PDA

View Full Version : SM Bucket inspired scrubber



criskamote
06-01-2010, 09:17 AM
hi guys! just started this hobby last may 15 and i'm really enjoying it.

i've been reading this forum and now i built a scrubber of my own. this is my third attempt. i wont show you my first two because you might die laughing.

comments and suggestions are very welcome.

criskamote
06-01-2010, 09:19 AM
more pics

rygh
06-01-2010, 10:47 AM
Curious :
1) Why does it look so green?
2) What did you use for thread when sewing the screens together?

SantaMonica
06-01-2010, 11:57 AM
Nice first scrubber. Just make sure the electrical connection are sealed with silicon in case water sprays up there.

criskamote
06-01-2010, 03:18 PM
Curious :
1) Why does it look so green?

thats because i'm using a green screen to start with. i cant find the exact same screen you guys use


2) What did you use for thread when sewing the screens together?

Just an ordinary thread. I'll be changing that to a nylon string.

If you look closely, there is a piece of thin cloth in between the screens. I live in the Philippines, right now we are suffering the "El Niņo Phenomenon" - very similar to drought. Water levels in our hydroelectric dams are very low (no nuclear power plants here LOL).To save power, we have daily rotational power outages lasting up to 2 hours. I need the cloth between the screen to keep it wet when there is no flow.

criskamote
06-01-2010, 03:22 PM
Nice first scrubber. Just make sure the electrical connection are sealed with silicon in case water sprays up there.

Will do. I tried turning the pump on and off, so far I'm not getting a splash. but I'll take your word for it.
thanks for the advice. I'm from the Philippines btw :lol:

I'm, sorry I cant give you any water reading parameters now. I don't have a test kit yet, quite expensive here in my city. its about 1,200Pesos, that equals to a 50Kilogram sack of premium rice!! :o

SantaMonica
06-01-2010, 10:25 PM
Due to the power outages, cover the top of the bucket... will keep moisture in for 8 hours if almost sealed.

criskamote
06-02-2010, 12:27 AM
Due to the power outages, cover the top of the bucket... will keep moisture in for 8 hours if almost sealed.

Thanks! good thing you mentioned that now. I already drew up plans on how to mount a fan/blower on the cover. guess i have to rethink my design to keep moisture in and cool my water at the same time. It's a very hot day today. Water temp inside the tank reached up to 32C :shock:

Bridgeport
06-02-2010, 09:02 AM
Was wondering what size your tank is and what you have in it.

criskamote
06-02-2010, 10:20 AM
well its a 20g nano starter tank. i have 10 different colored false perculas (2 of which are adults and the rest babies), 2 brown BTA and 1 green BTA. its quite crowded and overloaded. and luckily, no casualties or bleaching anemones yet.

the scrubber i built has 6x12 inch screen and is for a 50g tank and i have a 50g tank ready for use. I'll migrate the livestock and the scrubber there as soon as i have good algae growth on my screen.

rygh
06-02-2010, 10:40 AM
I would suggest a ducted fan on the cover.
Meaning, put a sealed cover on your ATS.
Then drill two 4" holes, and put a short length of flexible duct to those. Like from a dryer.
Put a fan blowing into one of the ducts.
Put a dryer vent on the other duct, with the little flapper that closes off the vent when not in use.
So when the fan is on, it blows in one duct, through ATS, and out the other duct, and out through vent.
When the power fails, or when you want to eliminate cooling, the fan stops, and it effectively seals up the ATS.
A bit complex, but really cheap parts.
I am thinking of doing that on mine.

Another thought is a small cheap 12VDC pump, connected to an old car battery and cheap charger.
It stays on when power goes off, trickling enough water to keep ATS moist, and to help oxygenate your main tank.

criskamote
06-02-2010, 10:58 AM
hmmm very nice ideas :idea: . I've thought of the same thing but you just gave me a clearer picture of for my cooling system.

honestly i haven't thought of connecting a small pump to a car battery, but... i just need water to trickle on my screen right? i don't have a car battery as of the moment, but i think i can come up with something very similar to that.

thanks a lot! :D back to the drawing board! :mrgreen:

sadly i cant work on that right away. will post updates on my progress as soon as i have them. 8-)

rygh
06-02-2010, 12:17 PM
Trickle yes, but over the entire width of the screen, which may end up requiring a fair amount of flow.
You can leave that pump on all the time, but probably best to make a small relay circuit where it only turns on
when the power goes out.

sklywag
06-02-2010, 08:59 PM
Check this out.
http://cgi.ebay.com/7V-Solar-Fountain-P ... 23078d4c7c (http://cgi.ebay.com/7V-Solar-Fountain-Pond-Water-Pump-Panel-Brushless-D16-/150450556028?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23078d4c7c)

rygh
06-03-2010, 05:00 PM
That solar pump system did not seem to have a battery, so only works during the day.
Although it would dry out less during the night, so far better than nothing.
They do exist with integrated battery. The problem is, expensive.

criskamote
06-05-2010, 08:42 AM
ey its day 4 for my screen and i got algae growth on it!! its a bit dark brown though... :?

will post pics tom. i want to take photos of the screen in broad daylight coz i have a crappy camera.

criskamote
06-08-2010, 01:42 AM
this is what my screen now looks like. any thoughts?

