grow cyano? BUT WHY?!!!

[rDr4g0n]

ill tell you why. because its better that it grows in your sump, than over your display tank's beautiful sand bed.

so sasquatch and a i have been talking about cyano and how it can be a problem. now when squatchy and i get a talking, bad things happen. like this thread http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...on/16452-question-about-mh-zooxanthellae.html but this time was different.

squatch's idea to get rid of my cyano was simple. grow it in the sump. so how should i grow cyano? the concept is simple. give it water, really icky yellow light and it will come. during a brainstorming session between him, woodstock, hippy, and me i came up with this drawing...

99% of the concept was squatch's, but i made a few small changes. basically its a tub with a piece of roughly sanded acrylic running diagonally down the middle. the powerhead (black thing) pumps water up from the sump, it runs down the rough acrylic, drains into the tub, which then drains back into the sump. so given the ideal conditions, cyano should form on the acrylic, thus using up all teh nutrients and starving any other cyano. Then this cyano can be scrapped off, which is an awesome nutrient export.

so heres what i built.

i have a powerhead that feeds a "spraybar" i made out of pvc pipe. i just pieced a few things together and drilled lots of holes in the bottom of it. i used the magical properties of zip ties to hold the whole thing together.

the water runs out of the spraybar and down the acrylic sheet. the acrylic was sanded with rough sandpaper to give it a good texture for algae and cyano to grip onto. finally it drains into a tub with a drain in it. just a $1 tub with a hole in the bottom pretty much.

now there are a few things id like to tweak. first off, its too small. i dont have a lot of room, so itll have to work. second, itd be best if i could paint the tub black, or find an opaque tub so that the light doesnt get into the sump and promote algael growth in there too.

also, itll be interesting to see what algae grows here. more than just cyano should start popping up here. also, what would be ideal conditions as far as light color and temperature? how much water flow? im open to ideas.

 

[boozeman]

very nice DIY
you may also want to google ''algal turf scrubber''

 

[rDr4g0n]

for no reason, heres a vid of it in action



also, i googled it booze, and ya, thats the idea lol Algal Turf Scrubber has a pretty good description of it. they used screen to give teh algae more texture to grab onto.

 

[saltwaterfarm]

Looks like a great idea... I bet if you extended the pipe on the bottom, it would cut down on the noise a little. Can't wait to see what you get growin in there!

 

[sasquatch]

Well Done!! may cyano be your new shag carpet lol. Heres what I did for mine

 

[KodiakBear]

If this works, I'm going to buy you both a beer, then build my own. Boozeman, can you cut me a deal?

 

[boozeman]

wow, you guys are DIY maniacs :invisible

On a side note, algal turf scrubbers are good for culturing algae to use as a nutrient export system ...BUT...they also vastly increase evaporation rates!!

 

[rDr4g0n]

wow, you guys are DIY maniacs :invisible

On a side note, algal turf scrubbers are good for culturing algae to use as a nutrient export system ...BUT...they also vastly increase evaporation rates!!

oh ya.. evap lol

squatch, i wanna see better pics with all teh details!

 

[rDr4g0n]

i added a scary looking red light, so hopefully thatll be the right spectrum.

 

[sasquatch]

What you vant Dracula cyano , come here let me slime your neck

 

[vdituri]

You guys are hilarious!
Oh yeah, you also have too much time and plastic parts just lying around.
And yes, zip ties are magical.
I buy you both a digital crown and coke for originality.

 

[KodiakBear]

Well Done!! may cyano be your new shag carpet lol. Heres what I did for mine

I tried making something like that as a shelf for a filter pad in my sump... I used Plexiglass and without fail it shattered with less than 4 holes to go every time! :verymad: Took 3 tries before I got so fed up I just glued the pieces together on the last one.:snshne:

 

[DaBird]

OK, playing catch up here but I'm confused...are you trying to to grow cyano (Bacteria) or hair Algae? It will probably grow both but I just like to see myself type...

 

[prow]

On a side note, algal turf scrubbers are good for culturing algae to use as a nutrient export system ...BUT...they also vastly increase evaporation rates!!

hummm, this sounds good for those that drip kalk but that doesnt keep up with the tanks Ca and alk demands, algae scrubbers just might be the ticket, as a bonus you get some good exporting aswell. only worry would be if the scrubber combined with the kalk would deplete/reduce the system of CO2 to where it would effect the efficiency of the kalk. hummmm

 

[rDr4g0n]

wow, you guys are DIY maniacs :invisible

On a side note, algal turf scrubbers are good for culturing algae to use as a nutrient export system ...BUT...they also vastly increase evaporation rates!!

ive been thinking about it. i think i may just put the lid to the container back on. this will reduce evap greatly i think, but it will also reduce air exchange which may be one of the conditions that increase or reduce algael growth. i can make a hole and cover it with plexi or even saran wrap so that the light gets into the box.

