Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae from your aquarium (hopefully permanently).
 

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Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae from your aquarium (hopefully permanently).

This new test version of the algae scrubber is much easier to build than the waterfall version (the Mega Powerful one), and is perfect for nano's. This new scrubber has never been posted before May 2012. It works in both freshwater and saltwater.

If you are like most aquatic hobbyists, nuisance algae is an ongoing problem. You try to feed your livestock, and the next thing you know, you get algae. You've already tried many fixes; some work but are expensive; some kind of work but you're not sure; and some just don't work at all.

Think about what is happening: Your aquarium is accumulating nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) because of the food you feed. Algae eat nitrate and phosphate to grow, so the algae are having a great time growing in your water because they are eating all your nutrients! What to do?

Well think about this: In order to grow, algae must be provided with nitrate and phosphate. So why can't you just use the algae to consume all the nitrate and phosphate? The answer: You can! How? With a simple device you build called an Upflow Algae Scrubber. It's simple, cheap, and you can make a small one in just a few minutes with parts you probably already have. I'll be posting more complex versions later, but here are some pics of the most basic design that you can use for testing:

(will be updated periodically)
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post1.jpg




An "algae scrubber" is a simple filter that actually grows algae in the filter, so that the algae do not grow in other parts of your aquarium. Simply put, the conditions for algae growth inside the filter are better than the conditions in the rest of your aquarium; thus the algae grow in the filter instead of your aquarium, and then you just remove the algae from the filter and throw the algae away. But in order for the algae to grow in the filter, the algae need to consume nitrate and phosphate; so guess where the nitrate and phosphate come from? Your water!

If you stop and think about it, algae always grow in certain spots, and not in others. This is because some of the three growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) are better in some parts of your water than they are in others. An "upflow algae scrubber" simply optimizes these conditions, and does so at a place where the algae can be easily removed and thrown away. And once the nitrate and phosphate have been removed from your water, all other nuisance algae such as green hair, bubble, turf and slime, will have a hard time staying alive.

So where have these filters been all this time, and why haven't you heard of them if they work so well? Well the original waterfall version (the Mega Powerful thread posted in August 2008) was hard to build, and was not really for sale anywhere; so unless you liked to build things from scratch, you had no choice but to buy some other kind of filter. All the filter really needed to do was to create good growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) for the algae, by flowing the water across a piece of rough material, so that the algae would grow on the material instead of somewhere else in the aquarium. The waterfall algae scrubber did grow lots of algae in the filter, and it removed lots of algae from aquariums: Over 1,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers, and reported their results on various forums during a 4 year period; almost all of them wiped out their nuisance algae within 8 weeks, and many did so in 4 weeks. And on other forums that I never posted on, an estimated 10,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers with similar results.

A little over a year ago in April 2011, another idea came along: Instead of letting the water flow down a screen like a waterfall, how about you let the water flow up the screen using air bubbles? Why? Because as good as waterfall algae scrubbers are, they still need a place for the water to drain "down" to. This means that you need to have a sump below the aquarium, or you need to have the scrubber up above the aquarium. This is not easy, and is very difficult for a nano aquarium which usually has no sump below it, and no room above it. Also, the waterfall version requires it to be out of the water (in the air), which takes up extra space. The new "upflow" version, however, can be placed inside the aquarium, so that it takes up no extra space at all, and it needs no external plumbing or water pumps at all. Only air bubbles.

The Upflow Algae Scrubber (UAS) provides the best growing conditions for algae in your tank: Air bubbles provide rapid turbulent flow; Strong lighting provides the light; and the nutrients that are already in your water provide the nitrate and phosphate. All that's needed is a place for the algae to attach to, and that is provided by the roughed-up plastic screen. Thus the algae start growing on the screen because the flow and lighting are stronger there than they are in the rest of your aquarium; nitrate and phosphate are consumed in the process. This causes algae to start disappearing from your aquarium and start re-appearing on the scrubber screen, so that you can throw the algae away every week or two.

The most basic way to set up an Upflow Algae Scrubber, especially in small aquariums, is just to put some air bubbles beneath a vertical screen. If inside an aquarium, you just put a light on the outside of the glass, so that it shines inside to the screen. And if you want better performance (which means better filtering), just add a reflector to give the screen some light on both sides. The screen is best made with 7-mesh cross stitch plastic canvas that you get at sewing or craft stores, or online. Also, don't forget to rough up the screen with a sharp object like a hole saw; the screen should be so rough that the screen holes are almost filled in with all the little pieces of plastic that you roughed up.

