My New Algae Turf Scrubber, any sugestions?

[Atomic081]

My new Algae Turf Scrubber. Any Sugestions?

Im not sure about the flow. It takes more pressure than i thought to get water to flow all the way to the other end of the pipe. The pipe was cut with a table saw and the screen is held up in the slot with zip ties. 26w Bulbs, I might need up upgrade to 40w or add a few more lights.

 

[pneumaticbetta]

Looks good man!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Looks like an extremely large screen, how did you arrive at the size?

The feeding-based guideline says that you have 12 sq in of screen, lit on both sides, for every cube of food you feed per day. My recommendation past that is to increase that as much as double if you are running a larger tank. But going more than double what you feed can start to spread the growth out too much - restricting the space tends to force the algae to grow thicker and greener.

The flow should be about 35 GPH per inch of screen width, which might explain why you had to up the flow so much with such a wide screen. If you are able to scale the size down per the above guideline, that would increase the flow per inch (which is always better)

CFL Lighting should be in the range of 1W per square inch of screen, either total or per side. So if you had a 12x12 screen (144 sq in, LxW calculation) then you would want between 72 and 144 watts per side - which is a lot of light, but then again, that's only if you are feeding 12 cubes/day, which is what a 12x12 screen has for "capacity"

The other way to look at it is that your screen, large as it is, will be limited in it's "capacity" by the amount of light you throw at it. So with 5x 23w you have about 115W of light, which means you probably have a scrubber capacity in the 5 cube/day range, no matter how big the screen is.

So you could leave it like it is and see what happens, if it works for you, then great! If you want to use a smaller pump (less heat/energy injected into the system) or want to up the per-inch flow rate, make the screen narrower and use the same lights, or larger wattage lamps with larger reflectors.

There's more than one way to skin the cat here. Let me know if that helps and if you have any questions...

 

[Atomic081]

Looks like an extremely large screen, how did you arrive at the size?

The feeding-based guideline says that you have 12 sq in of screen, lit on both sides, for every cube of food you feed per day. My recommendation past that is to increase that as much as double if you are running a larger tank. But going more than double what you feed can start to spread the growth out too much - restricting the space tends to force the algae to grow thicker and greener.

The flow should be about 35 GPH per inch of screen width, which might explain why you had to up the flow so much with such a wide screen. If you are able to scale the size down per the above guideline, that would increase the flow per inch (which is always better)

CFL Lighting should be in the range of 1W per square inch of screen, either total or per side. So if you had a 12x12 screen (144 sq in, LxW calculation) then you would want between 72 and 144 watts per side - which is a lot of light, but then again, that's only if you are feeding 12 cubes/day, which is what a 12x12 screen has for "capacity"

The other way to look at it is that your screen, large as it is, will be limited in it's "capacity" by the amount of light you throw at it. So with 5x 23w you have about 115W of light, which means you probably have a scrubber capacity in the 5 cube/day range, no matter how big the screen is.

So you could leave it like it is and see what happens, if it works for you, then great! If you want to use a smaller pump (less heat/energy injected into the system) or want to up the per-inch flow rate, make the screen narrower and use the same lights, or larger wattage lamps with larger reflectors.

There's more than one way to skin the cat here. Let me know if that helps and if you have any questions...

Thanks for all the input, its definitely appreciated!!!


the Screen is 20x14 280sqin. This was the biggest screen I could fit in the area.
I have 5, 26w bulbs, so total 130w. I have another light fixture i was planning on using but due to my filtersock, i dont have alot of room. I definitelly am going to be limited by the amount of light i have output. I was gonna buy the 40w CFL bulbs, that would give me 200w (or 240 if i can it the other fixture in) but i figured i would try the cheaper 26w and i can always upgrade later if im not happy. All the fixtures were left over from my wedding last month. They gave the Ambient lighting around the venue and i have 22 more if i really need more. maybe just bigger reflectors.

The flow is ran off my Barracuda return pump for the tank. I regulate it with a gate valve.


I dont know exactly how many "cubes" i feed a day as i usually feed pellets 3x daily via auto feeder and rods reef whenever i am home.
stock list:
3 Yellow Tangs
1 Purple Tang
1 Sailfin Tang
1 Hippo Tang
1 Emperor Angel
1 Flame Angel
2 Snowflake Clowns
1 Anthias
1 Watchman Goby
and i plan on adding more.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Think of one of those Ocean Nutrition size cubes, that's a pretty good estimate (about 2-3 cubic cm)

If Rod's Food, 1 square inch is roughly 2 cubes, maybe a tad less.

Dry food is a little tougher, but it depends on how many pellets you feed. Let's say, with that stock list, that they're hungry buggars. So you feed heavy, like a teaspoon sized measuring spoon 3x/day of pellets and 1 sq in of Rods. That's probably on the order of 4-5 total cubes/day

Your screen is sized for 20 cubes/day. I would reduce it by half (half the width, same length) and re-orient all the lighting a bit so you have good coverage, 2 on one side and 3 on the other will be fine. Then you will be much better off, because higher flow / in and more intense light will yield better results in the long run.

 

[MorganAtlanta]

Higher flow and more concentrated light are definitely better, but I don't know that I'd cut it down to half (7 inches). Maybe 9 or 10 inches and try to concentrate the light in the first 9 or 10 inches of screen height wise. You might only be able to use two fixtures on each side, in which case I would bump up to higher wattage bulbs. I'm not convinced of the per-cube sizing guidelines. Personally, I haven't been able to feed that amount even with great growth, and am moving back to an "oversized" scrubber.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Morgan, have you tried increasing flow and light intensity? What I've seen is that once a screen is matured, you can ramp both of these up.

Also I had an extrusion company make me an ABS part that snaps over the slot pipe and acts as a light/spray blocker, and after I started using these, I found that the slot stayed nearly 100% clean even after 16-18 days growth, and that means no flow reduction throughout the growth period, which means better filtration for longer.

Couple that with blasting a mature screen with light and flow, the growth really takes off.

But I would tend to agree with you that there are instances where the "feeding guideline" can fall short. I know that you have been a scrubber user for quite a while so I would be interested to hear more.

But I kind got off topic...

 

[ca1ore]

Although I would only do it if I also ran a backup drain, I have been taking advantage of gravity by feeding my ATS off one of my tanks drains. Gives me plenty of flow for my 12" wide screen and doesn't require another pump.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

He's running it off of a tap from a Hammerhead return pump though. But I am a proponent of having either a backup drain or a bypass drain as well.

 

[SantaMonica]

How is is growing?