jason2459
Well-known member
Don't do anything very quickly in this hobby. Especially at the beginning.
Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
Don't do anything very quickly in this hobby. Especially at the beginning.
Jason- thanks man I appreciate it, but it's not nearly my first tank setup I had a 29 nano reef/55 fowlr/180 SPS dominated mixed reef/12jbj Zoas and LPS tank. All I was trying to say was I am in the middle of the build, I don't have much room in my sump or stand, so if I wanted to incorporate a scrubber in my new system I would have to design it into the system fairly soon. Sorry i just woke up, I should have worded it differently.
jason2459
Well-known member
All good. I'm on my 4th "cup" of coffee.
I personally will always run a skimmer. It's relatively cheap with no recurring costs on media. Maintenance is relatively easy as well. Take the top off periodically and clean it out. People reduce maintenance on them as well with "lockers" that the skimmate drains out of the collection cup to and a neck cleaner like swabbie that cleans it out.
Then there's the added benefit of aeration which could help boost pH with out chemicals and altering alk if setup right. If you are dosing some kind of carbon source like vinegar or vodka to drive up bacteria count and reduce nitrate/phosphates then the aeration will help as well as some of the bacteria consumes oxygen.
That said, there are some tanks that successfully run with out skimmers.
I personally will always run a skimmer. It's relatively cheap with no recurring costs on media. Maintenance is relatively easy as well. Take the top off periodically and clean it out. People reduce maintenance on them as well with "lockers" that the skimmate drains out of the collection cup to and a neck cleaner like swabbie that cleans it out.
Then there's the added benefit of aeration which could help boost pH with out chemicals and altering alk if setup right. If you are dosing some kind of carbon source like vinegar or vodka to drive up bacteria count and reduce nitrate/phosphates then the aeration will help as well as some of the bacteria consumes oxygen.
That said, there are some tanks that successfully run with out skimmers.
hkgar
Active member
What are the down sides of running a scrubber that is over sized? I have a 6x9 screen and only feed about 2 cubes a day. I get a lot of growth in a week. And my skimmer is a Life Reef rated up to 400 G
I am about to switch my scrubber from being feed overflow line which I can't control, to a feed from the return pump line with a gate valve. Also overflow pipe is 1.25 inch and the feed from the return will be 3/4. How far from the screen should the lighting be? I will be using a 225 LED's; 165 Red LED lights (640-650nm wavelength) + 60 Blue LED lights ( 460-465 nm wavelength) 45 Watts on each side. I am currently lighting one side (as stated in an earlier post) with this light, but will now do both sides.
I am about to switch my scrubber from being feed overflow line which I can't control, to a feed from the return pump line with a gate valve. Also overflow pipe is 1.25 inch and the feed from the return will be 3/4. How far from the screen should the lighting be? I will be using a 225 LED's; 165 Red LED lights (640-650nm wavelength) + 60 Blue LED lights ( 460-465 nm wavelength) 45 Watts on each side. I am currently lighting one side (as stated in an earlier post) with this light, but will now do both sides.
Last edited:
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
If it is growing well for you and keeping everything in check, then not really much of a downside for your specific setup.
Generally speaking though the larger the scrubber, the more flow you need (bigger pump = heat), it takes up more space, you need more light power (heat, watts, etc).
So of course you scale these back with a smaller scrubber. If you have problems getting growth on a very oversized screen, sometimes this can be attributed to the algae being spread too thin. From what I've seen, you're usually going to get the amount of growth that your system (feeding, etc) can sustain regardless of screen size, to a certain extent.
6x9 and 2 cubes/day is not vastly oversized. Remember that screen size is only one factor. If you light it with the same amount of light as you would for a 2 cube/day screen, then your scrubber is limited by that. Same goes for flow, and roughness to an extent as well.
Generally speaking though the larger the scrubber, the more flow you need (bigger pump = heat), it takes up more space, you need more light power (heat, watts, etc).
So of course you scale these back with a smaller scrubber. If you have problems getting growth on a very oversized screen, sometimes this can be attributed to the algae being spread too thin. From what I've seen, you're usually going to get the amount of growth that your system (feeding, etc) can sustain regardless of screen size, to a certain extent.
