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Foursquare Aquatics

My name is Jason Langer and I am Foursquare Aquatics. I am also a long-time cabinetmaker and woodworker. And all of this has led me to here; Foursquare Aquatics.

Foursquare Aquatics is a privately owned and operated small business with the primary focus of producing high quality built and performing algae turf scrubbers. I have been in the marine aquarium hobby since 1992 and I have a real passion for reef aquariums; the fish, the corals and the invertebrates. I have been in the woodworking industry for over twenty years. I have years of experience in desi

gning and building my own projects; cabinets, furniture, built-ins and artworks. The combination of my profession and hobby has led me to creating many projects for the aquarium hobby. 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. On the 25th of April, the APIS-300 ATS units were launched on the BRS website.

17/02/2025

As there has been an steady stream of new follower notifications over the last few months, I felt that I should post something to let them know that I am still here harvesting algae regularly on my 120gal reef system.

With every harvest, I take photos of each side of the algae screen pre-harvest and then another photo of the harvested algae in a 2c. container showing the weight of the algae; squeezed dry of water weight.
I also document my water test results along with any changes that I have made to the system during the harvest cycle. Changes in dosing supplements and photoperiod are the most common occurrences that happen over time, but I also track when I do any major coral extraction or change in feeding habits.

Speaking of feeding habits... today marks the 999th straight day that I have documented the amount of frozen food that I feed my system. I feed frozen foods exclusively; LRS Frenzy blends and PE/Hikari Mysis Shrimp. The tracking of my food input has helped me to assess the efficacy of the algae turf scrubber as I can see the nutrient levels fluctuate when feedings increase or decrease.

I still test my nutrient levels weekly. The days of testing it every day are long gone, but I do occasionally test randomly when I think something may need to be addressed; i.e. nutrient levels bottoming out or too high.
I also send in water samples for testing the minor/trace elements as the algae does like to consume elements like iron, nickel, cobalt, boron, manganese, etc. Those test results help me maintain the necessary levels of these elements by giving me a recipe for a dosing cocktail.

The photos that accompany this post are those that I typically post every harvest.
This harvest was from an 11 day cycle and produced 451g (squeezed) of algae. As you can see in the photos, the algae that I am growing is brightly colored and clean. When the excess water is allowed to drain from the algae screen, the majority of the algae is a fine soft yarn-like algae. I have also included photos of the harvesting process and what the algae screen looks like after being scraped and rinsed under tap water.

Maybe this post will get me motivated to share more information here own this page.

Thanks for reading!
Happy reefing!

25/06/2024

The wait is over! I received my copy of Coral Magazine!

The issue contains an article that I wrote that shares my experiences of running one of my Foursquare Aquatics Algae Turf Scrubbers on my personal 120gal reef aquarium. I have been documenting the results of the scrubber for a few years along with how much food I was feeding and what elements I was dosing. And for the entire year of 2023, I tested the nitrate and phosphate levels of the system every single day! So if you’re interested in reading about how I run my scrubber and the results that I achieved, pick up a copy and give it a read.
There’s a saying in the reef keeping that goes, “Before you take someone’s advice about how to keep a reef tank, take a look at their reef tank.” Well, you’re in luck! I also wrote a second article that features my reef tank for the Aquarium Portrait. There’s plenty of information and photos of the corals and fish that are thriving in my reef that utilizes an algae turf scrubber.

Read a book or magazine!!!
Enjoy!

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Growing Algae Has Gotten Me Here

My name is Jason Langer and I am Foursquare Aquatics.

I have been in the marine aquarium hobby since 1992 and I have a real passion for reef aquariums; the fish, the corals and the invertebrates. I am also a long-time cabinetmaker and woodworker. I have been in the woodworking industry for over twenty years. I have years of experience in designing and building my own projects; cabinets, furniture, built-ins and artworks. The combination of my profession and hobby has led me to creating many projects for the aquarium hobby. And all of this has led me to here; Foursquare Aquatics.

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.