The new Upflow Algae Scrubber (UAS)

[SantaMonica]

Cleaning Off Slime On New Scrubbers

When scrubbers are new, they will almost always first develop a slimey first layer of growth. This is because diatoms and dino's, which make up most of the slime, are the quickest to be able to "colonize" a new surface, sort of like weeds in a new garden.

This slime layer will not get any thicker, however, because slime cannot attach well (it has no "roots") to the growth surfaces of the scrubber, and thus will get washed away when it gets thick, Also, it prevents green hair algae from attaching because of the slippery texture of the slime.

So when your scrubber is new, be sure to take it to the sink and use a toothbrush to clean all the slime off of the growth surfaces so you can see all white surfaces again. You could clean it while still in your tank if you don't mind the slime particles floating around, but most people would probably do better to take it to the sink (or outside; slime makes great fertilizer). Slime, especially when dark or black, is also an indicator that you can use more watts or hours of light.

Once you have cleaned off the slime for one or more growth periods, you should start seeing green hair algae take hold.

[SantaMonica]

Coming this summer 2016:
Waterfall algae scrubber
Version 2
 
After I invented the waterfall scrubber in 2008, it's great that so many people got to DIY it, and it's also great that lots of builders/sellers used it as their design up until the current day. It's had over 7 years to gather hobbyists.
 
2012 was a good year though, when I introduced the upflow scrubber. It's only had 3 years to gather hobbyists, but offers them what they did not have before: a compact place where they can put a scrubber that does not spill over when it fills up.
 
Now that the upflows are established, it's time to do some more work on the waterfalls. They've been unchanged since 2008, and almost every part of them can be improved. So over the next year or two I'll post up the improvements piece by piece. Hopefully the improvements will be useful to all.

[Віталь]

Coming this summer 2016:
Waterfall algae scrubber
Version 2
 
After I invented the waterfall scrubber in 2008, it's great that so many people got to DIY it, and it's also great that lots of builders/sellers used it as their design up until the current day. It's had over 7 years to gather hobbyists.
 
2012 was a good year though, when I introduced the upflow scrubber. It's only had 3 years to gather hobbyists, but offers them what they did not have before: a compact place where they can put a scrubber that does not spill over when it fills up.
 
Now that the upflows are established, it's time to do some more work on the waterfalls. They've been unchanged since 2008, and almost every part of them can be improved. So over the next year or two I'll post up the improvements piece by piece. Hopefully the improvements will be useful to all.

Hello, SantaMonica,

I have some observations that most of algae (freshwater algae; I have no experience in reef-keeping; my interest is purely cognitive) tend to grow more preferably on dark surfaces rather than on light ones if there is a choice. In most of your scrubbers substrate for algae growth is white. Intuitively it is clear why you chose it (light is scattered better due to less absorption and the result of algae growth is visible more clear), but still I have feeling it is not correct from point of view of algae biology. Did you ever try comparing black and white substrates in the same condition? If you have not done this experiment yet, it may be suggested to you; it is quite simple. Intuitively I may predict a faster start of ATS with a black substrate and similar productivity of well grown on substrates (when the initial colour is not important any more).

[SantaMonica]

У нас есть много черных места, но не больше роста на черном.

[Віталь]

У нас есть много черных места, но не больше роста на черном.

Algae are not expected to grow more, they just are expected to start grow faster.

[SantaMonica]

презентации PowerPoint для клубов, школ и т.д., чтобы освоить азы скрубберов:

PowerPoint presentation for clubs, schools, etc., to learn the basics of scrubbers:

http://www.algaescrubber.net/AlgaeScrubbers.pps

[SantaMonica]

Here are some scrubber results I collected:

"[Scrubber] is working incredible well. Went from constant algae outbreaks (3-4 per year), to no algae at all. 10 yr old 250 gal reef tank, started developing blooms at year 7. Nothing else worked, even breakdown and rebuilds." -- Joe Lopez

"I recent removed bio-pellets, GFO, and trimmed off a lot of macro algae. Oh yeah, overfeeding now to try and bring up my phosphates. Since removing a bunch of nutrient exporting systems like bio-pellets, GFO, and a second algae scrubber, my [scrubber] has been growing nuts. It's been less then 7 days and I have to remove more. People are surprised when I open up the [scrubber] and show them what I pull out with one hand" -- ReeferEric on the R2R site. pics:





"I pull a handful out every week" -- Choff on the R2R site.

"Everything is working great, got two of them on my system" -- Kenneth Salomon

Dan Budz:






"The [scrubber] is working well" -- JT Powell

"All I can say about the [scrubber] is WoW. It completely wiped out my severe case of Cyano Bacteria in 4 weeks, it is working like a champ. I was a little skeptical that it would work at first because it's very compact, but I am completely amazed on how great it's working." -- John Quezada

"My [scrubber] is working great" -- Stefan Kolev

"Happy to report that the [scrubber] is growing lots of hair algae" -- Kidtango on the R2R site

"[Scrubber] is growing thick and fast" -- Carl Knowles

"Boom... 7 days growth from my [scrubber]" -- rdevoe11, pic:





Other pics:

Matthew Coulthard:




Nicolay Oganesian:




Yuppy Suhandinata:

[SantaMonica]

Вот несколько макетов с восходящим потоком, чтобы дать вам представление о том, что может лучше подойти вашему резервуару или способам самостоятельной сборки:

Simple upflow screen:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post1.jpg

Attach to glass:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post2.jpg

Bubble remover:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post3.jpg

Attach to glass, with compartment:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post4.jpg

Attach to glass, small:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/Post5.jpg

Hang on back:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P6.jpg

Collector:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P7.jpg

Floating:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/P7.jpg