SantaMonica
06-08-2010, 03:12 AM
Not bad.

criskamote
06-08-2010, 07:32 AM
yeah despite the daily two hour power outage the algae still grew.


Off topic:


well its a 20g nano starter tank. i have 10 different colored false perculas (2 of which are adults and the rest babies), 2 brown BTA and 1 green BTA. its quite crowded and overloaded. and luckily, no casualties or bleaching anemones yet.

the scrubber i built has 6x12 inch screen and is for a 50g tank and i have a 50g tank ready for use. I'll migrate the livestock and the scrubber there as soon as i have good algae growth on my screen.

last sunday i got live sand and some live rock for my 50g tank. i got the sand and LR about 100meters from the shoreline (collection laws are not that strict here) and put about 4 inches DSB in my 50g. i cleaned the LR, making sure no dead critters in the holes. little did i know there was a piece of coral buried in the sand bed, about 3 inches long.

i went out of town yesterday and when i came back this morning the piece of coral rotted and fouled the water in my tank really bad. the sand around the piece of coral turned black and it killed all the livestock (3 sea hermits, 3 snails, 2 false perculas, 1 butterfly) in the tank. the scrubber by the way was still installed my 20g "instant" nano tank at that time.

this weekend I'll be going back to the beach and get new live sand and rocks, hopefully some more crabs and snails, and this time I'll sift the sand first to make sure not to mix anything in the sand.

in connection with the Algae scrubber, I want to really see if the scrubber can prevent the tank from cycling or if any cycling will occur since i'll be getting the sand and rocks straight from the ocean to my tank. here is what SM posted about scrubbers and cycling

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=630 (http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=630)

the idea behind this project is I want to replicate the "instant" approach on a larger scale and on a FOWLR setup as my "instant" 20g fish only tank is already an example. I haven't had any casualties from the 20g since it was set up.

sklywag
06-08-2010, 05:13 PM
Are you going to return the sand and rock back to the ocean? You're going there anyway.

criskamote
06-08-2010, 10:50 PM
Are you going to return the sand and rock back to the ocean? You're going there anyway.

yep i will return the fouled sand and rocks to the ocean. i baked the sand in the sun this morning and now its not smelling bad anymore, but i'm not taking any chances. plus since i baked it, its no longer live sand. :roll:

but im having second thoughts about returning the rocks i got. they seem fine now. i washed them in saltwater a few times and soaked it in saltwater for the whole night. maybe i'll just get a small one to seed my existing rock.

criskamote
06-09-2010, 06:19 AM
is it possible to make a floating screen and grow algae on it?

i just checked my scrubber and found some algae growing on the bottom of my container.

water level on the bottom of the container is about an inch or so. I was thinking, can I make a floating screen on the bottom?
i measured the bottom, and i can fit another 8.5in X 6 in floating screen in it. thats additional 51 sq in of one sided screen! :D

what do you guys think?

rygh
06-09-2010, 11:51 AM
Assuming the water is flowing over this floating screen, from the main screen, it should technically work.
Same concept as a horizontal screen.
However, given the flow issues and likely weak lighting down there, I would not think it would grow well.
So it might end up being more of a cleaning hassle than a real help.

Better might be to spend the effort focusing the light on the main screen.
More efficient use of what you have, so more filtering, for the same cost/cleaning.

criskamote
06-10-2010, 01:40 AM
i just checked the bottom of the scrubber now. the algae growth down there is really catching up.

right now i'm only using 2x 15watts CFL, and i was planning to change that to 2x 23 or 24watts CFL 3000K. if i change my lights, i think the algae growth on the bottom will really thicken, and it will be more difficult to clean the bottom of the scrubber than pulling out the floating screen for cleaning.

I think I'll have more advantage if I install the floating screen especially when i change to 23watts CFL.

Im making the screen now. Will update pics on the floating screen.

happy reefing everyone!

rygh
06-10-2010, 02:49 PM
Good point about being easier to clean than the scrubber box.
That is always a pain, with the pipes and such. And often slime algae, not hair.
Hmm, might think of doing that myself.
Keep us up to date.

criskamote
06-18-2010, 08:11 PM
ok this is what my screen looks like at week 2. sorry i forgot to take photos of my floating screen. but i'm getting a lot of algae growth there as well.[attachment=1:3aht88sq]DSC00738.JPG[/attachment:3aht88sq][attachment=2:3aht88sq]DSC00741.JPG[/attachment:3aht88sq]

i noticed that there were bald spots on the screen after cleaning. it turns out that the thin cloth i placed between the screen disintegrated. and the screen is not rough enough for the algae to hold on. so here's my solution: i placed another thin screen between the old screen. its a nylon mesh, really thin and fine and rough to the touch. this time i used a thin nylon fishing line to sew the screens together.
i think this will help the algae hold on to the screen.

