Algae Scrubbers [M]
James Cho
>
> In article <1qv1k5$p...@morrow.stanford.edu> AS....@forsythe.stanford.edu (Chri
stopher Bekins) writes:
> >>sven...@leland.Stanford.EDU (Amanda Anna Svensson) writes:
> >Amanda is correct in describing the tanks as appearing excellent.
> >I was in this weekend checking the set-up out - they do indeed
> >swear by the algae scrubbers now. Next time I go by I'll talk to
> >the owner and try to get some of the facts down.
>
> I would like to know what type of corals they keep there and
> how long do they stay in those tanks. I don't remember, but do
> they run skimmers also?
>
> >I'll take pictures and post them to the archive if you'll walk me
> >step-by-step through the process of doing that. ("Hey, don't ask me
>
> No problem.
>
> -Anthony
i went to penisula tropicals (san carlos, ca) this weekend. They have
a 60g display tank which they have stocked full with polyp rock,
mushrooms, a huge leather (~12" across), i think that there was a brain
coral there too (i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot of things). the tank
was primarily a soft coral tank with about 5 small-medium sized fish.
they had a copper band butterfly to eliminate the nasty little anemonies.
there was a some caulerpa growth in the rear of the tank. no signs of
hair algae. the lighting was surprisingly dim. i think that they were
using a lot of actinics and very few "white" lights. there was a lot of
live rock in this tank. this tank has been set up about 5 years ago.
the algae scrubber in this tank is composed of a sump with a lot of macro
algae (mostly caulerpa) with 2 20W flourecent tubes turned on during the
night. they had another tank in which they used a tray system which was
on top of the tank next to the light hood. in this set up they had a
very shallow flow of water over microalgae (looked like hair algae). i
asked them whether they had any problems with hair algae getting into
their tanks and they said that they didn't. these setups have only been
running a few months. they had a standard wet-dry before the conversion
(i don't remember if they had a protein skimmer before, i'm pretty sure
they didn't.) they were also drying some of their algae to be used as
food. they were also going to take this sample and get chemical analysis
on it.
on the way home i dropped by to see my friends at the seahorse aquariums
(redwood city, ca). their display tank is a 40g, also running an algae
scrubber as well as a protein skimmer but no wet/dry. the tank is many
years old but the conversion was also made a few months ago. before it
had a wet/dry, a canister filter, and a very small protein skimmer. this
tank also was looking very healthy. the tank had mostly soft corals but
also had a good size elegance, some beautiful red brain coral. this
tank had an impressive growth of the green star polyp. it has grown
to cover 12" of a bowl rock (not live rock). there were about 3 very
nice tridacnia clams. the lighting for this tank consisted of 2 "white"
flourescent and 1 actinic.
the owner designed the algae scrubber himself (he is selling it as a
commercial product). it is much like the second scrubber which i
described previously (except that the scrubber is kept above the sump).
he designed the scrubber with 4 plates on which the algae can grow. the
plates can be replaced one at a time to maintain scrubbing at all times.
personally i don't see anything wrong with using a algae scrubber,
although for my own tank i would run a protein skimmer next to it. but
i would not return the algae back into the tank unless there was
absolutely no algae left in the tank and the fish were looking hungry.
jamescho
p.s. last weekend was a very painful weekend. i thought i was just going
to go browsing and ended up buying $170 of stuff: 2 beautiful tridacnia,
clams, 2 polyp rocks and 2 mushroom rocks.
__________________________________________________________________________
James S. H. Cho h: (415) 326-4657 o: 725-3649 o _ _ _ _ _ _ / _
Center for Integrated Systems, Elec. Eng. / /_\ /\/\ /_\ /_ / / \ / \
CIS-038, MC-4070, Stanford, CA 94301 \__/ / // / \_ _/ \_// / \_/
Anthony Tse
>> From: t...@ra.nrl.navy.mil (Anthony Tse)
>>
>> In article <1qv1k5$p...@morrow.stanford.edu> AS....@forsythe.stanford.edu (Chri
>stopher Bekins) writes:
>i went to penisula tropicals (san carlos, ca) this weekend. They have
>a 60g display tank which they have stocked full with polyp rock,
>mushrooms, a huge leather (~12" across), i think that there was a brain
>coral there too (i'm sure i'm forgetting a lot of things). the tank
>was primarily a soft coral tank with about 5 small-medium sized fish.
