Algae scrubber

An algae scrubber is a water filtering

device (not to be confused with a
scrubber pad used to clean glass) which
uses light to grow algae; in this process,
undesirable chemicals are removed from
the water.[1] Algae scrubbers allow
saltwater, freshwater and pond hobbyists
to operate their tanks using natural
filtration in the form of primary
production, much like oceans and lakes.
Modern algae scrubber designs use
upflowing air bubbles to generate
turbulence; when illumination is
added, algae grows inside the unit
and consumes nutrients.

Commercial floating surface algae

scrubber uses red LED lights and
up-flowing air bubbles to cause
algae to grow in the growth
compartment. Inside of the
compartment is lined with rough
textures which enhance algal
attachment; ribbons/strings allow
further algal attachment.
 Periodic removal of the algae that
has grown inside of an algae
scrubber removes nutrients
(ammonia, nitrate, phosphate) from
the aquarium water, thus providing
the needed filtration.

Concepts
An algae scrubber filters water by
moving water rapidly over a rough, highly
illuminated surface, which causes algae
to start growing in large amounts. As the
algae grow, they consume nutrients such
as nitrate, phosphate, nitrite, ammonia,
ammonium and even metals such as
copper from the water.[2] These nutrients
are normally a problem in aquariums and
ponds because they cause nuisance
algae to grow, and also because they
cause sickness and/or other problems in
aquarium fish, invertebrates and corals.[3]
An algae scrubber allows algae to grow,
but the algae grow inside the filter
instead of in the aquarium or pond. This
removes excess nutrients (scrubs the
water), diminishing nuisance algae in the
aquarium or pond . Nuisance algae in the
aquarium or pond are not to be confused
with the desired algae in the algae
scrubber filter itself. The algae that grow
in the algae scrubber can then be
removed, or fed back to the livestock.
Both iron fertilization and ocean
nourishment are techniques that boost
the primary production of algae in the
ocean, which consumes massive amounts
of nutrients and CO2. It is this same
consumption of nutrients that algae
perform in an aquarium or pond.
Algae scrubbers are used in both
saltwater and freshwater, and remove
nuisance algae of multiple types: cyano
or slime, bubble, hair, Chaetomorpha,
Caulerpa, and film algae, as well as
dinoflagellates and Aiptasia.
History

Dr. Walter Adey

The algae scrubber was invented by Dr.

Walter Adey, who beginning in the late
1970s, was Director of the Marine
Systems Laboratory at the Museum of
Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
(Washington DC, USA).[4] His research of
various types of algae, especially in their
ecological role on coral reefs, gave him
insight into how the ocean (in particular a
reef) "recycles" nutrients. He designed
and built various exhibits ranging in size
up to 3000 gallons, and modeled
different aquatic ecological systems
including a tropical coral reef/lagoon
which "after 8 years of closure [to the
environment], had its chemical
parameters controlled solely by an algal
turf scrubber. This system, studied by a
multidisciplinary team of biologists,
demonstrated calcification [coral growth]
rates equal to the best 4 percent of wild
reefs, and at 543 identified species, and
an estimated 800 species, ranked per
unit area as the most biodiverse reef ever
measured."[5]
In three editions of his book, Dynamic
Aquaria, Dr Adey described his work in
detail and discussed in scientific
principles the physical, chemical, and
biological considerations for building a
functioning ecological system within an
enclosure, from aquarium size, to
microcosm (up to 5000 gallons), or
mesocosm size (>5000 gallons). In
describing the algal turf scrubber he
designed, he explained that removing
excess nutrients was not its only
function. By operating the scrubber at
night when the main tank had shifted to
a different respiratory phase (plants were
now absorbing oxygen rather than
producing it) the scrubber maintained
oxygen levels and helped buffer pH by
preventing high levels of carbon dioxide
from building up.

Upflowing scrubber

"Recycling" means how the nutrients go

from plants to animals, and back to
plants again. On land, you see recycling
by following the oxygen flow: Green
plants use carbon dioxide and release
oxygen; animals use this oxygen and
release carbon dioxide. In oceans and
lakes, the nutrients go from algae to
animals, and back to the algae again.

Aquatic nutrient cycle

Dr. Adey built several versions of algae

scrubbers for aquariums at the
Smithsonian. He called them "Algal Turf
Scrubbers", because at the time it was
believed that "turf" algae was the best
type of algae to grow in a scrubber. He
also was granted the first U.S. patent for
a dumping-bucket algae scrubber,[6]
which described a complex dumping
device that poured water onto a
horizontal surface, thus simulating waves
in a reef environment. After several years
of development, he participated in a test
of a large algae scrubber on the Great
Barrier Reef Aquarium: "The Reef Tank
represents the first application of algal
scrubber technology to large volume
aquarium systems. Aquaria using
conventional water purification methods
(e.g. bacterial filters) generally have
nutrient levels in parts per million, while
algal scrubbers have maintained parts
per billion concentrations [much lower],
despite heavy biological loading in the
Reef Tank. The success of the algal
scrubbers in maintaining suitable water
quality for a coral reef was demonstrated
in the observed spawning of scleractinian
corals and many other tank
inhabitants."[1]
Unfortunately, it was not known at the
time (1988) that calcium and alkalinity
needed to be added to an enclosed reef
tank, in order to replace that which is
utilized by the growing calcifying
organisms. Even five years after that, the
Pittsburgh Zoo was just starting to test a
"mesocosm" scrubber reef tank to see if
calcium levels would drop: "It was
2+
hypothesized that Ca and the
 2+
substitutive elements Sr and Mg 2+
might have reduced concentrations in a
coral reef microcosm due to continuous
reuse of the same seawater as a
consequence of the recycling process
inherent in the coral reef mesocosm." [...]
"The scleractinians (Montastrea,
Madracis, Porites, Diploria, and Acropora)
and calcareous alga (Halimeda and
others) present in the coral reef
mesocosm are the most likely organisms
responsible for the significant reduction
2+
in concentration of the Ca and Sr 2+
cations." [...] "Ca is not normally a
biolimiting element, and strontium is
never a biolimiting element; HCO3
[alkalinity] can be. It appears that,
because of a minor limitation in the
design parameters of the mesocosm,
these elements and compounds may
have become limiting factors. [...] It is
surprising that the organisms could
deplete the thousands of gallons of
seawater (three to six thousand) of these
elements even within two or more
years."[7] After other researchers added
calcium and/or connected their tanks to
the ocean (which also supplies calcium
and alkalinity), corals began growing
again. Nevertheless, "problem" nutrients
(ammonia, ammonium, nitrate, nitrite,
phosphate, CO2, metals) were always
kept at very low numbers.
Dr. Adey licensed his patent to very few
individuals, who for a short number of
years sold a limited number of aquarium
scrubbers to hobbyists. The complexity of
the design, however, and the cost of the
license, caused the scrubber units to be
very expensive. This, combined with the
fact that the units were noisy, splashy,
and unreliable (the dumping mechanism
would get stuck) caused the sales to be
slow. The scrubbers were just starting to
make headway into the aquarium hobby
in the 1990s when Adey decided to
withdraw his license and no longer allow
anybody to make or sell them. He turned
his attention instead to commercial and
industrial applications, and entered
private business making large scale
scrubber installations for lakes and
rivers.[8]
As the internet developed in the 1990s,
aquarium and pond hobbyists began
discussing nuisance algae problems, and
started noticing a trend: Aquariums and
ponds with very high amounts of
nuisance algae had no detectable
nutrients in the water. This at first
seemed odd, since the amount of
nuisance algae should increase as the
nutrients in the water increased. How
could there be a very large amount of
nuisance algae, but no measurable
nutrients in the water to support this?
Biologists then began pointing out that
when the amount of nuisance algae
became large enough, the algae actually
consumed all the available nutrients from
the water faster than new nutrients were
added, as Dr. Adey had theorized.
Interest in using algae for nutrient control
once again increased, this time in the
form of keeping the algae in a "sump" or
other small aquarium which was
connected to the main aquarium via
plumbing. With added lighting and flow,
algae would grow in this area, and the
algae would consume nutrients from the
water just as Dr. Adey's algae scrubber
units did. Sumps or other small
aquariums used for this purpose became
known as "refugiums".[9] The name
"refugium" was used because the
growing algae provided a safe place for
small and microscopic animals to breed
and grow, and thus was a "refuge" from
the large fish and invertebrates in the
main aquarium that would otherwise
consume them. However while the
refugiums did indeed consume nutrients
from the water, they did not consume
them fast enough in all situations; this
caused many hobbyists to continue to
have nuisance algae problems in their
main aquariums.
Modern forms

Original vertical scrubber design

More recent variations are built with a

simple "waterfall" driven by gravity, using
a simple PVC plumbing pipe to flow
water down a piece of plastic knitting
screen (also known as "plastic canvas"),
which is roughed up to allow algae to
attach. In almost every case, these
homemade algae scrubbers reduced the
nutrients to very low levels, and this
reduced or eliminated all nuisance algae
problems.

Undesirable brown (left), and desirable green (right) algae

In addition, "turf" algae, which was the

focus of Dr. Adey's dumping-bucket
design, is replaced by "green hair
algae".[10] This is because turf algae
tends to be dark brown and thick (like
artificial turf on sports fields), and it
blocks the light and water from reaching
the screen. This slows the growth (and
filtering) of the algae because the
bottom layers of algae that are attached
to the screen start to die and detach.
Green algae, however (especially light-
green hair algae), allows light and water
to penetrate all the way down to the
screen if the growth is kept less than
20 mm thick,[11] which allows the algae
to grow faster and absorb more nutrients
without dying and losing attachment to
the screen. This is fortunate because
green hair algae is the exact type of
algae that grows automatically in a
properly constructed algae scrubber.
Some models also use up-flowing air
bubbles. This version, which is basically
the exact opposite of the waterfall, allows
the algae scrubber to be placed
underwater in the aquarium, sump or
pond, instead of above it. This greatly
simplifies construction, since the device
does not need to be waterproof, and it
allows placement of the scrubber into
tight areas where there is no room above
the water line. The design also keeps the
algae from drying out in the event of a
power failure, because all the algae is
under water, and the design also removes
almost all splashing. The up-flowing
bubble design falls into three categories:
those that attach to and shine through
the aquarium (or sump) glass; those that
float on top of the aquarium, sump or
pond water surface; and those that go
completely underwater like a submarine.
Cleaning and harvesting
Generally, and except for specific
continuous-filtering or continuous-
cultivating versions, algae scrubbers
require the algae to be removed
("harvested") periodically from the
scrubber. This removal of algae has the
effect of removing undesired nutrients
from the water because the algae used
the nutrients in order to grow. The algae
is generally removed either:
Every 7 to 21 days, or
When it is black, or
When it fills up the scrubber, or
When it starts letting go, or
When nutrients start to rise in the
water.
For waterfall versions, the screen is
removed from the pipe and cleaned in a
sink with running water. The pipe is
removed also, and the slot is cleaned with
a toothbrush, to remove any algae that
have grown up into it. After the algae are
removed, the screen and pipe are put
back in the scrubber. For upflow versions,
the cleaning method depends on the
type:
Glass-attached version: The magnet
portion outside the glass is removed, and
the inside portion is lifted out of the
water. If the growth is thick green hair
algae, then it is just removed by hand. If
the growth is thin green hair (as occurs in
freshwater) or dark slime, then the inside
unit is taken to the sink and cleaned with
a toothbrush. After cleaning, the inside
and outside parts are put back into place
on the glass.
Floating-surface version: If the growth is
thick green hair algae then it is just
removed by hand by lifting the LED lid up
and pulling the growth out. If the growth
is thin green hair or dark slime, then the
floating portion is taken to the sink and
cleaned with a toothbrush.
Drop-in version: The entire unit is lifted
out of the water, and the lid is removed. If
the growth is thick green hair algae then
it is just removed by hand. If the growth
is thin green hair or dark slime, then the
whole unit is taken to the sink and
cleaned with a toothbrush.
If the screen is not cleaned like this
periodically, the algae will get too thick
and block light and flow from reaching
the "roots" of the algae, and these areas
will die and let go, putting nutrients back
into the water.[10]
See also
Refugium (fishkeeping)
Wikiversity:Algae scrubber, on how to
build a DIY algae scrubber
References
1. Morrissey, J.; Jones, M.S.; Harriott, V.
(1988). "Nutrient cycling in the Great
Barrier Reef Aquarium" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20210304065540/http://www.r
eefbase.org/download/download.aspx?ty
pe=10&docid=10506) . Proceedings of
the 6th International Coral Reef
Symposium. Vol. 2 Contributed Papers.
Townsville, Australia. pp. 563–8. Archived
from the original (http://www.reefbase.or
g/download/download.aspx?type=10&do
cid=10506) on 2021-03-04.
2. Veraart, A.J.; Romaní, A.M.; Tornés, E.;
Sabater, S. (2008). "Algal response to
nutrient enrichment in a forested
oligotrophic stream" (https://pure.uva.nl/
ws/files/4307289/61514_Veraart.J.Phycol.
2008.pdf) (PDF). Journal of Phycology.
44 (3): 564–572. doi:10.1111/j.1529-
8817.2008.00503.x (https://doi.org/10.11
11%2Fj.1529-8817.2008.00503.x) .
PMID 27041416 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/27041416) . S2CID 2040067 (h
ttps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:2
040067) .
3. Noga, Edward J. (2010). Fish Disease:
Diagnosis and Treatment (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=76o5N8Jq6IAC)
(2nd ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-0-8138-2129-
0.
4. "Walter Adey, Research Botanist Emeritus"
(https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/walter-
adey) . Department of Botany.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History.

5. Muka, Sam (October 2017). "The

Evolution of a Reef Aquarium" (https://oce
an.si.edu/ecosystems/coral-reefs/evolutio
n-reef-aquarium) . Ocean, Find Your
Blue. Smithsonian National Museum of
Natural History.
6. U.S. Patent 4333263, Issue Date June 8,
1982 (https://patents.google.com/patent/
US4333263A/en)
7. Lang, G.T. (1993). "An introduction to the
biogeochemical cycling of calcium and
substitutive strontium in living coral reef
mesocosms". Zoo Biol. 12 (5): 425–433.
doi:10.1002/zoo.1430120505 (https://doi.
org/10.1002%2Fzoo.1430120505) .
8. Hydromentia Water Treatment
Technologies (http://www.hydromentia.co
m/Products-Services/Algal-Turf-Scrubbe
r/Product-Documentation/Assets/ATS-Tec
hnical-Brochure.pdf)
 9. Calfo, Anthony; Fenner, Robert (2003).
Reef Invertebrates: An Essential Guide to
Selection, Care and Compatibility (https://
books.google.com/books?id=broXAQAAIA
AJ) . Reading Trees. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-
9672630-3-8.

10. AlgaeScrubber.Net (http://algaescrubber.

net)
11. Krause-Jensen, D.; McGlathery, K.;
Rysgaard, S.; Christensen, P. (1996).
"Production within dense mats of the
filamentous macroalga Chaetomorpha
linum in relation to light and nutrient
availability" (https://www.int-res.com/arti
cles/meps/134/m134p207.pdf) (PDF).
Marine Ecology Progress Series. 134
(1/3): 207–216 See Figure 5.
Bibcode:1996MEPS..134..207K (https://ui.
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1996MEPS..134..
207K) . doi:10.3354/meps134207 (http
s://doi.org/10.3354%2Fmeps134207) .
JSTOR 24856147 (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/24856147) .P
External links
AlgaeScrubber.net – forum about algae
scrubbers for aquariums (http://www.al
gaescrubber.net)
PowerPoint slideshow about algae
scrubbers (http://www.algaescrubber.n
et/AlgaeScrubbers-wiki.pps)
DIY waterfall version (https://mullinsfar
ms.com/misc/algae-turf-scrubbers/)
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