Some waterfall ats questions

[Monti]

Hi guys,

I'm hoping you can help speed up my research on the following waterfall ats questions...

1) is the slot method for the screen the best or is the drill hole method better?

2) is there a proven LED light source or is this still a bit in the experimentation stage? Would mind a link to some good options for a waterfall design if they are proven to work well. Currently I am using 40w cfls and at $8 bucks each and being replaced every 3 months this could start to get expensive.

3) when a scrubber is new should you wait to clean the screen until their is some reasonable amount of growth or do you clean it every 7 days regardless?

Thank you!

[SantaMonica]

Welcome,

1. For waterfalls, slots are best because they rarely clog.
2. http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?2884-red-blue-led-grow-bulb&p=36256&viewfull=1#post36256
3. Wait until growth; if slime, clean that off so green hair can attach.

[Monti]

Thanks for the reply and information.

One follow up question. These leds interest me...

BEST:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12W-40W-60...item3a83d789b3

But I am unsure what wattage to get and the area it would cover on the screen. I have 2 different scrubbers that I recently built. Both waterfall style. One is 10"x13" and the other is 13"x20". Could you guide me in choosing the correct led for those two scrubbers? They are lit front and back. I'm wondering which fixtures as well as distances they should be mounted away from the screen. Thank you very much for your help.

[Monti]

Link was broken. I think this one works
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/251320043955?_mwBanner=1

[SantaMonica]

See if these guidelines help:
http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?1419-New-sizing-guidelines

[rleahaines]

Link was broken. I think this one works
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/251320043955?_mwBanner=1

These lights work fine. Keep in mind that they are not 100% waterproof.

I had one of these short out because of salt spray, even though it seemed to be sealed very well.

[Monti]

See if these guidelines help:
http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?1419-New-sizing-guidelines

That helps, thank you. Sounds like basically you need half the watts if using leds versus cfls.
Did I read somewhere that 1 square inch per gallon is a good starting point? I know you focus more on how much you feed versus how many gallons your tank is but I thought I read somewhere that 1" per gallon is a general rule. And that would be of display water not sump water (assuming you are not feeding your sump).

[Monti]

Thanks for the info rleahaines

Do you guys feel that good quality leds such as the one in the link above work as well as fluorescents?

[SantaMonica]

How much water really does not matter. Food in must equal nutrients out, whether 10 or 100 gallons.

LEDs seem to grow better most of the time, when about half the wattage. And much better when the same wattage, as long as the algae does not burn.

[Monti]

Thank you both for your insight.

Santa Montica...i have read the links but I am a little unclear on something in regards to waterfall type scrubbers. A 3x4" square screen illuminated with 12watts of fluorescents (6w on each side of screen)will remove 1 frozen cube worth of nutrients. To do this how much flow is required? Is it a minimum of 35gph per linear inch? So if it's 1" wide and 12" tall it requires 35gph but if it's 12" wide and 1" tall it would require 12x35gph? I do understand that these are general guidelines.

Also if you put all 12 watts of light on one side only versus splitting up the wattage 6w and 6w to illuminate both sides, you reduce your nutrient take up by half correct? Is this because you have effectively reduced the flow by half since you are not taking advantage of the other side of the screen?

[SantaMonica]

Is it a minimum of 35gph per linear inch?

Yes


Also if you put all 12 watts of light on one side only versus splitting up the wattage 6w and 6w to illuminate both sides, you reduce your nutrient take up by half correct?

Correct, because the roots die twice as fast from self-shading.