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Thread: Hang on scrubber not growing

  1. #1

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    Hang on scrubber not growing

    Heres my scrubber, built from a old HOB filter and theres still room for a filter pad, carbon or other. I'm not getting much growth, just some yellow, although I do get some nice green hair at the bottom of the screen, that is submerged. Using a MJ1200, screen is 5wx6, and bulbs are 19w, 12hrs on, 12 off. Started with 18/4, but didn't see much growth, so went to 12/12, and still the same. Reflectors are shiney(hard to see). I also have a ball of chaeto that is turning a pale green/yellow.
    I feed 1 pinch of pellets, and just started feeding a couple tablespoons of phyto everyday. Are my bulbs too bright? Flow to little? Screen not rough enough? Its been about a month, and no green. Pics are after first cleaning.
    Thanks




  2. #2
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    Remove the chaeto, increase lights to 18 hours, double the feeding, clean every 14 days, and report back in 2 months.

  3. #3
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    LOL that's like a teacher giving an assignment or a doctor prescribing medication haha

    Nice idea for an HOB design. I don't know why I didn't think of that one....

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica View Post
    Remove the chaeto, increase lights to 18 hours, double the feeding, clean every 14 days, and report back in 2 months.
    10-4. Thanks Doc!

    Quote Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo
    LOL that's like a teacher giving an assignment or a doctor prescribing medication haha

    Nice idea for an HOB design. I don't know why I didn't think of that one....
    Lol. Thanks. I had the idea in my head for a while, but was waiting till the new *cough* SM design *cough* came out, to see how much different it would be, but couldn't wait any longer. I knew those old HOB filters I had laying around would be good for something... Now I just need to convert it to LED.

  5. #5
    kerry's Avatar
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    I tried it with a smaller unit but, it would not pump the water that high.
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

  6. #6

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    I havn't tried the pump it comes with. It has a U tube that feeds the pump, and the water just fills up the basin. Couldn't figure out how to feed the mesh without modifying the box, so I just put a mj1200 in the tank to feed it, and didn't use the built in pump.
    I do have a hob filter with a biowheel and a little spray bar that spins it. I contemplated for a while on trying to make a spinning wheel scrubber, but opted for the vertical scrubber.


    Any suggestions for the quantity, brand, and nm of leds, and drivers I could use on this? Never done a DIY led, but I'm thinking this would be a good place to start.
    Thanks!

  7. #7
    kerry's Avatar
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    I have been using these LED's with great luck. They are china but he is in California and has them in stock so its never a along wait. http://www.ebay.com/itm/3W-x-10-PCs-...item19ccfc9c02 . I have also used his drivers to however, the one rated for 4-7 LEDs blinks unless I put at least 6 LED's on it. The others I have used are just fine. I get the rest of the stuff from rapidled.com. Many others like the LED's from here better as they are better quality.
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

  8. #8
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    I checked with SatisLED recently and they use Epistar LED for the 660nm Reds, which are good LEDs, and Epiled for the 450-455nm Blues, but I know little about Epiled except they appear to be out of Poland. I have a batch of both of these on the way currently. I plan on using the Meanwell LPC-35-700 driver and heat sinks from HeatSinkUSA

  9. #9

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    I've made some modifications to my scrubber. Got tired of the spitting water, spilling light, and saw excellent green growth in the water on both sides of the screen. There was a golfball size ball of plush green algae just floating next to the screen. Green on top and bottom. The growth in the pics is what I got when the screen was vertical. So, I've submerged the screen hoping to capture that same green growth. I guess this is somewhat a horizontal scrubber now, but the screen is off the bottom, held up by pvc, so the water can flow above and below the screen. The ball that was growing/floating in the same spot did not have any yellow/dark/dying spots on its underside which didn't get any light.



  10. #10
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    Submerged will probably not grow at all.

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