Turbo's Aquatics HF L4 scrubber

Ok, so I have cleaned screen real good, and majority of holes are filled. When I plugged pump I observed something interesting, and realized that I am idiot.
First of all I was puzzled with the fact that I am getting white algae only when I partially clean my screen, and only than I get those green patches turn white.
When thinking about this, I was sure that it is something that is connected to partially cleaned screen, but I didn't know what.

I have installed scrubber in that way that just a small amount of water goes away from emergency drain, in order to avoid bubbles and sound.
Nevertheless, when screen is cleaned, water dispersion is different and than much more water is going out through emergency drain.
As you can see, whit my limited space, my emergency drain is located in part of the sump when my skimmer is, so this water from scrubber is drained there and mixed with skimmer water going into scrubber intake pump. When I have good amount of algae, than water dispersion is changed and majority of water is drained through main drain.

I have reorganized things a bit after realizing this, and all my water from scrubber now drains into main drain, instead of main + emergency.

@Turbo, do you think that this may be the reason for extreme nutrient sufficiency in my case?

 

No, I have opened main drain so that water is drained just there, near main return pump, instead of partially drainage trough emergency drain near skimmer and scrubber intake.

 

Around 30%-40%, when screen is cleaned, but 5%-10% when there is good amount of algae on screen.

 

Thank you very much. I have created photoperiod as you recommended, but I just wanted to throw some new ideas, and consult with you regarding mysterious white algae.

Thanks again.

 

OK, so my softies are dying because of low nutrient content.
My skimmer is offline for next month, and I would love to stop using scrubber at this point also, so that I have some nutrients build up. ( I have cleaned my tank much more than needed with this scrubber )
My question is, what photoperiod should I use just to maintain my screen alive?
I would like to maintain just enough algae so that my screen don't go completely dry, and that I must go from the scratch next time. After one month I will use scrubber for sure.

Thank you very much.

 

Thanks Turbo a lot. I will do as you said.

 

Ok, so I really need you help with this one.
It's not about scrubber (that worked beautifully), but with my tank itself.
Tank is three and a half months old, and until 20 days I had good coral growth, nice colors and low Nitrates and Phospates, with just small amount of brown algae in my DT.
Suddenly, corals started to fade away and my scrubber algae turns white.
I am sure that this was due low bioload and gigantic filtration from my oversized scrubber and heavy oversized skimmer together.
I guess, that filtration took out much more than needed at that point, and I am afraid that I have started cycle again.
Majority of corals are now safe, recovering in my other reef tank, but my bubble tip remained in this tank, along with a few softies in bad shape.

Skimmer are offline for a week now, and I am keeping my scrubber alive with three hours photoperiod per day. Algae in scrubber are alive, and not growing significantly at all.
My Nitrates are now higher (No3 = 15ppm), and my water is cloudy during daytime for a few months (this may be connected to millions of pods in my DT). Or anything else?
There is a lot of brown and green algae in my DT now, but I can see that brown are dying slightly while green algae takes more place.

My question is regarded to usage of algae scrubber at this point.
Should I use my scrubber at fullest at this point, to help reduce my Nitrates and kill DT algae?
I am afraid that my oversized scrubber can block my cycle at this point, and remove ammonium needed for bacteria in DT.
Is it safe to use scrubber at this point, as sole filtration?

I really think that I should avoid using my oversized skimmer, and I would really love to use scrubber to balance my tank out.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

Thank you Ricky very much for responding.
Yes, this makes perfect sense.
I just can't figure out how much elements I am loosing using skimmer and how much using scrubber.
I would be fine with just using scrubber at this point, if this relate to pulling less elements from water itself.
My main problem is water changes, because I am not doing regular WC at all (15% for three months).
So, how about I feed more and run just scrubber more, for example 9 hours by night, is this sounds doable in terms of good and nutrient rich environment for soft and LPS corals, while keeping Nitrates and Phospates in check?

 

Thank you Bud a lot for this detailed explanation, you helped a lot!
Yes, tank is 3.5 months old, you are right
Regarding tank cloudiness, I should presume that this is bacterial bloom, but I am puzzled why this is taking so long, for months now (just over daytime).
I have two 10G tanks just beside this 100G tank, and it seems that Ph is good in it, everything is growing like mad with great colors ( I am using same tap water for all tanks).

I don't have hermits, but I got 6 stomatella snails back in the beginning, and now I have really good amount (around 50-70 small ones) of those snails in my tank, eating some algae film overnight.

I can't get tests for my Alk, Cal, Mag, but I have Salifert tests for Nitrate and Phospate, and I am testing those regularly.

I will do exactly as you said, and keep you posted, and I wish that this topic will prove helpful for some other reefers with similar issues.

Thank you very much Bud for directions, you really helped me a lot.

 

No, I could get those but it is very pricey here. I could buy those test if you think that is it absolute crucial.

Yes, this could be explanation, but on other hand it is strange that it goes everyday daytime for months, and every single day. It must be pretty potent snails than.

One other thing.
When you suggested that I dial back my skimmer, I was thinking you are referring to put it on timer, just for number of hours daily.
My skimmer is dialed to put out in the cup around one inch of dry skimmate per two weeks. This was the case from the start because I was aware that this skimmer is much oversized for my current bioload.

 

I will get tests than, and let you know about levels.

Yes, skimmer is offline for a week now, and scrubber is working for three hours overnight at the moment.
Strange thing, today I can see that water is clearing up a bit, after a few months of consistent white haze all over.
Nevertheless, just a little bit clearer now.