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First week with the reduced screen = Reduced amount of slime algae produced :( When the screen was bigger, I removed around 40g per week. This week, only 19g. Still nowhere near the 100s of grammes I...

Well that didn't go as planned :(

I cut the screen in half today and gave it a quick clean. I tried to fill the slot with Milliput, but it was old stuff and was a bit too crumbly. I had now cut...

That's tomorrows job then, ta. I found my Milliput today, so now have something to block the slot up with.

Okay, I have finally decided to make the screen smaller to see if that makes a difference, as everything else I have tried to promote growth has failed. My ATS is now 16 months old and still only...

With my set up, I have seen mention online of seeding a screen with Ulva intestinalis. Any thought on this over waiting for the turf?

New light day today, other light will be fitted net week. It is now a 12v, 20w warm white. I am thinking maybe the big cfl's were losing light output, so not a lot of cop really. This is my last...

12 months down the road and it is time for a new approach. I am holding out swapping the spraybar to smaller for the time being. I have ordered some 12v 20w 2800k leds now. I would have liked to have...

So, this is the second harvest now that the bigger pump is on. I have had to make a slot cover out of tin foil which I have bent to shape as the slot seems to keep blocking and squirting out onto the...

Finally got myself a new pump. All plumbed in and gushing away now. Let's see if that makes a difference.

It is still lit both sides, so have no idea why it is like it is. Both sides were clear, just some other stuff on one side. I'm cleaning every week. I know you want the screen smaller, but I don't...

Been working hard to lower organics in the water as the scrubber obviously isn't powerful enough on its own at the moment. I have been using vodka dosing and Phosguard. The green slime has gone this...

I wonder if I put blu tak in the slot as a temporary measure, if that will do the same? Obviously the growth on that part of the screen will die off, but once I have drained the system of nutrients I...

Just out of curiosity, if I were to go down the route of a smaller screen, how much smaller would you say? Also when you say tape up the slot, what with? Would normal tape not leak toxins into the...

Ah, I see.

I'm going to wait on the bigger pump first. It arrived today but bl**dy ebay sellers send crap from China without the correct plugs and adaptors, thinking that is ok. Needs to be sent back and i'll...

It's a 45w cfl both sides. No room for anything bigger, and nothing to disperse the excessive heat that is being released into the sump cabinet already. Hopefully the 45's, although a bit longer,...

Not so impressed with the cfl's ability to bring on growth this time, although improvements seem to be being made. When I tried it out last time, I had some cracking growth. I think I am going to...

Wow, that was a comprehensive answer and has given me info that I didn't know before. I knew slime came fast, but didn't realise the slime filtered better, I always though the goal was the turf.

So, new Salifert test kits. No3 25 and Po4 1.

When I started with this back in December, No3 was 25 and Po4 was 0.5, so I am going backwards at the moment with the phosphate. I was also vodka...

It's a 4' system still with quite high no3 and po4 readings (need some new tests to give a good reading), presumably leaching out from the 5 year old or so rock. This size screen is roughly what i...

So a week after adding the cfls and the difference is like night and day (excuse the pun) :)

https://i.imgur.com/Isurrkql.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FAK94WMl.jpg
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Found them. 2x 45w cfl in position temporarily with temporary reflectors. Hopefully this will now give the screen the kickstart it needs.

https://i.imgur.com/uhdQKj7l.jpg

I had moved the leds back, as you can see from the pics above, there was a very definite ring when they were closer. Until I find the holders, I may move them back a bit closer again.

So I am now 6 months into my journey, I have decided my lights aren't strong enough to encourage initial growth. I have increased lighting time to 22 hours now and am still only getting 22- 25g in...

So here we go, now some results are starting to be achieved. With the light timings lowered from 18 hours per day to 13, in a week the screens have produced 30g, that's a just over 50% increase on...

Some more modifications made today. I have found a way to hang the lights away from the screen. As you can see from the following pictures, the led really did burn the algae!! That said, 18g...

As expected, the led has proven to be far too strong and I have a big white circle on the screen. Until I can make adjustments, I am trying to diffuse the light a bit. I first started out with a bit...

Yes I agree, they are very close and a 10w led may possibly burn the screen at that distance. I need to try and fathom out how to mount the lights, I may have to make a "beam" which runs across the...

I think it will be a struggle to get 3 units per side, but 2 is doable. Just need to sort my flow out, seems to be okay at both ends, but miniscule in the middle. Sods law eh ;)

Ok, so I have finally found the time to add the new lights. These are 10w, 660nm 12 volt lights, for safety. A drip loop is in place and the power supply is located well away from any water and...

No real progress with mine at the moment, still only getting 10- 12g per week, which is terrible. I have increased the photo period by 2 hours while I am still looking for replacement lights.

Always knew the lighting could be a bit too little for it, thinking of other solutions. I seem to remember though that on my old CFL scrubber, I had to put 2x 45w to give the growth a boost, then I...

Much more of the same this week, although 9g removed from the screen this week, a 50% increase in last week. Still not convinced I have the flow right yet.

https://i.imgur.com/VEY7S5Kl.jpg
...

The spraybar seemed to be blocked and spraying inside the unit, so it was removed for cleaning. You can see a build up around the slot and I am not sure that the slot is wide enough. It only seems...

Found the box for the pump, 800lph. So the Maxijet won't give much more. It worked okay on my original home made scrubber all those years ago, so no reason why it shouldn't now.

A little disappointed with today's maintenance. Although not quite a full week, it can be seen that the water is not flowing fully down the screen. I have taken the opportunity of upgrading the pump...

So, it has been going for 7 days and the screen is filling with an oily algae on both sides which is good, shows some of the excessive nutrients are being reduced. I am also dosing vodka at 5ml per...

Yes. I stuck a little bit of tape over the slot as a temporary measure. I need to get my hole saw and rough up the new screen, but can't get my hands wet changing for another week as I have had hand...

So, I managed to get the unit into my sump yesterday. It wasn't quite long enough to sit on the brace bars, so had to make a basic support for it. Headroom for easy maintenance could be an issue, but...

I trialled 3x 3w 660nm leds on my old scrubber and the growth was pretty good. I'll see what happens with these, then maybe source a heatsink and add them at a later date. Hoping to have it running...

So, after 6 years and promising myself to get a scrubber again, I have finally done something about it. A few weeks ago, I salvaged a screen from an abandoned project, set it up in a very basic way...