One thing to remember is that an Upflow Algae Scrubber (or any algae scrubber) will not cause more algae to grow in your aquarium. Instead, the algae will disappear from your aquarium, and will start to grow on the scrubber screen instead. You then just remove the screen and scrape the algae off. And here's a surprise: Watch out for your fish or snails eating your filter! There's nothing tastier than live green algae, so your fish or snails may keep your screen from getting very thick. The simple solution is to just put some mesh or netting around it.

There are a couple of requirements that have been learned since August 2008 which will get you started quicker. The size of the Upflow Algae Scrubber that is needed is based on how much you feed, and not how much water you have, because the nutrients that cause algae to grow come from the food you feed. The following updated picture has size guidelines:

(will be updated periodically; if picture cuts off, open in new window)
http://algaescrubber.net/Sizing.jpg




And the following updated picture has examples:

(will be updated periodically; if picture cuts off, open in new window)
http://algaescrubber.net/Examples.jpg




So build a UAS and post your pictures!
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#e39

buongiornazzo #19

Abbiamo re inventato il refugium ad alghe? 🍻

-69-69

Questa è la nuova versione di Algae Scrubber.
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OK some growth pics...

Floyd R Turbo on the GIRS site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFloydrturboOnAS-1.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFloydrturboOnAS-2.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFloydrturboOnAS-3.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFloydrturboOnAS-4.jpg



Rkyrickstr on the TF site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasRkyrickstrOnAS-1.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasRkyrickstrOnAS-2.jpg



Ruddybop on the MFK site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasRuddybopOnMFK-1.JPG



Fishuntbike on the scrubber site:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFishuntbikeOnAS-1.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFishuntbikeOnAS-2.jpg

http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasFishuntbikeOnAS-3.jpg



And mine...
http://www.algaescrubber.net/UasSantaMonica-1.jpg

Nice stuff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bella idea davvero ;-)

cool!!
dove si trova?

non capisco la novità ....... è un filtro a turf #24

c'è qualche volontario poliglotta ???? :-))

volontario si....

poliglotta no....

Non ho tanto spazio per fare un refugium, se funzionasse potrebbe essermi d'aiuto....

Stefano, non stà dicendo di aver inventato l'acqua calda ma solo di aver invertito il filtro....è il nuovo modello.
in genere il filtro ad alghe funziona a cascata.....qui lo fanno funzionare con le bolle d'aria.
secondo me invece è molto interessante dato che in questo modo tutti lo possono installare anche in vasche piccoline.

#70

chi me lo spiega ?

io non apisco nemmeno il significato della parola poliglotta...figuriamoci tutto il resto in inglese....
cmq se qualcuno riuscisse a fare un riassunto.....lo gradirei tanto

quoto

io posso dirvi quello che ho capito:

come dice Matteo, le differenze sono:

- semplicità costruttiva (basta una porosa, aereatore e una griglia in plastica)
- dimensioni ristrette, quindi offre la possibilità di essere realizzato anche in nanoreef
- non servono pompe o altro.

Da quello che dice, questa griglia fissata sulla porosa, illumintata tramite lampadina CFL (credo siano le compact a neon con dominante calda 2700 - 3000 °K) crea un punto perfetto di accrescimento delle alghe. Lui dice che nell'arco di qualche settimana vedremo le alghe trasferirsi dai vetri , rocce o altro presente nel nostro acquario.... solo su questa griglia.

Manutenzione pressocchè ZERO . Accensione luce 9 ore al di ( non ho capito se a fotoperiodo invertito... ma non mi sembra lo specifichi) sostituzione bulbo ogni 6 mesi e pulizia della griglia staccando le alghe ogni 7 - 14 giorni.

dettagli costruttivi:

- griglia (dimensione 7.5 x 10 cm)
- luce compact da 2700 °K oppure 2 led da 3W rossi
- porosa di tiglio (sembra guardando la foto)
- aereatore

volendo si può schermare la luce mettendo un riflettente dietro alla griglia.

il trabiccolo può essere messo sia in vasca che in sump.

Come indicazione di carico/consumo nutrienti, dice che una griglia 7.5 x 10 và bene per un nanoreef.

