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New Santa Monica RAIN2 Algae Scrubber

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Barry Friedman, Jan 17, 2019.

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  1. Turbo

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

    It takes time to ramp up. A few questions:

    Tank size?

    Feeding amount/day?

    Livestock?

    Other Filtration?
     
  2.  
  3. Ok so this is the second round of growing after the first scrape, i dont know why it coming in this light color any idea? I did bring down the phosphate a bit with phosphate RX but not all the way my water still has phosphates for sure. im currently running both lights 21/3. Oh and im also doing water changes to help bring the nutrients down.

    Nutrient levels:
    Phosphates: 0.03
    Nitrates: 30
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Turbo

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

    The lighter growth is an indication of too much intensity, maybe too long of a photoperiod. I would break up the photoperiod into 3-4 hour segments with an hour in between. 1 cube/day on a 50 cube with a 2 cube/day scrubber, you might be pushing it a bit too hard at this point. I would run 12 hrs/day, maybe 16 at the most.
     
  5. i hear you, but then why isnt it reducing my nutrients if its so powerful?
     
  6. Turbo

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

    When you get into the stage of photosaturation (too much light, not enough nutrients) that means that you don't have enough algae growth to adsorb in incident light energy. The algae that is there tries to, but it gets overwhelmed, and then it adsorbs less.

    That's a sort of simplified explanation, but that's the basis of what seems to happen.

    It's about balance between duration, intensity, flow, and concentration of nutrients. If you your duration and intensity outweigh the effective delivery of nutrients, you're out of balance.

    Another factor is the tank adjusting to the presence of the scrubber. This is where theory based on anecdotal evidence kicks in. What seems to happen when you add a scrubber to an existing system is that there is a gradual shift in the "set point" of the system, or the chemistry in the system. At some point in this shift, things become very optimal for growing algae on the scrubber and it takes off. This is different for every system so there's no hard rule on how long you need to do this or that in order to get it rolling along like clockwork.

    It's for this reason that I added dimming to my scrubbers. Once you hit a stride, that's when you can crank up the intensity and it'll truck along. Without dimming, you have to break up the photoperiod or figure out a way to shade or diffuse the lights (the latter being the better option)
     
  7. i hear you i think i will be running just one light then. but what i dont understand is that my tank had alot of nutrients available for the scrubber that accumulated up from many months of not doing water changes and the rock leaching.
     
  8. Turbo

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

    You would think that logically, a lot of available nutrients would automatically mean that algae should be able to grow fast and easily. But it is more complex than that.

    Are you running one light on each side, or two?
     
  9. Thank for explaining that, so brake it up or rather just one light???
     
  10. Turbo

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

    What I was asking was if you have the version that has 2 lights on each side, or do you only have one light per side? If memory serves me correctly, there are multiple lighting configurations available.
     
  11. I have only 1 strip(5 3w LED's) on each side.
     
  12. Turbo

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

    If you can put them on separate timers, I would alternate which one is lit, and do 12 hrs per side per day, or something like that
     
  13. So while the scrubber is braking in and actually start having an impact at lowering my nutrients, i decided to take matters into my own hands, so po4 i was able to bring down no problem with some phosphate RX it is now at 0.03 and not rising yet, however my nitrates is what im having an issue with, even after doing a 40% water change followed by a few smaller ones and bringing it down to 10 within a week ill be back at 30 any ideas what can be the issue?
     
  14. Turbo

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

    Unless you have some decay in the system, feeding is your primary input - try cutting that in half until the scrubber gets ramped up.

    Overfeeding is a common issue. Most marine fish can handle being fed every other day (and most can go 3 days without food, in a pinch).

    There's nothing on this list (like Anthias) that really "need" to be fed daily. But they are exactly like my Dachshund, who would eat 5x a day if I fed her every time I walked in the room and she ran to her food bowl.

    I'm guilty of this as well though, when I take care of a fellow reefers' tank when she's gone for a few weeks, she sets up pillboxes with food portioned out. She has fewer fish than I do and feeds nearly 1/4 of what I feed mine.
     
  15. Thanks for the reply. So how do i know how much is alot? and how much should i feed? and how much should i cut back right now?

    Also do you think that the gap between the po3 and no4 is a problem for the scrubber?
     
  16. Turbo

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

    I would just cut what you're feeding in half for now.

    Gap is not a problem, as long as you are still feeding, there are nutrients available for the scrubber. It's not a lab, so the whole thing about the redfield ratio really isn't relevant
     
  17. what about flow, how strong or how weak should it be does that play a roll at all in what growth i get??? I have a 317gph adjustable pump and i have almost at the lowest setting it does fill up the screen but is more flow better or not???
     
  18. Turbo

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

    Once you get a base of growth, you can use higher flow. However, IMO, the max flow you should really ever need is 35 GPH/in of screen width, and that is measured (not the pump rating) or at least calculated with a head loss factor figured in.

    So if you have a 317 GPH pump, and it's pumping water up 12" above the water level that it's sitting in, you're likely losing 25% of the flow right there. The elbow in the pipe adds more loss, etc. So you're likely nearing 200 GPH actual flow. That isn't necessarily bad, but it's all a balance between flow, light, and nutrients. If you have too much light and not enough flow, you can get funky growth.
     
  19. So more flow is better, because i have it at a very low setting. I was afraid that to much flow will prevent it from growing.
     
  20. Turbo

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

    Until it starts growing, that is true. Once you have a minimal base of growth, you can start increasing flow
     

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