Acrylic, dark Nano scrubber

[craig1]

So here it is, and here's how it's going. As much as I'd like wait for the SM25, I wanted to get started. And I love a project... The design is loosely based on the SM100. Pics at the bottom.
Motivation for scrubbing:

* Want to keep a mandarin & pipefish

* Need to get rid of bubble algae without Emeralds
* Wanted to quit changing water
* Did not want to run a skimmer
* I like the idea of challenging conventional wisdom (Skimmers, sumps, macro algae, etc.), although arguably scrubbers are conventional, just not in home aquariums I guess.
I have:

* JBJ 29g Nano cube
* no skimmer
* 38+ lbs of rock
* Using only purigen & Floss

* 0/0/0 Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia.


Livestock:

* 2 clowns
* Various acans, zoas, scolys, torch, frog, etc.
*

Scrubber:
Custom built single screen, double sided scrubber, 8" x 5" screen
Philips 34500-9 - PL-L 18W/830/4P - NAED 20587 - 18 Watt - 4 Pin 2G11 Base - 3000K, one on either side
Flow is an accella pump, its low, I'm sure. I think it's only putting out about 220gph, due to the head hight to the scrubber. I'm working on a replacement pump design, just wanted to make sure this thing works before I sink more money into it :)

So how's it going? I'm looking for thoughts and comments. Wondering when I start getting brown?
I've been underfeeding until I got the scrubber, trying to make sure I don't overload the system. Now that the scrubber's running, I've been doing one cube of frozen per day, cleaning the floss daily (to get rid of the excess shrimp)

So @ day 5, the growth is brownish, not heavy. Since I've had zero nitrates from the start, and presumably high phosphate, due to the bubble algae.

Thoughts? Comments?


Here are photos, and if anyone is interested, I'd be happy to send out the original Sketchup file.
Scrubber design
[attachment=2:tlc8w3pw]ATS2a.jpg[/attachment:tlc8w3pw]
[attachment=1:tlc8w3pw]ATS2b.jpg[/attachment:tlc8w3pw]
[attachment=0:tlc8w3pw]ATS2c.jpg[/attachment:tlc8w3pw]

In action
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4CMy-8mExp8/TMNMNpsmKeI/AAAAAAAAApc/RbOHjvYt9FE/DSC_8249.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4CMy-8mExp8/TMNMOH58AjI/AAAAAAAAApg/qYsM6tf1w_g/DSC_8243.JPG
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4CMy-8mExp8/TMNMOkVOriI/AAAAAAAAApk/OjIAbgyp63s/DSC_8242.JPG
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4CMy-8mExp8/TMNMPMPmNqI/AAAAAAAAApo/R9w7bLph0Rs/DSC_8234.JPG

[SantaMonica]

Looks great. One thing you might try next time, is to mount the lights as far away from the screen as possible... this will give a little more spreading of the light, since it would probably be a half inch farther away.

[craig1]

Thanks... Since you've probably viewed hundreds of scrubbers by now, is that brown that I'm seeing normal @ 5 days? Anything else to tweak?

[SantaMonica]

Normal. Wait to see how it works when it's full of algae. And how easy it is to clean.

[craig1]

Thought I'd post an update. After over two months of use, so far, so good! Algae is growing nicely on the screen, more than enough to clean off each week. But for the results:


Feeding at least a cube of food a day[/*:m:2ry1n354]
0/0/0 in the big three.[/*:m:2ry1n354]
Plenty of pods all over the place.[/*:m:2ry1n354]
No other filtration except for the rock.[/*:m:2ry1n354]
Almost zero algae in the DT. (Few bubbles remain)[/*:m:2ry1n354]
Zero water changes in over two months. [/*:m:2ry1n354]
Have to dose Ca & Alk now, not being replaced by the water changes[/*:m:2ry1n354]
Coraline is growing like crazy now. [/*:m:2ry1n354]

For all the skeptics out there, the science works. Truly a revolutionary idea on the home tank, if done properly.

Thanks again Tom, appreciate everything you've brought to the public!

[craig1]

[attachment=0:1jwktcr2]IMAG0388.jpg[/attachment:1jwktcr2]

this one is about a month old...

[SantaMonica]

Congrats on the results.

Adding some iron will help turn it green.