dcantucson
Reef pro
Thanks for posting all those. Looks like there will be a pro manufactured version sometime soon. BTW beautiful tank!
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
project5k
Reef enthusiast
yea, seeing all the different ways of doing this makes me feel better about how i was planning on making it fit into my system...
my biggest question at this point is this:
what kind, and how much light do i need?
I'm actually thinking about making mine into a 4 foot long, 4 inch wide traugh, and mounting a 4' t5 single bulb shop light over it, and then having that run diagonally down from my overflow into my sump...
thoughts?
the other idea that i had was to use some of thoes clear bulb protector tubes, rough them up on the inside, and then have the water run through thoes, like say 4 of them in parallel, and then have the lights shine through, then when they start to gunk up, you can take one out and clean it, and leave the other 3 alone, and just rotate through them 1 at a time...
the only reason i thought of this is cause i have some serious green growth in the clear tubing that i have coming out of my fuge return pump going up to the tank return sprayer...
my biggest question at this point is this:
what kind, and how much light do i need?
I'm actually thinking about making mine into a 4 foot long, 4 inch wide traugh, and mounting a 4' t5 single bulb shop light over it, and then having that run diagonally down from my overflow into my sump...
thoughts?
the other idea that i had was to use some of thoes clear bulb protector tubes, rough them up on the inside, and then have the water run through thoes, like say 4 of them in parallel, and then have the lights shine through, then when they start to gunk up, you can take one out and clean it, and leave the other 3 alone, and just rotate through them 1 at a time...
the only reason i thought of this is cause i have some serious green growth in the clear tubing that i have coming out of my fuge return pump going up to the tank return sprayer...
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Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Yea, excellent examples. It gave me quite a few ideas that are much better than what I was planning to do.
bjohanson1234
.........
We do think the same sometimes.
I am planning on building one inside my tank hood since I do not have a sump or fuge. I have about 4 to 5 inches of clearance to do it in. Except mine will only be 4 x 24 inches.
I dont see why your idea with the plastic tubes wouldnt work. Might be hard to actually clean out though
Brian
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Finally found some time to work on my own version of it. I took the idea of the latest one that allowing the removal of the plastic canvas, also noticed that more ply = more algae so I went with 2 plys.
I drilled a few holes to a 1/4" tube and tie the 2 plastic canvas together.
It doesn't have to be a tube. I just want something to be able to insert into the 3/4" pipe slot and be able to remove it them out easily for weekly cleaning.
Done. Put it into my existing 5g refugium. Left side of the 3/4" pipe that holds the plastic canvas is not glue down as you can see the lack of the purple primer there.
Side view:
I drilled a few holes to a 1/4" tube and tie the 2 plastic canvas together.
It doesn't have to be a tube. I just want something to be able to insert into the 3/4" pipe slot and be able to remove it them out easily for weekly cleaning.
Done. Put it into my existing 5g refugium. Left side of the 3/4" pipe that holds the plastic canvas is not glue down as you can see the lack of the purple primer there.
Side view:
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SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Algae require different light than your eyes do. Algae likes a "redder" light. So get a "plant grow" light (also called just a "grow light"), or a yellowish-green light. Anything from 2000K to 3000K, although up to 6500K will work. The cheapest, lightest, proven light would be a CFL floodlight like this:
23 Watt R40 Compact Fluorescent Flood 2700K Warm White CFL
It just needs a clip-on socket. It's thin glass so it's lightweight, and the clip-on won't start slipping down. And it does not require a metal reflector, which is heavy and cumbersome. For a screen 12" X 12", you'd want one bulb per side. For a bigger screen, or for more powerful filtering, use two per side.
Next up in power (and cost, weight, and electricity) are the high power CFL's that are specific plant-grow lights, like these:
SH Hydroponics, Inc. > Dual Spectrum 65 High Output Fluorescent Light Kit
And for big screens like 24" X 24", and heavy-nutrient tanks, a mega-power CFL grow-light like this on each side of the screen will work:
Compact Fluorescent Plant Grow Lights & Fixtures by Hydrofarm at Home Harvest Garden Supply (2700K version)
No matter which one you get, replace the bulbs every three months, unless you want to "experiment" with how weak they can get before you have problems.
CFL Reflectors: Although it would just be easier to use CFL floodlights (which does not need a reflector), below are some reflectors you can use with regular CFL bulbs. You can find many others by searching for "CFL reflector", or by going to any hydroponics or gardening store:
Grow Light Reflectors, Optional Air Cool Fittings and Glass Lens - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights
Mylar Reflective Film - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights
For those who wish to experiment with LEDs, start out by trying one of these on both sides of your screen:
led grow lights -Sunshine Systems : The GlowPanel 45 LED Grow Light
Not enough light. You want two T5's. Try to get 0.5 Watts per gallon, at least
Won't work. Too little area, and when algae build up on the side near the light, it will block light from reach the other parts of the tube.
Wes: Excellent light placement.
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Thank you!
How much water flow should there be? Just enough to cover the plastic canvas, or more is better?
EDIT: nvm. Just re-read the first post and I'll need 36gph for each inch width of the screen. I'm pretty sure I can't get it exactly 36 gph/inch, is a bit more better, or a little less?
How much water flow should there be? Just enough to cover the plastic canvas, or more is better?
EDIT: nvm. Just re-read the first post and I'll need 36gph for each inch width of the screen. I'm pretty sure I can't get it exactly 36 gph/inch, is a bit more better, or a little less?
