http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-...DispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/gb_specs.htm#photos
where do you see the wattage?
where do you see the wattage?
Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
OodleyBoodely
New member
Excellant write up!
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I'm a major proponent of not taking threads off topic. Is there a particular thread I should take that discussion to?
Thanks.
I appreciate that! There is a fair amount of LED discussion on the "Advanced" sticky
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2028045
You have to deduce it. This is a 10W lamp with 9 LEDs, so it's safe to assume (in fact I'm positive) this contains 1W LEDs. The truth is that even though they say it's a 10W lamp, if you put it on a kill-a-watt meter, it probably will only pull about 6W, 0.6W per LED x 9 plus a 0.5W driver.
Good find though. The 8 red + 1 blue looks good. Beam angle is 60 degrees so that's a little tight. This would have to be positioned far enough away from the screen so that you would get good coverage, and that might knock down the intensity.
Of course for that price ($60 each!) you can get a heat sink and a bunch of 3W LEDs and a driver from Rapid and make your own
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
From the summary
I started this in the DIY forum and was directed this direction. If anyone would like to check it out and add any ideas it would be appreciated.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2135389
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2135389
Hi, this is my first post in this thread. I'm building a new 30-40g prop system, and i have decided I want to try out a scrubber only system. I will admit that I haven't read through this entire thread yet, tons and tons of posts. I have learned alot already, you guys have put together alot of great info. I still have alot of reading and planning to do, but I wanted too join in on the thread to get some advice from you guys/gals. So far I plan to run the scrubber right off the drain pipe from the main tank, seems like a good way to go, helps keep the system simple and put all the nutrients from the tank straight to the scrubber first. I'm not sure of the screen size yet because I still need to get the tank up and running and test to gph through the overflow to get the right size screen. I like the last write up showing the idea of keeping the top of the screen smooth and cutting out some of the horizontal mesh to help prevent block ups, great idea. Because this will be a small setup, I think a few 26w CFL bulbs will probably be the best idea. After seeing some pics, I love the idea of cutting up a t5 reflector to use on the CFL bulbs. For a light shield I have two options I can think of, (depending on screen size) I have a 2.5g that might work good, or I can just build a acrylic box. The tank is a stripped biocube 29, I put a super nano overflow box for glass-box that has a 1" bulkhead. return pump will be around 250-350gph at the pump, still not sure, either a sicce 1.0 or 1.5. Does there seem to be any issue with probably around 170-225gph through a 1" pvc drain for a scrubber setup? From what I've read a proper setup scrubber will out compete other macros so a traditional fuge would be a waste of time correct? If so, I think I will stick with a scrubber and rock rubble and my sump filtration. Thanks for any and all input, Stephen
JohnnyB in SD
New member
Stephen-
Sounds like you have done your homework & are on the right track.
Read Floyd's recent summaries from a couple/few days ago if you haven't already done so. Post #3200 - #3250 or something. Can't miss it, long write up w/lots of pics.
Feeding from a drain is ideal if you have adequate flow, saves you from adding another pump.
Definitely measure flow to determine screen dimensions. Seems that most people fail to do this important step.
CFL's are probably the best way to start out unless you're an avid LED DIYer with the right materials laying around. CFLS are minimal cost and they work fine, especially if all other aspects of your build are done properly. Simple acrylic sheets hanging between the lamps & screen should work fine as a shield. There are plenty of examples/pics of such setups in the thread.
1" slot pipe is all I ever use, works great.
I kept my fuge, because it's not feasible to remove & I like the diversity of life it contains. Chaeto survives in it but does not really thrive. I have no plans to keep it on my new tank build.
If it's a 30-40gl prop system you're not likely to be dumping a lot of food into it, so you can probably get by with a fairly small setup. 170 GPH flow can do a 5" wide screen, make it 8" high (5x8 effective area) and it could handle 3 cubes a day using one GOOD CFL per side.
Best of luck to you.
Sounds like you have done your homework & are on the right track.
Read Floyd's recent summaries from a couple/few days ago if you haven't already done so. Post #3200 - #3250 or something. Can't miss it, long write up w/lots of pics.
Feeding from a drain is ideal if you have adequate flow, saves you from adding another pump.
