Algae scrubber questions...

[Justin0329]

My main question is what exactly does an algae scrubber help with. I understand that it grows algae but does that also mean it prevents it from forming in th DT? Personally I would think that it just developed a new place for it to group rather than eliminate it from the display tank. Any help or answers to this question would help me to determine if I'm going that rout.

 

[Smitty]

You're correct...the purpose of it is to grow on the scrubber and not in the tank, similar to a refugium. Algae is going to grow in virtually every system, you're just controlling where you want it to grow.

 

[Bifferwine]

+1 Smitty. Also, there are different types of algae, and some of them grow better (and more efficiently) than others. If you can get one type of algae that is easy to control growing, it can starve other bad types of algae of the nutrients they need to grow. That's how a refugium works -- you use a nice type of macroalgae like chaetomorpha, and the chaetomorpha uses the tank's nutrients so efficiently that hair algae and nuisance algae starves and dies off.

 

[Justin0329]

Thank you both for a very explanatory answer. I now know what my next project consists of.