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Green Grabber® screens for DIY
Video:
https://youtu.be/-nyzPkiuuac
From the creator of the original roughed-up plastic canvas screen in 2008, comes the first new type of screen ever available for you to buy just for scrubbers: Green Grabber® screen. This new screen comes two years after the introduction of our Green Grabber rock hard attachment material that we use in our SURF, HOG and DROP scrubbers, and this screen is 3D printed in plastic that is FDA approved to be food safe.
The color is ultra white; much whiter than the "sort-of" white that most plastic canvas looks like. White is needed to reflect more light back to the growth, especially when the growth is thick and needs as much light as possible to keep the "roots" illuminated and living.
The holes in the screen have been enlarged a bit (compared to 7-point plastic canvas), to allow more light and flow to go through the screen, and to allow the screen to hold on to slime better. All new growth starts out as slime, so this allows the screens to mature faster. And if your particular tank keeps growing slime for a longer period of time as some do, these Green Grabber® screens will hold on to it better than ever so you can harvest the most of it.
The Rough 3D (tm) technique of 3D printing these screens is the opposite of what most 3D printing people want; they want smooth surfaces with no holes or other imperfections. Rough 3D however is a patent-pending printing process that makes the individual legs of the screen have different thicknesses, sometimes even with tiny holes in them, and makes lots of irregularities and little threads, all of which allows algae (especially slime) to hold on better, quicker. Regular plastic canvas has none of this, even when it's very roughed up. And regular plastic canvas is made with plastic that is much more slippery from the beginning (for knitting needles to pass through), thus making it even harder for algae to attach to it.
Green Grabber 3D printed screens can be used on upflow, waterfall, and horizontal river scrubbers, and are available in two thicknesses:
1 mm thick: (slightly thinner than plastic canvas), with a rough texture on one side that is similar in feel to roughed-up plastic canvas; the other side is non-rough and feels like a regular screen. This 1 mm thickness screen is about the same rip-strength as plastic canvas, but with much more of a porous and stringy structure.
2 mm thick: (slightly thicker than plastic canvas), with a rough texture on both sides that is similar in feel to roughed-up plastic canvas. This screen is made by 3D printing two separate 1 mm thick screens, and epoxying them together (the holes in the screen remain open of course) back to back, so that only the rough sides are on the outside. This screen is stronger than plastic canvas, with a higher rip-strength, not only because the plastic we use is stronger than soft plastic canvas material, but also because the epoxy in the middle gives it more strength overall. This 2 mm thickness screen should be used for taller screens which will weigh more when full of growth, or when you will have lots of thick heavy slime due to high nutrients (the slime has more space to hold on to a thicker screen, and will not let go as easily), or if you just want the most algae attachment possible in a screen.
The current maximum size of a single screen is 7 x 7 inches (17.8 x 17.8 cm), which is about a 4 cube/day feeding size if lit from both sides (2 cubes a day if lit from one side). Wider screen sizes can of course be made by using several screens side-by-side, in which case you would just harvest one at a time. Or they can be connected together top-to-bottom to make taller screens; in this case you could thread them together permanently with fishing line, or connect them temporarily with zip ties.
All sizes of screen come with pre-installed grommets at the top of the screen, which are 3D printed into the same plastic as the screen and thus become one piece. They are strong and will not rip easily like regular plastic canvas. By using zip ties or shower curtain rings with the grommets, you can easily attach and remove the screens from your water pipe or air bubbler.
The screens include an extra 1/2 inch (1 cm) of screen above the grommets; this extra screen goes into your water pipe, and thus the size of the screen is actually taller than the stated size. And the screen even has little "SMF" (Santa Monica Filtration) text partially hidden in the screen, which you can see if you hold the screen over a dark surface.
The screen comes with a 6 month warranty which covers staying together in one piece and not ripping. For warranty replacements, you must send the old screen back to us first.