>they had a copper band butterfly to eliminate the nasty little anemonies.
>there was a some caulerpa growth in the rear of the tank. no signs of
>hair algae. the lighting was surprisingly dim. i think that they were
Sounds like a typical caulerpa/soft coral tank. Caulerpa and soft
corals are easy, and I consider caulerpa and some soft corals pest
(mushrooms for one, button polyps, green star polyps are also a pain,
anything that will grow out of control under any condition and difficult
to remove are pest in my book). I am somewhat surprise at the lack
of hair algae in the main tank. The question remain, how well do
stony corals do it an algae scrubbed tank, and how fast do they grow.
It is obviouse that neither of those places you went to are set
up to keep stony corals long term. When you say display tank,
do you mean a nice looking tank or do you mean a tank where
no inverts are sold out of that tank?
>using a lot of actinics and very few "white" lights. there was a lot of
>live rock in this tank. this tank has been set up about 5 years ago.
What kind of LR? Coralline coverd or bare boulders?
-Anthony
James Cho
> Sounds like a typical caulerpa/soft coral tank. Caulerpa and soft
>corals are easy, and I consider caulerpa and some soft corals pest
>(mushrooms for one, button polyps, green star polyps are also a pain,
>anything that will grow out of control under any condition and difficult
>to remove are pest in my book). I am somewhat surprise at the lack
>of hair algae in the main tank. The question remain, how well do
>stony corals do it an algae scrubbed tank, and how fast do they grow.
>It is obviouse that neither of those places you went to are set
>up to keep stony corals long term. When you say display tank,
>do you mean a nice looking tank or do you mean a tank where
>no inverts are sold out of that tank?
by display tank, i mean on in which none of the inverts are sold.
this also means that the inverts that are there have been there
for a long time (usually).
>
> What kind of LR? Coralline coverd or bare boulders?
in this tank (penisula tropical) i didn't notice that much coralline
algae although they said that they measured the calcuim levels to be
over 400 ppm. although i didn't notice coralline algae, i wouldn't call
them their rocks bare boulders either. to me bare boulder are rocks
which weigh a ton but don't have very much surface area to show for it.
while we are talking about coralline algae, i had my best success with
coralline algae on bowl rock, thats right, the rock that they sell in the
aquarium store for aquascaping which they sell for ~$1/lb. some of my
bowl rock is completely pinkish purple! (i also have lots of coralline
algae on the sides of my tanks.) it is also true that they are the
easiest to infest with hair algae. some think that it is because there
are minerals that the hair algae feeds off of. another reason may be
because in the beginning, there is nothing living on the rock. thus the
organism which is best able to compete for the rock will dominate it.
if you are having a hair algae problem, then the hair algae will readily
take the rock over. on the other hand if the conditions are such that
coralline algae will dominate, then the coralline algae will cover it.
this theory explains why the bowl rocks is able to grow coralline algae
and hair algae much faster than live rock.
in the other tank (seahorse aquariums). i remembered that the tank had
a rock with star polys (i think that this was over a year ago). it also
had a very small patches of what kindof looked like brain coral (favites?).
they were about .5" and 1". now they are about 2" and 6". (the big one
is pretty cool, it is almost spherical) unfortunately the corals are right
next to each other and the larger one is stronger than the smaller one.
there is a neutral zone of about 1" where the smaller one has lost ground.
jamescho
Steve Tyree
> ...it is also true that they are the
>easiest to infest with hair algae. some think that it is because there
>are minerals that the hair algae feeds off of. another reason may be
>because in the beginning, there is nothing living on the rock. thus the
>organism which is best able to compete for the rock will dominate it.
