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Thread: Anyone know if this has been tried?

  1. #11
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Quote Originally Posted by rygh
    It will be interesting to see what happens when algae grows on the lip.
    Since there is no pressure, it might build up, and flow could become uneven quickly.
    On the other hand, the overall flow will not drop off like a clogged slot.
    Yes that's a possibility.

    The lip will be smooth though so it shouldn't build up as quickly as on the screen and a quick wipe when cleaning the screen should keep it down.

    Quote Originally Posted by rygh
    You might end up with a bit of dead crud on the dark side of the screen.
    That was a minor annoyance with my old semi-horizontal.
    Although amusingly, you can end up growing coralline algae there.
    I had that with my original horizontal one too. Used to get loads of pods living under the screens as well.

  2. #12

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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    I like the idea of trying to find another method to get water on the screen. Pipes are hands down the easiest thing but they are not perfect.

    The basic idea can be adpated to a 2 sided design. This is a sketchup of a design that is pretty close to what I'm using on my nano. It has been modified with using an overflow into it in mind.

    The hole is where the overflow would be plugged into. The whole unit is 2"x2"x10"L. Same concept..the container fills then the water flows over the edge. You could easily shade the slot by extending the acrylic over it and painting it. The only issue with the basic design is that it has to be level..or it wont work right. You can use super glue to glue acrylic together. It works extremely well..in fact other than weld-on..its the only thing that works good at all.

    It should provide a uniform flow rate over the length of the screen...which I've found is the first issue I deal with using a pipe. and 2nd it will be easy to shade the slot from light because its square..just glue some extra pieces of acrylic on the outside of it not touching the water stream and paint them.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  3. #13
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    That's clever. I like that.

    I'm not sure your average hobbyist would have the skills to build something like that though. I don't think I do anyway.

    You could get around the algae blocking the slot issue by making the whole thing from black acrylic and having a short flat piece extending below where the screen emerges from the slot to shield it from the light there.

    I'm not sure where or how you're securing the screen from your plan or how it would be removed for cleaning?

  4. #14

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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    I didn't really get that far into the idea. It was just more to represent the concept i just drew it up in Google sketch-up quick. I'm sure a little thought would yield a good solution.

    you could paint it black with krylon. black acrylic isn't always easy to get. And krylon has been used in contact with saltwater in reef aquarium in several occasions that I've known and has no issues. I know it sounds all sorts of wrong..but I won't argue with those that have done it and still have thriving tanks.

    I agree its not for your average hobbyist. But a piece of .093 acylic, a plastic knife(score and snap), some gel super glue(works good), and its probably something that fits into what your DIY crew could probably do. The pvc pipe and slit you just can't beat for ease of construction tho..no doubt about that..dead simple.

  5. #15
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Ahh... you meant one of these...





    Don't think the smooth flow is an issue, all the co2 used would come from the water. If all the co2 is used up the algae uses bicarbonate which is why you need to keep an eye on your dkh level.
    Correct.

    The advantage of a double sided screen is that you can fit the same screen width into half the linear space
    That's part of it. But the real power of double sided is in keeping the roots alive longer. Since they get light from both sides, they stay attached. My estimate is it provides about 100% more filtering for the same amount of watts on a single sided setup.

    I have seen it claimed that some of the light from each side penetrates through to the other side but I don't really see how that can be.
    Not "to the other side", but "to the screen", which means... "to the roots".

  6. #16
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica
    Ahh... you meant one of these...


    Yep! That's the idea. And here was I thinking I'd thought of it first! :?

    Do you happen to know if anyone's actually built one yet and if there were any problems not mentioned so far?

  7. #17
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Thats exactly what I used from day 1. It needs bigger screen, and thats the only drawback at my point of view. Very happy with setup overall. If I would do new tank, I would do same design again - no doubt.
    In my case waterfall takes start directly from tank overflow and goes in to the back chamber, so eliminating one additional container. No problems with leveling as overflow comb evens up any small unevenness. Not a single pipe used as well (except return pump).

    Take a look :
    viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1242

  8. #18
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Quote Originally Posted by kotlec
    Thats exactly what I used from day 1. It needs bigger screen, and thats the only drawback at my point of view. Very happy with setup overall. If I would do new tank, I would do same design again - no doubt.
    In my case waterfall takes start directly from tank overflow and goes in to the back chamber, so eliminating one additional container. No problems with leveling as overflow comb evens up any small unevenness. Not a single pipe used as well (except return pump).

    Take a look :
    viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1242

    Excellent.

    Works then!

    I've put mine together today. It's built into a 3 ft tank and the screen is 22 and a half inches wide.

    Tomorrow when the silicon's cured, I'll give it a test run.

    I found a way of hanging the screen so that it stands slightly out from the glass wall. Used a length of plastic extrusion shaped like a capital E in profile. The screen is wedged into one channel (I'll silicon it in once it's tested and the screen roughed up) and the other channel sits on the edge of the glass. It just lifts off easily for cleaning.

    I'll probably use some 24 inch T5s to light it but haven't decided how many yet. It'll be going under a 55 gallon tank to begin with so it won't need to run at anything like it's potential.




  9. #19
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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    Test for flow

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TUYJ5TUVHE

    This pump is rated at 5000 litres per hour, it's a year old, has just been cleaned and there's no head to speak of in this test so I guess it's running at around 4000-4500 lph, say 4250 which is about 935 gal per hour (1120 in US gallons), making a little over 40 gals per hour per inch of screen width.

    It's not quite as quiet as I had imagined but there's no splashing at all, whether that will remain the case with a screen full of algae I don't know. I suppose I could add a splash guard pretty easily if it does.

    Thoughts?

  10. #20

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    Re: Anyone know if this has been tried?

    i think this video, shows something like you want...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajAevR85 ... re=related

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