Santa Monica UAS ATS Turf Scrubber review - hog and surf - EPIC FAILURE

jrpark22000

jrpark22000

Premium member
As part of the recent GB from SantaMonica, our new sponsor, this is an long term review of the two scrubbers I purchased from them. Both a HOG3 and SURF4.

http://www.santa-monica.cc/HOG3-Han...er-surface--3-cubes-feeding-per-day_p_50.html
http://www.santa-monica.cc/SURF4-fl...r-surfaces--4-cubes-feeding-per-day_p_46.html

The reason for the turf scrubbers is the desire to reduce and hopefully stop carbon dosing. As of this post my system is requiring 125ml of vinegar daily to keep nitrates in check along with 25+gal WC weekly. PO4 is kept in check with GFO. As many will attest, my fish are slightly plump :fish3: and don't go hungry. All the SPS also get target fed a mix of freeze dried powders once every three days. Total food additions are in excess of the 6 cubes (or equivalent) on a daily average.

Both scrubbers are being installed in my sump refug chamber. The cheato was pulled out and thrown away :woohoo: The surf4 foam was trimmed on the long sides so it’ll fit next to the skimmer output pipe and the hog3 mounts to the front of the sump. I had a superluft (sl-65) laying around and it seems to be just the right amount of air for both scrubbers. One SL-65 output goes to the hog3 and with the use if a splitter the other three sl65 outputs feed the 4 surf4 inputs.

Pictures will come in the near future. The air tubing and electrical wires are a mess right now. Once I can prove the system works where I want to have it installed they’ll both be dressed in for a clean appearance. Then I'll post pictures.

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Update 7-16-2015 - Final conclusion - FAILURE!
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See post #123 in this thread (use this link) to see the final result of the surf4 in my tank.
http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/...hog3-and-surf4?p=306516&viewfull=1#post306516

I'll continue testing in this thread updating it with results of my continuinuing ATS experiments using the hog3 as a control.


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Update 6-22-2016 - The experiment contunes but with the TURBO ALGEA SCRUBBER
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Well, I've had the rubo algea scrubber on the same tank for 15 days and in it's inital break in harvest collected more mass and weight of growth than I did from the two of the upflow scrubbers in over a year.

See this and the next post for details. http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/...f-EPIC-FAILURE?p=347998&viewfull=1#post347998
 
Initial unboxing and inspection left me pleasantly surprised with the build quality. It is quite apparent there is a significant amount of time spent building each of these scrubbers. The green grabber surface reminds me of crushed coral aggregate. It was applied to both the hog3 and surf4 with care, all the edges of the material are crisp and straight. The strings in the green grabber are all individually placed. The housing of the surf4 is a very nice 3d printed frame as well as its LED housing. The LEDs and heat sinks on the hog3 were also installed with care and attention to detail. The lens on the surf4 has a texture to disperse light similar to light diffusers on overhead fluorescent fixtures. From the videos I wasn’t really sure what to expect with the thickness of the hog3 shell. To ease any concerns, it’s nicely thick. Not overly thick to become cumbersome, but it’s strong enough to handle years of use going in and out of the sump.

So how much light do the LEDs put out? Well I’ll update the thread when I again gain my vision back. :lol: To understate it, they are bright. So bright it is very advisable to avoid looking at them IMO. There is a very good reason many of the HOG scrubbers come with a fabric to reduce the amount of light for the first week and the surf4/hog1x (and others) come with low power modes to accomplish the same. Even on low power they’re not comfortable to look at directly.

The setup was a breeze just as in the videos. Drop ‘em in the sump, add airline(s) going to a pump, plug the lights into a timer and walk away. I was left sitting there watching them wondering what to do next, there wasn’t enough play time with the cool new toys.

Onto the long term review. This thread will operate like a journal. Each day that I enter a post will be the result for that day or previous couple of days. It’ll track when I start seeing algae growth (with regular picture updates) harvest times, no3 and po4 results (taken weekly) and other useful info to share along the way. With that, I encourage others who also picked up a scrubber to share their results in here or in their own threads.
 
entry #1:

Both scrubbers were installed on Jan 3rd 2015.

The lights are on for 18hr per day, per the start up recommendations in the instructions.

nitrate 7.48ppm, 1.7 on the hach specrtophotometer (has been hovering between 1.5 and 1.9 for several weeks.)
nitrite .036ppm .011 on the same meter eliminating it as a factor in making no3 look higher (always a similar reading since the start of record keeping)
po4 .05 on the same meter (gfo is changed when po4 reaches .08-.09, last changed Oct 7th)

carbon dosing is at 125ml daily (increased from 110 on Nov 22 in efforts to further reduce nitrates, helped only slightly)

The single SL-65 airpump output is running wide open to the hog3.
The single SL-65 output that is split into two inputs on the surf4 is also wide open.
The two other pump outputs going to dedicated surf4 inputs are throttled back slightly so all 4 ports have aprox equal bubbling.

I do track Iron and Iodine on the same meter once monthly. Boron and Potassium are tested with salifert kits on the same interval. All tests (including po4 nitrite and nitrate) are logged into an xls going back 63 weeks. If any of these other four tests have and noticeable changes I'll report them in future updates.

I don't have any hairalgae in the tank to seed the scrubbers with as the directions suggest so the scrubbers won't get the jump start.

For the next update I hope to see some signs of algae growth and I hope to have the install looking better for some photos.
 
Thanks for doing this Josh. I can't wait to see your results. Carbon dosing is a pain in the rear. I can't wait to buy mine.
 
Once I get my scrubber going I will also b posting updates on it. I have the hog .5 and I am also hoping to stop carbon dosing with this. I might buy another hog.5 later
 
Entry#2:

No changes to any of the setup or settings. Under the white light of a flashlight no signs of algae in either scrubber, but when I open the lid of the surf4 there is a distinctive different saltwater smell. Nothing bad, just a sign of change.
 
A couple more photos of the sump (taken Dec 2013) for more perspective of the limited room in the sump and stand. That little area in the photos w/ the green cheato is where the surf4 is at. The hog3 is on the front "glass" where you can see the magfloat. I did modify the skimmer pvc output since these photos to get the ATS to fit. I've also since taken the foam wrapping of the K1 reactor. Will try and get some better photos in the near future of how it's all packed in the sump.

View attachment 7708

View attachment 7710

View attachment 7709
 
entry #3:

End of week one. No Change to the light schedule, air pumps, carbon dosing amount or any other factors.

nitrate 7.04ppm, 1.6 on the hach specrtophotometer (has been hovering between 1.5 and 1.9 for several weeks.)
po4 .06 on the same meter

There is no visible signs of growth in the scrubbers yet. There is a brown film in the bottom of the surf4, the same color brown as the bacteria that collects in the sump from the carbon dosing.
 
U have to brush the brown slime off so that the green algae can attach itself now. That's what Santa monica filtrationns says to do.
 
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