Turbo's Aquatics HF L4 scrubber

Hi everyone,

My name is Peter and I got one of Turbo's aquatics awesome scrubbers.
It is HF L4 scrubber for my 100G tank.
I have just finished with basic cycle on this new tank, and scrubber is installed.
Only thing I need to do now is to shorten export pipe, and install flow control there (received with package).

Keeping in mind that I will not play around with jumpers on LED board, just to be safe, my question is what photoperiod you suggest for break in period?
After 24h, with 18h photoperiod, I got some tiny light brown coverage on my screen.

Thank you in advance.

 

Thanks a lot for your answer.
I will do as you say, and keep you informed about progress.

 

Also, this is my tank now....great environment for algae growth!
I am more eager to see good growth in my scrubber, than into good appearance of my DT at this point.

 

This is screen on my beloved TA scrubber at day 8.

Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
Flow is 500 g/h
No3 = 2 ppm (Salifert)
Po4 = 0 ppm (Salifert)

What do you think?

 

Thank you very much for this very helpful guidelines!
I will wait one more day, and maybe I should just clean it very lightly with finger tips.
I'll keep you guys posted with photos.

Thanks a lot.

 

After cleaning (after 10 days), I am seeing brown layer again after 24 hours. So, I am afraid that my tank is just really clean, because there is no fishes or feedings. Tank is 48 days old. Even in display there is no more algae today, with 6 hours photoperiod with 150PAR lights.
Seems that my skimmer is not exporting much, almost not at all.

No3 = 2 ppm (Salifert)
Po4 = 0 ppm (Salifert)


I have decided to put one 2" blenny inside my 100g tank, and start small feedings from tomorrow.
Am I right, that this may start green growth soon?
Am I going into right direction?

 

No problem Bud, I will do as you said.
I don't have any white portion on this screen, and I must say that this scrubber works wonderfully.
Water dispersion over the screen is PERFECT!
Thanks for your answer.

 

Scrubber is now operational for 15 days, and initial cleaning was five days ago.
I may be one huge pain in the ***, but I just wanted your opinion regarding regular cleaning at this stage.
I want to make sure that I am taking care of my scrubber as much as possible, and I am a bit concern about dark brown algae blocking light on white mesh at this initial stage. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to see fast growth, even so this is not where we want to end up. Should I create longer photoperiod, in order for green algae to overcome brown stage?
I took photos while mesh is still inside, as you suggested before.


Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
Flow is 500 g/h.
No3 = ~2 ppm (Salifert)
Po4 = 0 ppm (Salifert)

What would be your suggestion at this point?

Thank you very much.

 

Thanks a lot, I will do that for sure.
I am sure that some other users will find it helpful in the future, with similar growth and parameters.

Thank you Bud.

 

I am so happy to announce that I am getting some first green growth!
I am not sure if this is possible at this point, but I guess that I got 1 ppm reduction in nitrates in last 8 days.

- Day 17 (7 days from cleaning).
- Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
- Flow is 500 g/h.
- No3 = 2 ppm (Salifert)
- Po4 = 0 ppm (Salifert)

 

OK, here is another update.

- Day 19 (9 days from cleaning).
- Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
- Flow is 500 g/h.
- Pair of mature ocellaris clownfishes are in from yesterday, along with existing blenny now.

Images are quite blurry, but you can clearly see that there is a lot more new green growth now, just within two days!
I am so happy to see this!
Only concern I have at this point is that flow over the screen may not be that even now, perhaps because pipe slot is not cleaned in 9 days. This could explain random green patches, and especially near pipe end, where I can clearly see more flow, instead of left side of the screen.
I would like to kindly ask you for your suggestion regarding screen cleaning at this point.

Thank you very much in advance for your answer.

 

Thank you very much for your answer.
I will do as you say, and keep posting regular updates.

 

- Day 21 (11 days from cleaning).
- Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
- Flow is 500 g/h.

I wanted to show better images and also to clean pipe slot at this point.
Pipe slot is cleaned and water dispersion is much better now across whole screen. I also removed extra algae from false bottom and from windows. Screen itself is not cleaned, I just returned all algae with screen back inside. I am extremely satisfied with growth at this point!

 

- Day 23 (13 days from cleaning).
- Photoperiod is 9 hours by night .
- Flow is 500 g/h.

Would you be so kind to tell me if I can clean my screen at this point, and how?
I am sure that I will pick up myself soon, as soon as screen is mature, and when I get good idea how much growth I need to have in order to clean ti.
Thank you in advance.