Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover

[SantaMonica]

[bigfoot]

natural filtration is the way to go! i used to have a lot of turf algae growing on the screen in my overflow box but accidentally dislodged most of it during one of my very rare cleaning schedules. good thing some of it was left and is starting to grow back. now i think i should make a turf algae filter "intentionally" to grow more of it.

my tank has been skimmerless since dec2007 utilizing caulerpa and DSB to maintain my low bioload softy tank. but i think i could need more "upgrades" for phosphate removal. reading this thread is putting me into the DIY mode again. thanks for the post!

[SantaMonica]

[charlesr1958]

I agree, an ATS will do very good things for your system. I've had my little "accidental" ATS running for some time now and it saves me a lot of dissolved nutrient problems while at the same time creates a habitat for many critters that go to providing natural, live food to the entire system.
Most excellent article/build, thanks for sharing.

For those of you interested in a more naturaly run system, please follow through this series as well.



Chuck

[JosephPerez]

Same here, I have that "turf" algae growing on the outlet of my HOB.

I feel like modding the HOB so there's more surface area for the algae to grow.

[SantaMonica]

[CLYVZ]

[SantaMonica]

[pong]

[SantaMonica]

If you do Version 1 in the sump, you'll need to have a few big holes in the screen for the water to get through; the rest of the screen will clog up.

Should not be underwater. Needs access to swiftly moving water, bright light, and if possible air.

Multiple screen in any version are fine, as long as they all have swiftly moving water, bright light, and if possible air.

Here's an interesting one that someone just built... said it took him just a few minutes:

[labrador]

I just found out that Adey's landmark book "Dynamic Aquaria" is still available at amazon..bought this book upon seeing the reef at smithsonian around 15 years ago. It's a very inspiring and informative book:

http://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Aquaria-B ... 336&sr=1-2

Anyone looking at building an algal turf srubber would benefit from getting this book.

Albert

[vin]

interesting. this is worth a try.

how different is this from the bio wheel or the eco wheel?

[labrador]

Hi Vin,

I think generally, a bio-wheel works with bacteria growing in rotating media while the turf scrubber relies on algae. A bio wheel leaves you with nitrate, a turf scrubber absorbs it. At the time there were some people who opposed the system as not being viable but personally i'm happy to see it back.

Albert

[vin]

hi albert,

there are some bio wheel designs which supports almost the same system if i'm not mistaken. recently, i've stumbled upon the eco wheel, which utilizes turf algae as well. somehow, i could see some practical similarities between the eco wheel and this diy turf scrubber. but i just don't know so far of the differences in terms of efficiency.

[SantaMonica]

The Eco Wheel is a turf scrubber, the only one currently for sale becasue it does not violate the patented ATS from Aday. There's even a huge thread on the Eco Wheel on RC. However the Eco Wheel is huge... ast big as a 200 gal tank, and expensive... starting at $3,000 USD