Algae Scrubber Basics

[BCool]

Here is an update. Screen after one week under my flood lamp. Again, my tank is cycling with no livestock. Where it starts to fade is where it is submursed under water.


Here is some green growth taking hold, little clumps.

 

[daytek]

Looking good,can we see some pics of the lights please

 

[BCool]

I have it mounted behind my tank.

Nice construction

 

[daytek]

Looks well made Are you only lighting one side of your screen

 

[BCool]

Yes, it is in my overflow.

 

[daytek]

considering your only using one 20W led on that screen,i think it looks great

 

[lewk]

That does look decent. Just ordered a couple 10 watt versions.

 

[herring_fish]

.... I went ahead and ordered a couple. 2 x 36W bulbs - 2:1; Red:Blue; 8:4 (not ideal) ....

What would be ideal? Would you have a slightly different set up if you are going through glass that is in addition to the fixture enclosure?

Dear adhiii,

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Lily

It looks like you can order custom color mixes so what would be the best LED set up for algae scrubbers?



On a side note. Wouldn't these be good for those all blue LEDs that are replacing T5 actinics? It looks like, at that price, a couple of these on a 6 foot tank would be plenty. Add your metal halide(s) or high end LEDs for the white sun(s) and you are set and with more shimmer.

Am I off base or missing something? This is not my strong suit so I need a little help here with some critical thinking.

 

[_shorty_]

What would be ideal? Would you have a slightly different set up if you are going through glass that is in addition to the fixture enclosure?

I wish I would have known they could customize them!

I just meant the ratio of red to blue. I think the current 'standard' or recommendation is either 5:1 or 6:1 ratio of red:blue. And now Floyd even recommends less intensity on those blues (parallelling the blues if making your own). The ones I bought and listed are a 2:1 ratio. 8 x 3W Reds and 4 x 3W blues. So not 'ideal' as far as current recommendations go, but I'm assuming should still provide good growth (which is why I ordered a couple). I should have them within a day or two so will report back in a couple weeks.

I don't know if I fully understand what you mean by different setup, but I don't think that I'd change anything going through thin glass or clear acrylic. May consider exceptions to that if I started getting into glass over 1/2" thick, and or water thickness if screen is submerged. In my very limited experience I think (in general terms) the UAS and other submerged screens can handle more light intensity (higher wattage and/or closer to the screen) than the waterfall.

*BTW - I ordered the par38 36W grow bulbs, not these floodlights that others have been talking about. Sorry if that wasn't clear in my original message. I'll have to go back and read it.

 

[daytek]

Would it be better to just have all red 660nm and no blue at all.

 

[herring_fish]

Shorty Yea, I knew what you where trying to say. That is why I cut it down to just that part of the quote.

Thanks for the ratios. Please do post what you think of them and results at they unfold.

 

[ganjero]

has the floating scrubber been finished?

 

[JustinGr]

I spent some time talking with Derek of Beef's Reef a while back and he told me the same, that Morgan is constantly working on projects. I just went to their site and I see their product quick descriptions and prices but no pictures, not even on the forum which doesn't really look to be active for the past year. So I guess you have to live near Terre Haute to see their products. Not even a cruddy cell phone camera pic for a $700 scrubber, really? I think I can see the reason why he claims it has taken 20 years trying to get his product into the mainstread without success - zero marketing!

He claims (as does Adey) that turf algae boasts 10 to 100 times the nutrient absorbing capacity of other algaes. I'm willing to bet a lot of $$ that information is based on 30 year old data, because that's all we have, scientifically.

...and we probably will never have that data, because there is no money in it for anyone.

As for the marketing, yes, there is room for improvement. I was there last week and he had 30+ of the new racers on the shelf, and the larger twin dumps were on the floor for sale, he sells a bunch of them, but it is to his local crowd I guess. He told me there will be a marketing push soon. Until then, it is what it is. He has an incredible shop.

 

[_shorty_]

Would it be better to just have all red 660nm and no blue at all.

I don't know a lot of detail here, but even though red probably works on its own, blue is also considered a high energy (or highly utilized) spectrum in regards to photosynthesis for green plants.

Chlorophyll-a: 430nm/662nm
Chlorophyll-b: 453nm/642nm
Carotenoids: 449nm/475nm

 

[SantaMonica]

Here is the lighting unit for the soon to be posted floating scrubber version. Could be used for macro sumps too.

 

[salty joe]

I don't know a lot of detail here, but even though red probably works on its own, blue is also considered a high energy (or highly utilized) spectrum in regards to photosynthesis for green plants.

Chlorophyll-a: 430nm/662nm
Chlorophyll-b: 453nm/642nm
Carotenoids: 449nm/475nm

Which is exactly why I've always expected blue to grow as much if not more per watt than red . Plus, red is generally for flowering and blue is for vegetative growth. Throw in the fact that you get more light per watt from blue LEDs than red LEDs and I gotta believe blue just might be a winner. IDK, but if someone checks it out before I do, please let us know.

 

[herring_fish]

Wow, this is interesting. So the best LED color lighting mix is not a settled set of ratios. There has to be more or a track record for growing everything from tomatoes to pot and from seaweed to phytoplankton.

Is there information that indicates that optimal lighting for hair algae is different than for other plants?

 

[salty joe]

I have seen action spectra, the different wavelengths absorbed by different plants, (it's been quite awhile, I think that's what it was called) for different marine algaes and they were not the same.

I always seemed to hit a paywall before getting much info. Really ****es me off because this is from universties-seems to me I've already paid for it as I am a taxpayer. We need more open source info....but I digress.

 

[salty joe]

SantaMonica, in the floating LED fixture you call for the top of the heatsink to be painted flat black to reduce heat. How does painting a heatsink make it work better?

 

[degibson84]

Will this angle be an issue?