Rolling Algae Scrubber (RAS),The new method for culturing algae

[ifa2002]

Ok …So in this new method I decided to remove the problems of ATS and UAS and design a system that is quite simple and effective…

large growing area in Limited space
Low power consumption
No need for additional pumps ( or air pumps)
No problem when the water flow stopped for a long time
Reduction in pods populations (vertigo takes them !!? Practical work needs to prove)

Waiting for your comments…
Thanks and sorry for bad English!

[kerry]

This has been around for awhile and no one has really talked of any success with it that I have heard of. The bad part about them is that its one sided, to be very efficient it needs to be lit on both sides.

[Garf]

On a positive note, your English is better than mine, so no problems there !

[jnad]

Hmm, might work, i like to test tings, you should test it. But i think the mechanical design by having some thing rotating is a drawback.

Ps! I have been thinking, and testing, thinking, and testing scrubbers so mutch that i actually forgot maintaining my tank this was of topic.

Jnad

[dryworm]

im interested in seeing it in action. i'll be following along

[gmoney243]

yea its been thought of before. i knew someone who used one. the problem is the wheel spins constant and fast so the algae never gets much light. even if you kept the light on 24/7 the screen will be dark about 75% of the time due to it spining out of sight of the light. and without constant light algae doesnt grow as well. it cant really get the light it needs with only short bursts of light as it passes around. it would probly work if you could figure how to light the whole screen constantly for 18hours/day so the algae never gets out of sight of light untill you tunr it off.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I think something is being missed here and it has to do with the concept of flashing. Rotating builds of the past have used standard light levels and then blamed failure on the fact stated above, >75% of the time, the algae is dark. Studies going back to the 1930s showed that alternating light and dark periods on the order of milliseconds produce just as much photosynthetic results as constant light. The key is and always comes back to intensity.

T5HO and CFL lights will not do in a setup like this, even with the best reflectors. You must use LEDs, and likely with lenses so that the light is extremely, extremely intense on top of the screen so that the cells get blasted with light, then go dark and transfer that energy to the next step of the process so they can be ready to absorb light again.

I'm talking a row of 660s almost stacked one on top of the other. Get the Philips Luxeons from Steve's LEDs + lenses and put them a few inches away, that should do it.

[kerry]

LOL, I thought the same thing after posting to Floyd. Have you got your timer built yet? I have not attempted anything yet.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I wish I could build time. That would be awesome.

[kerry]

I wish I could build time. That would be awesome.

Timer, my bad.