Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
would running the scrubber lights at night be more effecant then when the tank lights are on, As there is a larger amount of co2 in the water when the lights are turned off in the main tank.
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2099&PRODID=prd12195
or get at any craft or sewing store.
Yes they can be run opposite of the display lighting... works well.
or get at any craft or sewing store.
Yes they can be run opposite of the display lighting... works well.
Succeses of the Week:
small_ranchu on the MFK site: "Here is the progress on my goldfish tank. 90 gallon tank with 3 goldfish + heavy feeding. Nitrate reading at the end of the week is usually around 40 PPM with a lot of brown algae on the wall. After 1 month of installing the Scrubber filter, Nitrate reading is 10 PPM and brown algae is disappearing slowly."
argi on the MD site: "I set up my scrubber on my 54 gallon tank a few weeks after its initial set up (it has been running for around 3 months now). One thing I have noticed on this tank compared to all my past tanks is the lack of algae growing on the glass. In the past I always left a magnet cleaner in the tank because I would have to scrub the brown diatom algae off the glass at least once per week. Now with this current tank I haven't had to clean off the glass nearly as often. While I still clean it, usually weekly to every other week, I can still see in the tank after 2 weeks!!! So far I am very happy with the results."
johnt on the UR site: "after 10 weeks of running a screen I can say it's the best method I've used, it also takes out metals and other nasties, and I've not even reached the turf algae stage yet. In the 10 weeks it's been running I've not run any reactors or the skimmer (I'm saving a small fortune not having to buy phosphate remover). I'm still running the refugium, Chaeto and deep sand bed, all corals are doing exceptionaly well, N&P are remaining low and rocks are looking better by the day."
Elliott on RC: "I built one about 5 wks ago and so far it seems to be working well. My cyano has diminished and there is less cleaning to do on the glass."
Mtroboer on the MASA site: "my algae is already visibly starting to disappear after only 1 1/2 weeks! Also added a PC Server fan in front of the screen and dropped my temps from 29.8 avg to 25.8 avg, saved me from buying a energy hungry chiller! First time in little more than a year I got to see results regarding getting rid of nuisance algae as well as dropping my high tempratures!"
Keifer1122 on the RS site: "Aquapod 12 gallon update: Its been couple days short of a month, and still no water change, my N & P have been at zero for 3 weeks now. everything is still growing just daily dosing, daily 2-3 feeding times a day, and weekly scrubbing"
bigtanner on RC: "I built this little one for about $65, pump, light, and all plumbing needed. Some people frown on these things and some people praise them. It's about like anything else really. I have had success with mine. Since building it and hooking it up, my tank is basically algae free. I also went from running my magnet daily to only running it every three to four days. [...] I never have any bad algae in my tank, my water is always crystal clear, and since adding it, I run my magnet a lot less than I used to.
corinna on the AC site: "I started out as a sceptic, but after spending a fortune on phosphate absorbers, carbon, sponges, water changes etc, Im convinced. Two months in, ive not done a water change or cleaned the glass, just to see what happened. Zooanthids are reproducing, seahorses are fat and active, values are reading zeroes. Scallops are happy. Plus I feed a lot."
small_ranchu on the MFK site: "Here is the progress on my goldfish tank. 90 gallon tank with 3 goldfish + heavy feeding. Nitrate reading at the end of the week is usually around 40 PPM with a lot of brown algae on the wall. After 1 month of installing the Scrubber filter, Nitrate reading is 10 PPM and brown algae is disappearing slowly."
argi on the MD site: "I set up my scrubber on my 54 gallon tank a few weeks after its initial set up (it has been running for around 3 months now). One thing I have noticed on this tank compared to all my past tanks is the lack of algae growing on the glass. In the past I always left a magnet cleaner in the tank because I would have to scrub the brown diatom algae off the glass at least once per week. Now with this current tank I haven't had to clean off the glass nearly as often. While I still clean it, usually weekly to every other week, I can still see in the tank after 2 weeks!!! So far I am very happy with the results."
johnt on the UR site: "after 10 weeks of running a screen I can say it's the best method I've used, it also takes out metals and other nasties, and I've not even reached the turf algae stage yet. In the 10 weeks it's been running I've not run any reactors or the skimmer (I'm saving a small fortune not having to buy phosphate remover). I'm still running the refugium, Chaeto and deep sand bed, all corals are doing exceptionaly well, N&P are remaining low and rocks are looking better by the day."