6x9 and 2 cubes/day is not vastly oversized. Remember that screen size is only one factor. If you light it with the same amount of light as you would for a 2 cube/day screen, then your scrubber is limited by that. Same goes for flow, and roughness to an extent as well.
hkgar
Active member
Bet you responded while I was editing my post as your response was there when I saved my edits.
I have a question about light set up distance
I am about to switch my scrubber from being feed overflow line which I can't control, to a feed from the return pump line with a gate valve. Also overflow pipe is 1.25 inch and the feed from the return will be 3/4. How far from the screen should the lighting be? I will be using a 225 LED's; 165 Red LED lights (640-650nm wavelength) + 60 Blue LED lights ( 460-465 nm wavelength) 45 Watts on each side. I am currently lighting one side (as stated in an earlier post) with this light, but will now do both sides.
I have a question about light set up distance
I am about to switch my scrubber from being feed overflow line which I can't control, to a feed from the return pump line with a gate valve. Also overflow pipe is 1.25 inch and the feed from the return will be 3/4. How far from the screen should the lighting be? I will be using a 225 LED's; 165 Red LED lights (640-650nm wavelength) + 60 Blue LED lights ( 460-465 nm wavelength) 45 Watts on each side. I am currently lighting one side (as stated in an earlier post) with this light, but will now do both sides.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
If you're referring to something like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/45W-225-LED...ug-/331612571070?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368
I would be careful. At least this is not the 14W version, which doesn't work (not enough intensity). I've found that intensity is very key.
45W/225 = 0.2W per LED.
These large low-power arrays work well for getting your screen started because they won't overpower the screen and cause photosaturation, but after the screen matures they just don't have enough punch to grow thick algae. The light is not intense enough to penetrate deep into the mat and keep the base growth illuminated, so you get nice green growth, but it will stay pretty thin. This might not be quite as bad with this 45W version vs the 14W version, but I haven't seen much success using this type of fixture.
To get big globs of green growth that doesn't detach, you need high power LEDs, mimimum 1W and more effectively 3W. I prefer Philips Luxeon ES 660nm Deep Red but Cree makes a DR now as well, though I haven't seen much about these.
For a 6x9 screen = 54 sq in, I recommend one DR on each side of every 4-8 sq in, so between 6 and 14 per side. Shoot for the middle and arrange then with as even spacing as you can, so maybe 9 in a rectangle pattern. But then this involves some DIY and a heat sink & driver.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Ah. I would say you can get that light literally as close as you can safely put it. That's how to get the intensity out of it.
It's actually better growth than I've ever seen out of that form factor of light. I would still say though that the fixture somewhat limits the amount of algae you will be able to grow. Here's my guideline for high power LEDs
So if you follow my recommendation for a pre-made fixture of 0.5W/sq in, that would mean:
9x6 = 54, 54 * 0.5 = 27W at the wall.
Theoretically, that 45W fixture should work, the issue is the individual LEDs themselves are not very powerful, so maybe the fact that it is nearly double the "27W at the wall" is helping. My guideline above is only valid for 1W and above individually rated LEDs.
All that being said, it's obviously working on your screen on one side so I don't see why it wouldn't work on the other side also. Even if you "de rate" the fixtures by 50%, you're still in line with the guideline, so I'd say you're good
It's actually better growth than I've ever seen out of that form factor of light. I would still say though that the fixture somewhat limits the amount of algae you will be able to grow. Here's my guideline for high power LEDs
So if you follow my recommendation for a pre-made fixture of 0.5W/sq in, that would mean:
9x6 = 54, 54 * 0.5 = 27W at the wall.
Theoretically, that 45W fixture should work, the issue is the individual LEDs themselves are not very powerful, so maybe the fact that it is nearly double the "27W at the wall" is helping. My guideline above is only valid for 1W and above individually rated LEDs.
