Upflow algae scrubber idea

[Knudsen]

Hello there and greetings from Norway :)

Was just wondering if there is anyone who have tried to modify a deltec TS1060 skimmer into a UAS?

Thinking of removing the collector cup, neck and cylinder, and just keep the plate that the skimmer pump necks hang on to.

Then i would have to create something to hang the sheets from aswell as a plate i may slide down to sheild off some of the sheets depending on how much light exposure it needs vs me feeding the tank, that way i would not have to create several diffrent sizes of sheets as i fill up this 1000 Litre Reeftank with fish.

Will probably have to put a lid on it to reduce salt creep due to all the micro bubbles.

By default this skimmer has the option to run gfo/carbon in the secondary chamber so guess that might be a added bonus (not having to run a extra reactor just for that).

When all that is done i would just place it in my sump with the plexiglass snug to the glass in the sump and give it some light.

Was thinking of going with the same type of lighting that Santa Monica uses on his largest HOG. (or atleast some similar, whatever i am able to craft..) about 10x3w 660nm divided up on either 2 or 3 power adapters for added light control.

Attached a image of the skimmer.

Suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated since this is the first scrubber i will have a go at.

Cheers.

[SantaMonica]

Welcome from Norway.

If you make the entire skimmer compartment full of growth, it could be a good scrubber. Trick would be to get light deep inside it, because lighting through the glass is only going to go an inch or two deep once it's thick. But lighting on the outside is easy and a quick start.

Paint the inside white, then glue nylon strings, add a few bubblers, and you should be set.

[Knudsen]

i could allways glue mirrors on the inside of chamber to reflect the light properly, when it comes to bubbles one would think that the 2 dcs600 skimmer pumps would produce more than enuff?
When it comes to light penetration i am thinking i would try to move the mesh closer or further away from the glass as needed to see if i could get some ok growth that way on both sides of the mesh.

[Knudsen]

Currently at work offshore so i am not able to take the measurements of the skimmer compartment right now but the entire unit measurements are L 320mm W 175mm H 605mm - 12.6 x 6.9 x 23.8 inches. so there would be some room to work with in there i would think.
Just looking at the photo it seems like i would be sitting at 16cm W and 30-40 cm H

Thank you for your reply btw santamonica it is much appreciated

[SantaMonica]

When growth gets thick, light can only get about 20 cm deep. If you put a light on the other side some how, you can double this.

Will be nice to watch.

[Knudsen]

The light would only have to travel as far as the sceeen/sheets are placed in the compartment, this could be adjusted from close up to the glass or all the way to the back wall, was thinking of starting with about 4-5 cm from the glass, will also add some nylon strings to the sheet since it seems to work wonders in the HOG, not sure how well that works on sheets tho

[SantaMonica]

True, but to be large enough for the finished tank, you would probably want to use all the space.

[Knudsen]

some quick calculations shows me that i would get about 380 square cm, 16x30cm one sided screen by not using the sides.
Now if i understand the new sizing guide correctly and my math is not way off, it should be able to handle 3 cubes a day or if strings were added and i manage to reflect some light to the back side of the screen then it could handle about 6 cubes of food?
Usualy use flakes, so that would be about 30/60 pinches of flakes according to the guideline, sounds a whole lot even for a fully stocked 1000L tank
Do correct me if i am way off on theese estimates :)

[Knudsen]

I will do some par/lumen readings in the chamber to how distance and bubble rate effects the light, as in running 1 or 2 skimmer pumps or even redirecting some of the bubbles away vs airstone or a slotted tube.

[SantaMonica]

Each 75 sq cm = 5 cubes if 2-sided, or 2.5 cubes if 1-sided, so about right. But a reflector on the back will only help a little. Strings will make it 2-sided, if they are only 2 cm deep or so.

[Knudsen]

cheers on the feedback :) figured i would put the reflectors in there just to gain whatever little i can get.

Currently trying to figure out what power supplies i need for the led's never built a lamp before and at this point it feels like i should have been paying more attention when i went to school haha.
Ordered some LED's on ebay, they claim they are 3W but after looking at the numbers they seem to be about 2W. VF 2.2-2.6vdc and IF 750MA.
Would you run theese at 100% or lower? was thinking of running them at 500MA and at about 2.4V each so i dont burn them out to fast but that only only puts em at 1.2W each if i am correct?

Suggestions on how many LED i should put in and at what V/MA you would be running them at would be nice since i do not have any experience when it comes to this.

[SantaMonica]

600ma max is probably safe. They are always much less than a real 3w.

For a flat screen, one LED every 3 square cm is pretty good, but at least every 4 square cm.

[Knudsen]

hmm 1 led per 3 square cm of of screen? sounds like that would add up to a sick amount of LED's, my screen should be about 480 square cm.
again my math may be way off, but that would require me to run 160 LED's. 160LED's times x3 square cm..
Are you sure you did not factor in 1 LED per 30 square cm? that would bring me down to 16 LED's.

Would you recommend running adjustable currency adapters or just go for the 600ma one even if it will run at max at all times?

[SantaMonica]

No, 1 per 3 x 3 cm

[Knudsen]

Not sure where i got my first calculation from on 160 leds since that is way off, working nightshifts makes your brain go to mush, but still if i was to add one led per 3x3cm, it adds up to 50 Led's (15 cm wide and 30 cm long, just to make the calculations add up)
Made a simple grid in exel where 1 square is 1 cm, so 15 across and 30 down, stuck one Led in each 3x3cm. still adds up to 50Led's, sure you are not thinking about 1 led per 3x3 square inches?

6386

[SantaMonica]

Looks right, for high output. You can reduce it, or divided it up into a first power supply, and a second.

[Knudsen]

seems to be a rather very high output with 50 led's on a screen that small 15 x 30 cm compared to the HOG3x wich has 9 leds and the entire thing with cover and all is 16 cm x 22cm, still just can't get this math to add up.

[SantaMonica]

The HOG's are only about 13 x 15 cm cross sectional growth area. The number I gave you is for top power; you can reduce it by half and be at the same as the HOGs.