Elliott on RC: "I built one about 5 wks ago and so far it seems to be working well. My cyano has diminished and there is less cleaning to do on the glass."
Mtroboer on the MASA site: "my algae is already visibly starting to disappear after only 1 1/2 weeks! Also added a PC Server fan in front of the screen and dropped my temps from 29.8 avg to 25.8 avg, saved me from buying a energy hungry chiller! First time in little more than a year I got to see results regarding getting rid of nuisance algae as well as dropping my high tempratures!"
Keifer1122 on the RS site: "Aquapod 12 gallon update: Its been couple days short of a month, and still no water change, my N & P have been at zero for 3 weeks now. everything is still growing just daily dosing, daily 2-3 feeding times a day, and weekly scrubbing"
bigtanner on RC: "I built this little one for about $65, pump, light, and all plumbing needed. Some people frown on these things and some people praise them. It's about like anything else really. I have had success with mine. Since building it and hooking it up, my tank is basically algae free. I also went from running my magnet daily to only running it every three to four days. [...] I never have any bad algae in my tank, my water is always crystal clear, and since adding it, I run my magnet a lot less than I used to.
corinna on the AC site: "I started out as a sceptic, but after spending a fortune on phosphate absorbers, carbon, sponges, water changes etc, Im convinced. Two months in, ive not done a water change or cleaned the glass, just to see what happened. Zooanthids are reproducing, seahorses are fat and active, values are reading zeroes. Scallops are happy. Plus I feed a lot."
Here's the issue with high flow that I'm talking about. My screen is undersized for my bio load (It fits the 1" per gallon guideline, but it grows algae so fast I have to clean it every few days.)
Here is 3-4 days of growth:
Now, you can see, towards the back, there is a dark stripe. This is where the slot got cut a little wider than everywhere else, so the water flows faster here than everywhere else. The strong flow tears the hear algae from the screen and deposits it in my filter bag, clogging it. This is why I contend that stronger flow is not necessarily better.
Another problem with the hair algae I have is just the damn mess - it hangs off the screen up to 18" long. My next scrubber will need to incorporate a better way to cope with this.
Here is 3-4 days of growth:
Now, you can see, towards the back, there is a dark stripe. This is where the slot got cut a little wider than everywhere else, so the water flows faster here than everywhere else. The strong flow tears the hear algae from the screen and deposits it in my filter bag, clogging it. This is why I contend that stronger flow is not necessarily better.
Another problem with the hair algae I have is just the damn mess - it hangs off the screen up to 18" long. My next scrubber will need to incorporate a better way to cope with this.
OK I see what is going on now. Notice that growth is less on both the near AND the far sides. In other words, away from the center of the light. Thus I now think that the issue is that the best growth is with the strong light (middle), and that's where it's breaking off from... not the end. I thus now don't think the flow is the problem.
Overall this is a good problem to have... so much growth. I think the way to solve it (without re-building) is to spread the growth of the green algae, properly, across the screen more evenly so it doesn't bunch up in the middle and break off. You would do this by using two weaker lights on each side, instead of the one stronger one. The weaker ones would be pointed to the sides of the screen instead of the middle. Then you'd have half the algae length, because you'd have twice the area. The way it is now, you effectively are using only half the width; that's why it's filling up so fast.
Maybe get one of the 2-to-1 lightbulb "Y" adapters. If not that, maybe you can point one of the lights to one end of the screen, and the other light to the other. This would at least help move some of the light energy away from the center, to the edges.
Anyway, you are correct, the length is way way too long. Currently you'd have to clean it daily for it to run properly. Spread that light out and it will be much better.
Overall this is a good problem to have... so much growth. I think the way to solve it (without re-building) is to spread the growth of the green algae, properly, across the screen more evenly so it doesn't bunch up in the middle and break off. You would do this by using two weaker lights on each side, instead of the one stronger one. The weaker ones would be pointed to the sides of the screen instead of the middle. Then you'd have half the algae length, because you'd have twice the area. The way it is now, you effectively are using only half the width; that's why it's filling up so fast.
