SaltwaterAdict
New member
How big of a screen would you suggest for a 180g plus a 30g sump? Is it generally the bigger the better when it comes to sizing?
Algae Scrubber Basics
- Thread starter srusso
- Start date
Any thoughts on this light. I would like to order soon but if it won't work then i won't. I was going to put one on each side of the screen.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
If you can plumb from your overflow to ATS then to sump, you don't need a pump, but you need the right flow rate. If you don't have it, you have to correct it, or use a separate pump.
You don't need to include the sump volume into the calcs, so for a 180 it's just sized according to the GPH returning to your sump. For a tank that size, you're looking at something around 20 x 9 if you can get 700 GPH across the screen, and 8 lamps total. So a 4 lamp T5HO 24" fixture on each side, or 4 CFLs. T5HO will be a little more expensive up front, but you'll get better filtering power. If you don't have the $ for that though, design for it and start with CFL.
As far as PWCs go, if the only reason you are doing them is to reduce N and P, and you have a filter system that eliminates or controls the N and P, then you don't need PWCs. There are still other reasons people do them.
You don't need to include the sump volume into the calcs, so for a 180 it's just sized according to the GPH returning to your sump. For a tank that size, you're looking at something around 20 x 9 if you can get 700 GPH across the screen, and 8 lamps total. So a 4 lamp T5HO 24" fixture on each side, or 4 CFLs. T5HO will be a little more expensive up front, but you'll get better filtering power. If you don't have the $ for that though, design for it and start with CFL.
As far as PWCs go, if the only reason you are doing them is to reduce N and P, and you have a filter system that eliminates or controls the N and P, then you don't need PWCs. There are still other reasons people do them.
srusso
Active member
In the beginning when my tank was fish and softies... I didn't do a water change for 4+ months. I do 10 gallons a month now... Just to replenish what I don't dose.
srusso
Active member
They are not the right color, these are 6,000k you need 2,300k...
They are perfect for a fresh water planted nano tank though! Nice find!
TheFishMan65
New member
Turbo, I believe you have followed some of the LEDs threads and the summaries I have done. I look forward to seeing yours. I was actually thinking of doing one. But I don't understand this as well as LEDs. So to make it short if you would me to read/review it let me know.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Here is where I am at after a little over a week
Before cleaning, I presume? Looks like a good slime coat. Just gently rinse in slow running water to get the loose stuff off. Whatever sticks, leave alone.
Yes, and I love your LED threads. I learned quite a bit! Going to try to sum it all up the best I can, much of it is still the same as is on the scrubber site, but what's been covered here deserves a good summary.
Coral C's
New member
Before cleaning, I presume? Looks like a good slime coat. Just gently rinse in slow running water to get the loose stuff off. Whatever sticks, leave alone.
Yep, before cleaning. Excited that it is actually working
salty joe
Active member
If you have excess hose, you have excess flow resistance. Minimize the tubing length and maximize the tubing diameter for optimal flow.
srusso
Active member
That's correct, thanks for fixing my typo.
TheFishMan65
New member
Hey wait a minute they MOST DEFINITELY ARE NOT MY THREADS!!!
I only summarized and answer what I can just like you are doing here.I was thinking about that. I wanted to make sure it's working. And it is.
So, now to do weekly improvements to my build. This week I'll probably cut the hose down. I have 9 feet of hose and only ended up needing around 3-4ft. If I need longer due to design changes in the future I can always get couplers. The flow rate should be much improved eliminating around 5-6 ft of head. Even with the limited flow though, I'm getting a lot of algae growth! Goes to show that a little flow can go a long ways to limiting P&N. Increasing the flow should give me even better results this coming week.
SaltwaterAdict
New member
I thought 5500k-6500k was the best spectrum for growing plants? That's what I use for my chaeto and grow fast. Am I missing something?
SaltwaterAdict
New member
Cool, thanks for all the suggestions! As far as PWC's, I not going to cut those out, but space them out longer. I'm doing weekly and think I could get away with doing them every 3wks-mnth.
Great thread. Thanks for starting is Steve. I've been slowly ramping up to doing this for a while...
