what are thoughts on these?

[reef junkie]

algae turf scrubber. I rememver going on vacation to a nice store in indiana and seeing a hole warehose full of these. Do any of you run this and what are your thoughts?

[fivesmallworlds]

I built one a while back. It was interesting. In the end I found it to be one more thing the do maintenance on... Unless you build an enclosed one (in acrylic or something) you can expect to have a much higher rate of evap, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

I got more out of running GFO than the scrubber, and the reactor is a lot less messy to maintenance.

The other drawback which I personally didn't mind so much, but many do, was the constanct trickling of water like a mini waterfall in the sump. If you have your own fish room or sump room it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

Just my experience, take it or leave it.

[REEFSTOCK]

If you don't have a fish room... no go. just do cheato.

[Jager]

i know a member in Moorhead uses one, he took out his skimmer becouse he thought he didnt need it anymore, it also took up a ton of room in his sump area (Fritz's comment about fish room)

it was cleaning stuff thats for sure, and from the look of his, id say it needs weekly cleaning, and i dont know how it replaces a skimmer.

the water flowing over it added noise as well.

[rihanssu]

bill capman still uses one at augsburg

[Fb Joe]

Quiet and interesting http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?na...wtopic&t=71607

[reef junkie]

wow ta was a very interesting article. I wounder in the long run how well this works. Could the small version like in the article could last 5-10 years+?

[fivesmallworlds]

Originally Posted by Fb Joe

Quiet and interesting http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?na...wtopic&t=71607

The guy that posted that thread is notorious for copying and pasting that exact same thread on pretty much any forum he can find. It seems he's on quest for fame. Unfortunately I found it to be misleading. He represents his experience as fact, and as we all know,what works for one tank may not work for another.

That said, that was pretty much the thread I used to build mine. Only difference is mine was in the sump instead of a bucket. It was indeed quite noisy even following all the same principles to quiet it down as the thread.

They do work, whether or not you can justify dumping the skimmer and reactors are to be debated.

[reef junkie]

well thanks for you input. Ithink if I had the room.Fih room that is, Might be worth giving it a try. But I would be nervous trying this with a grad or two of live stock. Maybe as a new tank build.

[psulion]

I've read it gives you water a green tinge. Is that true?

[fivesmallworlds]

Originally Posted by psulion

I've read it gives you water a green tinge. Is that true?

It can,but if you run carbon it'll clear.

[Andrew.C]

It sounds to me just another exspensive piece of equipment with drawbacks

[Fb Joe]

Originally Posted by fivesmallworlds

The guy that posted that thread is notorious for copying and pasting that exact same thread on pretty much any forum he can find. It seems he's on quest for fame. Unfortunately I found it to be misleading. He represents his experience as fact, and as we all know,what works for one tank may not work for another.

That said, that was pretty much the thread I used to build mine. Only difference is mine was in the sump instead of a bucket. It was indeed quite noisy even following all the same principles to quiet it down as the thread.

They do work, whether or not you can justify dumping the skimmer and reactors are to be debated.

I'm not dumping my skimmer for it , but I'll try it.
In this post (hidden in it) he admits that he got it from RC. On RC and some on that page there are instructions for an in-sump one.
My beckett skimmer seems to be planton-friend, and I'll keep with with the turf scrubber as algae will eat up nutrients, but not decomposing matter and gunk.
The penguin filters seem perfect for a DIY HOB fuge/turf scrubber. I'll post a build thread for 2 of these, a FW and SW one.
The reason why these would work so well is the built in spraybars, the back compartment will be a fuge for rock+ chaeto, and you can hang window screen (most are non-metallic) from the spraybars pointing towards the return (up against the plastic slope). Another plus of this as a HOB is you can use tank lighting for it.

[Fb Joe]

Originally Posted by psulion

I've read it gives you water a green tinge. Is that true?

Originally Posted by fivesmallworlds

It can,but if you run carbon it'll clear.

Why would it cause green water if it's driving off nutrients?

[Screwtape]

I kind of like the ATS idea but like was said before, based on what I've read I wouldn't run one until I had a fish room to hide it in.

The greenish/yellowish tinge is some sort of coloring compounds that end up in the water, actually on most tanks that don't run carbon eventually will have a buildup of this stuff. Lots of people call it "gelbstoff" which is just a german word for "yellow stuff" or "yellow matter" or something like that. I think a lot of it is chlorophyll (but other stuff contributes too, other organic material etc) from the algae in the water, especially after you clean the screen you are breaking a lot of the algae down through the removal process which leeches the chlorophyll etc out.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/te.../gelbstoff.htm

Eric Borneman is a big proponent of ATS's and has written a lot about them if anyone is interested in reading more about them. He posts over on Marine Depot's forums.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Forum9-1.aspx

[Chem Guy]

This thread inspired me, so I rigged one up from left over PVC I had lying around. I just plumbed it into my drain plumbing. Here's a pic:



The screen is nylon window screen, if that proves to be too flimsy I'll replace it with some rigid plastic.

If the noise is what is holding you back, don't let it. Mine is very quiet. From what I read, if you insert the screen into a slot in the horizontal PVC pipe and keep the end of the screen in the water, you don't hear trickling water. If I turn off my skimmer I can begin to barely hear it, but my skimmer is far from silent, haha.

[reef junkie]

nice, keep me posted please. Im really considering doing this on my next tank, but that wont be for a long time. I would love to see your progress.

[reef junkie]

O I think you want to take of the reflector on the light and add another to the othe side, according to the link above.JMO

[Chem Guy]

This isn't a flood light like the link above uses, this is just a daylight fluorescent bulb. If I took the reflector off, I'd be blinding myself in my apartment. I am considering adding another to the opposite side though. I kinda want to see if anything grows first. If it seems like this is going to work for me, I'll upgrade to flood lamps.

[tinkerman]

Jager I guess you would be refering to me. I don't think I said that I didn't need a skimmer, but the skimmer I had was too small for the size tank. I may have said that though. I will be adding a skimmer back to the system. I don't think they are loud at all the mine is set up. It did get rid of about 90% of the algea in the dt. It is farely big about 12x12in, only light on one side so it could have been half as big if you light both sides. It does require cleaning about every week to week and a half. Never noticed any tint to the water. I am getting tired off chasing algea all over the sump when it gets cleaned, as it doesn't come out.


These pics were taken about 2-3 weeks after set up.