SantaMonica
06-18-2010, 10:47 PM
All you need is the green screen by itself. One or two layers.

Algae is dark, so clean every 5 days.

criskamote
06-19-2010, 07:51 AM
All you need is the green screen by itself. One or two layers.

Algae is dark, so clean every 5 days.


glad you mentioned that. The green screen is two layers. by the way what does dark algae mean? too much nitrites or other nutrients? :?:

SantaMonica
06-19-2010, 12:43 PM
Mean high nutriets, with P around 0.2 and N around 40

criskamote
06-20-2010, 05:43 AM
wow. that high huh..

my water testkit should arrive next week. I'll post readings here as soon as i get it.

criskamote
06-28-2010, 06:33 PM
shipping sucks at third worlds.

anyway, its week 3 for my screen, i just started seeing green spots on my screen...
i think algae is growing a bit slow. then i just realized i'm missing a reflector for my light!

what kind of material would reflect light best?


EDITED post:

i just got a call from a friend of mine who built a water jug ATS.
he just called to tell me he got green hair algae on his screen at week 2.

this is his design by the way:

Old water jug casing
[attachment=1:nrxouhkf]DSC00752.JPG[/attachment:nrxouhkf]

White surface color inside the jug gives better reflection than none at all
[attachment=1:nrxouhkf]DSC00752.JPG[/attachment:nrxouhkf]

this just confirms it. i need to put a good reflector inside my jug.

any suggestions for a good reflector?

rygh
06-28-2010, 09:18 PM
Simple reflector : Paint inside of bucket with white latex paint.
Better : Line bucket with reflective mylar. Often found at pet stores for aquarium backing.
Best : Shape real reflectors with plastic, then line with mylar.
One half of those snack food containers are great.

sklywag
06-28-2010, 09:32 PM
On a zero budget you can use aluminum cans cut in half. Searched for the link for them but came up dry.
Did find someone using old mylar balloons though.

criskamote
06-29-2010, 02:04 AM
i did not find a mylar sheet, but i found something very similar to that. funny thing is i found it in an office supply store.

and oh my testkit arrived.. not pleased with the results.

here's a pic of its reflectiveness. i think this will do.
[attachment=0:29eaah5v]DSC00859.JPG[/attachment:29eaah5v]

criskamote
06-29-2010, 05:13 AM
UPDATE:

ok i just finished making and installing the DIY reflector. its made from a plastic material very similar to mylar. see my previous pic.

guys tell me what you think ok?
i'm really hoping this will do the trick.
its been 3 weeks for my screen and all i get are green algae spots - not green hair.

rygh
06-29-2010, 10:55 AM
From that test results picture, it looks like you have high ammonia and nitrite, not just nitrate.
Those test results remind me of a tank that has just started cycling.
ATS or no, you should never see ammonia except in the very beginning.

Suggest waiting until the tank cycles before doing much more.
My guess is you have 4-5 more weeks.
An ATS should help in the cycle, but I would not expect miracles.

Reflectors look good though.

criskamote
06-29-2010, 06:00 PM
yeah those reflectors might just do the trick.

come to think of it, i think i know where the amonia came from. yesterday morning, i found my baby butterfly fish (almost an inch long including the tail) dead. it got caught in the powerhead intake and stuck there, and it was starting to go bad, a hint of foul odor in fact.

anything dead produces amonia right?

maybe I'll do a partial waterchange later and test again tomorrow.

sklywag
06-29-2010, 08:48 PM
Ammon. Is the second one from left. Think it just looks dark from laying down. Looks like 0 to me.
Reflector looks good too.

Gigaah
06-30-2010, 12:48 AM
I'm curious how this one works out. Mainly interested in how effective that reflector is.

criskamote
07-04-2010, 05:50 PM
ok here are new pics of my screen before and after cleaning. this is 6 days after i installed those reflectors.

the screen is now more green than reddish brown!

before cleaning:
[attachment=2:3hp07gwh]DSC00903.JPG[/attachment:3hp07gwh]
[attachment=1:3hp07gwh]DSC00904.JPG[/attachment:3hp07gwh]

and this is after cleaning. i really scrubed down on it using my fingernails.
[attachment=0:3hp07gwh]DSC00906.JPG[/attachment:3hp07gwh]

btw i tested the water before cleaning. ammonia is definitely zero and nitrates is down to 5ppm.

so what do you guys think?

criskamote
07-04-2010, 05:54 PM
got some growth on the floating screen as well. but it looks different. its green but i can clearly see the algae looks like a small plant. its really rooted in the screen and it has branches.

sorry for the crappy pic. this was after cleaning. forgot to take a pic before cleaning it.

[attachment=0:30qi0sy4]DSC00905.JPG[/attachment:30qi0sy4]

criskamote
07-06-2010, 04:50 AM
oh yeah! i just have to share this!

[attachment=0:32879p6u]DSC00915.JPG[/attachment:32879p6u]

ATS really WORKS!!! thanks guys for the suggestions and critisizms. really appreciate it. just saved me a lot of cash!

happy reefing everyone!

SantaMonica
07-06-2010, 01:45 PM
Yay!