I tried making something like that as a shelf for a filter pad in my sump... I used Plexiglass and without fail it shattered with less than 4 holes to go every time! :verymad: Took 3 tries before I got so fed up I just glued the pieces together on the last one.:snshne:

you are absolutly right. i shattered a piece too, and when it comes to trying to build stuff and failing i get MAD. anyways, the stuff i used is very thick, and i drilled very slowly so it wouldnt break.

What you vant Dracula cyano , come here let me slime your neck

i had that red bulb sitting around and figured hey, lets see what it does... but a race of super mutant cyano that could take over the world? interesting...

OK, playing catch up here but I'm confused...are you trying to to grow cyano (Bacteria) or hair Algae? It will probably grow both but I just like to see myself type...

we WANT to grow cyano, but i think pretty much anything is going to grow there. through trial and error we may be able to determine what conditions will grow cyano specifically.


so far there is no growth on mine. im going to switch teh evil red bulb to a regular spectrum bulb and mess around with using specific spectrums once i get growth going. i think the main problem is seeding the plastic sheet. any ideas to get it started?

 

[rDr4g0n]

time for a science lesson!!! excerpts taken from PH&G - Issue 18 - Nutrient Scrubbers

Algae, like other plants, must absorb nitrogen and other Nutrients into their body tissues for growth and reproduction. The development of the Algal Turf Scrubber simply simulates the processes that occur in nature on the weather side of coral reefs as the waves break against the reef and cross the reef top. In this area of turbulent mixing behind the breakers, a zone of short, dense, actively growing algae develops.

The underlying principle behind the growth of turf algae is the necessity for grazing by members of the animal population. The algae must be cut back or grazed, much like the grass in your backyard; or other species which are not as efficient at removing nutrients from the system will develop. And the need for nitrogen and other nutrients by algae is obtained from animal wastes, excreted into the water environment, a truly symbiotic relationship.

The Algal Turf Scrubber subsequently developed by the Townsville facility is a simple device that consists of a shallow tray with two removeable coarse mesh screens and a tip bucket at one end, which uses the fulcrum principle for tipping water across the screen. Aquarium water is delivered to the tip bucket, which tips several times per minute, causing a series of waves to rush across the screens. This water turbulence provides good mixing to facilitate gas exchange and nutrient uptake. Algae in the process of growing on these screens, takes up nutrients. Then, at regular intervals, the algae, with the incorporated nutrients, is scraped from the screens and discarded.

The performance of the Great Barrier Reef aquarium algal turf system has exceeded original expectations. This simple system is capable of maintaining low nutrient sea water, removing toxic metals, maintaining seawater pH and oxygen levels, together with possibly providing some degree of ultraviolet sterilisation.

they use 1000 watt metal halides on their turf scrubbers, and use screen instead of roughed up plastic, and use crashing turbulent water instead of a steady flow of water. other than that, its the same basic system as the one we built.

 

[Woodstock]

*stickied*

Awesome Thread of a DIY algae scrubber!! This is a very good concept and with regular havesting, it will make a superb export machine! Great work guys

Having the large surface area exposed like that also allows for excellent co2 blow off. Nice way to increase the gas exchange

Another thought would be to add a fan blowing at it for cooling purposes. If the fan were on a temp controller, you could easily keep the temp stable! The evaporation would increase so be prepared to top off more often.

I would LOVE to build one of these... just no room right now....

 

[KodiakBear]

Hmmm... I have a lot of screening material left over from a previous project...

Eagerly waiting to see if this works...

 

[sasquatch]

Yes, thats true but the algae scrubber I think was meant as a whole system, in a reef setting we strive for near perfect water conditions, yet cyano outbreaks are still common, I dont think you need to create a huge area to grow it,just support it in a contained space, the impact should be minimal . I have way more macro's, filterfeeders and skimming than my bioload requires yet in the sump I have one baffle that is well coated with really dark green,blue and red cyano, Im thinking that if the cyano plate is working the baffle should clear up?

 

[rDr4g0n]

Yes, thats true but the algae scrubber I think was meant as a whole system, in a reef setting we strive for near perfect water conditions, yet cyano outbreaks are still common, I dont think you need to create a huge area to grow it,just support it in a contained space, the impact should be minimal . I have way more macro's, filterfeeders and skimming than my bioload requires yet in the sump I have one baffle that is well coated with really dark green,blue and red cyano, Im thinking that if the cyano plate is working the baffle should clear up?

as the main nutrient export the scrubber would need to be large, and much of the time space is a big issue. im sure with some tuning we could reduce the scrubber to a vertical column of mesh trays or something like that so that it can be more compact. like squatch said though, this first device is more of a means of disallowing algael growth elsewhere, which was our main goal anyway. not saying that it wouldnt be fun to make one as the primary filtration though.