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Thread: Acorral's UAS test

  1. #11
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    WHOA - camera underwater! Not expected!!! LOL

    Yeah I think your bubbles are great, lots more than I had. To me it looks like your screen has more green on it than mine had at that point (not counting the first week). That could be due to the higher amount of bubbles. I would just leave it be, whatever you're doing is working.

    From my experience, I the screen was not growing anything right in front of the blue so I backed it off and put the diffuser over the blue until it filled in with green in the holes. I now run it 12/12 with the lights as close as I can get them and zero burning. I think initially I was dealing with photoinhibition of GHA so backing off and such was probably the right move. Also after it turned thick and green I was running 18/6 and got a dino coating by the 3rd or 4th day, then Garf told me he thought it was overillumination, and when I knocked it back they didn't really start to form until day 5 or 6 and wasn't nearly as much on day 7 compared to day 4 on 18/6.

    The diffuser is just a section cut from a 2' x 4' sheet of diffusion grating. You can find these in most big box hardware stores that sell the recessed "troffer" light fixtures (that go up into a ceiling grid system). They will be in the same area as the white and reflective egg crate, and the 2' x 4' acoustic ceiling tiles. Anywhere that carries those items will have it. It's called a "prismatic diffuser".

    I have not re-roughed my screen, I just left it alone. Initially I thought I might not have roughed it up enough after reading SM's UAS post, but decided just to leave it be.

    As far as the dinos go, in the tank I run the waterfall scrubber on I also have several different areas where I use the plastic canvas to prevent salt creep from microbubbles popping, strainers, bubble blockers for effluent from the scrubber, etc. All of these grow copious amounts of dinos. My conclusion is that any kind of soft plastic (white egg crate included) will grow dinos if it is exposed to the water (i.e. not encrusted with coralline or covered in a thick mat of algae). So until your screen gets some thick green growth, you're going to grow lots of dinos, but it will pass.

  2. #12

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    Thanks for the comments...

    I'm thinking on another version of a 2 sided screen using submerged mirrors, the problem is with the metalic stuff in mirrors... so Santamonica: The flexible reflector material you sell on your site, are they submersible? are they reef safe?

    Another point to discuss... what bout puutting diffuser grating for the whole lamp, not only blue ones? to mix the light... any comments on this?

  3. #13
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    yes that would be fine. Diffusion grating knocks the light down a little, but with LEDs being as localized and intense as they are, is it probably an even trade off. Diffusing the whole array will give better overall coverage, and then you just put it closer to make up for the slight intensity loss.

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo View Post
    yes that would be fine. Diffusion grating knocks the light down a little, but with LEDs being as localized and intense as they are, is it probably an even trade off. Diffusing the whole array will give better overall coverage, and then you just put it closer to make up for the slight intensity loss.
    Sounds good... I'll give it a try... what abut the reflecting flexible sheets? do you know if those are safe?

  5. #15

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    Cleaned the screen today after 2 weeks of running...

    Before cleaning:
    Click image for larger version

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    After cleaning very little algae:
    Click image for larger version

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    I'm happy that I'm seeing green on the screen but still not in the center of the light source...

    Guessing what shoudl I do to fix that... many optionc crossing my minda, like:
    - Increase feeding
    - Turn off biopellet reactor
    - Reduce photoperiod, currently running at 18/6
    - Introducing a light diffuser
    - Heard about adding Iron, which I consider not viable since it could fuel the algae on my Display Tank

    Help from the experts here !!! what should I do to make it grow green in the center also?

  6. #16
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    Too much light energy

    Acorral - see if this prediction applies in your case;

    http://algaescrubber.net/forums/show...ll=1#post20253

  7. #17

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    Short video before cleaning:


  8. #18

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    Thank you garf, you maybe right so why don't try...

    I will be adding this week a royal blue led and putting a light diffuser grating infront of the leds

    I'll post results here

  9. #19
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    It is certainly burning the middle. There is already plenty of iron, since it grows green on the sides. If you can't spread the light out, then a diffuser might help. Lastly, less hours.

  10. #20
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    I am doing a waterfall bubble screen (tm) and I found that low lighting promoted green growth, then applying higher light accelerated growth when the screen was ready.

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