That is a nice tank!! But I will confess, salwater is beyond my scope of experience! Perhaps, this type of scrubber setup is more suitable for sw, but as I said, maybe Im missing something here.
FW scrubbers grow different algae, longer stringy type in general from what I understand. They also reported grow faster. Either way, they are equally as suitable for both systems.
You mentioned that you had a planted tank and I didn't address this - a scrubber will out-compete plants in the aquarium for nutrients if you don't balance it properly. In most cases, scrubbers aren't really suitable for planted tanks.
In-tank algae problems is pretty easy to fix in our FW systems.
The scrubbers is for all those poor cichlids that get crammed in the overstocked tanks. Scrubbers really help (not fix) the bad water quality.
Easy is a relative term. Algae problems are the #1 topic on almost every forum I visit. People starting new tanks without knowing jack about the cycle etc seems to be #2 esp on FW forums. An algae scrubber solves both of these issues to a very large extent. Ammonia is algae's favorite food so starting an algae scrubber with a brand new tank can actually cause a "silent cycle" meaning that you will see little to no spike in Ammonia or Nitrite. The cycle will still happen, but it won't be damaging to the livestock.
A scrubber sized properly for the bio-load (feeding) of the system can definitely keep nutrients fully in check. Again, this is all my experience with the waterfall-style scrubber, not the UAS, but I have a feeling that in time the refinements will make it on par with the waterfall scrubber.
I modified my UAS last night and added a few gadgets
I cut a 1/2" PVC pipe lengthwise
Cut a piece of plastic from a report cover
And wrapped it around the pipe. This forces the bubbles up the screen and allows for growth outward still
Floyd's UAS Test, 2012-05-21 Part 3 - YouTube
Floyd's UAS Test, 2012-05-21 Part 5 - YouTube
There are other videos on my channel on my UAS also if you care to check them out