Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything
- Thread starter santamonica
- Start date
santamonica
Member
thauro, how many days? And you rubbed algae? Also, don't use anymore slime remover... that might remove all algae everywhere.
sly
Active Member
I'm starting to see some growth on my screen on day 2. There are some brown patches developing. I'll post some pics and update on any parameter changes as they happen...
For reference:
For reference:
- 72 gallon reef
- 250mg/hr ozone w/orp controller
- RO/DI auto-topoff with water at 0ppm on tds meter
- flow controlled 18w UV sterilizer
- MSX 160 skimmer
wet/dry filter
100 lbs. live rock
fuge with chaeto, mangroves and DSB
324 watts t5 lighting
thauro77
Member
Don't worry about the slime remover, the slime is growing like crazy. I have to scrub the glass every day to see anything. Is "clean" for one day or so and then all the glass is covered with a veri fine film of slime in the front panel and thick layers on the sides. Am I doing something wrong? I have not being able to rub any algae since the fixture I got is king of stiff. I will try it today to see if it works. Any suggestions about the out od control slime???
sly
Active Member
Originally Posted by thauro77
http:///forum/post/2749505
Any suggestions about the out od control slime???
From my experience I have seen high phosphate and nitrate and/or low salinity affects red slime growth. The worst case of red slime I ever had was when I was using a hydrometer to check my SG. As a hydrometer ages it will show a higher SG than there really is. The floating arm absorbs salt and never fully rinses clean. Also air bubbles stick to the arm and cause it to float higher as well... I bought a refractometer and found out that my SG was really 1.017 when I thought it was at 1.025. I raised the SG to 1.026 and now the red slime has stopped.
I still get a few places of red slime every now and then but it never gets out of control. In a few days it goes away and doesn't take over the tank. If you have red slime, check the salinity with a refractometer and check your nitrate and phosphate levels. Some people claim that low flow and poor lighting are also to blame but I have seen that this is not true. I have had red slime grow right in front of a modified maxijet power head pushing 2100 GPH and directly under 350watts of high intensity lighting.
After you verify your nitrate, phosphate and SG, cut back on your lighting. Go to only a few hours per day. You should see the red slime start to disappear. Then gradually over a few weeks, increase your lighting by 1 hour. Keep increasing the lighting by 1 hour until you start to see some red slime come back. Then back it down an hour and your set. My main lights stay on for about 8 hours/day. Any longer and I start having red slime issues. I still have a phosphate problem and so I'm going to try out this algae scrubber to see if it helps. I don't expect it to be a complete filtering system... but I do think it will supplement what I already have.
http:///forum/post/2749505
Any suggestions about the out od control slime???
From my experience I have seen high phosphate and nitrate and/or low salinity affects red slime growth. The worst case of red slime I ever had was when I was using a hydrometer to check my SG. As a hydrometer ages it will show a higher SG than there really is. The floating arm absorbs salt and never fully rinses clean. Also air bubbles stick to the arm and cause it to float higher as well... I bought a refractometer and found out that my SG was really 1.017 when I thought it was at 1.025. I raised the SG to 1.026 and now the red slime has stopped.
I still get a few places of red slime every now and then but it never gets out of control. In a few days it goes away and doesn't take over the tank. If you have red slime, check the salinity with a refractometer and check your nitrate and phosphate levels. Some people claim that low flow and poor lighting are also to blame but I have seen that this is not true. I have had red slime grow right in front of a modified maxijet power head pushing 2100 GPH and directly under 350watts of high intensity lighting.
After you verify your nitrate, phosphate and SG, cut back on your lighting. Go to only a few hours per day. You should see the red slime start to disappear. Then gradually over a few weeks, increase your lighting by 1 hour. Keep increasing the lighting by 1 hour until you start to see some red slime come back. Then back it down an hour and your set. My main lights stay on for about 8 hours/day. Any longer and I start having red slime issues. I still have a phosphate problem and so I'm going to try out this algae scrubber to see if it helps. I don't expect it to be a complete filtering system... but I do think it will supplement what I already have.
santamonica
Member
Yes tharou you can try sly's suggestions, but once your N and P drop I think your problem will go away. My entire back wall was solid green slime for over two years, and now it's gone. On 9/4 you said your N had dropped to 10 from 20. Must be lower now. There's a lot of N and P stored in that slime, so you have to keep N and P low in the water so it can keep coming out of the slime.
