Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Cleaning Off Slime On New Scrubbers
When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden.
This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.
So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light.
Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.
When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden.
This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.
So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light.
Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.
Cleaning Off Slime On New Scrubbers
When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden.
This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.
So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light.
Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.
When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden.
This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.
So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light.
Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.
PowerPoint presentation for clubs, schools, etc., to learn the basics of scrubbers:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/AlgaeScrubbers.pps
http://www.algaescrubber.net/AlgaeScrubbers.pps
Here are some scrubber results I collected:
"[Scrubber] is working incredible well. Went from constant algae outbreaks (3-4 per year), to no algae at all. 10 yr old 250 gal reef tank, started developing blooms at year 7. Nothing else worked, even breakdown and rebuilds." -- Joe Lopez
"I recent removed bio-pellets, GFO, and trimmed off a lot of macro algae. Oh yeah, overfeeding now to try and bring up my phosphates. Since removing a bunch of nutrient exporting systems like bio-pellets, GFO, and a second algae scrubber, my [scrubber] has been growing nuts. It's been less then 7 days and I have to remove more. People are surprised when I open up the [scrubber] and show them what I pull out with one hand" -- ReeferEric on the R2R site. pics:
"I pull a handful out every week" -- Choff on the R2R site.
"Everything is working great, got two of them on my system" -- Kenneth Salomon
Dan Budz:
"The [scrubber] is working well" -- JT Powell
"All I can say about the [scrubber] is WoW. It completely wiped out my severe case of Cyano Bacteria in 4 weeks, it is working like a champ. I was a little skeptical that it would work at first because it's very compact, but I am completely amazed on how great it's working." -- John Quezada
"My [scrubber] is working great" -- Stefan Kolev
"Happy to report that the [scrubber] is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site
"[Scrubber] is growing thick and fast" -- Carl Knowles
"Boom... 7 days growth from my [scrubber]" -- rdevoe11, pic:
Other pics:
Matthew Coulthard:
Nicolay Oganesian:
Yuppy Suhandinata:
"[Scrubber] is working incredible well. Went from constant algae outbreaks (3-4 per year), to no algae at all. 10 yr old 250 gal reef tank, started developing blooms at year 7. Nothing else worked, even breakdown and rebuilds." -- Joe Lopez
"I recent removed bio-pellets, GFO, and trimmed off a lot of macro algae. Oh yeah, overfeeding now to try and bring up my phosphates. Since removing a bunch of nutrient exporting systems like bio-pellets, GFO, and a second algae scrubber, my [scrubber] has been growing nuts. It's been less then 7 days and I have to remove more. People are surprised when I open up the [scrubber] and show them what I pull out with one hand" -- ReeferEric on the R2R site. pics:
"I pull a handful out every week" -- Choff on the R2R site.
"Everything is working great, got two of them on my system" -- Kenneth Salomon
Dan Budz:
"The [scrubber] is working well" -- JT Powell
"All I can say about the [scrubber] is WoW. It completely wiped out my severe case of Cyano Bacteria in 4 weeks, it is working like a champ. I was a little skeptical that it would work at first because it's very compact, but I am completely amazed on how great it's working." -- John Quezada
"My [scrubber] is working great" -- Stefan Kolev
"Happy to report that the [scrubber] is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site
"[Scrubber] is growing thick and fast" -- Carl Knowles
"Boom... 7 days growth from my [scrubber]" -- rdevoe11, pic:
Other pics:
Matthew Coulthard:
Nicolay Oganesian:
Yuppy Suhandinata:
Here are some upflow layout designs to give you ideas of what might fit your tank or ability to DIY better:
Simple upflow screen:
Attach to glass:
Bubble remover:
Attach to glass, with compartment:
Attach to glass, small:
Hang on back:
Collector:
Floating:
Simple upflow screen:
Attach to glass:
Bubble remover:
Attach to glass, with compartment:
Attach to glass, small:
Hang on back:
Collector:
Floating:
