Thanks for this video, Ben. I have been in the hobby for several decades and I have never heard of an algae scrubber. If I may quote you….”We’re always learning”. 👍
My research and experiments demonstrated that algae scrubbers available for even $300- $500 were useless in a heavily stocked large cichlid aquarium. In fact my DIY models on my channel, which cost less than $20, did a far better job. For the plant-free large cichlid aquarium, having an aquaponic grow bed or a sump refugium with fast growing water sprite will far exceed what any affordable algae scrubber can do. Bottom line, fresh water algae scrubbers have never gathered much interest because they are expensive and far undersized for your typical cichlid aquarist. Lots of anecdotal results from aquarists who are given free units from suppliers keeps the "myth of the algae scrubber alive."
That is contrary to my first hand experience using one on that 100 gallon AC tank in Calif, and certainly is different from the results the Cichlid Bros are getting with the one they are using on their large cichlid tank.
Man I"ve been in this hobby since 1968 and I"ve seen it all. I would agree with you. Most of the crap that comes down the pipe is just that, CRAP. Best thing to do is toss the test kits. If the fish look good dont worry about the so called levels. I breed 100s of cichlids every month and I never test the water.
Hi Ben, I really enjoy your videos you have a reassuring presentation style :). I have a couple things to add about companies maybe pushing products we don't actually need and relying on peoples fears, I can honestly say that 30 years ago, I had 3, 4 foot tanks with oscars, jewel cichlids, convicts and red sharks in, I had small Fluval internal filters which I cleaned in tap water each month, changed the water once a month, never added water conditioners, and never tested the water ever. I had no idea about the tank cycle, any clue about testing kits or ever used products to cure fish. In returning to fish keeping in the last couple of months I simply cant believe the amount of products that now seem to be essential to keep fish, with the advent of social media, the knowledge available to a new fish keeper is staggering and choosing the right people like yourself to follow helpful advice is a must. To make this comment even longer I have another point, essentially about the effects of power outages on the bacteria within the tank. Maybe my question is a subject of another video idea for you so here goes, I was told today when talking to a fish store about backup air pumps during a power outage, not to turn the filter back on if the outage had been for several hours because it would deliver dead bacteria back into the tank?. I know you advise people to be extremely careful when doing cannister cleans not contaminate the bacteria, I wonder how long the bacteria can survive when the filter isn't running, is it a valid point that the bacteria can die off so quickly over a few hours? More importantly if the bacteria may have died off what could you do to save the fish if the bacteria in your cannister has died? - Nige UK
Just hang a fluval large size breeder box on the tank , two options put some organic soil in the bottom then plant the roots in the dirt with a sand cap or just throw float some sprite in it, some much cheaper!
The idea is that the algae scrubber will grow algae much faster than you can grow plants by any other method. The water sprite in your refugium (breeder box) will not grow nearly as fast as the algae in the algae scrubber. The faster the plants grow, the more efficiently they reduce nitrates, etc.
@@SArch-111 algae def grows faster for sure however a dirted refugium in combination would grow plants at a much faster rate especially with plants such as sprite , some aquarists do this method and when they add it making their own compost/fertilizers such as @silvercreekwildlife does , which additionally saves even more cost , would be a much better option , when kev over at caveman aquatics found out about how well plants really worked , and methods such as the refugium, he put a video out on it with minimal experience, people have been doing this for long time, kev tosses a bunch of water sprite in his sump and thinks he’s teaching people something new , all those algae scrubbers are is a money marketing scheme, like a lot,of things , but I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me , and very well explained !
I have also heard some people using a house plant called Pothos, and put the roots in the sump, and keeping the leaves out of the water just having the roots submerged, the pictures I saw might not appeal to everyone seeing the vines running behind or above the sump or tank. I also never heard how well it works.
I grow pothos out of my 75g mbuna tank. The effect on nitrate levels is negligible. You would need literally hundreds of pothos stems to significantly reduce nitrate levels in a typically stocked cichlid tank.
I have not Cichlids but Rainbows in a certain tank right next to a window that catches all the sun, so i get diatom brown algae alot. Real plants were a no as i cant scrub them, so i made some plant rings and use alot of floating plants and a bunch of Pothos roots to eat as much as i can, i still get my fake plants going brown bit it has slowed them down alot, but it drives me mad lol
If you can't keep live plants in your tank do to species of fish you can clamp a row of Pothos along the back of your aquarium so just the roots hand in the water. You will get all the benefits of a fully planted tank.
Ben, I have a tank full of silver dollars, they eat any plant , so I bought a mainland emperor 400 hang on back filter and stuck house plants in it. pothos, peace lily , and some purple vine thing I got a cutting of from a friend. the fish can't get to the plants , but the plants get all the nitrates. the reason I got that particular HOB is that it was on sale at petsmart and its really big. oh my Sun Sun 700 finally died last week. after 6 years of steadily running...not bad for a $70 canister filter.
Ben, I think Kev at Kaveman aquatics put on a Refugium full of plants. It was a HOB type that I think is the same thing as using an algae scrubber. Not sure which one is cheaper a refugium or an algae scrubber. Kaveman was using a refugium in his sump and he cut his water changes down also. Anything to help with weekly water changes. It will save on the water bill for sure.
Try running your plastic plants through the dishwasher just don't have the heat dry turned on it will clean them really good all you have to do is rinse them off with some clean water just to make sure
@@BenOchart yes I used a little Podge that go in there but I take them out before the heat dry kicks in their rinsed off good in the dishwasher but I rinsed them off with regular water afterwards
Give it a try Ben like I said just turn the heat dry off if you have that setting otherwise sometimes the bass will get too hot and come off and I just reglue them
Shouldn’t unless you’re very low in ammonia / nitrates and the algae scrubber might deny your plants what they need. But I bet it will not be a problem.
I grow pothos out the top of my 75g mbuna tank. The effect on nitrate levels is negligible. You would need literally hundreds of pothos stems to significantly reduce nitrate levels in a typically stocked cichlid tank.
![Beating Nitrates [and Algae] with More than Just Water Changes!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EPP-dP1Z8qM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Want to Keep Big Colorful Beasts? [AFRICAN CICHLIDS] *Watch This!*](/img/n.gif)
Thanks for this video, Ben. I have been in the hobby for several decades and I have never heard of an algae scrubber. If I may quote you….”We’re always learning”. 👍
Isn’t that the truth! Thanks for watching and commenting😀👍🏻
Pods
My research and experiments demonstrated that algae scrubbers available for even $300- $500 were useless in a heavily stocked large cichlid aquarium. In fact my DIY models on my channel, which cost less than $20, did a far better job. For the plant-free large cichlid aquarium, having an aquaponic grow bed or a sump refugium with fast growing water sprite will far exceed what any affordable algae scrubber can do. Bottom line, fresh water algae scrubbers have never gathered much interest because they are expensive and far undersized for your typical cichlid aquarist. Lots of anecdotal results from aquarists who are given free units from suppliers keeps the "myth of the algae scrubber alive."
That is contrary to my first hand experience using one on that 100 gallon AC tank in Calif, and certainly is different from the results the Cichlid Bros are getting with the one they are using on their large cichlid tank.
Man I"ve been in this hobby since 1968 and I"ve seen it all. I would agree with you. Most of the crap that comes down the pipe is just that, CRAP. Best thing to do is toss the test kits. If the fish look good dont worry about the so called levels. I breed 100s of cichlids every month and I never test the water.
Hi Ben, I really enjoy your videos you have a reassuring presentation style :). I have a couple things to add about companies maybe pushing products we don't actually need and relying on peoples fears, I can honestly say that 30 years ago, I had 3, 4 foot tanks with oscars, jewel cichlids, convicts and red sharks in, I had small Fluval internal filters which I cleaned in tap water each month, changed the water once a month, never added water conditioners, and never tested the water ever. I had no idea about the tank cycle, any clue about testing kits or ever used products to cure fish. In returning to fish keeping in the last couple of months I simply cant believe the amount of products that now seem to be essential to keep fish, with the advent of social media, the knowledge available to a new fish keeper is staggering and choosing the right people like yourself to follow helpful advice is a must.
To make this comment even longer I have another point, essentially about the effects of power outages on the bacteria within the tank. Maybe my question is a subject of another video idea for you so here goes, I was told today when talking to a fish store about backup air pumps during a power outage, not to turn the filter back on if the outage had been for several hours because it would deliver dead bacteria back into the tank?. I know you advise people to be extremely careful when doing cannister cleans not contaminate the bacteria, I wonder how long the bacteria can survive when the filter isn't running, is it a valid point that the bacteria can die off so quickly over a few hours?
More importantly if the bacteria may have died off what could you do to save the fish if the bacteria in your cannister has died? - Nige UK
These are great little bits of equipments. Awesome video
Just hang a fluval large size breeder box on the tank , two options put some organic soil in the bottom then plant the roots in the dirt with a sand cap or just throw float some sprite in it, some much cheaper!
The idea is that the algae scrubber will grow algae much faster than you can grow plants by any other method. The water sprite in your refugium (breeder box) will not grow nearly as fast as the algae in the algae scrubber. The faster the plants grow, the more efficiently they reduce nitrates, etc.
@@SArch-111 algae def grows faster for sure however a dirted refugium in combination would grow plants at a much faster rate especially with plants such as sprite , some aquarists do this method and when they add it making their own compost/fertilizers such as @silvercreekwildlife does , which additionally saves even more cost , would be a much better option , when kev over at caveman aquatics found out about how well plants really worked , and methods such as the refugium, he put a video out on it with minimal experience, people have been doing this for long time, kev tosses a bunch of water sprite in his sump and thinks he’s teaching people something new , all those algae scrubbers are is a money marketing scheme, like a lot,of things , but I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me , and very well explained !
awesome video✌✌
Can't wait for the update to see how well it work! Thanks for the sticker!
Great job Ben! As always. I've learned so much of what I know from you. I'm thrilled that your channel is growing. ❤
Cool I've never seen one of those. My severums won't let me have live plants either
I'll keep you posted on how it's doing once the algae gets established.
Also, I clean my plastic plants with bleach as well. A tutorial on this as a refresher would be great! Thank you!🎉
I have also heard some people using a house plant called Pothos, and put the roots in the sump, and keeping the leaves out of the water just having the roots submerged, the pictures I saw might not appeal to everyone seeing the vines running behind or above the sump or tank. I also never heard how well it works.
I grow pothos out of my 75g mbuna tank. The effect on nitrate levels is negligible. You would need literally hundreds of pothos stems to significantly reduce nitrate levels in a typically stocked cichlid tank.
I have not Cichlids but Rainbows in a certain tank right next to a window that catches all the sun, so i get diatom brown algae alot.
Real plants were a no as i cant scrub them, so i made some plant rings and use alot of floating plants and a bunch of Pothos roots to eat as much as i can, i still get my fake plants going brown bit it has slowed them down alot, but it drives me mad lol
If you can't keep live plants in your tank do to species of fish you can clamp a row of Pothos along the back of your aquarium so just the roots hand in the water. You will get all the benefits of a fully planted tank.
My cichlids would eat the roots
Ben, I have a tank full of silver dollars, they eat any plant , so I bought a mainland emperor 400 hang on back filter and stuck house plants in it.
pothos, peace lily , and some purple vine thing I got a cutting of from a friend.
the fish can't get to the plants , but the plants get all the nitrates.
the reason I got that particular HOB is that it was on sale at petsmart and its really big.
oh my Sun Sun 700 finally died last week. after 6 years of steadily running...not bad for a $70 canister filter.
Great tip and that SunSun cost you $10 a year, not bad 😀😀😀👍🏻
Is an 80 ppm dangerous for a community tank?
Isn’t this the same algae scrubber you did a video about six years ago? And you still have algae problems?
Basically the same. Not really a "problem" per se, more of an aesthetic issue with the plastic plants.
I boil my plastic plants in hot water. 💧 🌱. It does the job
Ben,
I think Kev at Kaveman aquatics put on a Refugium full of plants. It was a HOB type that I think is the same thing as using an algae scrubber. Not sure which one is cheaper a refugium or an algae scrubber. Kaveman was using a refugium in his sump and he cut his water changes down also. Anything to help with weekly water changes. It will save on the water bill for sure.
That thing is over $100, total rip off.
The Fluval HOB breeder does the same exact thing for $20 and you could double its use for raising fry.
Try running your plastic plants through the dishwasher just don't have the heat dry turned on it will clean them really good all you have to do is rinse them off with some clean water just to make sure
Do you use soap?
@@BenOchart yes I used a little Podge that go in there but I take them out before the heat dry kicks in their rinsed off good in the dishwasher but I rinsed them off with regular water afterwards
@@BenOchart pods
@@BenOchart I take out the plants and rinse them off
Give it a try Ben like I said just turn the heat dry off if you have that setting otherwise sometimes the bass will get too hot and come off and I just reglue them
Will these harm real plants ?
Shouldn’t unless you’re very low in ammonia / nitrates and the algae scrubber might deny your plants what they need. But I bet it will not be a problem.
Why don’t you grow Pothos on TOP of your tanks to absorb nitrates and ammonia?
I grow pothos out the top of my 75g mbuna tank. The effect on nitrate levels is negligible. You would need literally hundreds of pothos stems to significantly reduce nitrate levels in a typically stocked cichlid tank.
Do they shipped that product to Canada?
I’m not sure but contact them at the link in the description. They will get back to you and answer your questions.
Why not use live plants in your sump
Would help but not something I want to do at this time.