yuppy Suhandinata:










-NP


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## SantaMonicaHelp

Here are some upflow layout designs to give you ideas of what might fit your tank or ability to DIY better:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post1.jpg (simple upflow screen)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post2.jpg (attach to glass)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post3.jpg (bubble remover)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post4.jpg (attach to glass, with compartment)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post5.jpg (attach to glass, small)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P6.jpg (hang on back)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P7.jpg (collector)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P7.jpg (floating)

-NP


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## harmjoy

Huh. This is pretty fascinating. I've never heard of such a thing before. I wonder if I could get the algae growing well enough for a food source for my Sevrums?


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## SantaMonica

Whoops... late reply :O

Certainly, you can fresh-feed any greens-eating fish. You would just make the circulation holes on the sides a bit bigger so the algae can be pulled out easier. 

If you would like to post up your display, we can come up with something easy for you to build.


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## SantaMonica

Dark Slime and Black Slime - what it looks like

Here are some examples of dark slime, and black slime. Usually slime it starts on new scrubbers which have high measurable nutrients in the water, or on small scrubbers on big tanks with lots of rock where the scrubber is not big enough to pull the nutrients out fast enough.

Notice that some of them have white patches; this is because the slime let go and floated away, leaving white surfaces behind.

In all cases, just take it to your sink and toothbrush them (without toothpaste) so that you can see the white surfaces again.


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## SantaMonica

Coming this summer 2016:
Waterfall algae scrubber
Version 2

After I invented the waterfall scrubber in 2008, it's great that so many people got to DIY it, and it's also great that lots of builders/sellers used it as their design up until the current day. It's had over 7 years to gather hobbyists.

2012 was a good year though, when I introduced the upflow scrubber. It's only had 3 years to gather hobbyists, but offers them what they did not have before: a compact place where they can put a scrubber that does not spill over when it fills up.

Now that the upflows are established, it's time to do some more work on the waterfalls. They've been unchanged since 2008, and almost every part of them can be improved. So over the next year or two I'll post up the improvements piece by piece. Hopefully the improvements will be useful to all.


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## SantaMonica

"Algae scrubbers are one of the few, if not the only, nutrient removal systems that give me something back: Growth. It's a no brainer" -- Jim Stime, LA Fishguys

"I see algae scrubbers as the single most significant nutrient exporter you can have" -- Stephen Babcock, The Corner Reef, Columbia, Illinois, USA

"I am very happy with my [upflow scrubber] which is working great. I will be [using] more scrubbers for my other 8 tanks" -- Bruce Ashcraft 

"The [floating upflow scrubber] is really useful and highly necessary for my tank. So I really can't be without it for too long" -- Jason Pappin

"My [tiny upflow scrubber] works great, and I was thinking about another one. The biggest difference I seen was my phosphate level went from 0.11 to 0.03-0.06 range " -- venom on the CR site:











"The [upflow scrubber] is producing lots of lovely green algae for me" -- K19RKS on the UR site.

"Growth from our [upflow scrubber]" -- Alyse Fisher:










"Tank is heavily fed and [upflow scrubber] definitely seems to have made an improvement since the algae started growing" -- Jason Oneppo

"[floating scrubber is] growing very well. Love the in sump design. Will probably do another down the road as I increase my bioload." -- Erik Sulman

"I'm getting good results from my [2 upflow scrubbers].. It's bringing my phosphate down and starting to get some decent hair algae my tangs love" -- Dane Wilcox

"WOW! 173grams. Two weeks growth [on the floating scrubber]. We LOVE it! The growth rate of the chaeto in our refugium had been steadily decreasing over the past six weeks or so. Yesterday, it became obvious that the chaeto had started to melt/die-off and needed to be removed from the system" -- Mike&Terry on the R2R site:











"There is getting to be some nice looking green hair algae in it" -- Dane Wilcox

"I clean my [scrubber] once a week. Definitely helped lower my nitrates." -- Nagrom on the MR site

"I installed a [upflow] ATS in my 3rd chamber with the return pump in my 29 biocube works well for me. My nitrates stay between 5 ppm or lower. Phosphates are usually .04 or lower -- Saltyphish on the R2R site"

"I didn't really expect much from the [upflow scrubber] and put it in my sump. After about 3 weeks the algae was in abundance and now I have to clean it every 2 weeks" -- Jukeboxjury on the RF site.

"The [upflow scrubber] is doing really great. The first time it was full of green small rounded shape of algae, feels like jelly, i dont know what that is. The second and third week after that is full of green hair algae. Water parameters are great, with readings from hanna checker and salifert testers" -- Yuppy Suhandinata:




















"The scrubber is working great! getting a lot of nice growth" -- Mike Buechs

"I installed a [small upflow scrubber] in my 3rd chamber with the return pump in my 29 biocube, works well for me. My nitrates stay between 5 ppm or lower. Phosphates are usually .04 or lower" -- Saltyphish on the R2R site.

Other growth pics:

Damien Kwok:










Quy Van:










Marlon McNeish:










Alanreef on the R2R site:


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## SantaMonica

Marine Biology Basics... the videos (applies to freshwater too)...





 - Ocean Productivity





 - Photosynthesis part 1





 - Food Chains vs. Food Webs





 - Nutrients and Primary Production





 - Chlorophyll

Ocean Productivity - Zooplankton & Primary Productivity - Zooplankton and Primary Production

Ocean Productivity - Role of Heterotrophic Bacteria - Bacteria

Ocean Food Webs - Introduction - Food Webs

Ocean Food Web - Microbial Food Web - Microbial Food Web

Ocean Food Webs - Trophic Pyramids - Trophic Pyramids


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## SantaMonica

Photosynthesis Lighting Test:



Duration: 4 months

Harvests: 13

Location: Saltwater

Lights: 3-watt 660 nm (red) LEDs, 500 ma.

Photoperiod: 18 hours

Air bubble flow: 24 hours


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## SantaMonica

People often ask what they can do to speed up the filtering after they've added a scrubber, at least until their scrubber "catches up" and fixes thing. Here are some things:

Increase the lighting period in your display a few hours; this increases photosynthesis (filtering) of your corals, and also of the periphyton on your rocks, both of which will consume more nutrients out of the water.

Feed less, or break your current feedings into smaller ones (don't feed all at once). This is because each burst of feeding generates lots of ammonia/urea by the fish, and lots of ammonia from the respiration of the corals too. When all that ammonia goes into the water at one time, it goes straight to your glass and rocks, and is absorbed by algae anywhere nuisance algae can exist. A larger burst of ammonia from a larger feeding will support more algae throughout your system, but breaking your feedings into more smaller feedings will reduce peak levels of ammonia in your water before the ammonia can feed more nuisance algae.

Do one of these: Keep your sump vacuumed, or put a clean up crew there to break up the settled food particles into smaller particles that will circulate around to feed your corals and small fish. But don't do both.

Start (or do more) water changes. Not the most effective in the world, and is costly and a hassle, but it will help some until your scrubber is going.

Start (or do more) GFO. This is more effective than water changes if you use a reactor, and is much easier. If it causes your scrubber to grow less, then use less GFO. Once your scrubber is going, stop the GFO over the period of a few weeks.

Speaking of the periphyton on your rocks, don't move any rocks or change any flow on them; keep everything the same so your natural periphyton filter develops more on your rocks during the next year; this will help tremendously.

Of course, once your scrubber gets a hold on things, you should be able to reduce or eliminate these other filters.


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