Acroholic's Algae Turf Filter Build
- Thread starter acroholic
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Tagging along. Really nice thread man.
I plan on posting pics of the progress or lack of progress. I hope to announce that this is a success of failure in a few weeks.......hopefully a success.
But I definitely don't think these filters are the end of skimming, GAC and GFO as I have read. If anything, they are adjunctive...just another way of exporting nutrients.
I would consider this ATF a raging success it it does move algae growth to the filter by the turf algae outcompeting the other types.
Dave
Yea, the idea is you get the grates covered with algae, then you scrape the algae off one one week, then off the other next week and repeat. if you are only using one grate, then you do 1/2 one week, then the other half next week.
I'm finishing up a light holder for the ATF. I want the option of putting 2 x 96 watt Coralife CF fixtures on the tank, and I didn't have enough room front to back on the acrylic box for it. I'll post some pics when I finish.
For right now, I have one single 96 watt CF fixture over the tank.
Dave
For right now, I have one single 96 watt CF fixture over the tank.
Dave
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+1
Looks like a lot of work, electricity, and heat added to the tank if you can't prove it does anything.
Since it seems many people have been fighting hair algea lately are you also or are you seeing higher nitrates? Would this be the test for a true cure with out chemical treatments or elbow grease scrubing?
I'll be interested to see what comes from this?
I'm doing it because I want to. Remember, in post #1, I said I felt like building something The work, electricity, and heat added to the tank are just a part of the project.
Actually, and electricity or heat is the same as when I was running a refugium. It had a light that ran and used more juice than this light.
But definitely some work involved!
I don't think this is a cure for algae, but I am ultimately hoping this will move algae growth to the filter I have built. There are claims on both sides of success vs failure.
As I said, I don't know if these work or not, but I find it an interesting project nonetheless.
Latest update.
I got finished making a couple tweeks to the ATF over the last 2-3 days.
I did some additional reading on ATFs, and there were a couple issues with mine that needed to be addressed. Remember, these pointers are from people with some experience, so these are mostly anecdotal, but they seem to make sense.
1. One of the most important factors regarding success or failure of these ATFs is the algae mat used. Specifically, how the mat surface is prepared. I had sanded the matt with 30 grit sandpaper, but read that the best way was to use a hole saw without the drill, and use the saw teeth to rough up the algae mat to the point it felt rough to the touch, or almost furry. I pulled the mats and used a hole saw to do this (pic1). The assumption is the smoother the algae mat surface, the harder it is for algae to grow on it. The rougher it is, the easier for the algae to attach to the mat.
2. The flow rate required fo the algae mat is 37 gallons/hour per inch of mat width. I'm not sure where this figure came from, but my flow rate was well below that. I had basically used a feed off a return line to one of my tanks, because this ATF replaced a failed macro algae refugium, so it already had the water line to and the drain from.
I really couldn't take any more flow away from the display tank to feed the ATF, So I decided to make the circulation through the ATF independent of the feed and return line to the system sump. Kind of like a closed loop in a reef.
I installed two more bulkheads in the acrylic cube holding the ATF (3 total). Picture 2 shows a left side shot of the water feed and return from the sump. Picture 3 is a bottom view of the same. The water flows towards the intake bulkhead for the dedicated ATF pump, gets pumped through the ATF over the algae mats, and ends up eventually going back to the sump.
Picture 4 shows the intake bulkhead for the dedicated ATF pump, which is a Mag 12 I had laying around. Picture 5 is a bottom shot of the same and of the Mag 12. The return line from the Mag 12 goes up behind the cube thru 3/4" PVC. I also redid the PVC holding the algae mats to basically the same thing as before, but all 3/4" pipe for maximum flow, as the earlier version had 1/2".
This reworking probably slowed initial algae growth on the mats. But here is a picture (pic 6) taken today showing some algae colonizing the mats. I shouldn't have to redo anything else, so I can now let it proceed naturally.
I am using a Coralife 6700K Quad 4 CF lamp (96 watts) right now, and I have the ability to put another on there if I want, but I am just using one for now. Photoperiod is 18 hours on/6 off.
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I got finished making a couple tweeks to the ATF over the last 2-3 days.
I did some additional reading on ATFs, and there were a couple issues with mine that needed to be addressed. Remember, these pointers are from people with some experience, so these are mostly anecdotal, but they seem to make sense.
1. One of the most important factors regarding success or failure of these ATFs is the algae mat used. Specifically, how the mat surface is prepared. I had sanded the matt with 30 grit sandpaper, but read that the best way was to use a hole saw without the drill, and use the saw teeth to rough up the algae mat to the point it felt rough to the touch, or almost furry. I pulled the mats and used a hole saw to do this (pic1). The assumption is the smoother the algae mat surface, the harder it is for algae to grow on it. The rougher it is, the easier for the algae to attach to the mat.
2. The flow rate required fo the algae mat is 37 gallons/hour per inch of mat width. I'm not sure where this figure came from, but my flow rate was well below that. I had basically used a feed off a return line to one of my tanks, because this ATF replaced a failed macro algae refugium, so it already had the water line to and the drain from.
I really couldn't take any more flow away from the display tank to feed the ATF, So I decided to make the circulation through the ATF independent of the feed and return line to the system sump. Kind of like a closed loop in a reef.
I installed two more bulkheads in the acrylic cube holding the ATF (3 total). Picture 2 shows a left side shot of the water feed and return from the sump. Picture 3 is a bottom view of the same. The water flows towards the intake bulkhead for the dedicated ATF pump, gets pumped through the ATF over the algae mats, and ends up eventually going back to the sump.
Picture 4 shows the intake bulkhead for the dedicated ATF pump, which is a Mag 12 I had laying around. Picture 5 is a bottom shot of the same and of the Mag 12. The return line from the Mag 12 goes up behind the cube thru 3/4" PVC. I also redid the PVC holding the algae mats to basically the same thing as before, but all 3/4" pipe for maximum flow, as the earlier version had 1/2".
This reworking probably slowed initial algae growth on the mats. But here is a picture (pic 6) taken today showing some algae colonizing the mats. I shouldn't have to redo anything else, so I can now let it proceed naturally.
I am using a Coralife 6700K Quad 4 CF lamp (96 watts) right now, and I have the ability to put another on there if I want, but I am just using one for now. Photoperiod is 18 hours on/6 off.
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I had the Quad 4 lights sitting around from my planted tank days. The 6700K rating is much closer in color to natural sunlight than most reef tank lighting. Par is greater at lower Kelvin ratings as well, I believe.
These lights are made for plants, and algae being a plant, you know. But I'm sure algae isn't picky, so the intensity of the light is probably more inportant than the Kelvin rating. Algae grows pretty indiscriminantly in a reef, so I'd be more concerned about getting the ATF ENOUGH light more than anything else.
