Algae Scrubber Basics

OK so right now I'm lighting my ATS 8"x10" with 2 CFL bulbs. I built an acrylic shield to keep the splash down but keep it clean. Anyways I see the algae growing clearly in circles on the sheet that are definetly caused by the circle of the CFL fixtures.
Anyways I'm going to build 2 led fixtures to light from both sides... my question basically comes to this. I'm planning to go with a neutral white led for all the bulbs ( I'm thinking 12 3w leds running around 500mA per side for 24 led total) but keep I seeing people using reds. I had experimented with feather calupera in my fuge awhile back and did 3 white on one half and 3 red on the other half and the white grew way better. They were cheap 3w ebay lids marketed as 660nm but they were definitely red...
Anyways any advice on red/white ratio or mA?
 
Make sure you use Deep Red 660nm not red 630nm though.

If you want, you can add some violets or blues also but these are stronger than the DRs at the same mA, so use them sparingly. You can use one blue/violet for every 8-12 reds, you don't really need much. So if you are planning for 12 per side, just use one blue/violet, or a pair of them and wire them in parallel with each other and place in series within the string.

For the violets, I would try the SemiLED hyper-violet from Steve's LEDs, which has a large 60 degree lens dome on it, then cut that off about halfway up with a thin razor blade and that will make the distribution wider. For Blues I like the Philips Luxeon ES but you can use anything really.
 
No, no whites. Only supplemental if any (one per 8-12 reds).

If full sheet is 12x18, you would want more like 24-48 per side. But that's only if you are feeding 18 cubes/day.

How much are you feeding? Screens are sized according to feeding now, not tank volume.
 
I feed roughly 2.5oz of mysis and a sheet sometimes 2 of nori daily. I'll up the lighting to 72 (36 per side) led and run them off a meanwell hlg 185h 42b driver. I'll go with mostly all reds then. Thanks
 
The display is a 550g plywood (8'x4'x28.5") and I have several large tangs and some big rabbit fish that make a mess. I notice the algae I'm having an issue with is kinda the same color of the nori I hang so I'm going to cut back to possibly every other day on that. I ordered the red leds today. Thanks and I'll post a pic when I get it built
 
Quick update -- so all of the changes I have done are working. The tanks are improving daily and the animals are looking better. The algae on the rocks is slowly going away. YAY! I keep reading about bald spots on the ATS -- I thought I read that this happens because the light is too close. Is that right? Also, the LED light bulbs that I use have blue, red, and white -- is that ok? They come as a regular round bulb and they are very convenient to use -- I just have them screwed into some regular gooseneck lamps that sit in front of the tank...
 
Just wondering guys, would I be able to use a pump with a Venturi on it (like in Tunze skimmers) to aerate and provide turbulence on a screen for an upflow scrubber in my rear chambers?
 
Ive got a 225 tank with 225 sump with maybe 350-400g of total volume.

I would like to know how big a piece of plastic mesh would I need for my system for algae growth? Also how much flow goes over the screen?

Sorry if these questions have been answered in the thread somewhere,my A.D.D wont let me read thru 250+ pages to find it! :smokin:

Thanks!
 
Check the posts in my signature. Generally size if scrubber is based on feeding but large size tanks add in a secondary factor IMO
 
hey Keg, these guys can get you set up. We need to know how many cubes a day you feed your system and we can go from there. Just read those posts Floyd pointed to in his sig.
 
kegogut said:
Ive got a 225 tank with 225 sump with maybe 350-400g of total volume.

I would like to know how big a piece of plastic mesh would I need for my system for algae growth? Also how much flow goes over the screen?
Click to expand...

kegogut said:
I read some of the posts and I guess I feed an equivalent of maybe 2 cubes a day.
Click to expand...

The guideline says you only need a 24 sq in screen for that, lit on both sides. Bu with nearly 400 gallons in the system, if you had a 6" wide 4" tall screen with the standard flow rate of 35 GPH/in of screen width, that's only 210 GPH, or 1/2 of your tank volume per hour. IMO, that's where the secondary factor comes in.

I haven't really developed a guideline or a rule-of-thumb for this, but it would seem to make sense that you would want to match your scrubber flow rate to your tank gallons, at a minimum. So that means a 12" wide scrubber and 400 GPH over it, or 1 turn/hr. I think the more the better, but going past a 12" wide screen and you get into space issues, plus you start to get oversized. Usually I recommend not going larger than 2x what you feed, which in your case, would be a 48 sq in scrubber (4 cubes/day) which puts you at 12x4, 10x5, 7x7, 8x8, etc.

Also, if you have other filtration in the system, these are going to each take care of part of the feeding load. In a larger tank this make sense because A) you have the space for all that filtration and B) filtration diversity is a good thing.

So really any scrubber, 2-4 cubes/day, is going to complement whatever you have running and probably work well for you.

If you wanted to run scrubber-only, I would go with a 4 cube/day scrubber and see how that works for you over a longer term. Depending on how well it is constructed, it might do the job just fine. There are individual tank factors, and the larger the tank the more factors there are, so all I can do is get you in the ballpark.

kegogut said:
Yea. I can run it off my manifold with no problems
Click to expand...

Manifold fed works great because you can tweak the flow easily. The only thing to consider is that the manifold provides water that has already passed through the other filtration components, and this can mean that the maturing phase of the screen might take a bit longer. If you're running an LED scrubber, it's easy to photosaturate so run no more than 9 hrs/day at first, less if you don't get any growth in the first 7 days, etc.

HTH
Bud
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

adova
300g DIY Acrylic Tank Recommendations
Replies
5
Views
167
griss
griss
Jyetman
All my corals and live rock now in my scrubber tank
Replies
2
Views
383
Jyetman
Jyetman
D
Can I use Fiji 12 Sump skimmer compartment for cheat fuge?
Replies
7
Views
423
griss
griss
A
Fleece filter bypass problems (Innovitech X filter)
Replies
1
Views
68
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
chemchris
WTS IM 14 Gallon complete setup $800
Replies
0
Views
322
chemchris
chemchris
Back
Top