imdaring
love my reef
they say 18 hours on 6 hours off
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
i see. I guess I'll let it rest in the evening when I don't have the HCI light on, and turn it back on when all lights are off.
imdaring
love my reef
I have mine trun off at 9pm and on at 3am
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Yep. Plus, your scrubber is not really working yet. When you can fill a bowl of algae from a cleaning, then it's really working. The more algae you can clean off, the more filtering it is doing.
24 hours is causing the problem.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
so i guess no one liked my half pipe idea then...
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
It's a different animal. Very few have been done. Water flow is too slow. Waste gets trapped.
imdaring
love my reef
well I decided to hook my skimmer back up till I know the algae scrubber is completely working the way it should, so I snapped on tube and just did the HOB option till then, otherwise I have to try and get it back in my LITTLE 10 gal sump :scratchch
project5k
Reef enthusiast
can you explain how the water flow is too slow? or how waste would get trapped any more so in my idea than any other?
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
I didn't read into your posted detail but from what I perceive from glancing your post, it was using a half pipe like a rain gutter that is not hanging vertically. As long as it's not hanging vertically, it would be slower and would trap stuff.
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Just found some 32W (150W) Soft White 2700K from Home Depot. Would that be too much light? Or is it always more the better deal?
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
nvm. Just saw that you have links to some high power light as well.
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Those are very good, but use reflectors.
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Just did. Those blubs are huge!!
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Back them away another 2" or so. Make sure they are off 6 hours a day. You might even start at 8 hours. And flow needs to be very strong on all parts of the screen.
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Update: Best way to rough up your plastic canvas:
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Good idea! Mine is already running should I take it out and rough it up using a hole saw? Did he just hold the saw and scrub it on the canvas or did he used a power drill at slow speed?
Here is my 1 week old plastic canvas. My Nitrate and Phosphate was already at zero before I installed this algae scrubber. I guess that's why it doesn't look as impressive as the other people's? Every since I installed the algae scrubber, no more green film of algae on the front glass now.
Here is my 1 week old plastic canvas. My Nitrate and Phosphate was already at zero before I installed this algae scrubber. I guess that's why it doesn't look as impressive as the other people's? Every since I installed the algae scrubber, no more green film of algae on the front glass now.
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Yes rough it up now. No power, just by hand.
Yours will grow like everyone elses, once it's started.
Yours will grow like everyone elses, once it's started.
SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Update: Signs of scrubbers wearing out
Since my acrylic scrubber is approching one year old, it's the first one to experience signs of wearing out. Of course I'm also experimenting with large amounts of continuous feeding (which makes things worse), but I'm still seeing some of the same signs in other peoples' scrubbers, even though they are feeding normal amounts, and even though they've replaced the bulbs every 3 months. This is typically what starts happening:
Glass-cleaning is needed more often
Scrubber starts growing darker algae
pH stays at a lower point
Rocks get a light green covering
Cyano starts showing up
Nitrate and phosphate start staying at higher levels
What is probably happening (and what happened to mine) was that the flow had been greatly reduced to the scrubber. My screen is 22" wide, and only half of it was getting any flow at all (I'm surprised half of it did not die); the other half was still getting some flow, but it was so little that the bottom of the scrubber was almost dry. My problem was the pump:
This is a case of scrubbers causing their own unique problem. When you run a scrubber (without skimmers or mechanical filters), not only do the corals and small fish get much more of the food that you feed, but you will also grow all sorts of filter feeders like the ones you see all over the pump in the picture. They grew all through the display, of course (to be eaten by a wrasse), but they also grew up into the impeller area of the scrubber pump, which was the problem. Also in the pic, you can see the brown stuff which was the result of my experiment in large amounts of continuous feeding in a system with a poorly designed sump (which allowed too much settling). The case/impellor was so locked up that I had to soak it in pure vinegar for several hours to even get it open. So while waiting on that, I opened the Eheim 1262 (900 gph) that I ordered as a backup :) So now my scrubber pump is pumping 2X as much as my return.
Once the new pump was in place, there was a forceful waterfall across the screen again. There is so much water in the acrylic box now that it is 1" deep before it goes out the drain hole (whereas before it was almost dry).
Point is, check your scrubber pump often for internal fan worms or food buildup. Just like the lights, you may not be able to see the lower output (since it happens very slowly over time), so you have to open it up and check. Running the pump in vinegar every three months should keep it clear (vinegar disolves fan worms).
Since my acrylic scrubber is approching one year old, it's the first one to experience signs of wearing out. Of course I'm also experimenting with large amounts of continuous feeding (which makes things worse), but I'm still seeing some of the same signs in other peoples' scrubbers, even though they are feeding normal amounts, and even though they've replaced the bulbs every 3 months. This is typically what starts happening:
Glass-cleaning is needed more often
Scrubber starts growing darker algae
pH stays at a lower point
Rocks get a light green covering
Cyano starts showing up
Nitrate and phosphate start staying at higher levels
What is probably happening (and what happened to mine) was that the flow had been greatly reduced to the scrubber. My screen is 22" wide, and only half of it was getting any flow at all (I'm surprised half of it did not die); the other half was still getting some flow, but it was so little that the bottom of the scrubber was almost dry. My problem was the pump:
This is a case of scrubbers causing their own unique problem. When you run a scrubber (without skimmers or mechanical filters), not only do the corals and small fish get much more of the food that you feed, but you will also grow all sorts of filter feeders like the ones you see all over the pump in the picture. They grew all through the display, of course (to be eaten by a wrasse), but they also grew up into the impeller area of the scrubber pump, which was the problem. Also in the pic, you can see the brown stuff which was the result of my experiment in large amounts of continuous feeding in a system with a poorly designed sump (which allowed too much settling). The case/impellor was so locked up that I had to soak it in pure vinegar for several hours to even get it open. So while waiting on that, I opened the Eheim 1262 (900 gph) that I ordered as a backup :) So now my scrubber pump is pumping 2X as much as my return.
Once the new pump was in place, there was a forceful waterfall across the screen again. There is so much water in the acrylic box now that it is 1" deep before it goes out the drain hole (whereas before it was almost dry).
Point is, check your scrubber pump often for internal fan worms or food buildup. Just like the lights, you may not be able to see the lower output (since it happens very slowly over time), so you have to open it up and check. Running the pump in vinegar every three months should keep it clear (vinegar disolves fan worms).
Wes888
Reef enthusiast
Lot of growth in the 2nd week!! What a difference in just 1 week.
I've noticed that the flow is blocked by the algae growth at the water slots as well. When I clean it tomorrow, I'll open up a few more slots and widen some of them as well.
Looks like it's in some horror movie!!
I've noticed that the flow is blocked by the algae growth at the water slots as well. When I clean it tomorrow, I'll open up a few more slots and widen some of them as well.
Looks like it's in some horror movie!!
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SantaMonica
Reefing newb
Looking good! You'lll notice less growth where the bulbs are pointed to, because they are so powerful. You can turn them off an extra two hours a day, and probably get more growth across the whole screen.