Definitely measure flow to determine screen dimensions. Seems that most people fail to do this important step.
CFL's are probably the best way to start out unless you're an avid LED DIYer with the right materials laying around. CFLS are minimal cost and they work fine, especially if all other aspects of your build are done properly. Simple acrylic sheets hanging between the lamps & screen should work fine as a shield. There are plenty of examples/pics of such setups in the thread.
1" slot pipe is all I ever use, works great.
I kept my fuge, because it's not feasible to remove & I like the diversity of life it contains. Chaeto survives in it but does not really thrive. I have no plans to keep it on my new tank build.
If it's a 30-40gl prop system you're not likely to be dumping a lot of food into it, so you can probably get by with a fairly small setup. 170 GPH flow can do a 5" wide screen, make it 8" high (5x8 effective area) and it could handle 3 cubes a day using one GOOD CFL per side.
Best of luck to you.
Last edited:
srusso
Active member
Floyd, I finally got around to reading your write up! It's perfect, thank you! You where looking for a picture of an open scrubber with using plastic rap, I wanna dub it the "shower curtain"
I want to thank Der wille zur macht for this great idea as well. It has allowed me to move my light so much closer!
I want to thank Der wille zur macht for this great idea as well. It has allowed me to move my light so much closer!
srusso
Active member
They do well in scrubber tanks
JohnnyB in SD
New member
Interesting, It looks like the "shower curtain" is kinda tight around the screen and almost full of water. Are you trying to go with the "3D growth" method? I still don't 100% understand the 3D growth thing, but it's starting to make sense. I'm guessing the whole goal it to allow the GHA to kinda float up so light can penetrate deeper. If i'm way off feel free to correct me.
Is there a reason why I see so many builds use the shop drop light fixtures to house their CFL bulbs? Is it just a simple low cost way to get a fixture with a reflector? What do you guys think about the eshine grow fixtures? It looks like most will be way to big for my little nano scrubber but they have a 12x3w fixture what would be about the right size. It looks like they have lenses though and in past posts it has been stated that lenses are not the best for a scrubber. I guess they cause uneven lighting and spots with increases PAR/PUR
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
srusso, I don't think he was intending that you wrap the whole screen, just the top edge of it. Otherwise I would think it would prevent air exchange, but I guess we'll see!
txg8gxp I think I know the ones you're referring to, they're square and the make them in different lengths just by adding another array. I do believe those have built in lenses, but you could offset that by placing them a few inches (3-4) from the screen, then putting a piece of diffusion grating as close to the screen as possible to break it up. If you look in the previous summary posts 2001-2010 you will see something like this on a DIY LED fixture, same stuff that goes over 2x4 recessed ceiling fixtures and you can get it at any HWS.
txg8gxp I think I know the ones you're referring to, they're square and the make them in different lengths just by adding another array. I do believe those have built in lenses, but you could offset that by placing them a few inches (3-4) from the screen, then putting a piece of diffusion grating as close to the screen as possible to break it up. If you look in the previous summary posts 2001-2010 you will see something like this on a DIY LED fixture, same stuff that goes over 2x4 recessed ceiling fixtures and you can get it at any HWS.
So just to check that I have in fact learned a few things from this thread, If I have a system between 35-40g and the GPH from my overflow is lets say 200gph I would need a screen that is 5" long by 8" tall with lights on both sides. That would put it at 40gph per inch and 5x8=40.
That's the old sizing guide. The new one, 3" x 4" per cube of food fed per day and then depending on the orientation of the screen, either 105gph (3" horizontal) or 140gph (4" horizontal) pump
srusso
Active member
No negative effects noticed so far. Second week of covering it 100%. In fact growth seems greener now that lights are closer then before. The pH has stayed within normal rang. Plus I have a power head that pulls in a large tornado of air every 5 minutes or so. I was going to stop it but I started to like the effect...
Kind of like a wave rolling over... Now if I could just get the sound going also...
srusso
Active member
One thing I have noticed now is the larger tiger pods can now spend time on the scrubber. Never seen them inhabit the scrubber until I started using the "shower curtain", no negative effects noticed here either. I will see if I can snap a pic if it next time I see it. Maybe it's a better breading zone...
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