Algae Scrubber Basics

[Brian DeGolier]

The Hoove, that's great, I'll keep your design in mind if things don't go so well with my my redesign. What size tank do you have?

 

[TheHoove]

The Hoove, that's great, I'll keep your design in mind if things don't go so well with my my redesign. What size tank do you have?

75 gal with 30 gal sump/fuge. 2 small clown, 2 gobies, 1 blenny, madarin. Lots of developing corals. Feed 1 cube frozen every other day. Once or twice a week a cube of coral food, and clam chunks to lps.

 

[srusso]

First, what a great thread this is. I've read start to finish and it's been very motivating- big applause for every contributer. I joined RC specifically out of admiration of this thread. So my question is, has anyone done a comparison with traditional vs upflow algae scrubber? I just put a UAS in the sump 6 days ago using an airstone attached to roughened screen. Trying to transition over to scrubber instead of carbon (no debates, just an experiment). I can try to document some results if there's anyone interested in UAS.

Thank you, and welcome to the scrubber club!

Flyod has/had intensions of doing a direct compairison, but I dont think he has started it yet. From my own direct expirience and monitoring the work of others, I believe the UAS will be a good addition for nano's and tanks without sumps. When placed directly agenst each other "I BELIEVE" or "my prediction" is the waterfall will "win". The way I see it, the algae that grows on a waterfall scrubber has "erned" its right to grow there, uptakes nutrients faster and better then the UAS would.

Yes there is need for a compairion, one on one, scrubber on scrubber, UAS vs WF. It would be great if you could do a compairison. Keep us posted, and Thank you

 

[Eurobeaner]

OK, noob to ATS here. have had a salt tank for 2 years now. current one is overran by algae after i turned my skimmer off. (tired of all the overflowing)

trying a dump bucket....kinda... style. cost me a total of $18 worth of acrylic and weldon, and have PLENTY of each left. so no loss if this does not work. ill update with progress. when i get home tonight, ill have an updated pic of where it will sit in the sump. hopefully this will work. lol

 

[srusso]

OK, noob to ATS here. have had a salt tank for 2 years now. current one is overran by algae after i turned my skimmer off. (tired of all the overflowing)

trying a dump bucket....kinda... style. cost me a total of $18 worth of acrylic and weldon, and have PLENTY of each left. so no loss if this does not work. ill update with progress. when i get home tonight, ill have an updated pic of where it will sit in the sump. hopefully this will work. lol

Great design! How does the hinge part work? I like the seesaw, double dump bucket scrubber! Very cool, good luck with your build! Use LEDs if you can, keep us posted. Most of all, welcome to the scrubber club!

 

[Eurobeaner]

thanks!

the hinge consists of a piece of acrylic on edge, that has been rounded, and 2 pieces of acrylic on the bottom of the tray to keep it from moving back and forth.

heres it in the sump.

and video. still have changes to make, like put a glob of silicone down so the tray isnt loud when it dumps, and also get some loc-line for it so the water does not go everywhere like it is now. lol.

 

[one clownfish]

Led question

Led question

I have all of my LEDs and started the build today. My question is, what is the ratio of 660nm to 630nm? I've read the recommendation for red to blue is 7:1 but nothing for the red to red ratio. I'm putting (2-3) 420nm in there too. I've been using the 2700k 40watt cfl's and there not growing anything, after 2weeks. The screen is green all over when I clean it but turns brown/black after a few days. My lights are 3.5" away from the screen, are they to close and burning the alage causing it to turn brown/black?

 

[srusso]

I have all of my LEDs and started the build today. My question is, what is the ratio of 660nm to 630nm? I've read the recommendation for red to blue is 7:1 but nothing for the red to red ratio. I'm putting (2-3) 420nm in there too. I've been using the 2700k 40watt cfl's and there not growing anything, after 2weeks. The screen is green all over when I clean it but turns brown/black after a few days. My lights are 3.5" away from the screen, are they to close and burning the alage causing it to turn brown/black?

Good growth can take about a month or longer depending on the available nutrients in your tank. It should be cleaned every seven days even in the beginning. If you have other filter methods it can extend this even longer.

That said, what size screen, how much are you feeding?

As for the LEDs red 660 and 630... I think your playing in uncharted territory.. That said, a mix of both reds should in theory help...? In the end, you tell us. Thank you for contributing! Keep us posted!

 

[JHawlz9989]

Alright guys I'm planning an ATS for my personal tank (20g) as well, and I would like you guys to double check everything and make sure I'm doing it right.

I measured 80 gph from the overflow, which gives me around 2 1/4" of screen width to play with. I was going to make it 6" long, lit from one side. Right now, I have:
-3 Phillips 660nm and 2 Cree 630 nm
-Dimmable nano driver w/ potentiometer
-1.4"x12" heatsink. (All of this is from RapidLED if you're not sure what some of it is.)

