Setting Up An Algae Scrubber

In my PRL and PFR tank, I've having issues keeping nitrate level low (it is around 40 ppm). One way is to keep doing water change but it's too much a hassle and not conductive to keeping shrimps to have water parameters constantly changing. So I've decided to set up an algae scrubber and show you how I did it.

What you need:

1. External breeder box (I got the largest Satellite one with a length of 30cm)
2. Air pump
3. Light (Doesn't matter which kind but the stronger the better)
4. Screens with Algae
5. Aluminium foil

The external breeder box will be used to house your algae and you can't use an internal one as you want to encourage algae growth IN the breeder box, not in your tank (well if you love algae in your tank, then you won't need an algae scrubber....).

You'll need an air pump to drive air into your breeder box.

For light, a powerful halogen lamp is the best but it consumes a lot of electricity and it emits a lot of heat too. Another good choice is a fluorescent lamp but I chose to go with a LED lamp for power saving reasons. Don't worry too much about the wavelength of the light emitted, just go for the one which gives you the most wattage. I chose the 26cm Aquasonic LED lamp as the length is just nice for the breeder box, it can be attached to the box easily, and it's one of the cheapest LED lamp available.

So this is how it will look like at this stage:

Ideally, the lamp should be as close to the water surface as possible but this is the best I can do.

For screens, you can get plastic mesh screens like these:

I had these lying around but I initially got them from Daiso for $2 each. Before using them, make sure to scratch up the surface of the mesh. The algae will be able to take root better on the uneven surface.

To get algae to grow on them, pour some tank water into a container with the screens. Just place them in the sun for a week. It helps if you add fish or shrimp food as the additional ammonia and nitrate will help to encourage algae growth.

My screens don't have algae on them yet

The last thing to do will be to wrap the container in aluminium foil. The foil will serve to reflect light within the container so that every part of the box will be lighted. You can even wrap the entire box AND the lamp so that there is no light leakage but I didn't go that far.

The final product will look like this:

I typically switch on the lamp at 7am in the morning when I leave for work and switch it off at around midnight when I go to bed. Plants can only photosynthesise for 18 hrs a day so it's pointless to leave your lamp on 24/7. I can't comment on the effectiveness of this setup yet as my screens aren't filled with algae but I'll give an update in a few months' time. Hopefully, it'll be able to reduce my nitrate level to zero and keep it that way.

Selling Shrimp Food Samples

I recently got into a shrimp food shopping frenzy and bought way too many shrimp food. While it's possible that I finish using all of them in my lifetime, most will have long expired by them. Hence, I've decided to sell them in samples of 3g using a new digital weighing scale that I got (apparently it's accurate to 2 decimal points). They will be packed in a small ziplog bag as shown below. If you're interested in any of them, please send me an email and we can discuss the transaction. 

The List
Azoo

1. Max Breed:  $1.20
2. Max Growth: $1.10

Benibachi

1. Kale Food: $3

Borneowild

1. Color: $1.70
2. Grow: $2

Dymax

1. Shrimp: $1

Lowkeys

1. Hiden No Esa: $2.60
2. Ultra Supple: $2.70
3. B18 Power Protein (5 pellets): $2.50

Mosura

1. Specialty Crystal Red Shrimp Food: $2.10
2. Graze: $2
3. Excel: $2.50
4. Bioplus: $2
5. Gravidas: $$2.50

Ocean Nutrition

1. Shrimp Wafers: $1.70

Oista

1. Shrimp Food (Free with every 5 samples)

Peters Laden Cologne Shrimp Food

1. 5 Variety Mix: $0.70
2. Bee Mix: $1
3. Power Mix: $1.50
4. Spinach Sticks: $0.70
5. Bee Fruit: $3.30
6. Baby Pro: $2.60
7. Macro Pro: $2.50
8. Poe Pro: $2
9. Moringo Pro: $2.30
10. Wild Garlic Mix:
11. Hokkaido: $2.30
12. Medicare Mix: $1.50
13. Omnia Pro: $3
14. Mulberry: $1.50
15. Wildlife Mix: $2

Totto

1. Exclusive For Crystal Shrimp: $1

Azoo Shrimp Food Review: Max Growth, Max Breed and Max Bio Ball

All three packages side by side

Background

Today, I'll go through all 3 of Azoo's shrimp food products: Max Growth, Max Breed, and Max Bio Ball. They can be found in many LFS and you may notice two other products, Max Shrimp Breed and Max Shrimp Meal, in bottle form. At first I was confused by these products and wondered how different were they from Max Growth and Max Breed (which come in packet form). After comparing the ingredient lists and product descriptions, I conclude that Max Growth and Max Shrimp Meal are the same, and Max Breed and Max Shrimp Breed are the same, just in different sized packagings (the bottled packagings are smaller).