All that being said, it's obviously working on your screen on one side so I don't see why it wouldn't work on the other side also. Even if you "de rate" the fixtures by 50%, you're still in line with the guideline, so I'd say you're good
j.p. harrington
New member
i need some help with lighting which i know is probably the #1 thing asked here. but when it comes to led's i am clueless as to what to do.
my tank is going to be a 34 gallon deep blue rimless rr tank with a 40b for a sump. i would normally run a large fuge for filtration but due to extra space requirements i want to make what would be my fuge section a frag tank instead of keeping them in the main tank and cluttering it up.
with all that said i will at the most be feeding 2 cubes a day more likely 1/2 to 1 cube depending on what i decide to stock. i should also mention i am wanting to light this screen from one side. also i have the room to do a waterfall type or a upflow so recommendations on that also please
so i guess what im really needing to know is how many Luxeon ES 660nm Deep Reds i need is that the only color i need and what else do i need as far as a heat sink and driver and such.
if someone could help me out with a list or a link or part numbers i would greatly appreciate the help!
thanks in advance
my tank is going to be a 34 gallon deep blue rimless rr tank with a 40b for a sump. i would normally run a large fuge for filtration but due to extra space requirements i want to make what would be my fuge section a frag tank instead of keeping them in the main tank and cluttering it up.
with all that said i will at the most be feeding 2 cubes a day more likely 1/2 to 1 cube depending on what i decide to stock. i should also mention i am wanting to light this screen from one side. also i have the room to do a waterfall type or a upflow so recommendations on that also please
so i guess what im really needing to know is how many Luxeon ES 660nm Deep Reds i need is that the only color i need and what else do i need as far as a heat sink and driver and such.
if someone could help me out with a list or a link or part numbers i would greatly appreciate the help!
thanks in advance
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
JP, look at the post right above yours for my guideline. It is coverage-based, so once you figure out your screen size, just take the LxW and divide by 8 (low light) or 4 (high light) and that's your quantity.
For a single sided screen, I would aim for the higher end to make up for the fact that you won't have any light penetrating to the base from the other side.
So if you wanted to do a 1 cube/day screen, that's 24 sq in (which would be a 2 cube/day double-sided screen)
24 / 4 = 6
24 / 8 = 3
6 is a good number for this size screen because you space them out 2" on center and have 2 rows of 3.
You can use just about an heat sink you want, I think the MakersLED heat sinks are the easiest to DIY and you can change the configuration easily if you want to.
For a single sided screen, I would aim for the higher end to make up for the fact that you won't have any light penetrating to the base from the other side.
So if you wanted to do a 1 cube/day screen, that's 24 sq in (which would be a 2 cube/day double-sided screen)
24 / 4 = 6
24 / 8 = 3
6 is a good number for this size screen because you space them out 2" on center and have 2 rows of 3.
You can use just about an heat sink you want, I think the MakersLED heat sinks are the easiest to DIY and you can change the configuration easily if you want to.
jason2459
Well-known member
Thanks so much Floyd R Turbo!! You've made a great product and the support and follow through in helping me get this going has been awesome and very much appreciated.
Latest cleaning last night about 1 week from the last one. Algae was thicker and holding a lot more water. I think I had a little flow issue on the far side of the screen and increased the flow a bit.
Posted in my tank journal.
Latest cleaning last night about 1 week from the last one. Algae was thicker and holding a lot more water. I think I had a little flow issue on the far side of the screen and increased the flow a bit.
Posted in my tank journal.
I think it's been hair over a week since I scrubbed the algae turf scrubber. I'll be getting in a new apex base unit tomorrow and I'll be playing around with that and I know I won't be able to do anything Wednesday night so I decided to pull out the screen tonight and do a quick scrape and scrub like last time.
It was definitely thicker this time and held a lot more water. I did notice the far side from the water input was much lighter in growth. I went ahead and bumped up the flow very slightly but it's still not fully opened up.
Just pulled front
Back
Lights are on 12 hours over night. Blues are still diffused with scotch tape.
I also haven't changed anything else filtering wise. Skimmer still producing like a champ, 1% water change a day, vinegar dosing around 90ml/day. Etc.
I guess the one change I did do was the CO2 scrubber a couple weeks ago. Brought display tank pH from around 7.8-7.9 to a solid 8.2+.
wildman926
Active member
X2!