Now I'm ready to start hooking it up. But I find I've got a major question before I tear up my PVC plumbing hook this in...
Just how noisy is this puppy going to be?
I'll have 300 GPH coming out of a 10" slot running down one side of the mesh. My overflow already drives me nuts with the noise. Is this going to make the water noise just that much worse?
Thanks
- I built a nice little SCREAMINGLY bright LED array that is doing an outstanding job growing hair algae in my refugium. The plan was to use that on my turf scrubber. And to use the algae as seed material.
- Then I swapped out my Eheim 1250 for a 1260, doubling my return flow capacity.
- Then I took half that flow and plumbed to go right back to my sump where the scrubber will go.
- I got the plastic mesh, and wore my arms out with a hole saw.
- And had a wonderful session with my Dremmel, making a 1/8" slot in some 3/4" PVC.
Now I'm ready to start hooking it up. But I find I've got a major question before I tear up my PVC plumbing hook this in...
Just how noisy is this puppy going to be?
I'll have 300 GPH coming out of a 10" slot running down one side of the mesh. My overflow already drives me nuts with the noise. Is this going to make the water noise just that much worse?
Thanks
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Hey wait a minute they MOST DEFINITELY ARE NOT MY THREADS!!!
I should have said that I love your very informative summaries!!!
You are correct. But the 2700K lamps stimulate algae growth better. I can't remember why but I know that testing has shown that the algae for scrubbers grows best under 2700-3000K. I use are called "Red/Bloom Bulbs". Algae likes a lot of red spectrum.
On the tank I have the scrubber on, I've done 1 40 gallon PWC in 6 months and it's thriving. I dose Alk on a doser, Cal once a day, Mag when needed. I feed high-quality food that provides the trace elements. Tank is thriving.
Noise depends on your build type. If you have an open-screen, as long as you dip the bottom of the mesh into the sump, the waterfall screen will be very quiet. If you enclose it in a box, like mine, and have a drain, then you have the same noise issue generally that you have with a noisy overflow. So that's why the Santa Monica 100 comes with a lid, which makes it very quiet.
As for LEDs, check out Rygh's threads on the algae scrubber site. He has by far done the most research into LED. They are considered experimental at this point, but Rygh's build looks pretty good. You need to use lots of red, and WW not CW, and no RBs only a little blue.
The seed material may help a little bit, but there really is no way of getting around the screen break-in period, so don't expect a whole lot. The best bet woudl be to take a long strand and fish it through the mesh, and do this as much as possible.
When you say you will have the water running down one side of the mesh, what do you mean?
That's exactly what I was planning on doing. Thanks! Well, since I'm not worried about more water noise now - thank you - I can hook this puppy up!
Thanks for the tip. But I've read those threads until I'm blue in the face. Based on that read - and more - I've come to the conclusion that a combo of Far Reds plus Warm Whites would be ideal. And in-fact I've ordered some Far Reds that I had planned on putting on my Neutral White array that I'm running now. But honestly I don't see why I should bother. It's growing medium green colored hair algae like nobody's business. As far as I can tell, this little array is going to work just fine.
Thanks for the tip!
I'm only lighting one side. So rather than putting the mesh IN the PVC slot, I was planning on putting the top edge of the mesh next to the slot so that the water from the slot is coming out and running down one side of the mesh only. Is that a problem? Is there a reason why the other side - with no algae growing on it - needs water too?
Thanks.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I'm only lighting one side. So rather than putting the mesh IN the PVC slot, I was planning on putting the top edge of the mesh next to the slot so that the water from the slot is coming out and running down one side of the mesh only. Is that a problem? Is there a reason why the other side - with no algae growing on it - needs water too?
Thanks.
That's what I thought you were planning. That should be fine, except remember that you have to double the screen size for a one-sided scrubber, and move all the lighting to that side. So for a 100 gallon system you need a screen that measures (L x W) of 200 sq in.
Also you might need to adjust the slot width, since the 1/8" slot takes into account the fact that the screen is inserted into it, which spreads out the flow.
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