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imdaring
love my reef
I removed my skimmer on Thursday June 25th I'm going to test my water to see how things are going
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
I thought the skimmer remove different stuff than the Scrubber does.
imdaring
love my reef
here is a private message that I recieved from SantaMonica
Originally Posted by imdaring
a person still needs a skimmer right?
No skimmers needed. They just remove food from the water. See here:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/...c.php?f=9&t=68
Originally Posted by imdaring
a person still needs a skimmer right?
No skimmers needed. They just remove food from the water. See here:
http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/...c.php?f=9&t=68
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Skimmer could remove inorganic objects and also food or loose algae or just about anything before they break down that could be absorb by the scrubber. but... yea, i guess for the final "purpose" of what the skimmer/scrubber does, I guess it is possible to not having a skimmer...
imdaring
love my reef
I pulled mine to clean it so I thought I would see how it went with out it, being I already had it out.. I will be testing my water tomorrow to see if there is a change it will be 4 days with out the skimmer
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
When I went to the craft store, they have a few different ones. Some with bigger holes and some with smaller holes (and more dense). They are like #7, #10, #14, etc. Would the bigger holes or smaller holes ones better?
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Since my nitrate and phosphate is already at zero, I can only count on how much algae left over in the display tanks. I installed the scrubber last night and we went out the whole day today and only fed the fishes only once in the morning until 9pm tonight. When I got home, there were obvious lack of loose algae particle in the water column. There were also only very little algae on the front glass edge where it usually have a film on algae by day end. Either it's because I didn't feed the tank the whole day or the scrubber is already working. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I'm gonna do the usually heavy feeding. :D
imdaring
love my reef
I have # 7.. make sure you rough up the screen with something I missed that part and had to remove it to do so..
I built mine because I had to clean my glass every day because of green algae and then to top it off I had a Brown algae break out it had covered the bottom of my sand bed it looked like slime, the first week of having my scrubber hooked up I only cleaned my glass 1 time, now on my 2nd week I have not had to clean it at all and the brown algae is almost gone :^:
I built mine because I had to clean my glass every day because of green algae and then to top it off I had a Brown algae break out it had covered the bottom of my sand bed it looked like slime, the first week of having my scrubber hooked up I only cleaned my glass 1 time, now on my 2nd week I have not had to clean it at all and the brown algae is almost gone :^:
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
I used a electric sander to "try" to rough it up, but it ended up even smoother than before. lol
imdaring
love my reef
I used a cheese grater from my kitchen that was the only thing I had LOL
project5k
Reef enthusiast
i was playing around with an idea that i had this weekend, and i thought id see what ya'll think about it..
rather than having a hanging screen, what if i took a length of say 4" pvc pipe, maybe 3 feet long, split it in half, so that i have a pair of traughs or half circles, put a light over it, and run the water down it from my overflow into my sump... if i take some screen or something like gutter guard or soemthing like that, and line the bottom of the pvc traugh, would that work?
let me know if i need to either draw something, or need a better explination...
rather than having a hanging screen, what if i took a length of say 4" pvc pipe, maybe 3 feet long, split it in half, so that i have a pair of traughs or half circles, put a light over it, and run the water down it from my overflow into my sump... if i take some screen or something like gutter guard or soemthing like that, and line the bottom of the pvc traugh, would that work?
let me know if i need to either draw something, or need a better explination...
imdaring
love my reef
SantaMonica
I removed my skimmer on Thursday and I tested my water today this is what I came up with
KH = (9) 161.1 :D
Cal=(18) 460 :D
Nitrite= 0 :D
Nitrate= 5.0 Small spike :ugh:
amonia= 0 :D
phosphate= .25 small spike :ugh:
ph = 7.61 with a ph meter ??? is this to low?? it will run about like this all the time
I had a hair algae porblem in my sump and I removed all of that when I built the scrubber on 6/10 by placing turbo snails in the sump so that is all gone so I'm thinking that is why I have the Nitrate and Phoshate spike and I have also had a huge brown algea problem on my main tanks sand bed and that is about 3/4 of the way gone, should I put the skimmer back in the sump or should I just let it go and see what happens???
I removed my skimmer on Thursday and I tested my water today this is what I came up with
KH = (9) 161.1 :D
Cal=(18) 460 :D
Nitrite= 0 :D
Nitrate= 5.0 Small spike :ugh:
amonia= 0 :D
phosphate= .25 small spike :ugh:
ph = 7.61 with a ph meter ??? is this to low?? it will run about like this all the time
I had a hair algae porblem in my sump and I removed all of that when I built the scrubber on 6/10 by placing turbo snails in the sump so that is all gone so I'm thinking that is why I have the Nitrate and Phoshate spike and I have also had a huge brown algea problem on my main tanks sand bed and that is about 3/4 of the way gone, should I put the skimmer back in the sump or should I just let it go and see what happens???
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Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Second day now, and I continue my heavy feeding. Still no algae on front glass (that's usually the most obvious place that I see). Still no tiny floating algae in the water column. The water is crystal clear! I'm starting to worry that my blenny and the snails will be running out of food soon.
The plastic canvas starting to have some brownish algae growth here are there. Pretty much everywhere except the dead center where it's closest to the light bulb. I think the light maybe too close to it? I think it's only about 2" away. Would running it 24x7 hurt it? Should I give it a rest during the day for a few hours? I really like to keep it running even during the day since it seems to really help control the algae growth in the DT.
The plastic canvas starting to have some brownish algae growth here are there. Pretty much everywhere except the dead center where it's closest to the light bulb. I think the light maybe too close to it? I think it's only about 2" away. Would running it 24x7 hurt it? Should I give it a rest during the day for a few hours? I really like to keep it running even during the day since it seems to really help control the algae growth in the DT.
