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Filtration Need to get ATS back on track.

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by bkillen, Jul 24, 2017.

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  1. bkillen

    bkillen New Member

    I have had my Turbo L2 rev4 for a while and at one point it was producing green turf and the algae in the display tank was receding. Then one time after I cleaned it, the pump impeller got stuck and the screen dried out. I found it and got the pump running again and started over with the screen. In the meantime my life got rather busy and water changes and other maintenance was missed and things went downhill due to my neglect.
    I currently am running the scrubber LED's at 6 O'clock for 14 hours a day. The flow valve is a little more than 1/2 open with a Rio 1400 pump. This is a couple of weeks growth and is slimy.
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    The main display is overrun with GHA and all my corals have died. I had GSP, Waving Hand, Xenia, Candy Cane & Hammer Coral. I just replaced the GFO but it has been a long time since last change. I am currently out of Carbon but use it on occasion. I have also recently reduced lighting from 4 T-5 bulbs and a 50/50 power compact to using only 2 T-5's (an ATI Blue Plus and a Coral Plus). Below is some GHA I pulled off the rock in the display tank and some slimy stuff that was on the back wall of the display. I am sure I am overrun with nutrients and it will some time of doing things right to get back on track, but if you see anything I need to change let me know. I will try to test water tomorrow and add to the info. Getting late here.
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  2. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    When you found it, was the screen bone dry?

    Was there a sort of crusty white coating?

    I've cooked a screen or two and gotten the white coating, and for some reason, algae does not like to re-grow from it. But each system is different.

    That screen in the first 2 pics doesn't look horribly bad for 2 weeks growth considering that you might have some levels out of whack and are running GFO. Intensity and duration seem correct. You might back the flow down a bit, but as long as your flow isn't too much (to the point where it is "arcing" across the screen resulting in a lot of flow on the far end of the screen) then you're OK, but for initial break-in, you can dial the flow way back to the point where you are just getting even coverage.

    You do want to swipe off the slime, which probably easily rinses off. Leave all GHA behind, only remove the strands that are long enough to hang off the screen.
     
  3. bkillen

    bkillen New Member

    It was pretty dry and took a while to get it to started again. It did nothing for a while and then mostly grew slimy stuff.
    OK, I will wipe off the slime but no scraper until I get the growth going again. Maybe dial back the flow some. Any thoughts on GAC or Kalk at the moment? Not planning on any corals or new livestock any time soon just want to get the levels better and reduce the ugly green mess in the display tank again.
    Thanks!
     
  4. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    GAC, not a problem

    Kalk, this could actually inhibit algae growth. There was a discussion on here a while back about this but I don't have time to dig it up

    GFO, if you have elevated phosphates, you can. Or alternatively, dose iron (which can reduce phosphate by binding it, and still remain available for algae growth)

    If you have a lot of trouble getting GHA to attach, you may need to fully reboot the screen by soaking in vinegar for a few days (and scrubbing several times). If you do that, I would also re-coat with mortar. But you might be past that already. When I cooked my screen (twice) it would not grow anything at all.
     
  5. bkillen

    bkillen New Member

    I had seen that thread and stopped dosing kalk for now. I was just confirming my suspicions. It's not like I have any LPS using it up now. I will give the screen a chance. I did find your video on mortaring a screen if needed. Just wanting to "Turbo charge" (pun intended) the scrubber and slay the green hair algae monster in my tank. LOL
    Thanks for the tips. I will post updates as things progress.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2017

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