Direi che è tutto!

sarà ma.... HOW MUCH?:-D

hi SantaMonicaHelp...I have a question for you.
firstly sorry for my english:-D!! what do you think about higher algae?in my opinion they can be more efficient than the green algae who grows up on our tank's glasses "IMHO".
I didn't understand the working time of the lamp..it 24h or less??
Anyway thanks for share with us your experience-28

It doesn't need a refugium.

only need 18 hours of light. Replace CFL bulbs every 3 months.

Not for sale.

It is the green algae, the green hair algae. One is not higher than the other, but since hair algae has more surface area, it can absorb more light and more nutrients.

Ragazzi.....non si compra....non ci vuole nulla a costruirlo......una porosa di quelle lunghe o un tubicino del 6 microforato.........una lampadina e una griglia ,......nulla +

Ok ! Thanks

Is the power on of the light in line with the hours of light in the aquarium, or reverse?



quoto

l'unica cosa che chiede è per chi lo realizza, di postare foto e impressioni....

a dire il vero qualcosa del genere lo vendono già....

http://www.santa-monica.cc/Santa-Mon...ubber_p_8.html

mmmm.... non proprio... sull'articolo c'è scritto che non è più in vendita da quando propongono il filtro fai da te ;-)

If you want a free license, feel free to get one.. :)

http://www.santa-monica.cc/Free-DIY-...bers_p_17.html

The new Hang-On-Glass UAS with bubble remover:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post2.jpg

non è troppo piccola di dimensioni?

No, it is sized for 0.5 cube feeding a day. :)

No, è formato per 0,5 cubo alimentazione di un giorno

sembra interessante visto che ho posto riesco a farne uno lungo quasi un mt ma provo con 40cm metà del filtro a chetomorpha unica cosa che mi chiedo la luce dei led rossa ..vuol dire che va bene anche per la chetomorpha !!! visto che ne ho 6 di led rossi provo a farne uno!!!

mi raccomando le foto che voglio vedere come lo fai .

si ,si, fai le foto e vediamo come lavora.....

#e39 attendo pure io le foto del fai da te "nostrano"; potrebbe essere una cosa carina........ed utile!!!!

che griglia posso usare come subsrato tipo le zanzariere o troppo fine ? oggi ho fatto 2 misure dovrebbe venire lungo 40cm x20 potrebbe bastare? poi ho anche un metro di chetomorpha largo 20 su 23altezza acqua a circolo forzato con caduta diretta e poi via in risalita mentre laltra caduta è sotto skimmer ...

State voi costruendo un UAS o Algae Scrubber?

vorrei costruirlo per vedere il suo vero funzionamento ora sto usando un filtro ad alghe di chetomorpha lungo 1metro largo 20cm per 22altezza ....puoi darmi consigli su illuminazione meglio led rossi o bianchi e rossi assieme?

Roby il mio refu a chaeto è illuminato così..
Led rossi e bianchi da 3w..
Misure 700x250x350 ..8 led..3 rossi, 5 bianchi da 3w
Avessi saputo prima come lavoravano i rossi li avrei messi anche in percentuale maggiore..tra l'altro in refu ho tantissime coralline in più rispetto alla vasca (ma quello è anche questione di movimento)...
http://img.tapatalk.com/1fbc6434-28e5-59ea.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/1fbc6434-292b-4b3e.jpg

I tubi in prima foto sono x lui
http://img.tapatalk.com/1fbc6434-295d-babc.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/1fbc6434-2991-561d.jpg

Quindi potrei prendere una griglia da decoratore (bianca) 300x200 mm, inserirla in sump
(ho uno scomparto separato) con una tubicino microforato fissato sotto con fascette ad es e illuminare il tutto con qualche led rosso o lampade ad incandescenza da 3000 k..giusto?
Quindi se lo metto nel refugium dove ci sono già i led rossi, potrei semplicemente aggiungere la porosa e la griglia e stop! Il refugium è acceso h24..

io metto 5 led rossi e 4 bianchi poi vedo come gestire il tutto appena riesco provo a fare la griglia.

Se usassi i "cassettini" del vecchio filtro esterno "pratico" del dolce allineati come griglia che ne dite..li metto in refugium dove ci sono già i led rossi.. Funzioneranno?

rosso, sempre rosso, bianco non serve a niente.