Algae Scrubber Basics

[SFish]

Yeah you "can"...it's not a very strong or useful bond though, at least, not to the ability of a DIYer. There is a way to structurally bond acrylic and PVC and Glass etc but that's a closely guarded secret by a few tank builders.

Looking at 1" bulk heads i'm not sure if one will fit. I'm going to pick up one and see how tight it will be. If I had to do you think two 3/4" drains would be fine? 1" is my first choice though. I know the smaller holes will get backed up faster and plug easier. 175gpd is pretty low flow though. The feed pipe is 3/4".

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Nah, just take a hacksaw to a 1" bulkhead and cut off 1/4" off of 2 sides, trim the gasket with a razor knife, good to go. It's been done many times, works fine. The flange on a 1" BRS bulkhead is 2.67" and the hole size is 1.67, so you can cut 1/2" off the flange (1/4" on both sides) and it will still be fully functional (for your purposes)

 

[SFish]

Says I need a 1.65" hole would a 1 and 3/4" hole work or is that going to be to small. Just wondering. I know that's a little bit bigger hole size they are saying to drill. The bottom is 3" wide. My main concern is having enough play so say the hole is a little off then am I not going to be able to get the bulkhead in.

Thanks

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

yeah that's just the "ideal" for a full seal in a tank/overflow/pressure situation. You could drill a 2" diameter hole and be OK for what you're doing, not a problem

 

[SFish]

Thanks Floyd

 

[iced98lx]

After about 10 days of 1 hour on 15 minutes off lighting. I did turn down the intensity a little about 5 days in as it had yellowed out a little.

Not a huge volume, but starting to see the sort of growth I expect algae type wise. Scraped and returned to ATS. Hopefully in 7 days it'll look like that or more again.

 

[jason2459]

Oh man I thought you were switching up to 24/7

 

[iced98lx]

Oh man I thought you were switching up to 24/7

I did for a few days but my screen quickly went yellow. Might go back to 24/7 when the screen is a little healthier

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Or you can dim the lighting down, find the point where the intensity it not too high as to cause yellowing, then you should be able to run long hours at that level

 

[mr9iron]

Floyd, is there any reason or benefit to run the photo period for 24 hours on a newly installed scrubber? I ask because I am hoping to kick start growth on my screen and then reduce to a 10 on 14 off schedule.


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[mpsteve]

What do I need to change on my scrubber to get an all green mat. As you can see the whole middle of the screen is a clear algae or oooze

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[SantaMonica]

Probably needs more light, but can't tell from the red.

 

[mpsteve]

It's clearish white, I will get a pic without the lights on tonight

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Floyd, is there any reason or benefit to run the photo period for 24 hours on a newly installed scrubber? I ask because I am hoping to kick start growth on my screen and then reduce to a 10 on 14 off schedule.

I would not - there is too much chance of photoinhibition = zero growth, even if you can dim the array down.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

What do I need to change on my scrubber to get an all green mat. As you can see the whole middle of the screen is a clear algae or oooze

That's photoinhibition. You don't need more light, your light is already too intense in the middle. If I had to guess I would say you are using a multichip fixture? If so that is creating a hotspot where you have so much intensity you are getting zero growth

My solution in this case is to diffuse the light right in front of the LED. You only need a very very small piece of diffuser (like 1cm square) but the problem is that most of those multichip fixtures have a shield that gets very hot, which is why they make them out of glass, so it's difficult to attach something to the glass without risking it melting or worse.

If you have your scrubber in an enclosure, or even with splash shields hanging between the light and the screen, you can put the diffuser on that

 

[mpsteve]

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[Floyd R Turbo]

@mpsteve what is your light fixture?

 

[mr9iron]

I would not - there is too much chance of photoinhibition = zero growth, even if you can dim the array down.

Floyd, thank you for that. I will just run it opposite of my tank light then.


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[mpsteve]

@mpsteve what is your light fixture?

Two of these

https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Garde...VETPC6CG3NG2MAD81&ie=UTF8&qid=1479331829&sr=1

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[Floyd R Turbo]

What are the dimensions of that fixture and the dimensions of the screen?