Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
If the goal is the mythical homeostatic closed system, a refugium of plants and an algae scrubber would be ideal, using the algae as fertilizer for your plants and food for your fish.
Both things can be used seperatly, just like you can have an aquarium without an algae scrubber and without pants. But I think you'd need all 3 plus a few other things (like a miniature sun) to create a completely self sufficient system.
Both things can be used seperatly, just like you can have an aquarium without an algae scrubber and without pants. But I think you'd need all 3 plus a few other things (like a miniature sun) to create a completely self sufficient system.
This is totally over my head.......The biocube concept is cool but at odds with the goals of most of MFK Unfortunately. You need such a large volume of water, and a huge ratio of plants to fish in order for it to even sort of work. I agree with you, you'd need more diversity than just having a scrubber for it to work!kallmond;3647705; said:
The scrubber satisfies the food in - waste out part of it from a far away view, but it definitely isn't the whole picture. I don't think it ever claimed to be though.
Most of the primary literature deals with planktonic mixotrophs, but some sessile algae, even macroalgae such as Caulerpa, are mixotrophic. Most of what I posted above can be found in Chapter 2 of the phycology textbook Algae by Linda E. Graham and Lee W. Wilcox.the_deeb;3647500; said:
Here's part of a thesis on planktonic phagomixotrophic algae (algae that ingest large particles, such as other cells): http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/33523/32148307.pdf?sequence=1
I was combining the rotating screens with an on-off-on control of the light. If you are just rotating screens past a 24 hour light, then I have not given that any thought (way too complex to DIY). As for information on photoperiods in general, the 18/6 guideline was taken from Dynamic Aquaria, and the 3/1 X 6 guideline was from a research pdf that I have since lost track of. Plenty is available at Jphycol.org and maybe also at AlgaeBase.org. I however am not concerned with research; just what works for most people. 18/6 is proven, and I myself run 3/1 X 6. The research has already been done, and I just have to explain to people the minimal things they need to know to make sure their scrubber works. And this is all in the FAQ.
Yes, on the outside of the tank, preferably a tall tank, where the sides are closer to the screen. And the more light power you can put on the outside, the stronger it will filter. The lights should go as high and low as the screen goes.
With the people that have done it so far, the advantage has been that the planted setup by itself did not eliminate nuisance algae. Adding a scrubber, did.
If you mean FW vs SW tanks, it's because I only posted on SW forums to start with.
I was not aware DF&S wrote anything about scrubbers. I can't agree with 24 hours though, because countless people have tried it, and ended up burning the algae (turns it rubbery yellow). When they went to 18 hours, the growth went green, and filtering went back up.
My understanding is that ammonia/ammonium is basically non-existent in a tank, and thus algae pretty much live on N and P. Many people, however, have run scrubbers in cycling tanks and reported no nutrient spikes at all (A, N or P).
I and 20 or 30 others have experimented adding Iron and everything else, with no differences noticed. Mudshark says he found a difference, but he might still be experimenting.
What you're referring to in Aquaponics. That's an entirely different, but viable solution. One that I'll be exploring along with the algae scrubber I intend to build on my 4300 gallon tank when it's done.the_deeb;3645001; said:
OK fine, I appreciate what you're saying here. What you said that I take issue with is "that won't work" (I'm paraphrasing). If you're not prepared to explain statements like that, please don't make them. We all appreciate your bringing this thread to MFK and being prepared to help us out with what WILL work - but let's avoid poopooing ideas unless we have a sound reason for it; some of us are interested in more than the bare minimum requirements for DIY. If we learn WHY it works, we may be able to do it better. That's allSantaMonica;3648843; said:
Interesting. This is probably largely irrelevant to the current discussion, but wouldn't this would imply that since phagomixotrophic algae could acquire nitrogen by phagocytosing other organisms rather than just consuming ammonia/nitrite/nitrate they may actually be less useful in the context of algae scrubbers (since the goal of a scubber is really only to reduce free sources of nitrogen - we generally don't care about the nitrogen that has already been incorporated into bacteria etc.)?Noto;3648013; said:
No, I actually meant in marine vs freshwater ecosystems. As in, in the ocean algae are the primary photosynthetic organism that consumes nitrogen, whereas in freshwater lakes, ponds and marshes emmersed plants are also a significant consumer of nitrogen. I guess I don't know what the relative proportion of nitrogen consumption for plants vs algae is in freshwater environments.SantaMonica;3648843; said:
Can't argue with that. I guess the proof is in the puddingSantaMonica;3648843; said:
