Algae Scrubber Advanced

I posted this in DIY section, but this might be the right place for it...

I started building my ATS yesterday, before even starting to mount the lights I tested it to see the flow, and its very uneven... My pump pushes 230 gal/h , its a QuietOne 1200, rated for 290 but its only 230, so on 6" of screen I should be gettin around 38gal/h per inch of flow
I cut the slot with a dremmel, i tried to make it as straight as i could, its not perfect,
did anyone had the same problem as Iam having now?
any help would be great!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5PEpYdPUG_E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I think your slot might be a little too wide possibly, looks like the pipe is not filling up and the water not "backing up" in the pipe, which would cause the water to flow more evenly. The water is moving fast through the pipe but also draining fast so you get that arcing effect. If there were more flow to the slot or the slot was narrower, the pipe would fill up and purge all the air out, letting the water drain out of the pipe evenly. Make sense?
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
I think your slot might be a little too wide possibly, looks like the pipe is not filling up and the water not "backing up" in the pipe, which would cause the water to flow more evenly. The water is moving fast through the pipe but also draining fast so you get that arcing effect. If there were more flow to the slot or the slot was narrower, the pipe would fill up and purge all the air out, letting the water drain out of the pipe evenly. Make sense?
Click to expand...

I made 3 diffrent pipes last night, the one in the movie has the biggest slot, i would say its 1/8 maybe a little over, I did it with dremmel, handheld so its not perfect
I also did same size of a slot but only 4" long to get more gallons per inch to see if that would be the case but it was still same

And the third pipe i did very small opening, just big enough to put the mesh inside, it was the worst as the water was sprayin all over...

I might pull out my table saw today, i have a brand new Diablo blade there, and if i remember good its 1/8 thick...
how deep the canvas needs to go into the pipe?
all the piping is made out off 1/2 pvc

Thank You for gettin back to me! :love1:
 
I would not use an acrylic blade, PVC is hard on acrylic blades. Just use a standard table saw blade.

Some of it could be the fact that the screen is not cured up, as the screen gets a slime coating, even on the smooth area where it is inserted into the slot, the flow will even out some.

For a pump fed system, I would insert the screen all the way into the slot so that it touches the top inside of the pipe, but you don't have to.
 
Floyd R Turbo said:
I would not use an acrylic blade, PVC is hard on acrylic blades. Just use a standard table saw blade.

Some of it could be the fact that the screen is not cured up, as the screen gets a slime coating, even on the smooth area where it is inserted into the slot, the flow will even out some.

For a pump fed system, I would insert the screen all the way into the slot so that it touches the top inside of the pipe, but you don't have to.
Click to expand...

i will use my regural blade then, will stop by at Home Depot to pick up some pvc after work, will let You know how the pipe with saw cut does
 
I'm used to doing it but it's still a hair-raising process. What I do is stand to the side of the table saw, fence in place, saw running, and hold the pipe down on the infeed side, then slowly lower it onto the blade, then lift off holding the outfeed side down. I cut the pipe longer than it needs and trim it to length later, that and I have extra length by which to grip the pipe and stay clear of the blade (I hold it with my finger in the pipe and thumb on top).

I have to do test cuts to see how long the slot gets cut without sliding the pipe, then I know how far to slide it to make it longer than just a single drop-lift. I can set my blade to cut a 5" slot then I mark the pipe and the fence to slide 1" and I've got a nice 6" slot.

One reason I stand to the side is if for some reason the pipe grabs or I lose grip, it's going to take off at high speed and I don't want to be near it when/if that happens. I also wear a glove on the infeed side as the blade throws hot PVC shavings at high speed out the pipe. But not on the outfeed side, if for some reason the glove catches the blade, your hand is going with it.

By the way, cutting PVC pipe to length on a table saw leaves the most perfectly smooth cuts. No need to de-burr. Just need to blow out the shavings.

Good luck and be careful. Don't forget eye protection. I use a whole-face shield LOL
 
Someone once told me (IIRC) that PVC tends to grab and electric tools should not be used or if so be prepared for grabbing and shattering. Once I took a PVC pipe and cut it down the length. I then placed it in boiling water and made it into a sheet. I then used an electric miter saw to cut that. I have never seen as mcuh problem cutting PVC.
 
I just used the table saw, super easy, u need to go slow, still have all the fingers!! :)

as for the scrubber.... its a little better but not great, i made the screen 6" so with my pump each inch gets 38 gal/hr, the flow is almost thru all screen , a little bit is still not covered, but i will let it run , i set the lights, I have GFO and cheat now, I just want to see what will happen to the scrubber over couple weeks time...

I will post a movie of how the flow is now
 
I have a 125 mixed reef with a 30 gal fuge.

I am getting ready to bulid a vertical A/S to fight my cyno problem.

I have skimmed through this thread and think I have the general concept. The one question I have is what size PVC are you guys using. I am sure it says this somewhere but. I didnt see where anyone stated this. I am quessing it 1" or 3/4".
 
Last edited:
sea of cortez said:
I have a 125 mixed reef with a 30 gal fuge.

I am getting ready to bulid a vertical A/S to fight my cyno problem.

I have skimmed through this thread and think I have the general concept. The one question I have is what size PVC are you guys using. I am sure it says this somewhere but. I didnt see where anyone stated this. I am quessing it 1" or 3/4".
Click to expand...

I use 1", but it's best to match what is already being used to plumb the tank.
 
sea of cortez said:
I have a 125 mixed reef with a 30 gal fuge.

I am getting ready to bulid a vertical A/S to fight my cyno problem.

I have skimmed through this thread and think I have the general concept. The one question I have is what size PVC are you guys using. I am sure it says this somewhere but. I didnt see where anyone stated this. I am quessing it 1" or 3/4".
Click to expand...

If you gonna use separate pump to feed the scrubber try to use the same size of pvc that would work with the pump, I used a QuietOne pump and it took 1/2" pvc so thats what i used for my build
If u will feed it off the return than use whatever u used for the return piping
 
I didnt think that 1/2" was going to be big enough for the screen.

I have a butt load of 1/2" and 3/4" fittings. I was thinking I had to bush up to 1" for the screen or use 3/4 at the very least.

I plan on feeding it with the power head I am useing to feed my DIY Bio pellet reactor it is plumbed with 1/2".
 
sea of cortez said:
I didnt think that 1/2" was going to be big enough for the screen.

I have a butt load of 1/2" and 3/4" fittings. I was thinking I had to bush up to 1" for the screen or use 3/4 at the very least.

I plan on feeding it with the power head I am useing to feed my DIY Bio pellet reactor it is plumbed with 1/2".
Click to expand...

3/4" will be fine
 
1/2" will work too. It's about flow rate though, so if the pipe slot is too long you won't be able to push that much water through a 1/2" pipe, so you're limited as to the length of screen you can use and pump head loss will be greater with 1/2" also. I would use 3/4" if you're over 4 or 5" slot, IMO
 
I am researching the 4 halogens of salt water. I have a theory that slimy growth over healthy green growth maybe due to a limitation on one or more of the 4 oxidizers and adding more light could make things worse, as was previously believed we could "power" through the slime with more light. And that if one could correct the balance, the slimy growth would go away. Even been thinking of dosing small amounts of tap which is known to have bromine, fluoride etc. All just theory and I still have a lot more to learn...

"Craig Bingman - The Halogens"

Synthetic brominated compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of unicellular algae (Walsh et al. 1987), so it is tempting to suggest that some of the brominated compounds made by algae are to either deter predators or to help the algae win battles for space against other algae.
 
good stuff!!!! anybody know any links to more information on the "bucket method" or "angle scrubbers" just curios to learn more. many thanks to all.
 
table saw worked best for me. Make sure to not make the slot longer then needed for the mesh. 3/4" piping is what I have and it's working great.
 
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