Does the driver take care of the AC/DC voltage switch? It looks like it takes 100-240 AC input, but I'm not 100% certain.

Where do you guys get your diffusers from? Since the screen is so narrow and with 3W chips, does that necessitate putting them closer and using a diffuser? I would also think the diffuser would be good since I'm using two different wavelengths...

Thanks in advance,

Josh

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I use the Plaskolite Clear Prismatic Ceiling Panel from Lowe's, I believe it's this one:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_18427-1638-...32&Ntt=plaskolite&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

Just make sure it's not "frosted" or whitish in any way, the one I buy has a white & green sticker on it.

As far as the driver, any LED driver should take universal voltage input and convert this to DC current, that is the basic principle of all constant current LED drivers.

About the screen, 2.25 x 6 = 13.5 call it 12, single sided means it's a 1/2 cube/day scrubber, and for that you would want all 12-13 watts (CFL) on one side, or half to equal (rated) wattage of LEDs, so that would be 2 to 4 3W LEDs. So with that taken into consideration, I would say you would be fine with 3 or 4 reds, 5 may be a bit much. But who is to say for sure, it might work great for you, if it's too much light, add another diffuser, or reduce hours.

But yeah I would put close and diffuse

 

[one clownfish]

I just finished my Led build (9) 660nm, (6) 630nm, (2) 420nm and (2) 455nm all on a MW lpc-35-700. I wasn't sure if the driver would fire all of them, I'm pushing it to the max plus a little bit. I'm replacing (2) 40 watt cfl's, they've been running 2.5 weeks, 18hrs/day. I'm getting a little growth on the scrubber screen but nothing great. My question is, how many hours a day should I run the Led fixture and how far away should the fixture be from the screen?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Sounds like too much for the driver, not sure what Vf and If you're getting, so I would check that. However if they are firing then you are probably getting enough light to compare/replace the CFLs. Is this all on one side? Pictures would help a lot.

 

[stevetcg]

I just rebuilt my skimmer to use the overflow feed instead of a pump (which constantly had to be cleaned or flow would die). My screen is 6 wide by 8 long. I am pushing as much through it as it will take - the slotted tube has an overflow so anything that cant get out the slot goes through a seperate filter.

I was lighting it with 1 23w CFL per side, but have decided to switch to LEDs. I accidentally ordered the 620nm reds.

I feed about 1 cube every 2-3 days.

Am I ok?

 

[srusso]

I just rebuilt my skimmer to use the overflow feed instead of a pump (which constantly had to be cleaned or flow would die). My screen is 6 wide by 8 long. I am pushing as much through it as it will take - the slotted tube has an overflow so anything that cant get out the slot goes through a seperate filter.

I was lighting it with 1 23w CFL per side, but have decided to switch to LEDs. I accidentally ordered the 620nm reds.

I feed about 1 cube every 2-3 days.

Am I ok?

I think the 620nm should grow well enough. You should consider feeding at least once a day, but that said, I have no clue what's in your tank... So grain of salt...

 

[stevetcg]

I think the 620nm should grow well enough. You should consider feeding at least once a day, but that said, I have no clue what's in your tank... So grain of salt...

A 1 inch maroon clownfish, a mandarin goby, 2 3-4 inch BTAs and then assorted zoa, leathers and LPS, in a 44 pentagon with 8gal fuge, LED lit.

Edit: I do feed every day, but it comes to < 1/2 cube a day.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

stevetcg, your screen is pretty large - sized for the tank vs for feeding. How is your growth? More importantly, how does your tank look, and how does the water test?

 

[srusso]

A 1 inch maroon clownfish, a mandarin goby, 2 3-4 inch BTAs and then assorted zoa, leathers and LPS, in a 44 pentagon with 8gal fuge, LED lit.

Edit: I do feed every day, but it comes to < 1/2 cube a day.

Oh I see, thank you for clarifying.

 

[stevetcg]

stevetcg, your screen is pretty large - sized for the tank vs for feeding. How is your growth? More importantly, how does your tank look, and how does the water test?

Water tests perfect - tank looks like garbage. Ive only been running this scrubber for 2 weeks. I had neglected my tank before, went on vacation, overfed, ignored the scrubber and basically crashed the tank. Im in recovery mode now. I rebuilt the scrubber with a new screen and plumbing. I am swapping out CFLs for the LEDs today. There is some decent growth on the screen already, dark green, with the CFLs.

 

[stevetcg]

So... good news bad news... the bad news... as I was hooking up my LEDs in the sump I guess I got the connector wet. When I plugged it in, spark, flash, pop, LEDs all dead.

Good news... I can replace them with the 660nm now. :/

 

[Reg the reefer]

Ok forgive the NOOB in the room but do folks running ATS still run protein skimmers, ozone, GFO, and/or carbon dosing? I am still of the mindset of not giving up my protein skimmer and ozone however I would like to start controlling phosphates with ATS and a larger refugium.