turf scrubbers

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Thedude657

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
26
Location
Auburn WA
Ive been reading some amazing things about these and was wondering what other people think. Some people seem to be using only these(no skimmer) and do not need to do water changes, only dosing and top offs. Is that too good to be true?
 
I am going to assume that continuing with a skimmer and weekly/bi-weekly water changes will only help keep your tank prestine. For the turf scrubbers, I have heard nothing but good things about them. If i wasn't moving in a couple months I would have setup up myself.
 
I have built one and it worked wonders in my tank. It wiped my unwanted macros right out of my display. However it also started wiping out my refugium. I would suggest them to any one that has a nutrient issue or that likes to over feed like I do. However totally doing away with water changes, can not be an option. You have to have a way to replenish all of the basics in your water parameters, and without an elaborate dosing set up, I find the best way is to contiue your water changes. I also kept my skimmer running. But they do work great if you build them properly, and have good maintenance with them. The screens have to be cleaned about once a week or else they are not efficient.
 
I clean my screen about once a week to a week and a half. It is double sided and much longer than wider to get the sq in I needed. I still run my skimmer, but it doesn't pull nearly as much as it used to which is cool. I need to empty it about 1 time a week now. I also do weekly to bi weekly water changes and dose with my kalk reactor and such.
 
I built one yesterday. Gonna hook it up today but I dont know how fast its gonna grow. I have a light load. Only 2 fish so far. I hope Ive made enough posts to throw up some pics. Im gonna install it today.
 
FYI, I run mine 18 hours on, 6 off, I have varied these times over the months and I have found that the algae enjoys a solid 6 hour break. Also, each side of mine needs a cleaning about every 10 days
 

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