I just put my lights in series for higher output, and I am seeing great growth! Something you may try.
jason2459
Well-known member
Yep, he just suggest I bump up either the intensity or length of time the lights run. On my next scrubbing I'll move the jumper over on one of the sides and see what happens.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Here's my basis for the light levels, as I currently see it...subject to change, as always!
I've had people argue with me about SMD LEDs vs high power PCB mounted LEDs and at this point, here's where I stand with that:
Low power and SMD LEDs do work to grow algae. The issue becomes, how well do they work in the long run? And I'm not referring to length of life, I'm referring to stages of growth of the scrubber.
A low power LED, if they are packed together for good coverage, will cause a new screen to grow algae, now problem. The problem is, from what I am starting to see, that once you reach a certain thickness of growth, the lower power LEDs don't have enough "punch" to get light through the thick growth to the base of the screen where the algae attaches. The result is, die off. So you have to clean the screen when it gets to a thickness that is enough to cause this. This is a bit of trial and error based on your screen and your system, so it's hard to say "X day when using Y LED for Z hours".
A high power LED will have enough "punch" to keep the base growth alive longer, in most cases. The longer you can let a screen grow without die-off, the stronger the scrubber will be over time (long run), because you have a large mat of algae that is growing at every level. When you remove all that algae, yes it grows back but the uptake is likely to be much less for the next few days after cleaning vs what it would have been could you have let it grow for 2 more days.
So here's where the trick comes in. You want a lower power array for starting the screen up, and then when you get to the point where it grows thick enough to self-shade, punch that light intensity up. Around that same point in time is when your screen reaches "maturity", when a good amount of the holes are filled in after you scrape it. That leftover algae is capable of accepting the higher intensity light, and it can grow back fast. Until the screen gets to that point, higher intensity light can easily result in bare spots on the screen (photosaturation).
So the bottom line here is that it is my opinion that lower power LEDs will only be effective at growing algae to a certain point. After that, you need high intensity light to get growth that can stay attached for a longer growth cycle.
Not saying that you can't use lower power LEDs. You certainly can, but there will likely be a limitation on thickness of growth you can achieve compared to high power LEDs.
There are also caveats to all of this, such as an ultra-low nutrient tank, where you just don't have the nutrients to support much algae growth. I've also seen instances where screens seem to be growing fine and then they suddenly turn start white (which I call "whiting")...can't explain that one yet.
I've had people argue with me about SMD LEDs vs high power PCB mounted LEDs and at this point, here's where I stand with that:
Low power and SMD LEDs do work to grow algae. The issue becomes, how well do they work in the long run? And I'm not referring to length of life, I'm referring to stages of growth of the scrubber.
A low power LED, if they are packed together for good coverage, will cause a new screen to grow algae, now problem. The problem is, from what I am starting to see, that once you reach a certain thickness of growth, the lower power LEDs don't have enough "punch" to get light through the thick growth to the base of the screen where the algae attaches. The result is, die off. So you have to clean the screen when it gets to a thickness that is enough to cause this. This is a bit of trial and error based on your screen and your system, so it's hard to say "X day when using Y LED for Z hours".
A high power LED will have enough "punch" to keep the base growth alive longer, in most cases. The longer you can let a screen grow without die-off, the stronger the scrubber will be over time (long run), because you have a large mat of algae that is growing at every level. When you remove all that algae, yes it grows back but the uptake is likely to be much less for the next few days after cleaning vs what it would have been could you have let it grow for 2 more days.
So here's where the trick comes in. You want a lower power array for starting the screen up, and then when you get to the point where it grows thick enough to self-shade, punch that light intensity up. Around that same point in time is when your screen reaches "maturity", when a good amount of the holes are filled in after you scrape it. That leftover algae is capable of accepting the higher intensity light, and it can grow back fast. Until the screen gets to that point, higher intensity light can easily result in bare spots on the screen (photosaturation).
So the bottom line here is that it is my opinion that lower power LEDs will only be effective at growing algae to a certain point. After that, you need high intensity light to get growth that can stay attached for a longer growth cycle.
Not saying that you can't use lower power LEDs. You certainly can, but there will likely be a limitation on thickness of growth you can achieve compared to high power LEDs.
There are also caveats to all of this, such as an ultra-low nutrient tank, where you just don't have the nutrients to support much algae growth. I've also seen instances where screens seem to be growing fine and then they suddenly turn start white (which I call "whiting")...can't explain that one yet.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Yes, and that is kind of my point. If you build a screen that is the right size for you (based on feeding) and then put a weak lamp on it, then the scrubber capacity is limited by the lamp strength, and thus you have to de-rate it. So if you build what you think is a 4 cube/day scrubber and you can only get a thin mat of growth that you must remove before growth hits the exponential phase because the light is inadequate, then you don't really have a 4 cube/day scrubber.
That's why you have to be careful what light you buy.
That's why you have to be careful what light you buy.
hkgar
Active member
Do you sell plu and play lights for us technically challenged?
Or, maybe a simple to put together kit?
My scrubber, lessons learned, and questions as I build my new one
My scrubber, lessons learned, and questions as I build my new one
Hi all,
I ran a DIY scrubber for about 3 years, until a failure of my Osmolator killed my tank in one day (off topic lesson #1, no matter what top up system you use, never keep enough water in your top off reservoir to harm your tank, and use a salinity meter with alarm!). Most of you know this, now I do too.. Currently re-curing my rock and upgrading to a Mainland 150 Deep Dimensions, which is a tank I have wanted for a long time. I have some lessons learned, and a couple of questions to hopefully make my next scrubber better. Apologies in advance if these questions are fully answered, I searched and read but this and other threads are huge"¦.
Anyways, my system was a 2 sided vertical cascade, with LEDs on each side. I used MakersLED heatsinks on my second attempt (highly recommend, easy to work with and hang in any orientation) with 21 3W LEDs each side. 14 deep red, 5 royal blue, and 2 white just for fun. Overkill for my system it turned out, but I put a dimmer on and generally ran them at about 40-50% - when I first set out I didn't really know how things would work out so I overbuilt. 12 on/12 off out of phase with the main tank. Now that I'm putting together a larger tank, I may run them harder.
It worked, it kept nutrients down, my skimmer rarely had to do much, and best of all perhaps it was a reservoir for pods, micro stars, and so on, far better it seems than my refugium. Every time I scraped it I'd spend half an hour rescuing pods and other critters to toss back in the tank, sometimes got a couple hundred"¦.
Lessons learned:
1. keep flow very high. If you see brown algae or lots of scum, its too low. Correct with more flow or a smaller screen. I don't think it can be too high"¦ High flow would always give me good clean green algae. I know someone with a horizontal system, and he uses a 3500 gph powerhead to run water over it, looks crazy but definitely works!
1a. Make sure the water nozzles are out of the light. I built mine based on a common design with a length of 1.5" PVC, with a slot cut in the bottom where the screen was attached. But, the slot had light shining on it, big mistake, algae would quickly clog things and interrupt the flow, leading to dead spots on the screen (see lesson 1). I redesigned with a shaded (and larger) nozzle, worked far better.
2. Pay attention to it, its not good as a set it and forget it system. Worst problem I had was a 10 day vacation (I didn't clean it before I left, thought it would make it, my fault there). Fish sitter way overfed, scrubber overgrew, and the whole thing crashed leading to a 2 month long hair algae problem in my tank"¦. People talk about the stink of a scrubber, well mine didn't really smell except when it overgrew. This one smelled like the time I came across a dead dolphin"¦ Scraping it is a pain, no doubt, but putting it off when its full is worse.
3. If you hate microbubbles, plumb and design it carefully. They can splash, especially the vertical ones. And even the most careful design can't account for algae deciding to grow in a big lump and toss water around
4. Overload with light, and design your system so that it can be tuned up or down. Just makes things easier than if you guess wrong and can't make an easy change. LEDs are great for this, if not the cheapest option.
So, my new one will be single sided at an angle with water flowing over the algae, I'm hoping that this will help even out the water flow and reduce the bubbles a bit if I design the bottom of it well (suggestions?) I am also hoping for advice on other nutrients.
