ALGAE TURF SCRUBBER FILTRATION

History of Algae Turf Scrubbers

 Algae turf scrubbers (ATS) are a natural filtration method for removing excess nutrients like nitrates and phosphates from water. It is a simple combination of water, air and light that promotes algae to grow within a confined filter as opposed to the display aquarium. As the algae grows on a lit screen, it is periodically removed through harvesting and thus removing the excess nutrients from the system.

Algae turf scrubbers were developed in the late 1970’s when Dr. Walter Adey began using various species of algae to consume the unwanted nutrients in seawater. Dr. Adey’s initial design utilized a dump bucket to pour water over a bed of turf algae. Although very effective, this design was not conducive to the aquarium hobby as the ATS units were quite large, loud, messy and unreliable. Over the years as more interest with using algae turf scrubbers to filter aquarium systems, the designs started to change.

Current algae turf scrubber designs include two opposing designs; the up-flow scrubber and the waterfall scrubber. The up-flow design uses air bubbles to lift water up over a lit screen submerged in the water. The waterfall design has a pipe feeding water over a lit screen.

The waterfall design has quickly become one of the more popular and effective designs in algae turf scrubbers. These ATS units usually consist of an acrylic box that has a pair of LED grow lights mounted on two sides. The algae screen is connected directly to a feed pipe tucked into a slot cut in the pipe. When it is time to harvest the algae and clean the filter, the ATS unit is turned off and the feed pipe is disconnected from the ATS unit at a union fitting. The screen and feed pipe are lifted up out of the ATS unit and then cleaned and reinstalled into the ATS unit and the water flow is turned back on.

History of Foursquare Aquatics and the APIS ATS Units

Back in the summer of 2016, I decided that I wanted to add an algae turf scrubber to my 120gal reef system. A few months of research and design led to the building of my first ATS unit. The first unit contained only one LED light fixture; as my space was limited. I installed the unit in early winter of 2016 and seeded the screen with algae from a local reef hobbyist. The algae began to grow immediately and my nutrient levels maintained at a consistent level. That ATS unit ran on my 120gal system until I tore the system down in the winter of 2017.

During this time, I was working on a new design that would include a second light and also remedy some of the imperfections of the first design. I was approached by a fellow club member, Bill Capman who taught at Augsburg University, about building some ATS units for a new biology lab at the university. In the summer of 2017, we had come up with what would become the design for the updated ATS unit. I ended up building four of these units for the Augsburg University biology lab.
With the revised design set, I scaled the design for a smaller unit to use on my own system. The very first of these units were built by the spring of 2018. One of the units was be installed on my upcoming new 120gal build and the other was for show. I brought the display unit to the local club’s expo and it generated some interest from local hobbyists and professionals. I was approached and asked if I would allow one of my ATS units to be tested at Bulk Reef Supply. If they found the ATS unit to be of value, they would be interested in offering them for sale on their website. After months of testing, Bulk Reef Supply was interested and we sat down for the first of many meetings.

In the summer of 2018, I created the business identity of Foursquare Aquatics. The Foursquare Aquatics name combines two of my more empassioned interests; craftsman style homes and marine aquariums.
The next identity that needed to be created was that for the ATS units themselves. After many lackluster ideas, I started to look at the ATS unit itself. It was a shiny black box; that’s it. What was going on inside of it was a mystery. This idea reminded me of the Egyptian black granite sarcophagi that were used to bury the sacred Apis bulls. The name of the bulls made for a great name for these mysterious black boxes.

As the year continued, I worked on many other aspects for getting Foursquare Aquatics and the APIS ATS units ready for production. By late winter of early 2019, the first order of the APIS-300 ATS units were placed, manufactured and delivered to Bulk Reef Supply.