algae scrubber
- Thread starter coralman
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http://algaescrubber.net/forums/ Read Read Read
http://www.thescmas.com/forums/content.php?154-Turf-Algae-Scrubbers
Lots of pics, including horizontal screens
http://www.thescmas.com/forums/content.php?154-Turf-Algae-Scrubbers
Lots of pics, including horizontal screens
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Revival on this thread for question Im not finding much advice on.
Been running a science experiment of a ATS on a basement tank for a few weeks. It ran pretty damn good for being a bulky bucket set up.
Bought some more pvc and supplies to put together a better made one to try on my dt.
So measured up and assembled a pvc frame with pump attached to the bottom of the frame. Cut my 1/8 slot into my spray bar hooked in 2 sheets of prepped craft mats. Turned it on and the flow is so damn lop sided. I upgraded pumps from my first attempt at this from a 300gph pump to a 700 gph pump since it would be covering a 12x12 mat. The spray bar is plugged at the end and that end seems to spray twice as much water than the side the water enters.
I pulled the plug and allowed the water to flow straight through the pvc frame and I still get a lot more flow on the exit side of the spray bar.
Any tips to regulate the flow across the spray bar? Would a build allowing the water to enter from a T in the center of the spray bar be more effective? And is 700gph overkill, unless I miss read this should be about right.
Btw found 120 watt cfl bulbs at 3500 and they are awesome for generating growth even with my ghetto science project set up I had good lengths of green within 2 weeks, not bad for a dry run.
If ya got any tips on spraybar construction please toss em my way. Using 3/4 pvc for the build and have tried a 1/8 in slit which was lopsided flow. I added cross cuts across the slit but flow was still lopsided, and also contributed to a little more splash which Id like to avoid.
Been running a science experiment of a ATS on a basement tank for a few weeks. It ran pretty damn good for being a bulky bucket set up.
Bought some more pvc and supplies to put together a better made one to try on my dt.
So measured up and assembled a pvc frame with pump attached to the bottom of the frame. Cut my 1/8 slot into my spray bar hooked in 2 sheets of prepped craft mats. Turned it on and the flow is so damn lop sided. I upgraded pumps from my first attempt at this from a 300gph pump to a 700 gph pump since it would be covering a 12x12 mat. The spray bar is plugged at the end and that end seems to spray twice as much water than the side the water enters.
I pulled the plug and allowed the water to flow straight through the pvc frame and I still get a lot more flow on the exit side of the spray bar.
Any tips to regulate the flow across the spray bar? Would a build allowing the water to enter from a T in the center of the spray bar be more effective? And is 700gph overkill, unless I miss read this should be about right.
Btw found 120 watt cfl bulbs at 3500 and they are awesome for generating growth even with my ghetto science project set up I had good lengths of green within 2 weeks, not bad for a dry run.
If ya got any tips on spraybar construction please toss em my way. Using 3/4 pvc for the build and have tried a 1/8 in slit which was lopsided flow. I added cross cuts across the slit but flow was still lopsided, and also contributed to a little more splash which Id like to avoid.
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I built one for my frag tank and it worked great at first but once it ran out of nutrients to export all the algae died and wouldn't grow back. Also all the dead algae made a mess. Ended up going back to a skimmer and it does just fine. Not sure how big your frag tank is but mine is only 24x24 so maybe if it's bigger and you have more livestock in there you will have better results.
oddball bulbs at home depot, they also have a 150w cfl 3600 but the damn things spiral is like 6 inches long. If i change my design so the bulbs are vertical I wanna use those things. But I dont have a reflector for it yet.
Crap just typing that I realize that having a cfl with a 6-7 inch spiral is perfect for my original design.... lmao i gotta rip apart what i built today and do it the way I had intended.
pricing on the bulbs is 10.88 for the 120w and 15.88 for the 150. I think the real watts of em not the conversion is 42w and 60w or something. anyhow they are bright as all hell.
Crap just typing that I realize that having a cfl with a 6-7 inch spiral is perfect for my original design.... lmao i gotta rip apart what i built today and do it the way I had intended.
pricing on the bulbs is 10.88 for the 120w and 15.88 for the 150. I think the real watts of em not the conversion is 42w and 60w or something. anyhow they are bright as all hell.