When my scrubber was running and growing well, I had a heck of a time keeping magnesium and iodine up, especially iodine. I didn't really experiment much, but when I turned it off I did seem to have less trouble. Its not surprising that the algae would remove some ions (hey, they need to live too), but my dosing would often be 5x-10x what I should need for my system (based on reading other's experiences). I did water changes still, and everything else seemed OK, so I don't think it was some other issue with chemistry - at least not one I could detect with the available kits (and I did check the kits). I've seen this mentioned before, and there is fair discussion about this sort of issue with mangroves, but I was wondering if anyone has experienced it and come up with a solution that does not involve dosing at levels that always did make me nervous. Or have an idea of what else may be up. I've thought about the pods - crustaceans do take up a lot of iodine and I did remove a lot of pods with my algae, but that seems like it would have to be really a lot... I'm thinking not likely, but if anyone has other ideas.
Thanks much for your thoughts
My scrubber, lessons learned, and questions as I build my new one
Hi all,
I ran a DIY scrubber for about 3 years, until a failure of my Osmolator killed my tank in one day (off topic lesson #1, no matter what top up system you use, never keep enough water in your top off reservoir to harm your tank, and use a salinity meter with alarm!). Most of you know this, now I do too.. Currently re-curing my rock and upgrading to a Mainland 150 Deep Dimensions, which is a tank I have wanted for a long time. I have some lessons learned, and a couple of questions to hopefully make my next scrubber better. Apologies in advance if these questions are fully answered, I searched and read but this and other threads are huge"¦.
Anyways, my system was a 2 sided vertical cascade, with LEDs on each side. I used MakersLED heatsinks on my second attempt (highly recommend, easy to work with and hang in any orientation) with 21 3W LEDs each side. 14 deep red, 5 royal blue, and 2 white just for fun. Overkill for my system it turned out, but I put a dimmer on and generally ran them at about 40-50% - when I first set out I didn't really know how things would work out so I overbuilt. 12 on/12 off out of phase with the main tank. Now that I'm putting together a larger tank, I may run them harder.
It worked, it kept nutrients down, my skimmer rarely had to do much, and best of all perhaps it was a reservoir for pods, micro stars, and so on, far better it seems than my refugium. Every time I scraped it I'd spend half an hour rescuing pods and other critters to toss back in the tank, sometimes got a couple hundred"¦.
Lessons learned:
1. keep flow very high. If you see brown algae or lots of scum, its too low. Correct with more flow or a smaller screen. I don't think it can be too high"¦ High flow would always give me good clean green algae. I know someone with a horizontal system, and he uses a 3500 gph powerhead to run water over it, looks crazy but definitely works!
1a. Make sure the water nozzles are out of the light. I built mine based on a common design with a length of 1.5" PVC, with a slot cut in the bottom where the screen was attached. But, the slot had light shining on it, big mistake, algae would quickly clog things and interrupt the flow, leading to dead spots on the screen (see lesson 1). I redesigned with a shaded (and larger) nozzle, worked far better.
2. Pay attention to it, its not good as a set it and forget it system. Worst problem I had was a 10 day vacation (I didn't clean it before I left, thought it would make it, my fault there). Fish sitter way overfed, scrubber overgrew, and the whole thing crashed leading to a 2 month long hair algae problem in my tank"¦. People talk about the stink of a scrubber, well mine didn't really smell except when it overgrew. This one smelled like the time I came across a dead dolphin"¦ Scraping it is a pain, no doubt, but putting it off when its full is worse.
3. If you hate microbubbles, plumb and design it carefully. They can splash, especially the vertical ones. And even the most careful design can't account for algae deciding to grow in a big lump and toss water around
4. Overload with light, and design your system so that it can be tuned up or down. Just makes things easier than if you guess wrong and can't make an easy change. LEDs are great for this, if not the cheapest option.
So, my new one will be single sided at an angle with water flowing over the algae, I'm hoping that this will help even out the water flow and reduce the bubbles a bit if I design the bottom of it well (suggestions?) I am also hoping for advice on other nutrients.
