I have a sump setup that does my bio filtering; what if I just added a light directed at the bio balls? Algae would form and have the same effect right...
Above tank FX5 powerd Algae scrubber build (pics)
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All you would really need to do is rub lightly with your hands because you don't want to get it all off right?
I do not see the necessity in cleaning off fresh water algae as the species are closely related in freshwater algae (green, but with some exceptions due to environmental changes) and different with salt water (green and brown.) Can somebody clear up my confusion why this would be needed with the freshwater algae?
Read the whole lot of this and really dont understand it at all lol what is the purpose of it, it just seems to take up too much room for nothing, i am under the impression that a tank can live happily with a nitrate level of 40ppm, as it is harmless to fish. Maybe ive missed something here, sorry if i have 
very very nice, i've been thinking about making something like this to reduce nitrates.
and one of the points to these things is that you really don't have to do waterchanges, you just have to fill up the water that has evaporated. 40 ppm isn't harmful to fish, but you have to change the water as the nitrate level rises to harmful levels.
and one of the points to these things is that you really don't have to do waterchanges, you just have to fill up the water that has evaporated. 40 ppm isn't harmful to fish, but you have to change the water as the nitrate level rises to harmful levels.
I learn something new every day here on MFK, i ofcourse knew about if the nitrates rise then it can be fatal, but just assumed that water changes were a thing that just had to be done. Ive been growing tomato plants in my sump with with a normal lamp, the seeds found their way down there from feeding the pacu tomato's. The part where the plants are growing has alot of algea so would this count?
Im still doing water changes and the plants are growing in the wool section of the sump, its like a mini forrest in there now not something i planned its just something that happend so i wanted to just leave them in there 
Im still doing water changes and the plants are growing in the wool section of the sump, its like a mini forrest in there now
not something i planned its just something that happend so i wanted to just leave them in there bigcol;3792802; said:I learn something new every day here on MFK, i ofcourse knew about if the nitrates rise then it can be fatal, but just assumed that water changes were a thing that just had to be done. Ive been growing tomato plants in my sump with with a normal lamp, the seeds found their way down there from feeding the pacu tomato's. The part where the plants are growing has alot of algea so would this count?
Im still doing water changes and the plants are growing in the wool section of the sump, its like a mini forrest in there now
I'm pretty sure that would do the same thing, and you might even get a tasty tomato! I've been debating either growing house plants out of my sump, or building something like this.
I<3fish;3789441; said:
Midknightskie;3790413; said:
Well, I suppose you could try that. But you do need to knock the algae build up off according to the growth rate. If the algae isnt growing then it isnt absorbing nitrates and a way to force it to grow fast is to knock it off leaving only the base (turf) algae and allowing it to grow back in. Its like shrubs, if you dont trim them back regularly they get all gangly and stringy but if you keep them trimed up they grow in thick and bushy as well as put out lots of new growth thus useing up more nutrients. You want the same effect with the algae.
Fishman0;3789479; said:
Exactly, the acrylic slips right out, I give it a good rub and rinse it off in the shower, takes all of 2 min to service.
I<3fish;3791461; said:
To some extent yes, FW algae dose not grow at the same rate/bulk as SW macro algaes. But it still needs to be cleaned off, I had hair algae actually make its way down into the tank it got so long and stringy. Not only that but if you knock it off regularly you will notice that the algae will start to grow in thicker and faster as you service it. The faster and thicker the algae grows the more effective it is in useing up nutrients. As of last week the growth plate was barely even rough, it was just a greenish brown slab of slime.
bigcol;3791506; said:Read the whole lot of this and really dont understand it at all lol what is the purpose of it, it just seems to take up too much room for nothing, i am under the impression that a tank can live happily with a nitrate level of 40ppm, as it is harmless to fish. Maybe ive missed something here, sorry if i have
40ppm is not bad, but Imagine if you only had to do 20% weekly water changes/poo vac'ing and you had NO3 levels that barely even registerd? Plants (algae) are mother natures perfict water filter, this is just a way to harness/take advantage of it. Not only that but once the scrubber becomes established the algae inside the tank will become starved and die off ridding you of those annoying glass scrapings.
Update: I now know that the algae scrubber is a viable and effective form of filtration for a well balanced, self contained eco system. As I am moving next week and the crappy sealant I was sold was falling apart I dismantled the current scrubber and plant to canibalize it to make a larger one useing proper sealant for my new tank that I'm going to get.