The experiment I ran was on a 20g long, but the one im building is for a 100g dt.
The design of acrylic at a slant is pretty much just a mess of a design though, they have come a long way since then. Lots of unique designs. And not even sure if Im going to run it yet, im basically playing with things to see what set ups work best for me. bio pellets and skimmer, or ats, or shoot i dunno i just love the experiment aspect of things. Hopefully Ill settle on a system before my 75g closed loop is done.
That tank will be the first I actually plan from start to finish every aspect, and have a budget to do the majority of things I want without cutting corners. Just waitin on my damn taxes to get started. First thing im buying is my drill bit set and all the bulkheads.
Back to the ATS. I found an old old link from santa monicas first bucket build that explains how to adjust the flow a bit to get a more even spray. Ill buy some more pvc tomorrow and mess with a little bit of design change. And damn I might as well buy the other stuff to go with my original build design.
The design of acrylic at a slant is pretty much just a mess of a design though, they have come a long way since then. Lots of unique designs. And not even sure if Im going to run it yet, im basically playing with things to see what set ups work best for me. bio pellets and skimmer, or ats, or shoot i dunno i just love the experiment aspect of things. Hopefully Ill settle on a system before my 75g closed loop is done.
That tank will be the first I actually plan from start to finish every aspect, and have a budget to do the majority of things I want without cutting corners. Just waitin on my damn taxes to get started. First thing im buying is my drill bit set and all the bulkheads.
Back to the ATS. I found an old old link from santa monicas first bucket build that explains how to adjust the flow a bit to get a more even spray. Ill buy some more pvc tomorrow and mess with a little bit of design change. And damn I might as well buy the other stuff to go with my original build design.
me too ive just had design flaws from going cheap lol.
The one for my 75g Id like to be built in a full acrylic wrap using t5s if i can find the 12 refugium fixtures I saw months ago.
Soon as I start that build it will be the first thing I actually document. And hopefully a less half assed tank than my current set up lol.
Btw still struggling with proper flow on the damn spray bar so if anyone has troubleshot one of these things before feel free to post away.
The one for my 75g Id like to be built in a full acrylic wrap using t5s if i can find the 12 refugium fixtures I saw months ago.
Soon as I start that build it will be the first thing I actually document. And hopefully a less half assed tank than my current set up lol.
Btw still struggling with proper flow on the damn spray bar so if anyone has troubleshot one of these things before feel free to post away.
algae dying off could have been a lot of reasons, but from what ive read most of those that have had fill screens die off its usually from loss of flow or a minor design flaw. My first screen died off after slowly getting cooked. Basically the flow was great until a full sheet of turf was growing as soon as the growth became a little thicker the flow was restricted and channeled. Resulting in portions of the algae dying off. Side effects are yellowing water and an over all drop in water quality since all the garbage uv exported just got re released in mass quantity. This can crash your tank pretty quick if not caught as well. Be like running a 2 gallon collection cup and having a skimmer flood with a full cup.
Hard to say what happened with yours, but these are far from maintenance free, its just a different kind of maintenance than with skimmers, reactors, etc. Its all extra work lol if reefs were easy walmart would sell em
I wanna get this nailed down though if you run it successfully the perks are awesome. Which is the reason some people spend the 600 bucks for a santa monica ats. Which is 2 light fixtures and about 36 inches of acrylic fashioned into a nice box.
Hard to say what happened with yours, but these are far from maintenance free, its just a different kind of maintenance than with skimmers, reactors, etc. Its all extra work lol if reefs were easy walmart would sell em
I wanna get this nailed down though if you run it successfully the perks are awesome. Which is the reason some people spend the 600 bucks for a santa monica ats. Which is 2 light fixtures and about 36 inches of acrylic fashioned into a nice box.
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/UserZennzzoOnMFK-05.jpg
In corner of the pic has a good formula of gph per inch! and the flow on that scrubber looks perfect. Its a huge outside one though lol
In corner of the pic has a good formula of gph per inch! and the flow on that scrubber looks perfect. Its a huge outside one though lol