When my scrubber was running and growing well, I had a heck of a time keeping magnesium and iodine up, especially iodine. I didn't really experiment much, but when I turned it off I did seem to have less trouble. Its not surprising that the algae would remove some ions (hey, they need to live too), but my dosing would often be 5x-10x what I should need for my system (based on reading other's experiences). I did water changes still, and everything else seemed OK, so I don't think it was some other issue with chemistry - at least not one I could detect with the available kits (and I did check the kits). I've seen this mentioned before, and there is fair discussion about this sort of issue with mangroves, but I was wondering if anyone has experienced it and come up with a solution that does not involve dosing at levels that always did make me nervous. Or have an idea of what else may be up. I've thought about the pods - crustaceans do take up a lot of iodine and I did remove a lot of pods with my algae, but that seems like it would have to be really a lot... I'm thinking not likely, but if anyone has other ideas.
Thanks much for your thoughts
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I've never had any issue with Mag uptake. In fact I had 3 tanks tested last week via AWT and all 3 showed good levels of Mag, high even. Potassium is the one that was low, in the 100s on 2 tanks even though my tests showed them in the 200s (which is still low). Alk is the one that is most commonly noted as dropping, but that's not what I've seen on my tanks either, and I grow a lot of algae on the scrubbers I run. Never really tested iodine/iodide much either.
As far as your lessons learned, very good obervations. A few comments:
1) flow - this is really dependent on the overall system + scrubber. You can get away with lower flow in certain situations, it just becomes a limiting factor, and lighting should really be adjusted in concert
1a) nozzles/slot - can't agree more. Since I started using something to block the light to the slot/screen junction, growth is marked increased as there is no significant backpressure on the source/pump
2) Also agree, and this is also system-dependent. I run some that can go 14+ days, others I could easily clean in 6 days.
3) yup. Always plan for the worst!
4) I would amend this to say "if you overload with light, allow for dimming" and this is the latest thing that I have discovered really makes a big difference when it comes to LED lighting. You can knock down LED lights with diffuser and other techniques, but the best results seem to come from using a lot of LEDs to get good even coverage and then dimming them to match the system's needs. Initially the dimming being very low for the break-in stage, then ramping up as the screen matures and it can handle the incident light.
On the vertical/slanted single-sided setup, this might work for you but watch for signs of detachment. You might be surprised at how much more quickly this can happen simply be removing the light from the other side. Even adding a waterproof low-power SMD ribbon strip to the back side (if it's clear acrylic) might be enough to extend the growth period by several days, simply by supplying the shaded base of the screen with a little light.
The steeper the slant, the better, as you tend to get more water passing over the top of the growth substrate/screen the more horizontal you go.
the only other recommendation I would make is to ditch the Royal Blues and use Hyper Violets instead (semiLEDs from Steve's LEDs are my choice)
As far as your lessons learned, very good obervations. A few comments:
1) flow - this is really dependent on the overall system + scrubber. You can get away with lower flow in certain situations, it just becomes a limiting factor, and lighting should really be adjusted in concert
1a) nozzles/slot - can't agree more. Since I started using something to block the light to the slot/screen junction, growth is marked increased as there is no significant backpressure on the source/pump
2) Also agree, and this is also system-dependent. I run some that can go 14+ days, others I could easily clean in 6 days.
3) yup. Always plan for the worst!
4) I would amend this to say "if you overload with light, allow for dimming" and this is the latest thing that I have discovered really makes a big difference when it comes to LED lighting. You can knock down LED lights with diffuser and other techniques, but the best results seem to come from using a lot of LEDs to get good even coverage and then dimming them to match the system's needs. Initially the dimming being very low for the break-in stage, then ramping up as the screen matures and it can handle the incident light.
On the vertical/slanted single-sided setup, this might work for you but watch for signs of detachment. You might be surprised at how much more quickly this can happen simply be removing the light from the other side. Even adding a waterproof low-power SMD ribbon strip to the back side (if it's clear acrylic) might be enough to extend the growth period by several days, simply by supplying the shaded base of the screen with a little light.
The steeper the slant, the better, as you tend to get more water passing over the top of the growth substrate/screen the more horizontal you go.
the only other recommendation I would make is to ditch the Royal Blues and use Hyper Violets instead (semiLEDs from Steve's LEDs are my choice)
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