Has Anyone Actually Tried This?

[HappyGeorge]

Ok so I have spent a good deal of time reading about these Turf Algae filters and there is so much info on them, in fact too much info and arguments both way.

I'm not wanting to start a new discussion about their merits or whether anyone thinks they work as there is plenty of that to be found both on the thread here and on every other fish keeping site.

It seems the world is split into those who aren't willing or to try it and convinced it doesn't work, and those who have tried it and it has worked, doesn't seem to be anyone who has given details of their project and then declared it a failure a few months down the line.

I would just like has any of the current active salties on here actually built one, tried it for a period of time and have results to show it does or doesn't work?

 

[sorgan]

ive not built one but very much want to as i forsee this as the future of reefing. the thing is that skimmers will only ever remove upto 30% of dissolved organics from the column and much of the time they pull the good stuff out.
algae also provides alot of other usefull stuff into the aquarium.

ive seen reports of people raising shrimp, baby fish and all sorts of coral life using these scrubbers as the babies in their planktonic stage dont get skimmed out, the problem for me is that i such #14### at DIY so wont ever build one myself BUT i would buy one if they where ever mass produced.

much i have read though shows that the success of them depends on what you have in your tank, for instance a 100% SPS tank probably wouldnt like one to much where as a mixed reef would work really well.

 

[HappyGeorge]

Well I'm thinking that as I am about to receive my new tank and set up my first sump I was going to run Chaeto and live rock in my sump and I have an MCE600 skimmer, that I may adjust the flow out of the Skimmer and make a new outlet to direct flow over a turf filter sheet in the sump, I will be fitting lights anyway so might play with this and go with skimmer, live rock rubble and chaeto in the sump and see what my water quality is like and what kind of algae growth I get.

In relation to corals you may want to check out the post on here that has a linked documentary that shows benefits to coral growth and eliminates need to dose. I haven't seen yet and I don't know enough to discuss on any level.

If I get my system up and running I will negotiate a price with you for one sorgan

 

[sorgan]

why not but I would say either skim or scrub otherwise you will completely strip your water of everything.

 

[wildechild_01]

im also curious to know if anyone has used one of these.. i've been looking at it a fair bit and kind of wished i had read up on it before buying all my gear... but still once works pics up i will probably give this a go and see what happens, worst case scenario i can always go back to what im running now.