Turbo, I'm interested in your L2 scrubber for my ZeoVit SPS system. Currently, most of my SPS are dead from exposure to heavy metals (leaking magnet) and I have not been happy with the ZV system as I haven't found a balance, my system has been running so lean on available nutrients that corals are always pale and growth is anemic. I have tried all sorts of tweaks to the system, lower flow over the Zeoliths, heavily increased fish feedings, as well as coral type foods such as homemade "Pappone" and nothing raises my nutrients. Additionally, I have realized that I don't want a system that requires daily dosing past what an automatic doser can provide. At this point, I have now stopped ZeoVit for about a month. I am still running the Zeoliths through a reactor, but I am no longer dosing any carbon. So far so good, except of course, all of my corals. I am looking for a system that is minimal maintenance but still performs in a manner that will have a TOTM worthy SPS aquarium 1.) I have a few questions, but first, how loud are these scrubbers? It is pretty important that they are silent in operation as this is in my living room and very close to my bedroom (small SF apartment). I understand that they flow down a screen, but it appears with your design you have sealed in the noise. 2.) Is there a chance that using dry rock and dry sand the specific algae that is desired for these systems does not exist in my system? 3.) Do you have any examples of people using this system exclusively for SPS? I have had a hard time finding someone with a SPS dominated system that looked good. 4.) I am currently running a Beckett skimmer (KZ Revolution S), will I need to keep this skimmer or will it compete with the algae? 4.) Does this system sound like it will fit my needs? Thanks in advanced. -Mark
Sorry, couldn't find where to edit the above post. I feed about 1.5 - 2.0 "cubes" of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp daily, with some TDO pellet food on a timer. I also target feed and broadcast feed SPS with Oyster Feast, Pappone and other foods such as live rotifers on occasion.
The turbo scrubbers no loud at all in my experience. I ran my sps tank with and l2 skimmer and bio pellets and it was working great but it was starving the system in nutrients and had to feed a lot but on my new set up I am going with a 4 cube scrubber and activated carbon only set up and is going to be a 100% acropora tank my belive behind this is run the biggest scrubber that you can get on an sps tank I believe on turn over rate the smaller the scrubber is the lower the turn over rate is. this was the tank that I ran pellets, scrubber and skinner Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Beautiful. Thanks for the reply! I can see how running pellets and an ATS would definitely run the system low. I am looking to run a ATS and continue to use my skimmer. You believe I should oversize the scrubber for a SPS system? Can you explain what you meant by lower flow? Do you mean a smaller scrubber has less turn over rate than a larger one? Thanks, your SPS look great and this is an encouraging example of ATS and SPS. Last question, what was your thinking behind pellets and running the ATS? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The longer the screen the more GPH you have to provide the slot pipe with it's 35 GPH per inch. My believe behind both method was in nature the reef relies on bacteria as a main source but algae plays a big role on the entire ocean so I said well hell I will implement both worlds and it was great but you have to feed tons of food to keep the system healthy I wanted an economical low budget reef so I an using a scrubber only set up on the new one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a skimmer now, I am planning to keep the skimmer but I'm not opposed to removing it all together. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Also, job well done in your beautiful a.nigricans, as far as I know they are extremely hard to keep in captivity (less than 10% survival rate). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Yea it was a challenge I sacrifice the tank when I got it. I spot fed it every single time i passed by the tank larry reef frenzy and I mean everytime. I kept a cup in the fridge with thaw out food. But I new that the tank could handle the excesive amount of feeding. The fish is still going strong it's at my friends house on a 300 gallon tank Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think Luis answered most of your questions but I'll throw in my 2c The rev 3 is completely sealed (the slot pipe is enclosed in the box) and with the lid it is pretty silent, if you really crank up the flow to the maximum it will make some noise, especially when the screen has just been cleaned, but since you can tune the bottom drain with the ball valve the noise would not be a gurgling/flushing sound, but rather just the noise of the water cascading down the screen Very, very little chance that your tank does not have the proper algae. Theoretically if you start with bleached sand and rock and 100.00000% pure RODI, maybe. But algae is one of the most primitive forms of life and it is everywhere. I still hold the opinion that we don't fully understand all the functions/benefits that a skimmer provides, but it's safe to say that it's not going to hurt your system. Depending on the skimmer, you can put it on a timer or adjust it to skim lighter. If you want to go heavy SPS and scrubber only, me recommendation is to oversize the scrubber which will really help keep the nutrients very low. But this means more space, and a dependence on one main filtration type. It's always better to have multiple forms of filtration. A scrubber and a skimmer go at things from different angles, so IMO they sort of complement each other.