>if you are having a hair algae problem, then the hair algae will readily
>take the rock over. on the other hand if the conditions are such that
>coralline algae will dominate, then the coralline algae will cover it.
>this theory explains why the bowl rocks is able to grow coralline algae
>and hair algae much faster than live rock.
I have been researching corallines recently. A lot of references can be
found concerning speciation classifications, but I have been unable to
find many articles detailing metabolisms. Have just started search though.
References concerning Red Algae (Rhodophyta) have in general detailed
the fact that inorganic nitrates and ammonia are incorporated. I have yet
to find data observed for a specific corallinaceae. Nitrates are nutrients
for red algae which can limit growth if too low. They are also toxic if too
high. It is possible that the toxic point as well as the growth saturation
point are lower for corallines as compared to the "green" algaes. More
research needed to confirm this. That which applies to calcificating coral-
line, might also apply to sceleractinian corals. The other possible growth
war inducer, might be the potential calcification rate. If both are true, a
reef which supports heavy green algae growth, might not support good
calcification or coralline growth. If corallines take up nutrients like macro
and micro green algaes, the compatabilty with coral issue should guide
a reefer to promote the coralline growth on the reef. Of course you would
not be able to harvest the excess growth from trays weekly, but the site
of a growing coralline encrusting reef would be awesome and beneficial
to the corals contained within. My current problem is that the blooming
growths of corallines are flaking or chipping off due to grazing or some
other environmental factor. I harvest coralline flakes. I need to determine
if tank is to nutrient poor or possibly some element needs to be elevated.
It might be possible that a reef running at a median level, could be artifi-
cially stimulated with high concentrations of calcium to acheive good
coralline growth even in an environment that has tipped the growth war in
favor of the green or non-calcifiying red algae (Rhodophyta).
Steve Tyree - Reef Breeder
Lance Johnson
In article i...@fido.asd.sgi.com, mul...@spitfire.asd.sgi.com (Richard Mulawa) writes:
>I am about to redesign my marine system. I have decided to replace my
>existing 85 gallon tank with a new 85 gallon tank that has been drilled and
>has a drain box built into the tank.
I've found that having the drain box built into the tank is the only to go, it
allows you to run hoses into the stand without them being visible.
>I am having trouble deciding whether to go with a Plexiglass or Glass tank.
>I can get both in 85 gallons and drilled.
>
>I just moved to California and I am concerned about the glass tank cracking
>(especially after being drilled). However, I understand that plexi tanks
>bow and this effects ocular acuaty (spelling?). Also, I would assume that
>plexi will scratch easier.
As far as I know, the only concerns you should have about the glass cracking would
be if the glass in the tank was tempered in which case it would 'shatter' most likely
while being drilled, or to thin which would cause the glass to flex and crack with
alot of pressure while you hook up your hoses or any variety of other ways.
>My preferrence would be to stick with glass, is there anyone out there that
>would care to share their experiences with both glass and plexi tanks with
>me?
I've seen lots of Plexiglass tanks and have never been too impressed.
Some that I've seen:
1- Scratch way too easily and are often scratched in the stores new.
2- Are not very clear, especially in thicker Plexiglass sizes.
3- Some discolor with age.
4- Make cleaning off algae on the inside of the take a problem-can't use a very
rough surfaced pad and razor blades(for algae at its worst :) are real risky.
^---rough pads aren't real good for glass either but still not as bad...
Plexiglass tanks have their place in those custom jobs and very, very large tanks
because of the weight of Plexiglass vs. Glass, for an 85 gal. tank I'd stay with
glass.
You never stated if these tanks were drilled by the manufacturer or if it was
something you are undertaking...who is the manufacturer...Tim the Tank Man? :)
^^Home Improvement^^
You might get a few more opinions if you post this, some seem to be slightly
better than others.
I have an Oceanic 58 gal that was all drilled inc. W/D the plumbing etc. and
have no complaints or concerns about the tank..good quality..but expensive.
Hope this helps, let me and/or the net know how things turn out.
-------------
Lance Johnson