¿ ... Algal Turf Scrubber... ?

castorpollux

New member
Im thinking about doing a build for a new system and I want to integrate a turf scrubber in, I have a basic understanding of them, I'm going to have to custom make it myself to fit as well. My question is should the "bumps" on the algal be made of a mesh to let the water flow "through" the algae OR can they be solid acrylic? Here is a base idea of what im thinking of doing this excludes the external stuff like chiller/lighting/etc.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/allienimy/rough.jpg"></a>

Im not interested in a refugium. So any input on turf scrubbers would be appreciated. thanks!
 
You can see a turf screen pic & dump tray, in my gallery. The turf screen is just that. A mesh screen. When scraped, algae remains attached between the screen holes. I would think if one scraped acrylic, it would come pretty clean.
 
Howdy Doug.... what a surprise running into you in another ATS thread :)

castorpollux - I'm not sure what you mean by "bumps" but a functional turf screen can be made by covering one side of some eggcrate lighting diffuser with a medium mesh window screen (synthetic, not the old metal stuff). You can make one big screen insert or several smaller ones - it's your choice.

Whatever design you go with just make sure you have plenty of water moving back and forth over the screen. You want to keep the algae moving so it receives the maximum amount of nutrients and light.

Also, as Doug mentioned you want to make sure that you leave the roots or holdfast behind to regrow when you harvest.

Brett
 
I've made one using fiberglass window screen and eggcrate.

Are you going to imploy a dump bucket mech. or just a standard drain like you have in your diagram?
 
This whole thing has morphed through discussion in the DIY forum heres a <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=865919">Link</a>
 
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