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Thread: My first scrubber...

  1. #1

    Join Date
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    My first scrubber...

    Hi Guys. I am a complete noob w.r.t. algae scrubbers. I have been doing a lot of research about it and compared it to other filtration techniques. I feel this is the way to go.

    Some info on my tank:

    I have a 160 gallon marine aquarium with some soft coral and fish in.
    I am feeding about 10 pinches of flakes and a piece of nori about 2 inches by 4 inches a day with the odd meaty preparation.

    From what I gather I will need a 2 sided lit screen, correct?

    I am thinking of building a waterfall version.

    I would please like help with the size of the screen, the flow rate and the best lighting to do this correctly.

    Thanks so long.

  2. #2
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    I would go with a 2cube screen, 6x4 lit by two 23w spotlight cfls on each side. Put like 250gph through it and done!

    Now, as far as lighting, if you can go with the best then go Led. A turbo l2 is a great option for waterfall.

  3. #3
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    Welcome.

    2-sided is always best, and most powerful, but of course is harder to build.

    Scrubbers are now sized according to feeding. Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

    An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

    1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen), or
    1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen), or
    10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen), or
    5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen), or
    10 square inches (60 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen), or
    5 square inches (30 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen), or
    0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen), or
    0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

    High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

    LEDs would be 1/2 to 1/4 of the wattage, using mostly 660nm reds.

    Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.

  4. #4

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    I was thinking of making similar to the 2 cube screen.

    I like the dimension of 6 x 4 for the screen and 250 gph sounds like good flow, should I get a pump that is a bit stronger to take head height into consideration? Although it will only need to lift the water about 12 inches.
    I will see what I can get w.r.t. lighting etc.

  5. #5

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    So I have the following planned so far.

    The idea is to have a box that is 20cm x 10 cm x 15cm.
    I will increase the width of the box if I cannot use leds.

    Has anyone tried using those LED strips?

    I am still planning the draining system and the emergency drain in the event of a emergency.

  6. #6
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    I don't think strips have enough power. Look at the watts.

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