Introduction

Max Growth Food Strips

From Azoo Corporation:

Max Growth

Max Breed Food Strips

Specifically formulated for promoting shrimp’s growth. Well balanced nutrition, suitable for juvenile and adult shrimp. Effectively promote shrimps’ growth, boosting shrimps’ immunity. Rich in spirulina, shrimp meal, kelp and lecithin, providing shrimp’s body color enhancement and stimulating shrimps’ shedding for growth. Specifically made with a stable, not easy to break quality, won’t make the water cloudy.

Ingredients: Fish meal, shrimp meal, spirulina, kelp, brewer's yeast lecithin, barley's powder, oat powder, buckwheat powder, collagen, enzyme, chitonsan, multi-viatmins, minerals

Max Breed

Specifically formulated for promoting shrimp’s eggs laying. Well balanced nutrition, suitable for juvenile and adult shrimp. Effectively promote shrimps' gonadal development, raising the rate of laying eggs. Rich in spirulina, shrimp meal, kelp and lecithin, providing shrimp’s body color enhancement and rapid growth. Specifically made with a stable, not easy to break quality, won't make the water cloudy.

Ingredients: Fish meal, shrimp meal, spirulina, kelp, brewer's yeast lecithin, barley's powder, oat powder, buckwheat powder, collagen, enzyme, chitonsan, gonadotropin, multi-viatmins, minerals

Max Bio Balls

Max Bio Ball in Tank 

Safe/ Stable/ Long Lasting. Contains selected beneficial bacteria and enzymes, effectively breaking down ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the substrate and water. Slowly breaks down for the build-up of stable and long- lasting bio bacteria colony in the gravel bed. Each ball contains 2×107 bacteria. The bacteria process starts when put in the water.

Each ball treats 50~100 liters of water. Use every two weeks. Put directly onto the gravel bed for use. After opening, properly seal the bag. Keep dry and store in cool place.

Ingredients: Bacillus subtilis, aspergllus olize, bitido bacteruru, protease, α-amylase

My Thoughts

If you've seen the photo I've posted of the Max Growth and Max Breed, and take a closer look at the ingredients list, you'll think that they are almost exactly the same thing. All that's different in ingredients is gonadotropin. Search for it in Wikipedia and it's a protein hormone that " regulates normal growth, sexual development, and reproductive function". In other words, it helps shrimps to grow up normally and to enhance their breeding capabilities. To me, it's like they are the same products, both inciting the same response from shrimps. IMO, there's no point getting both, either one is fine.

The Max Bio Balls is more interesting, and I think it's similar to the Benibachi Crimson Balls. I drop one in my main 2ft tank, and another into my new 2ft tank when it's still cycling. After a week, I can see a film around the ball in my new tank, which I assume to be a biofilm of bacteria. The biofilm disappear within the hour after introducing new shrimps.

The balls are supposed to break down ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but the level of nitrate in my new tank is still high at 40 ppm without water change. Also, they are not enough to be a food source for even a small amount of shrimps.

Yay or Nay?

If you don't have any staple food and you're looking for one, you shouldn't go wrong with either the Max Growth or Max Breed. However, don't expect any miraculous growth or breeding effect with them.

The Max Bio Balls are pretty pricey at $1 per ball, and they are stated to only work for 2 weeks each. Although they work (not sure about getting rid of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate but they do cultivate bacteria), I'm sure sure they're worth what you pay for it. The Benibachi Crimson Balls may be a better option as they work up to 2 years but they are more expensive at $46 for 10 balls. IMO, plants and water changes are better at managing your water nitrate level.