plastic sheet: waterfall or submersion

[joshik]

im getting ready to build my ATS and i had a question. I see everyones DIY scrubbers and they have the screen hanging with the water falling down the screen.

However, the SM100 seems to have the screen submerged? i was watching the cleaning video and it seemed like the screen was submerged in water rather than the water falling down the screen.

any input?

[Ace25]

SM scrubbers fall down the screen as well, they just build up a little on the bottom as it clogs with algae in turn making the water rise a little in the scrubber box, which is what gives the "3D growth". I think the biggest problem with submerging a DIY scrubber is trying to keep the algae on the screen and not fall off back into your tank.

[Floyd R Turbo]

You should not intentionally submerge the screen in water all the time. There will not be enough laminar flow and algae will not grow readily. The reason for the partially-filled scrubbers is due to 3D growth which 'traps' the water flow, but the water is still flowing through the algae so there is still nutrient exchange. So the device doesn't 'clog' and cause the water level to rise. Just thought I would clear that up.