Anyone here use an Algae Turf Scrubber?

[Mark V]

Hi all,

Want to know the group's experience with this. I hear a lot of great things about them.

[FarmerTy]

Nvrenuf was a big fan of them. He's not as active these days but here's his thread on it.

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/29869-6-weeks-of-algal-scrubbing/

[BornToHula]

I have a turf scrubber from Santa Monica Filtration. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) about the same time I purchased the scrubber my tank hit its stride and never had enough nutrients to start growing any algae in it. The scrubbers have a hard time becoming established if you are running bio-pellets.

I really like the idea of them, it has a lot of the benefits of a refugium in a compact space. However in my case, I've hard a hard time getting any benefit from it.

[Timfish]

If you can get a copy of Delbeek and Sprungs "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III they have a pretty good description of ATS with discussion of the pros and cons. They include a discussion of the ATS at the ReefHQ, a 660,000 gallon system that's part of the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority. After 17 years ReefHQ completely removed their ATS to address issues with water quality and saw no significant difference in organic or inorganic nitrogen (nitrates) and P04 decreased significantly.

[+lewk]

I used to use one on a 65 gallon. It was definitely "old school". Just a pipe with plastic canvas lit by two CFL floods from Home Depot. It really seemed to help, the entire time I used it I had zero problems with cyano or any other algae in the display tank. I got tired of cleaning the screen every week, so I eventually went with a simpler setup and stopped using it, even more so now with fish only. There is a great thread on RC if you want more of the latest info. Floyd R Turbo is very knowledgable over there.

Lately I've wanted to downsize and get back to having a reef, if I go that route I'll prob think about another scrubber.