first time scrubber need some info

[freemandnj973]

hey i was wondering which is better plumbing an overflow into a scrubber or using a dedicated pump to feed it. im going to use a mag 5 as the return pump so im wondering what would be a good overflow that would match cause i cant drill my tank. im leaning towards an eshopps cause its same the design and cheaper than a lifereef.

the system is a 30 gallon and will have a 20 long for the sump

[SantaMonica]

Other people might know about the best brand, but I can just say that in general, a separate pump is better. It's more complex, takes more room and more power, and warms the water more, but you can leave the tank running while you clean the screen, and, you have more control over the amount of flow. Lastly, if your scrubber pump goes out, your tank still runs, and if your tank pump goes out, your scrubber still runs.

[freemandnj973]

thats a good point i will have to get a new pump then. i was at home depot today and saw some HPS bulbs/fixtures and was wondering how well will they grow algae compared to the cfls cause they seem like good cheap lighting. the sumps going to be cooled so im not worried about heat

[SantaMonica]

There's just no need to have all that electricity and heat. Use CFL.

[freemandnj973]

the reason i asked about the hps bulbs is i was going to do a vertical scrubber with a 20-30 degree pitch and make it one sided. i figured a hps bulb would be good because i can do a 50 watt setup which light wise the intensity equals about 2-3 23 watt cfls.

i just figured for cost/intensity the hps bulbs would work out better...but im new to this stuff so any helps appreciated

[SantaMonica]

Try to get at least 5000 lumens for every 100 gal.

[sklywag]

Huh. 5000 Lumens for 100 gallons. I was under the impression to shoot for 5000 Lumens on bulbs. That stumped me because I couldn't find any CFLs larger than 1650 Lumens at 23 watts. Alaways learning.

[SantaMonica]

I'm running 16,000 lumens, and 1,600 gph scrubber flow, for my 100 gal, but I'm doing continuous liquid feeding.

[freemandnj973]

thats why i figured going with hps for lighting would be better since a 70 watt bulb can do 6,000 lumens. it'll be more than enough intensity for a 30 gallon and i only have to change the one bulb about 6 months instead of 4 every 3 months.