Maybe get one of the 2-to-1 lightbulb "Y" adapters. If not that, maybe you can point one of the lights to one end of the screen, and the other light to the other. This would at least help move some of the light energy away from the center, to the edges.
Anyway, you are correct, the length is way way too long. Currently you'd have to clean it daily for it to run properly. Spread that light out and it will be much better.
Well after three months of testing color temps, I've determined that 3000K out performs 6500K. It's not a huge difference, but enough to notice. At first they are about equal, but as the green hair gets over an inch thick, the 3000K continues getting thicker until it hits the acrylic wall (at 1.5"), whereas the 6500 stalls and rarely grows enough to reach the wall. So I'm ordering all T5HO 3000K replacement bulbs.
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The Santa Monica Light-Screen
After much thought about design (but no ability to build), here is my version of a G3 scrubber:
A light-screen is a scrubber where the screen IS the light, and the light IS the screen. This changes the game when it come to scrubber performance in a small size. Unfortunately, you can't DIY these, unless you happen to be both a plastics engineer and an electronics engineer. However I thought that if I posted these, they may spark some ideas for regular scrubbers, or, someone may work for a manufacturer who can actually build them. I'll be the first to buy one.
As a reminder, G1 scrubbers are DIY sumps/buckets, while G2 scrubbers are enclosed acrylic boxes. G3 scrubbers have luminescent screens, whether they be LEDs, fiber optics, or lasers. My design is LEDs; so compared to buckets or acrylics, these plastic-covered LED light screens:
o Are ultra small/thin.
o Have no algae die-off (see drawing below).
o Are practically unbreakable.
o Are electrically safe (12 volts or less).
o Can be made as small as desired for nano's.
o Can easily be built into the hood of a nano.
o Are double-sided with almost no increase in size.
Disadvantages:
o They will be expensive (equivalent to good skimmers).
o They are impossible to DIY
Here is my version of a nano scrubber:
Same concept, just smaller, and replaces the skimmer, mechanical filter, and other filtering "devices" in pre-fab nano's like Aquapods, Red Sea Max's, etc. Would actually make nano's less expensive, better filtered, more compact, and more reliable.
.
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The Santa Monica Light-Screen
After much thought about design (but no ability to build), here is my version of a G3 scrubber:
A light-screen is a scrubber where the screen IS the light, and the light IS the screen. This changes the game when it come to scrubber performance in a small size. Unfortunately, you can't DIY these, unless you happen to be both a plastics engineer and an electronics engineer. However I thought that if I posted these, they may spark some ideas for regular scrubbers, or, someone may work for a manufacturer who can actually build them. I'll be the first to buy one.
As a reminder, G1 scrubbers are DIY sumps/buckets, while G2 scrubbers are enclosed acrylic boxes. G3 scrubbers have luminescent screens, whether they be LEDs, fiber optics, or lasers. My design is LEDs; so compared to buckets or acrylics, these plastic-covered LED light screens:
o Are ultra small/thin.
o Have no algae die-off (see drawing below).
o Are practically unbreakable.
o Are electrically safe (12 volts or less).
o Can be made as small as desired for nano's.
o Can easily be built into the hood of a nano.
o Are double-sided with almost no increase in size.
Disadvantages:
o They will be expensive (equivalent to good skimmers).
o They are impossible to DIY
Here is my version of a nano scrubber:
Same concept, just smaller, and replaces the skimmer, mechanical filter, and other filtering "devices" in pre-fab nano's like Aquapods, Red Sea Max's, etc. Would actually make nano's less expensive, better filtered, more compact, and more reliable.
.
.
The article I posted on the scrubber forum suggests that 5000k lights produce the maximum amount of PAR (Photosynthetic Available Radiation) per watt. 3000K were also strong, 6500k produce a fair bit of their radiation outside the PAR spectrum, so the input power goes to waste.SantaMonica;2547048; said:
Also, WRT your comment about the lamp causing the bunching in the middle - that photo does not show it well, but there is heavy green hair growth on the far side of the dark stripe as well, even further from the center of the light. The lack of growth at the near side could be due to extremely low flow there, as the water carries some of it's momentum into the scrubber tube, and it flows diagonally near the start, leaving a 1.5" strip of my screen starving for water flow. The hair grows everywhere, including on the acrylic filter holder under the screen, so I don't think the light intensity is a problem anywhere in the setup.
