Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

[nolapete]

Finally got around to building the bucket version for my 50 breeder zoanthid tank that is overrun with hair algae.

A couple discoveries while constructing that people may or may not have thought of:

1) I didn't have time to get a bulkhead fitting, so in my craftiness I thought I'd improvise some parts from my local Lowe's plumbing department.

1 - 1" to 1.25" adapter male thread 1" slip 1.25"
1 - 1" threaded pipe adapter female threaded and slip
2 - 1.5" rubber washer

less than $3

2) has anyone used thick rubberbands and 2 paperclips to secure the top pipe to the bucket?

take a thick rubberband
lay it across the pipe
thread a paper clip on each side through the loop
bend the pointy end out a tiny bit to form a hook
hook one side under the lip of the bucket where the handle connects
hook the other side
repeat for the opposite side of the pipe

basically you've made a mini bungee with a thick rubber band and 2 paper clips

I'm sure there's mini bungees out there somewhere that you could just buy. I haven't looked though.

There's my 2 tips.

I have to switch over my sump from the 40 long to the 10 gallon, build a shelf for my bucket, leak test all my connections, and get my lights set up then I'll take pictures.

Is a fan necessary if the bucket isn't under the aquarium in the stand?

The first adapter goes inside the bucket, the second outside, a rubber washer on both sides of the bucket wall.

 

[SantaMonica]

You built it a lot like my very first bucket. A fan is not ever necessary; only if you want cooling or evaporation.

 

[nolapete]

I've done a lot of filter building in my 35 years in the hobby, so this is nothing new to me in regard to plumbing. Just was wondering since I never saw anything in the threads. I'm all about saving a few dollars here and there too.

I'll be glad to have it in action on the the tank. I'm going to discuss my results at our regional fish club meeting that I'm hosting at the end of March. Two months running it, should be plenty time to see significant results.

I'm also going to be featuring an exhibit on it at the nature center my friend and I are putting together. It's just a matter of finding the right location and a couple doors opening for us.

 

[SantaMonica]

In my related research of reducing Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate, overfeeding was always an issue. Scrubbers help, by introducing live (instead of dead) copepods to the tank, but the rest of the feeding always causes excess food to get stuck in the rock and sand, and rot. The solution to this could be an Automatic Continuous Feeder. The writeup is here:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211246

 

[SantaMonica]

Results of the Week:

jtremblay on the MD site: "the last few strands of HA have disappeared from my 40's display, and the build-up of detritus is continuing to go down, despite there being no skimmer on this tank."

nitschke65 on the SWF site: "My biocube is currently being filtered by my custom [nano] turf scrubber in chamber two; there is also a ball of chaeto in the bottom af chamber two, and a bag of Chemi-pure Elite in chamber three. My protein skimmer stopped working two or three weeks ago. (My mushrooms and zoas have never looked better!) I also have some polyps, hammers, and galaxia. There's a few nassarius, and a few hermits, an emerald crab, and possibly a pepermint shrimp. There's a lawnmower blennie, two green chromis, a scarlet hawk, and a Potter's angel. I haven't cleaned my screen or done a water change in 2 weeks [bad!]. This mornings readings: Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 0

Skunkbudfour20 on RC: "Yes i built one, Yes i am running it, and YES my nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and phosphates all dropped to almost 0 within the first 3 weeks, and yes algae growth in my display has come to a stop, and slowly recedes... I am still running my skimmer, even though it doesnt seem to be doing AS much, its still doing something for now."

Worley on the AS site: "As for lights, I have seen an improvement in the type of algae growing and in the overall amount of growth since changing bulbs to the lower 3500K colour temp. I've been getting more hair [on the screen], macro algaes, some interesting dark green very very long hair-like algae (6"+ long). The cyanobacteria [in the display] is nearly completely gone, along with less brown slime algae, both in the tank and on the screen. And best of all, still no water changes, nearly 5 months on, with good calcium, dKH and PH. I've easily saved the price of the equipment used to make the scrubber from not having used an entire bucket of salt, and everything in the tank looks more healthy than I've ever seen in a marine tank I've kept before, I'm loving it, and so is my girlfriend!"

 

[SantaMonica]

Part 3 of 7:

Taken from "The Food of Reefs, Part 3: Phytoplankton" by Eric Borneman
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/eb/index.php

"Phytoplankton are the major source of primary [food] production in the ocean, and one of the most important driving forces of global ecology. In fact, phytoplankton production influences all life, by being at the lowest rings of the food chain.

"The reason [phytoplankton] are so important on a regional or global scale is simply by virtue of the fact that the upper 200 [meters] of oceanic waters is filled with phytoplankton and covers over 70% of the earth's surface.

"What eats phytoplankton? In the water column, zooplankton [food] are without question the primary consumers of phytoplankton. Zooplankton grazers vary according the area and the time of year, but include primarily ciliates, copepods, amphipods, and tintinnids.

"Stony corals are generally not well adapted to the sieve or filter type feeding that characterizes the soft corals (Fabricius et al. 1995, 1998). They are, however, well suited to the capture of zooplankton prey.

"It is of paramount importance to recognize that the biomass of potential grazers [which need food] in an aquarium is many times what it would be in the same volume of water or surface area as the bottom of oceans or on reefs, and also, that the availability of water column borne food is many times greater in the ocean than in an aquarium.

"Perhaps most importantly, is the almost ubiquitous interaction between bacteria and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton release dissolved organic substances, and bacteria utilize them as nutrient sources. Most phytoplankton cells, especially large ones, are coupled nearly continuously with coatings of bacteria [which are consuming the dissolved organic substances].

"The amounts of phytoplankton present in reef aquariums are not known but are probably considerable. However, they are also probably rapidly removed by grazing and export devices [skimmers].

 

[SantaMonica]

Bob the (reef) Builder on the SARK site made this PDF for a club presentation three months ago, and I just found it; maybe it could be used by others:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/AlgaeFilters.pdf

 

[James1]

Great thread! And just a few questions
Could one use this on a central system for discus to greatly reduce water changes?
Could you use shade cloth instead of the needle point canvas?

Thanks
James

 

[SantaMonica]

Yes and yes. If yo have plants, however, you may need to watch the CO2.

 

[James1]

Was considering duck weed in the sump. Tanks will be bare bottom. But with the algae screen I might just leave off the duck weed.