Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

Finally, I have a combination that has some green. Had to up the flow on the one-sided screen from 50 to 75 gph on the one screen (am not currently using the other screen), and reduce the lighting to 16 hours. Bulb is 1 inch (2.54 cm) from the screen. The bulb is setting on the bottom of the box at an angle, and the screen is also at an angle, and that's the reason that the burned-yellow part is at the bottom, and why the waterline is tilted:

(right click and "view image" to see the whole pic)
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I cleaned it today, then sanded the clear window to diffuse the light. The bulb is so near to the screen that you are almost able to see the outline of the bulb in the growth. Scattering the light should help a lot; it's just a matter of how much.

To build this at home, you would just attach vinyl tubing to the pipe, and set the screen down evenly inside the box.
 
could I install a scrubber with this set up if I just put a power head to move water from filter on right through scrubber, drain to sump on left and back into filter which has main return pump back to tank
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Yes as long as you follow the guidelines:

0.5 actual (not equivalent) fluorescent watts per gallon MINIMUM.
1.0 actual (not equivalent) fluorescent watts per gallon for HIGH filtering.
1.0 square inches of screen per gallon, with bulbs on BOTH sides. (10 x 10 = 100 square inches = 100 gal)
2.0 square inches of screen per gallon, if ONE sided.
18 hours of lights ON, and 6 hours of lights OFF, each day.
Flow is 24 hours, and is 35 gph per inch of width of screen, EVEN IF one sided.
Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.
Clean algae off of screen every SEVEN (7) days NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK.
 
SM,
Thank you so much for your patience and time for all this. I've finally read through the the whole thread for the last two evenings. You rock! Dude.
I'm going to try to build me a bucket version on the weekends. I've been brainstorming and want to try no screens, just really really rough up the entire inside surface of the white plastic salt bucket, that yield about 400 square inch of algae growing surface from the 11" dia. x 14" high bucket, which has about 34" width x 12" high usable surface. I'm going to try start with one 85W compact fluorescent bulb (5500 lumen output) center mounted (up-side-down) from the lid with the lamp socket just right above the lid and large vent holes around the socket for the heat to escape. The water input will be a circle of fiberglass reinforced vinyl hose around the inside top rim, connected with a tee barb through the side at the top. A series of holes are drilled on the hose to angle the water flow toward the side. The drain will be at the bottom, or as low as it can be on the side. I don't know if this work, but never know if I don't try, right? If this work, it will need less space with maximum algae surface, and there won't be any wasted light (less energy) which evenly lid the inside surface of the bucket at about 4" distance all around. To clean, I'll disconnect the input and drain hoses, and take the empty bucket to the garden hose in the back yard. My computer skill is limited to draw the design to show you, but I'm sure you get the idea. Again, a big "Thanks" to ALL of you, who shared ideas and clever designs and thoughts, your great works are really inspirational. Happy reefing everyone! RT. :Cheers:
 
As a Algae scrubber user myself, I would be concerned that the algae growth would clog the holes at the bottom of the bucket, and I think it would be terribly difficult to clean. Once a week you need to clean the scrubber, the easiet place to do it is in the sink, you're going to have a problem fitting a 5g bucket in a sink.

IMO I would just stick with the screen that is in the thread. Don't try an re-invent the wheel.
 
Thanks for the pointer, PRC. I'll keep that in mind.
My first thought was to have 34" wide x 12" high rough screen (maybe in sections?) lining the entire inside surface of the bucket. But then second thought why not try to make it even simpler, and just scrape the inside surface and see if it holds algae. If it doesn't work, I can always go back to plan A. If it does work, I'll cut the entire bottom off the bucket, and set this whole thing in my 60G sum, on top of a home made PVC retangular cube frame to position the bucket's height at the level that the lamp will not make contact with the water in the sum when power fails. My laundry sink is wide and deep enough to work with the bucket, but the backyard is closer. Instead of washing down the drain, the water can be used for the small vegi garden. My major concern is the lamp position inside the bucket, eventhough the lamp socket and part of the lamp's base are outside, above the lid.
Not trying to re-invent the wheel, SM has done that. :bowdown: I just want to see if this modification will work without compromising the function and performance to the original design. An easy and cost effective project for an average DYI person like myself, to improve the reef system and not burning another hole in my wallet. :mrgreen:
 
A bucket screen will work, if the walls are rough enough. And that's the first hard part. The plastic will need to be cut so deep and rough, that it will actually cut your hand if you scrape acros it. The cuts need to be so deep that they almost go through the plastic. I'd use a drill or power saw of some kind, and spend several hours on it.

Using holes in the pipe is never a good idea. Too little flow, and too concentrated (there is no flow between the holes), especially for what is going to be a screen that is too smooth. It's going to wash the algae away. If you have a 1/4" hole every 1/2", then that's just one third the flow that a continuous 1/4" slot would have. Thus you are removing the benefit of the bucket.

You should be able to make a slot in some flex tubing, and then just glue the outside part to the bucket.
 
Nutrients vs. Nutrition

The word "nutrient" and "nutrition" are commonly mixed up when talking about reefs. Skimmers (in this case, air bubbles) only remove nutrition, which is fine if all you have is fish, but skimmers/bubbles have no affect on nutrients. "Nutrients" are Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic (Ortho) Phosphate, Ammonia, Ammonium, and Nitrite. Matter of fact, if you took a fresh batch of newly made saltwater and put a skimmer in it, then added pure nutrients, the skimmer would not have any skimmate at all. Algae, however, would start growing out of control. If, however, you added nutrition (phyto, plankton, ground up flakes, etc) to that same batch of saltwater, the skimmer would go crazy and remove it all.
 
To clarify. The scrubber will not eat the fishes waste directly. As indeed that is food for a fish and reef inhabitants. However it will remove any ammonia and nitrates that leach into the water from the waste. If the waste (food) is never consumed the scrubber will "eat" the ammonia and nitrates as the waste breaks down further and leaches into the water.
 
My scrubber is starting to tear in places, what should I do? Here are my thoughts, make a new one and bind it to the one that is tearing, once I've got good growth on the new one, just discard the old?
 
Yes, I did. over a period of time it just started to tear, as I clean it every week the tears are getting bigger, it's not in any danger of falling apart, but since I'm only using the scrubber (no skimmer) I obviously need it up and functional. Thanks for the help as always. By the way, once my Nitrates got to 0 I have never been able to detect any level of nitrates in my tank. So I'm thrilled with the scrubber.
 
PRC I'd say that is the way to go as long as the flow is enough to keep it all wet. If its possible make the new screen two pieces. That way if it happens again you can replace half of it..if need be drop your feeding schedule down until it grows out.
 

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