Are there any commercially available version of these turf scrubbers? I am not a huge DIYer. Most of these designs, although effective, kinda look like frankenstien setups. I know Santa Monica was contemplating marketing something that was a bit more enclosed and compact at one point, but I have never seen anything come of it. Since the powers that be where nice enough to ban him, I don't know if it ever went anywhere. Again this is not to slam anyones setup, I just don't have a bunch of space in my sump to clamp on a bunch of CFLs and also would rather avoid any waterfall noise that might be associated with the more open designs.
Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Well the new design is supposed to be released in May. So just hold on for a bit, most of the problems you are describing supposedly have been addressed. But he's not saying anything about it right now.
google algae scrubber and you will find many resources.
google algae scrubber and you will find many resources.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
multiple reasons, generally it was thought that he was trying to promote a product and he was also generally abrasive. What's funny is that he hasn't made any money on scrubbers in the last 3 years really. I think he only sold about 10 SM100s a year. he was all about getting the information out there about how to do this.
srusso
Active member
Mainly, it was b/c he PM some influential and well respected people here on RC, asked them to take a look at what he created. The thread started to go south and ended in a flame game... Some later reported him for "spamming" their RC inbox.
Heavy Hittah
New member
That's a Damn shame.
Hey guys, what do you think of this plug-n-play solution?
http://www.google.com/products/cata...en&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1118068739809086546#
I searched google shopping for "led grow light" and these PAR38 style, standard threaded Edison mogul base seem to fit the bill for ATS use. Looks like a blend of red and blue LED's.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...en&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=1118068739809086546#
I searched google shopping for "led grow light" and these PAR38 style, standard threaded Edison mogul base seem to fit the bill for ATS use. Looks like a blend of red and blue LED's.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
spectrum is right, lumens are good, probably would do well for a small screen, say 6x6 max one on each side. Still, 42 LEDs and 11W means they're either not high power LEDs, or if they are, they're running them at about 1/3 rated current. The lamp pic makes them look like 1W dies on a custom PCB so I'd venture to guess the latter. Not bad for $40
That's what I was thinking, you can't beat the price, and it might help those w/ heat issues.
Also, cool-factor.
Side-topic, does chaeto require the same red/blue LED array as "scrubber algaes" because I will get one of these now for my chaeto ball. (still haven't set up the ATS)
Also, cool-factor.
Side-topic, does chaeto require the same red/blue LED array as "scrubber algaes" because I will get one of these now for my chaeto ball. (still haven't set up the ATS)
121
Member
Say you set up a vertical screen and let it mature to critical mass without cleaning it. The copepods would eat away at the dead layer under the live algae and chunks would fall off. You could put a regular seed tray under the screen to catch the chunks and remove them as the appear. Would the screen not simply grow new algae over the bald patches?
121
Member
Not really, as it would presumably fall off in manageable chunks. The methods suggested in this thread are great but a quick turkey baste in the seed tray would beat scrubbing the tray every 4 or 7 days, but that's just me thinking extra lazy. I'll go ahead and start with this technique when I set up an ATS and report back with my water tests :jester:
srusso
Active member
More then that will happen... Pods are not the only reason you clean your screen. By removing that algae its like removing the food you added... You want to harvest your screen. You can not rely on pods to clean your screen... The lower layers of algae will dry off, as that is happening its releasing it's N and P back into the water. You would then continue to feed your fish and you will have only added to the problem... You feed, therefore you must harvest...
121
Member
I would be harvesting nutrients from the chunks that I remove from the seed tray. If that doesn't maintain a level of N and P suitable for hard to keep corals then I'll add another screen. I'm actually going to start this without a skimmer. You'll be surprised what can be achieved with a tweak or two by thinking out of the box 
Did you mean 'die' off, as the lower layers will not 'dry' off.
Did you mean 'die' off, as the lower layers will not 'dry' off.
Last edited:
srusso
Active member
I would be harvesting nutrients from the chunks that I remove from the seed tray. If that doesn't maintain a level of N and P suitable for hard to keep corals then I'll add another screen. I'm actually going to start this without a skimmer. You'll be surprised what can be achieved with a tweak or two by thinking out of the box
Did you mean 'die' off, as the lower layers will not 'dry' off.
Yes, auto correct changed die to dry... The lower layer will die off and release N and P...
so I will have the tank like this. with screen size is 10W x 18L for 180gallons display.
Will use 4 x 23W CF. The lights will be outside so no worry about flashing. The water will overflow thru the 1 1/2" (high) drain pipe to the sum.
1-with 1/8" flexi-glass is strong enough to handle ?
2-Box is 4" wide, so each bulb is about 3" away from the screen and 1" away from the glass.
with the configuration above, is there any flaw? Thanks.
Shin
catman78
New member
Do you think this bulb would work well?
http://ledwholesalers.hostedbyamazon.com/LED-BUDDING-FLOWERING-FRUITING-2502RD/dp/B001WBGI7K
http://ledwholesalers.hostedbyamazon.com/LED-BUDDING-FLOWERING-FRUITING-2502RD/dp/B001WBGI7K
Similar threads
