Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover

[SantaMonica]

LA Fish Guys did a neat little scrubber review...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz_Ya19_kOg

[SantaMonica]

A reminder about lighting:

Stronger lighting is always better, until you start "burning" the algae. Burned algae will be yellow, because it is getting too much light but not enough nutrients from the flow. More light requires more nutrients, which give you more filtering.

So if you have yellow growth, increase the flow so that more nutrient are delivered to the algae. If you can't increase flow, then add some iron. If you can't add iron, then reduce the number of hours the lights are on. Do not reduce the wattage, however; stronger light for less hours is better than weaker light for more hours, because weaker light will grow darker algae. Stronger light grows bright green algae, which does the most filtering.

[Riptide]

is it possible to make an ATS for a 10g sumpless tank with an 18w 65000k spiral CLF? plan to use an 800lph powerhead for it.. please give me insights..

[SantaMonica]

Yes if you put it in a bucket below the tank (with a pump), or above the tank so it can drain down to it.

[Riptide]

since the tank has no hole and piping, do i need to have two powerhead/pump for intake and outflow.. i cant imagine the design though.. thanks for the response..

[SantaMonica]

[Riptide]

[Bugahong]

Santamonica, in some of your posts on the algaescrubber site you stated 2700 to 3000k as the optimum lighting temp for the ats light. Does this mean its better to use 6500k now? Also you posted watts as being "actual" and "not equivalent". I'm guessing here that when a CFL is rated as a"100w energy saver consuming just 5w", then its the 5w that's the actual rating?

Im trying to attach some pics on my converted HaiYang 6gal. Basically I just took all of the media out of the overhead filterbox, extended the tubing for the intake up into a slotted mini spray bar and inserted the closest thing I could find for your plastic canvass. I was planning to use a 5w/100w bulb but guess I should be going 18w? The screen measures 2" by 6". lit on one side.. What would your reco be?

[pepperghost]

k ive tried the 6500k before and now i use the 2700k... comparing algae growth i find the 2700k doing more growth than the 6500k...

also go for the higher wattage lighting... i use the 24w cfl...

[SantaMonica]

2700K is best, not 6500.

Real watts, not "equivalent to".

For a little 6 gal tank, a 5 watt bulb is fine because the screen is so small.

[yokkohmorata]

can a 10gals tank ats can be good for a 250gals tank?

[Bugahong]

Not even close. You don't really need to google much, just backread this thread. Basically bigger tanks mean bigger ATS

[pepperghost]

when cleaning the screen do you clean:

A. Before lights ON
B. Just After Lights Turn OFF
C. Any Time during Lights ON
D. Any Time during Lights OFF

[SantaMonica]

Actually it's not the gallons that matter, it's how much you feed:

Each cube of frozen food you feed per day needs 12 square inches of screen, with a light on both sides totaling 12 real watts. Thus a nano that is fed one cube a day would need a screen 3 X 4 inches with a 6 real watt bulb on each side. A larger tank that is fed 10 cubes a day would need a screen 10 X 12 inches with 60 real watts of light on each side. If you feed flake, feeder fish, or anything else, you will need to blend it up super thick, strain out the excess water, pour it into a cube, and see how many cubes it is. And for Nori, 8 square inches = 1 cube.

Note: If your scrubber is 1-sided instead of 2-sided, you'll need twice the wattage (or you'll need to feed half as much) in order to make up for the inefficiency of 1-sided screens.

As for cleaning time, it does not matter.

[Sea Turtle]

...do red bulbs promote better growth than the warm whites?