Scrubber on new tank Questions and help please

[ashley1991]

Hey all

sorry you have most likely been over this many times but i like to make sure :P

just finished ready the FAQ wow! thats a big article there! great read! think i will need to go over it again to soak it all up anyway

i have ordered a new tank (2ft cube) and this is my first marine tank, i have been reading for months and just when i thought i had everything sorted in my head and paper this concept pops up and i love it! i much prefer to use natural things than big bulky mechanical things :P i was wondering if i can add this right away from the second i set up and have no skimmer at all?

also because its a 200 literish tank would 5x5 be big enough lit both sides by t5 (hopefully) also could i run it out of the flow pipe from the tank to sump? (would be 32mm piping)

one more lol could i also run a DSB in my sump as well as scrubber to allow other little critters to live as well.

there will most likely be more questions but im itching to get reading the scrubber v refugim! thank you everyone hope im not been a pain

Ash

[Rumpy Pumpy]

i was wondering if i can add this right away from the second i set up and have no skimmer at all?

I did and had no problems.




one more lol could i also run a DSB in my sump as well as scrubber to allow other little critters to live as well.


I did that too for a couple of months too. Don't think it achieved much and I took it out in the end, which made no noticeable difference.

[SantaMonica]

5 X 5 is ok size, but you would not be able to use a T5 on it. A 18 watt cfl on each side is better:

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CFLbulbs.jpg

[ashley1991]

is 5x5 big enough for a only filter with live rock? i can make it bigger quite a bit bigger actually its just the flow over it that i would struggle with i think since i want it on my main standpipe (its a twin standpipe design) ill use a pump if need be
thanks
ash

[ashley1991]

come to think of it i may just have a open sump design and just have a couple of algae scrubbers in there ran by pumps

so many options :P

Ash

[SantaMonica]

Use this as a guide;

Each cube of frozen food you feed per day needs 12 square inches of screen, with a light on both sides totaling 12 watts. Thus a nano that is fed one cube a day would need a screen 3 X 4 inches with a 6 watt bulb on each side. A larger tank that is fed 10 cubes a day would need a screen 10 X 12 inches with 60 watts of light on each side. If you feed flake, feeder fish, or anything else, you will need to blend it up super thick, strain out the excess water, pour it into a cube, and see how many cubes it is.

[sklywag]

I use only my overflow to feed my scrubber. No auxilary pumps required. Rule of thumb is 35 gph per inch width of screen. So if it's 5 inches wide you want 5x35=175 gph of flow over screen. More is better as long as the screen is rough enough to hold the algae. Please correct me if I'm wrong SM.