15-20 years ago, algae scrubbers were all the rage. We knew that nitrates were bad news in a reef tank, but many of the current methodologies for assimilating them had not yet made an appearance. Bio-plastics (bio-pellets) had not been invented, sulfur based de-nitrators weren’t offered for reef aquariums, and zeolite had yet to cross over to aquarium keeping. Refugiums existed on a few tanks, but back then wet/dry filtration (a dreaded nitrate sink) was still popular. We had mastered the ammonia cycle, and much of aquarium filtration was aimed at keeping ammonia and nitrite, out of reef aquarium water. Many tanks had algae scrubbers, and I personally had a large homemade scrubber that included several feet of plastic mesh, along with a couple hardware store lights. It was most certainly a fire hazard, but it was semi-effective. Since the good old days, I’ve used a host of algae scrubbers. Some were large homemade units, while others were compact manufactured units. Algae scrubbers exist that float on the water’s surface, magnetically attach to the tank’s sides, and connect to the aquarium a variety of ways. What I always found, when using an algae scrubber, was that I got a lot of algae growth, but may tank always carried a measurable nitrate load. Often this exceeded 5 ppm of nitrate, even though algae was growing at a rapid pace. Since then, I’ve abandon algae based nutrient assimilation, in favor of bacterial nutrient assimilation. In my experience, microbes are far more effective at breaking down nutrients, than algae. Pax Bellum has just released the ARID reactor, what is promised to be a super-charged way at growing macro-algae, capable of providing the aquarium with all its filtration needs. After contacting Pax Bellum, I began remembering my experience with algae scrubbers in the past. According to Pax Bellum, the ARID reactor is all the filtration you’ll ever need, eliminating the need for protein skimming, carbon dosing, GFO and even ozone. With a $ 749-dollar price tag, the ARID reactor costs almost as much as other filtration items combined, but is it possible that algae alone, can purify reef aquarium water? The ARID reactor:
ARID looks like a regular reactor. There is simply an inlet for water to enter, and an exit for it to flow back into the tank. The difference is the center column, housing what Pax Bellum calls a light pole.… More:
The post Turbo Charged Algae Scrubbing: The Pax Bellum ARID appeared first on Reefs.com.