What wattage/type lights are you using on both sides?
What wattage/type lights are you using on both sides?
santamonica
Member
Another Reader Hits A New Low!
Jski711 on the RS site give us his report today, after a trip back from the LFS for testing. Here are the dates and activities that led up to today:
8/19: "i was going to order [a pre-grown screen] from inland but i've never seen these sheets before and don't know how rigid they are and how to "hang" one. any ideas would be great. I have a 75g, 36g sump and a 15g plumbed into that same system. I have a mag 12 return pump."
8/20: "it literally took all of 45 minutes [to build it] once i had the materials. i bought 65w equivelant pc bulbs but they are 2700k"
8/21: "i can't believe how well this diy thing worked out. i have notied my ph raise up about .15 in a few hours since this has been on. The piece [of pre-grown turf from IA] i got i cut in half and is 2 sided now, thanks to some tie wraps. i also bought 2 100w cf [equivalent] lights to replace the ones i had."
8/23: "i notice that some red algae seems to be growing pretty fast. it doesn't look like the turf but thats just an observation."
8/27: "first cleaning. i just used my fingernails"
9/3: "well i just finished my 2nd cleaning today. i have noticed that in my main display that i haven't had to use my scraper to scrape off the glass, i usually had to do this every few days because i'd get that green algae begining to grow. i've also notice that the turf that was on the screen in the first place seems to continue to spread over the screen."
9/7: "To my surprise i had my water tested at the lfs for phosphates and nitrates. they use the hanna photometer or whatever its called for phosphate. my phosphates were at .03!!!!!! my nitrates were barely detectable, a very slight pink came out on the test. so IMO this scrubber is working like CRAZY!!! I honestly didn't think that this was going to work as well as it does but to all the people that thought this was some sort of a gimmick i challenge you to give this a try, you won't be dissapointed!!!! thanks to santamonica for posting this up and thanks to inland for the "pregrown" screen!! i can say i've been feeding heavily and this is the lowest i've ever seen my phosphates!!!"
Jski711 on the RS site give us his report today, after a trip back from the LFS for testing. Here are the dates and activities that led up to today:
8/19: "i was going to order [a pre-grown screen] from inland but i've never seen these sheets before and don't know how rigid they are and how to "hang" one. any ideas would be great. I have a 75g, 36g sump and a 15g plumbed into that same system. I have a mag 12 return pump."
8/20: "it literally took all of 45 minutes [to build it] once i had the materials. i bought 65w equivelant pc bulbs but they are 2700k"
8/21: "i can't believe how well this diy thing worked out. i have notied my ph raise up about .15 in a few hours since this has been on. The piece [of pre-grown turf from IA] i got i cut in half and is 2 sided now, thanks to some tie wraps. i also bought 2 100w cf [equivalent] lights to replace the ones i had."
8/23: "i notice that some red algae seems to be growing pretty fast. it doesn't look like the turf but thats just an observation."
8/27: "first cleaning. i just used my fingernails"
9/3: "well i just finished my 2nd cleaning today. i have noticed that in my main display that i haven't had to use my scraper to scrape off the glass, i usually had to do this every few days because i'd get that green algae begining to grow. i've also notice that the turf that was on the screen in the first place seems to continue to spread over the screen."
9/7: "To my surprise i had my water tested at the lfs for phosphates and nitrates. they use the hanna photometer or whatever its called for phosphate. my phosphates were at .03!!!!!! my nitrates were barely detectable, a very slight pink came out on the test. so IMO this scrubber is working like CRAZY!!! I honestly didn't think that this was going to work as well as it does but to all the people that thought this was some sort of a gimmick i challenge you to give this a try, you won't be dissapointed!!!! thanks to santamonica for posting this up and thanks to inland for the "pregrown" screen!! i can say i've been feeding heavily and this is the lowest i've ever seen my phosphates!!!"
sly
Active Member
I started a new thread to fully explain the surge device. I did some tweaking and got it to work perfectly with no pump other than the one which fills the bucket. So now I'm no longer using the aqua lifter... making this a true solid state, no moving parts surge device for your algae scrubber.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/333274/simple-diy-surge-device
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/333274/simple-diy-surge-device
santamonica
Member
Good idea Sly about a special thread. Surge devices are deserving of their own attention. I've wanted to study the different types but have not gotten around to it, so you just saved me some time 
santamonica
Member
Another Reader Cleans The Green!
Well it's been a good couple of days for clean-tank debuts. Minzuk on the UR site, who came up with the idea of using a gravel vac as a waterfall pipe, just checked in with great results. Here is what he did, along with the dates:
8/14: "I wont be discarding the skimmer or po4 reactor just yet, ill prob still keep them on even after this starts to work. I like new/ressurrected ideas, so though for 5 mins work ill give it a go. Seeding? I cant see anything about seeding in your write up. Rubbing green algae, do you mean the algae that will begin to grow in a few days? Do we let it build up and whilst harvesting it off, try and rub it into the screen?"
8/18: "im on day 6 and this is the result so far [very very light growth in pic]. Is this correct? Am I going on track? its more browny green then green. I can also see small hairy strands of green showing when viewed close up."
8/20: "Im using a 125w envirolite lamp with reflector to light up the area. I suppose I could move it closer down to the screen if needed. Power wise, im using a mj400. Do you think I would get better results with a larger powerhead?"
8/22: "well after moving the light much closer, the screen has started to fill like crazy, its turning into a sludge type algae and behind the brown stuff i can see green algae growing"
9/7: "Its been a few weeks since I made mine. Been busy so not had a chance to update. All I can say is, I was suffering a crap load of hair algae [in the display] and very dusty algea on my rocks, back and sand. Since I have added the screen, the back of the tank has literally cleaned itself bare. the rocks are all very purple again, and a not a cm in sight of any algae. The front glass has not built up any algae for a while. Im due to test tomm for NO3 and PO4 but I can honesly say just by looking at the sparkling water, clean sand and amazing rocks. This thing defo works.....thanks so much!! It has made a major difference to the tank and water quality."
Well it's been a good couple of days for clean-tank debuts. Minzuk on the UR site, who came up with the idea of using a gravel vac as a waterfall pipe, just checked in with great results. Here is what he did, along with the dates:
8/14: "I wont be discarding the skimmer or po4 reactor just yet, ill prob still keep them on even after this starts to work. I like new/ressurrected ideas, so though for 5 mins work ill give it a go. Seeding? I cant see anything about seeding in your write up. Rubbing green algae, do you mean the algae that will begin to grow in a few days? Do we let it build up and whilst harvesting it off, try and rub it into the screen?"
8/18: "im on day 6 and this is the result so far [very very light growth in pic]. Is this correct? Am I going on track? its more browny green then green. I can also see small hairy strands of green showing when viewed close up."
8/20: "Im using a 125w envirolite lamp with reflector to light up the area. I suppose I could move it closer down to the screen if needed. Power wise, im using a mj400. Do you think I would get better results with a larger powerhead?"
8/22: "well after moving the light much closer, the screen has started to fill like crazy, its turning into a sludge type algae and behind the brown stuff i can see green algae growing"
9/7: "Its been a few weeks since I made mine. Been busy so not had a chance to update. All I can say is, I was suffering a crap load of hair algae [in the display] and very dusty algea on my rocks, back and sand. Since I have added the screen, the back of the tank has literally cleaned itself bare. the rocks are all very purple again, and a not a cm in sight of any algae. The front glass has not built up any algae for a while. Im due to test tomm for NO3 and PO4 but I can honesly say just by looking at the sparkling water, clean sand and amazing rocks. This thing defo works.....thanks so much!! It has made a major difference to the tank and water quality."
santamonica
Member
Those are a good start. Those, plus some rubbed algae, and a few days, and you are on your way. You can adjust later.
thauro77
Member
I am using these lights from home depot.
Phillips 23 Watt Soft White Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL), 2 Pack
They told me those were the right lights according to what you suggested in the bigining of this thread. Are tose right, do I need different? How many hours do they have to be on?
Phillips 23 Watt Soft White Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL), 2 Pack
They told me those were the right lights according to what you suggested in the bigining of this thread. Are tose right, do I need different? How many hours do they have to be on?
santamonica
Member
Plastic Canvas:
http://www.everythingplasticcanvas.c...h-12-x-18.aspx
The plastic one might be easier to get into the slot after cleaning, but the rug one will attach algae better and quicker.
http://www.everythingplasticcanvas.c...h-12-x-18.aspx
The plastic one might be easier to get into the slot after cleaning, but the rug one will attach algae better and quicker.
ilovemytank
Member
I read your posting awhile ago and I was curious, so... I built one. Mine is modified though. first my tank: 125 gallon reef, pre drilled with a 40 gallon wet/dry. I also run two filstar xp3 canisters. I have a skimmer running big enough for a 300 gallon and there is no way I will remove it. I have 185 lbs. of live rock, some corals but I carry a heavy fish load. I have 25 fish and some invertibrates. I feed heavy three times a day with frozen brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and small plankton. My tank is very healthy and my water quality excellent. I do a 35 gallon water change every three to four weeks. I do use bio balls and ceramic cylenders in the canisters for a large biological load. I didn't build this because I have an algea problem or phosphate or nitrate problems. I built it because it makes sense, I have the room and can you really ever have enough filteration.
What I built : I built mine in spare space in my wet/dry underneath my tank. I built the frame 12" by 12" with 1/2 " PVC piping connected on one corner with an "T" fitting. I use an adjustable pump connected with a hose that connects to this "T" fitting. It actually pumps water through the whole frame. When it comes time to clean it I just unplug it at the tube and can take the frame out. Any way I meshed the entire frame with a double layer of window screening. I drilled holes in only the upper bar of the frame so the water would come out onto the screen and role down. I have two 75 watt flood lights aimed on it and a fan for circulation. It has been operational for only 3 weeks now. It immediately covered with algea. I have noticed that I have massively increased water evaporation but my tanks water temp. isn't affected. I don't think I fully understand why I should clean the screen until there is enough long algea that it needs to be "massaged" out to promote growth of new red brown algea. When should the first cleaning be ? I'm new to participating on this forum so if I can figure out how to upload / download pictures to this then I'll post them. I'm excited about this an expect that it will be a good addition to my tank.
What I built : I built mine in spare space in my wet/dry underneath my tank. I built the frame 12" by 12" with 1/2 " PVC piping connected on one corner with an "T" fitting. I use an adjustable pump connected with a hose that connects to this "T" fitting. It actually pumps water through the whole frame. When it comes time to clean it I just unplug it at the tube and can take the frame out. Any way I meshed the entire frame with a double layer of window screening. I drilled holes in only the upper bar of the frame so the water would come out onto the screen and role down. I have two 75 watt flood lights aimed on it and a fan for circulation. It has been operational for only 3 weeks now. It immediately covered with algea. I have noticed that I have massively increased water evaporation but my tanks water temp. isn't affected. I don't think I fully understand why I should clean the screen until there is enough long algea that it needs to be "massaged" out to promote growth of new red brown algea. When should the first cleaning be ? I'm new to participating on this forum so if I can figure out how to upload / download pictures to this then I'll post them. I'm excited about this an expect that it will be a good addition to my tank.
santamonica
Member
Wow, sounds like you had a fun day of pvc construction! If the screen filled up right away, and it's now 3 weeks, then it's definitely time to clean. If for no other reason than the pods will build up in the algae and start eating holes in it. So clean it now, and then do it once a week. Just be gentle on your first cleaning since you need to leave some of the fragile algae behind to give it a chance to connect to the screen. And yes, pics would help tremendously in helping you. If you can't upload them, send them to me and I'll do it for you.
By the way, do you know your N and P readings?
By the way, do you know your N and P readings?
santamonica
Member
.
santamonica
Member
Exactly. It was the new readers over there that actually wanted to build a screen who were complaining of all the noise.