So your suggestion would be the L3 complimented by my skimmer? Thanks for the information. Mark Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
L3 or L4. The cost differential between the two isn't as much compared to L2 & L3 so the L4 is a better value. I stopped having parts made for the L3, the demand is so low for that size unit that I just fab the parts by hand (I still have a small stockpile of L3 parts so I doubt I will have to do this anytime soon). The L4 has 2 LED boards on each side, and you can actually use jumpers to bypass sets of LED or entire boards and make the L4 effectively an L2 or L3
Turbo, Thanks once again for helping to find an application. I am running a Eheim 1262 (900GPH) from the sump for the return. I would assume, under normal head pressure and other considerations that this more than adequate flow requirements of the L4. Here is the dilemma. I'd like to run the ATS from the return line, but it is a two drain system with a siphon (Herbie). The only way to keep your drain silent and run more than 300-350gph through one line is to use a siphon. So, I would need to run a gate valve before the ATS as well as after (included in your system) to keep this silent and operational? Are there any safety issues you can think of i.e. potential leaking hazards that don't already exist with a Herbie system? My tank is only a 36" x 24" footprint so space is fairly limited in my sump area and it really would be kick butt if I could use the return line... If this is not an ideal situation (no problem), what about running the ATS from my chiller return line? Would chilled water have an effect on the growth rate of algae? What is the ETA for an order placed today for one of your L4 systems? -Mark
You might be surprised to find out exactly how much actual flow you have. It depends on not only veritical/horizontal and jets, but also return line inner diameter. I would not be shocked if you measured your actual pump rate at less than 500 GPH. The herbie or Beananimal is a great system to use for a scrubber on the return line because you have a full-volume secondary path for the flow, should something make it down the line and clog the pipe to the scrubber (slot blocking due to algae growth has really never been an issue for me, and is not with my units because of the light blockers). The only possible concern is startup, because a siphon line generally needs to have the pipe slightly underwater to purge all the air out to get the siphon initiated. The slot pipe mimics this in part, because unlike an open pipe where the water can "drop out" and let air infuse in the line vertically, the slot pipe does not have this problem. The only problem then becomes, will the water be moving fast enough down the pipe to purge the air? Generally the answer is yes. If you have excess flow, and you split the drain between the scrubber and the normal outlet by putting a T off the drain line before the siphon control valve, this may work but there might be a longer purge cycle upon startup because the water falling through the pipe might cause a suction effect, pulling air in via the slot pipe into the normal drain line path (through the valve). Putting a split that has a 45 outlet rather than a 90 will help this, if you orient the 45 downward and then use another 45 or flex/hose to go to the scrubber from there, water will naturally fill the scrubber line and prevent air from intruding backwards up the line. How effective this is will depend on flow also, it should purge eventually but it might take longer than the normal setup. I would leave the scrubber feed line wide open and control the flow through it with the siphon line gate valve, but that's not the only way to do it, and you certainly could add a control/ball valve before the scrubber. This might actually help the siphon purge process as well, if you are having issues. Not that I can think of, but what potential leaving hazards are you worried about related to the Herbie system? I would think that chilled water will have a negative affect on algae growth. You could plumb the scrubber before the chiller, but this is not without it's issues as well. My verified wait list is over 20 at this point, with 20 more that haven't responded to my latest round of emails, and a dozen or so more upgrades that people have been patiently waiting on for quite some time. Wait time is mainly dependent on my ability to secure garage time at night and weekends, which are usually trumped by kid stuff unfortunately. Right now I would hesitate to give you any kind of delivery time frame at all.
