Snake's Methods for Refugiums

florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Think about it like an algae scrubber.
Yes think of it as an algae scrubber the very configuration of a scrubber slows the water flow over it
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Slows? Are you thinking of a vertical scrubber or a horizontal dump bucket design? Explain your reasoning, please? I'm trying to learn!
 
southern wolf

southern wolf

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390278/snakes-methods-for-refugiums#post_3457874
Think about it like an algae scrubber. The more water delivered to the screen, the more nUtrients the algae gets to consume. Same thing with fuges. The only benefit of slowing the contact time is to let detritus and debris settle out into the fuge and letting the critters there eat it and establish themselves. But most modern reefers use filter socks or filter floss. In the old days, no mechanical filtration was used and the use of a fuge helped settle out suspended organic matter.
BUT.... if the water was moving so fast over the screen the algae didn't have time to consume any of the nutrients before it passed on by... wouldn't this be a bad thing?
I think you mentioned something in one of the numerous threads that I have read today about being into photography. Think of it this way. The faster the shutter speed the less light that gets in. Same with water flow. The faster the waterflow... the less nutrients sucked up before it moves on and back into the DT.
Maybe Im wrong.... if I am please correct me.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southern Wolf http:///t/390278/snakes-methods-for-refugiums/20#post_3457898
BUT.... if the water was moving so fast over the screen the algae didn't have time to consume any of the nutrients before it passed on by... wouldn't this be a bad thing?
I think you mentioned something in one of the numerous threads that I have read today about being into photography. Think of it this way. The faster the shutter speed the less light that gets in. Same with water flow. The faster the waterflow... the less nutrients sucked up before it moves on and back into the DT.
Maybe Im wrong.... if I am please correct me.
Scrubbers can not be compared to cameras. Lol.
The more water flowing over the screen, the more nutrients being delivered to it. Slow it down and you are delivering less nutrients. But, expose it to air and your letting the algae get more co2. There's a delicate balance.
If you have no mechanical filtration on your system, a fuge is a great place for detritus to settle.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
growth
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390278/snakes-methods-for-refugiums/20#post_3457879
Slows? Are you thinking of a vertical scrubber or a horizontal dump bucket design? Explain your reasoning, please? I'm trying to learn!
Slow
v. slowed, slow·ing, slows
The dump bucket system is quite obvious the weight of the water tips the “bucket” or horizontal holding pan which contains the algae the tipping process continues over and over again but the algae contact time is increased as the water is filling the holding pan. Now let’s look at the vertical screen type of scrubber. We have a constant flow to the scrubber. We also have an initial time frame for the algae to start to grow. As the algae grows it impedes the water movement slowing its passage over the algae as there is now move surface area for it to travel over. IMO this extra contact time is what then causes the proliferation of turf algae that is built up on the screen. Those great handfuls of algae that scrubber users love to show off are the result again IMO of the extended contact time produced by the algae’s very growth
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390278/snakes-methods-for-refugiums/20#post_3457981
Eh.
what part did you not understand
Let’s try it this way. Would you agree that growth of higher forms of algae is not limited to one’s refuge or scrubber? If you agree to this then you must agree that the hobbyist tries to enhance the growth in the refuge or on the screen of the scrubber and not in their DT. Now is this enhancement not achieved by exposing the algae to the nutrient rich water for longer periods of time?
 
scrapman

scrapman

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/390278/snakes-methods-for-refugiums#post_3457843
If you use an external overflow then you can't set up a display fuge without using a central sump. So you would have to use a 20g long as a sump and a mag drive pump to push water to your fuge and your display tank. Then it would all drain into the 20g long.
This is the setup I have for my 90 gal DT. It works great. I have a 1200 Maxijet pump in the fuge, pushing back the water in the DT.
The fuge is filled to a cerain level so it can handle the backflow from the DT level in case of power failure.
I positioned the pump in a compartimentalized area at a certain height (thanks to eggcrate). The macroaglae is not going to get suckep up and stop the pump.
 
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