New to scrubbers some opinions please

[Chilly]

Hi all, new to the site and would like your opinions on this little scrubber

My tank is 120lt plus the sump , the tank is new just finished its cycle and there is loads of hair algae in the main tank which I have cleaned of best I can and turned off the lights to the main tank and made the scrubber which is now lit 24/7 in the hope I can get rid of the hair algae

From memory the measurements of the scrubber is about 9 inches x 4 inches will check when I'm home from work , the light is a 10w 6500k led flood light , the light is a bit closer now than in the pic
Any advice if it will work as it is or any improvements I can make , thanks

http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4bfe6e32.jpg

http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/...ps85a28229.jpg

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

4 X 9 = 36 sq in, horizontal river single sided. This needs much more light. Here are the guidelines:

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

An example VERTICAL upflow or 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.

HORIZONTAL screens: Multiply the screen size by 4, and the wattage by 1 1/2. Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen [60 lph per cm], EVEN IF one sided or horizontal.

FLOATING SURFACE SCRUBBERS WITH RIBBONS: Screen size is the size of the box (Lenth X Width), and is 2-sided because the ribbons grow in 3D.

LEDs: Use half the wattage as above. 660nm (red) is best. You can mix in a little 450nm (blue) if you want.

Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas, unless floating surface, which would use gravel and strings instead.

Clean algae:

Every 7 to 21 days, or
When it's black, or
When it fills up, or
When algae lets go, or
When nutrients start to rise

[Chilly]

Thanks for the reply

I just measured the Screen and it's 31/2 inches x 10 so is way to big really , my tank is small and will prob have no more than 7 small fish max , do ou think 31/2 x 5 inches would be a better fit ?

I've been looking online and seen some red blue led grow flood lights in multiple wattages would these be better than the 6500k one I have ? And what wattage do you think would do a screen of 31/2 x 5 set up single sided as I have it ?

Or if smaller or larger screen would better suet my tank ?

Also is a blue red led light good for growing cheato ?

Thanks

[SantaMonica]

I think you mean cm, not inches, so you have 36 sq inches. But still the screen is too big. You will probably will feed no more than 1 cube a day. But you may as well use it for now since you have it.

You want at least 36 real watts of CFL, or 18 watts of red/blue LED. Two smaller floodlights of either type would be good, to cover the whole surface. The LED's work for chaeto too.

[Chilly]

Lol I did mean 3 and half inches x 5 inches

The screen is currently 3 1/2 x 10 inches , so maybe 3 1/2 x ?
What size would you sugest based on 1 cube per day when lit from only one side ? I would rather just cut the screen down to the correct size from the start and if it's not to big light it with a single lamp

The red blue grow flood lights I've seen on ebay seem a reasonably decent price for 10w or 20w

[SantaMonica]

Reduce it by half and it should be good for a single 8 or 10w LED grow bulb.