Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
SPotter
Active member
I havent tested p04 yet this week, will do it over the weekend but last week when I tested it was at .015 with the hanna ulr phosphorous meter. This was down from .035 the week before. Nitrates have remained undetectable at this point. I have definitely increased the amount that I am feeding daily. My purples are really starting pop again!
Thats awesome to hear..Ive been using a separate P04 remover with my scrubber until my screen matures but it will be awesome when i can reach those levels with just the scrubber.
mistaflicksta
New member
Steve
Thats how mine looks and I am at the five week mark. but I am not complaining. my nitrates are .75ppm per Red Sea Pro and phospates are .15 ppm per Red Sea pro. I went to a 24hr lit screen to see it the hair algae would grow faster so ill see how that goes. nitrates were 5ppm when first starting and posphates were over 1ppm so I am seeing a positive reaction. I clean the screen every monday.
Robert Patterso
New member
Just thought I would give a little info. about the sump system for the 900+ gallon fish system I plan to build the ats for the lfs I work part time at. The sump is 72Lx24Wx36dp. The bioball area itself is 36Lx24Wx36dp. The water line is approx. 16" from the top. I can go as tall as I want but to tall would be just over kill. My plan is to build 2 screens 24x24 with 12 t5s. My thinking is lighting the 2 screens in the middle with 4 bulbs that way I won't need reflectors because they will light both screens. Of course the outside bulbs will have individual reflectors.
Do you guys think that will be enough or should I add more lights. The owner says he will supply me with whatever I need. My thinking is that if the 2 screens are close enough to each other that the bulbs in the middle won't need reflectors. Otherwise I can add 4 more bulbs with reflectors. What you guys think?
Any input would be appreciated before I get started on this project
Thanks in Advance
Do you guys think that will be enough or should I add more lights. The owner says he will supply me with whatever I need. My thinking is that if the 2 screens are close enough to each other that the bulbs in the middle won't need reflectors. Otherwise I can add 4 more bulbs with reflectors. What you guys think?
Any input would be appreciated before I get started on this project
Thanks in Advance
Finally After having parts laying around for 2 months, I got my scrubber together this week, and installed tonight. It required a full sump overhaul. Took the Old deep sand bed out of what was the refuge compartment. Took out a divider. Plumbed It all into my overflow. Need to run some disaster scenario tests still. I believe that with the water level in the tank and the sump compartment, If for some reason the screen does plug, the tank should hold all the water in the pump compartment. The pump would run dry, But a pump is cheaper than the wood floors! One thing I have to say, man the lights are yellow! All my house lights are daylight CFL, The old light above the cheato was 5500k. Now my living room glows yellow at night!
I'll get some pics and progress pics this weekend.
I'll get some pics and progress pics this weekend.
srusso
Active member
+1 screens can take up to 4-5 weeks to start growing green algaes.
srusso
Active member
You don't want to light screen for 24 hours. The algae needs dark hours to properly grow, you may see a slight improvement initially but 5 or more days into it you will start to see negative affects.
I'm having some issues w/dinos and I want to take the tank totally dark for a few days. Any recommendations on what to do with the scrubber during this time? It looks quite brown/slimy this week and I don't want to kill my battle by offering these a-hole dinos a loophole in my effort to eradicate them. I'm going to clean it either later today or tomorrow AM but I don't want to totally kill the screen. Maybe I should just start over though? I do have extra screens handy...
srusso
Active member
A few things, the coverage width of a T5 is about 4" max. Currently with four bulbs on each side you will get clear growth strips on your screen with darker growth in between bulbs. However b/c the plastic mesh allows some light to reach the other side I would do a staggering effect, in addition to using the extra 4 bulbs you spoke of... You will keep the same design, but instead of 4-4-4 as the bulb layout. Do... 5-6-5 the outside bulbs should be staggered with the middle six. This should get you the 24"x24" coverage your looking for...
srusso
Active member
Floyd could give you the best info on this, his happened because the scrubber timer get messed up and was in manual on for possibly two weeks...!! So check that first. I was speaking with him last night on the phone and he informed me he had a total turnaround and within a few days the dinos are almost completely gone once he corrected the timer issue.
But in general when your doing a dark period for the tank the algae scrubber light cycle should remain as it is normally.
You say your getting mostly brown growth? How old is your screen? Can you post some pictures some new picture of your setup and a breif spec of your build? Ie: size of screen, lights used, etc...
Sorry man, I wish was able to make it to our last club meeting... I could have seen it in person!
Timer's been on its regular schedule as have my cleanings (every 7 days). Scrubber is about 10 weeks old. Almost time to change bulbs, but not quite... although I could try that first. It's about 11" wide and 12" long, fed by my return pump (Eheim 1262) and lit by a pair of CFLs on both sides. Here's a photo from about a month ago:
Growth was green back then (lighter than the photo). Now it appears more brown and stringy; hence my concern about dinos continuing on the screen. I'll try to grab a photo before I clean it up.
If you're ever in the neighborhood, definitely happy to have you over to check things out in person!
Growth was green back then (lighter than the photo). Now it appears more brown and stringy; hence my concern about dinos continuing on the screen. I'll try to grab a photo before I clean it up.
If you're ever in the neighborhood, definitely happy to have you over to check things out in person!
srusso
Active member
Timer's been on its regular schedule as have my cleanings (every 7 days). Scrubber is about 10 weeks old. Almost time to change bulbs, but not quite... although I could try that first. It's about 11" wide and 12" long, fed by my return pump (Eheim 1262) and lit by a pair of CFLs on both sides. Here's a photo from about a month ago:
Growth was green back then (lighter than the photo). Now it appears more brown and stringy; hence my concern about dinos continuing on the screen. I'll try to grab a photo before I clean it up.
If you're ever in the neighborhood, definitely happy to have you over to check things out in person!
On cleaning day snap a photo of the screen before you clean it, I would like to see the growth pattern.
Hard to tell from the picture but are you getting two "hot spots" from where the bulbs point at the screen? CFLs can be difficult to get a nice even growth pattern when pointed at the screen. If so it may help to point a bulb from each side down and another up a little and the opposite for the rear lights. Hot spots are worst when both sides are pointing at the same spot. At the very center of each bulb point I bet your getting very light yellow almost clear growth... right?
Just a tad, but only on the front side. The lights are closer on that side and I get more even growth on the rear due to better light distribution. The bulbs are already slightly offset from one another back/front due to the hanging arrangements on the clips though, but I'm sure I could improve it.
Scrubber Update:
I had originally had it plumbed via ½" barbed fittings with ½" line. This was an issue that I hadn't thought about on initial start up, but it was restricting my flow (around 150 GPH). So I changed that out for some ¾" fittings with 1" tubing, and talk about an improvement! I am at around 350+ GPH now good thing I have an overrated pump.
I also changed out the two 100 watt CFL bulbs for two 150 CFL bulbs this brought up my actual watts from 46 to 84 much closer to my 90 gallon aquarium, and it has already started to look better from last night's cleaning (see pictures).
SCRUBBER PICTURES:
I had originally had it plumbed via ½" barbed fittings with ½" line. This was an issue that I hadn't thought about on initial start up, but it was restricting my flow (around 150 GPH). So I changed that out for some ¾" fittings with 1" tubing, and talk about an improvement! I am at around 350+ GPH now good thing I have an overrated pump.
I also changed out the two 100 watt CFL bulbs for two 150 CFL bulbs this brought up my actual watts from 46 to 84 much closer to my 90 gallon aquarium, and it has already started to look better from last night's cleaning (see pictures).
SCRUBBER PICTURES:
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