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SWITCH420

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PATERSON NJ
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2 pics of mine
 

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SWITCH420

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PATERSON NJ
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some more info

Q: I'm keeping my skimmer. When I add a scrubber, should I expect the skimmer to produce less foam?
A: Not really. Adding a scrubber does not remove any food (protein), and that's what skimmers remove... food.

Q: I have a fish-only tank with large fish, and I don't care about small food particles floating around in the water. Do I need a scrubber?
A: Maybe not. If you don't mind cleaning the nuisance algae off the glass (which is caused by Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate in the water), then a skimmer may be fine. But if you are trying to eliminate nuisance algae (and glass cleaning) then you'll need a scrubber in addition to a skimmer, because a scrubber removes Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate (which is what algae feeds on.)

Q: I've heard that going "skimmerless" is only for experienced aquarists.
A: That was correct before July 2008. But it is now known how to easily build and use a scrubber to do all your filtering for you (just like in the ocean). It is cheap, easy, and best of all there is no possible way for something to "go wrong" with a scrubber and have it kill your whole tank. So scrubbers actually are now the entry level (beginner friendly) way to start out, provided of course you can build one, or find a builder.

Q: How is a scrubber different from a skimmer?
A: Scrubbers remove Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic Phosphate, ammonia, metals and CO2 from the water. (Inorganic Nitrate and Inorganic Phosphate are what cause nuisance algae to grow on your rocks and glass, and are what you measure with your test kits.) Skimmers remove Organics (protein/food) from the water. Both scrubbers and skimmers, however, add oxygen to the water. Scrubbers add more though, and can supersaturate the water with oxygen.

Q: How does a scrubber compare to GFO (granular ferric oxide) phosphate removers like RowaPhos and PhosBan?
A: GFO's remove phosphate, and they may lower the pH while doing it. And they are expensive to refill. Scrubbers remove phosphate, as well as nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, CO2 and metals, and do so while increasing the pH. And once built and installed, a scrubber does not need to be "refilled". Also, if a GFO bag or canister spills, or if you accidentally drop GFO into the water, it will go everywhere throughout your sump/pumps/tank. If you drop algae in the tank, it's no different from algae that's already floating in the tank.

Q: How does a scrubber compare to vodka (carbon) dosing?
A: Both remove nitrate and phosphate. Vodka, however, requires a skimmer to operate (to remove the bacteria that grows), and this skimmer thus also removes food from the water. Vodka also reduces the oxygen in the water (bacteria use it). Scrubbers don't require (and work best without) a skimmer, and add oxygen to the water. Lastly is the safety issue of vodka: If you carelessly pour it from a bottle, "just a few ounces too much" can kill your entire tank in a few hours. With a scrubber, there is nothing that can happen which would cause such a situation. Scrubbers cannot kill your tank under any situation.
 

18oreefer

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Location
Franklin NJ
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The following was also brought to you via the link. Now that is one hell of a scrubber.



Well this one takes the cake. Not only is it the biggest, but it's also the first one to use halides for lighting. "Reefski" on the MD site has a 700g tank and 800g sump, and had the entire garage to use for fish stuff, so he spared nothing in building his scrubber:


UserReefskiOnMD-1.jpg



UserReefskiOnMD-2.jpg



UserReefskiOnMD-3.jpg
 

18oreefer

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Location
Franklin NJ
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Its been a little while. I did a little modification to the scrubber so that set me back time wise. I down sized the feed pipe i had to 3/4 from 1 1/2, that was way too much. I also took a hole saw to the screen and rubbed the teeth all over it to rough it up for better algae adhesion, and that more or less put me back on day 1 with algae growth. This is about a little over a week of it running again after i modified it. Since about 4 or so days ago i have noticed a significant slowing of algae growth on my glass. I guess its doing its job. Woo hoo. Lets see some updated photos of everyone elses, and tell us how its going.

downsized_1220091813.jpg
 

18oreefer

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Location
Franklin NJ
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tangmaniac, it sure does. as the algae grows it uses up nitrate as a food/fertilizer source to promote growth. when you scrape the screen all of the nitrate and phosphate that the algae has locked up in it is now permanently removed from your system.
 

rickytsui

Senior Member
Location
flushing queens
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Well here it is. $40 (minus the pump that i had (mag5) )later and a little time to put it all together and seed it with a tiny little bit of hair algae i had growing just above my water line and were off. Here is a pic of day 1 and ill put up pics as they come.

1206092159.jpg
i been looking around for this white sheet that u use where did u get it from?
 

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