+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19

Thread: New waterfall scrubber - a test!

  1. #1
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32

    New waterfall scrubber - a test!

    Hey all. My attempts at a horizontal scrubber fail miserably, and an in-sump kinda-upflow-ish one didn't grow anything, either. So, eff it, went waterfall.

    Started with this:


    Lit on both sides by two different 23w CFLs (one 2700k, one 5500k) as temp lighting while waiting for my LEDs and heatsinks to come in.

    Got this after just three days (where the other scrubber attempts went for weeks with zero growth of even diatoms):





    So this will be a test. My first algae scrubber I made was a waterfall that was lit with one 2700k 23w CFL, and the other side by a DIY LED array that was just shit I had left over from testing and building my display lighting and fuge light (4x generic 660nm, 4x generic 405nm, 4x generic 450nm, 2x Luxeon Rebel ES 5000K). The LED side had ridiculously phenomenal growth, and I always wanted to test that same ratio versus the 'proper' 660nm and 450nm combo.

    The new scrubber is 100% LED. One side is lit by 10x 660nm Luxeon Rebels and 4x 445nm Luxeon Rebel ES. The other side is lit by 4x 660nm Luxeon Rebels, 4x 445nm Luxeon Rebels, 4x 430nm LEDgroupbuy customs, and 2x 2700k Luxeon Rebel ES. They're both powered at 700mA by a pair of Meanwell LPC-35-700. Pump is a Maxijet 1200. I think the total screen size is like 8" x 6" or something like that.

    Without further ado, pics.







    Red/blue side


    Mixed side



    PAR is measured at around 400 or so on each side of the screen (Apogee PAR sensor). I should run the lights for 9 hours or so, right?

  2. #2
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    Oh, and here are pics of the old waterfall setup that was fantastic.



    After four-ish weeks from a brand new screen, no diatoms, no slimy stuff on the LED side, just thick friggin hair algae.








    And the ridiculous fuge light, just because lol

  3. #3
    Administrator
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
    Posts
    10,566
    Use a guideline of hours based on growth. 9 hours to start, but less if burned yellow, more if dark or black.

  4. #4
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    10-4.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    23
    I saw that user name and knew some crazy LED setup would have to be in there!

  6. #6
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    Of course! Go big or go home

  7. #7
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    Still no hair algae growth. Just this grey gunk. I then realized I was still running that timer on 18 hours. Whoops

    Gonna cut it in half and see what happens.

    EDIT: Also remembered that I only started feeding the tank a few days ago after a 14 day hiatus. Skimmer was still going batshit during that time, though, so nutrients were there somewhere.

  8. #8
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    Cleaned the screen today. Still haven't adjusted the controller, too lazy to reprogram it to shorten the light cycle lol.

    This is what came off:






    Looks tasty, huh? Only a few tiny patches of hair algae so far, but it's better than nothing.

  9. #9
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    Also forgot to mention that I got my diffuser screen stuff in, and has been put onto both heatsinks. PAR is around 280-350 on each side.

  10. #10
    jedimasterben's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    32
    So I switched from the MJ1200 to the Mag5 - holy damn, what a difference! It's ridiculous! Now there is a rapid sheet of water flowing evenly down the sheet instead of seeing water just trickle down. Only downside is now there is a very slight 'hissing' sound the tank makes from the water passive through the holes drilled in the pipe.

    With the Mag5 in place, the whole bit is a few inches shorter than it was before - so instead of lowering the LED heatsinks down, I just angled them down so the light is more incident. Hopefully I can get this damn thing to start growing! All this feeding I'm doing is bringing back the dreaded dinoflagellates!

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts