Algae trough Update

[Paul B]

I wanted to update a thread I started about a year ago concerning an algae eliminating system using a shallow trough with fast moving water that sits above the water of the main tank just behind and below the MH lights. So far it has been a success. This is the first year in about 25 that this 35 year old tank has not had an algae cycle. It still gets cycles but most of the algae still grows in the trough with very little in the tank. Most of the algae in the tank is a macro that I can't identify, it may be from the local NY water.
As you can see the trough is full of all sorts of algaes, bubble, hair, red, macro etc but the tank has very little.
This tank will always get algae due to it's age and the large moorish Idol which I need to feed three or four times a day.
The trough has a plastic screen bottom which can be easily be rolled up to clean, which I think I will do today.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[NaH2O]

Great update, Paul. The trough you have is pretty much like my coast to coast overflow, except I don't have a screen for the algae to grow on. How often do you harvest the algae off the screen?

 

[Paul B]

Actually I have only harvested it two or three times this year. Most of the time there is nothing in it but algae cycles happen once or twice a year. If I didn't have the trough my reef would now be filled with algae. I also think the animals look better during an algae cycle too although I don't know why.
I found that it is easier to live with the algae then to try to eliminate it and it is healthier for the animals.
Paul

 

[jezzeaepi]

What do you have for flow in your trough? Is it above the water line? Just trying to visualize how its set up.
I recently added a chunk of cheato to my display. The cyano has largely subisded since its addition. The clump itself is home to tons of pods, they love it. Now im just trying to decide on a better way to set it up in my tank then just a ball of cheato shoved in the corner.

Thanks.
Jesse

 

[Paul B]

It is about an inch above the water on one end and it touches the surface of the water at the other end. There is no endcap on the low end where the water returns to the tank I made angle brackets on the back of the trough to hold it in place, there are also plastic hangers on the front to hang it as you can see in the picture. My tank is behind a wall so I can easily hide this arrangement.
Paul

 

[Paul B]

I forgot to mention the most important part. The plastic screen at the bottom of the trough is infused with cement. Algae grows much faster on cement than on most materials. I discovered that when I started building rock out of cement. Sometimes I only have algae on the homemade rock and none on the real rock.
I think a big problem with many people's tanks is that they have no algae in their systems. I know that the corals look much healthier during an algae bloom. I want the algae in my system but not covering my corals, thats why I found a way to live with it and we can all be happy.
Paul

 

[Krish]

I think a big problem with many people's tanks is that they have no algae in their systems. I know that the corals look much healthier during an algae bloom. I want the algae in my system but not covering my corals, thats why I found a way to live with it and we can all be happy.

Paul...I was just curious on your thoughts as to why you figure corals look healthier during an algae bloom? Is it because the corals are possibly feeding of the algae spores or something like that in the water column?

 

[Paul B]

Krish I don't know if it's because the algae use up all the nitrates or if the coral are feeding off something but I remember reading many years ago that a study was done and it seems that algae release something into the water that for some reason is beneficial to corals. I don't know what it is but I can tell you that corals look much healthier with algae.
Today I looked through my old tank pictures and although at times almost everything was covered with algae, the corals looked great. I really wish I knew why. I guess I just want to know everything.
Paul

 

[Krish]

Don't we all...Thanks Paul

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Adding Surging

A year or two ago I read a study that showed to move the water in or like a wave, rising up and subsiding and sweeping forward or back. Your trough would make a good home for amphipods which feed on the hair algae.

 

[Paul B]

Jeffkeith, I do add amphipods to the trough from time to time but they seem to like to just go through to the tank. I really don't want anything in the trough to eat the algae, that would defeat the purpose. I want the algae to grow there so I can remove it. If animals eat it, the nutrients go right back into the water.
Paul

 

[burning2nd]

just my thought...

ive found that if you harvest it all at the same time... the tank will have a better chance to grow more algea....

but if you harvest half... then other half, and alternate between each...

keeps the same algea growing healthy....

just my thought...


but i like the coast to coast algae growing unit you got there.

 

[JoshF]

This is interesting... I have an old MMFI algae filter that I had set up on an older skimmer-less tank. I lit the hell out of it, and grew some sludge of various colors of brown, but I also had macro algae in the display (I know, but I was young and foolish.) Anyway, It's just been sitting there and I might dink around with it again. Thanks for the info, and I'll also try dipping the plastic screens into a thin concrete slurry. Maybe I'll have good luck with that...

Josh

 

[Jan]

Hey, Josh. You have a tank going now?

 

[JoshF]

Hey, Josh. You have a tank going now?

PM Sent, don't want to derail the thread!

 

[Frankie]

This is very interesting!
I always have algae growing in my coast to coast overflow but not in the tank itself. It's a PITA to gt out and i never thought of laying a screen in there. I might have to give this a try for easy removal. Cool idea Paul!