Is there such a thing as too big of a scrubber?

[reef r madness]

Im thinking of doing an algae scrubber in my future reef tank.Im going to be using a 10 gallon sump and a 29 gallon display tank.I want to make the scrubber 7 inches high 20 inches long lit on both sides..i plan on using 2x24 watt florasun t5 bulbs .Ive been away from hobby for about 10 years....my how things have changed....last time i had my tank up and running protein skimmers had just came out.....I also want to document my build ....Ive joined a few sites .......any recommendations on which site i will get the most input...thank you santa monica for all your hard work...

[reef r madness]

according to the calculator ....i need to make my scrubber 3 inches high x 12 inches long with a flow rate of 105 gph...18 watts per side....feeding 3 cubes a day....am i getting closer to the right specs? 18 hour light cycles running from 6pm to noon.......

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Yes, skimmers were neat. All that rising foam. Until you realize that the particles in that foam are coral food, and small-fish food. The same food you buy and feed. And, the skimmer don't remove any nutriets. At all.

Anyway, for regular sites, if I had to pick one I say Reefsanctuary.com.

Your size seems off. Maybe you mean 3 inches wide. But that would be hard to put a 12 inch bulb vertical into the sump.

[reef r madness]

ok here is my plan...scrubber housing to be made of clear plexiglass.24 watt florasun ho lights on both sides of housing

[SantaMonica]

3 cubes is a giant amount for a nano, but yes it would need 36 square inches of screen, and at least 36 total watts. Flow however should be 12 X 35 = 420 gph, not 105 gph. So, this design would have a huge amount of circulation for it's size. Might be loud, and could easily spray everywhere.

Also you don't want the detritus trapped anywhere. Instead leave an open pathway so the detritus can recirculate back around to feed the corals. If you are going to have rock in the sump, have detritus eaters in their too.

[kerry]

You might be better with a 4x4 screen or 6x6 if you have a ton livestock to feed but its unlikely in a 29G. To much screen grows little algae and does not filter very good, its best to fit the screen to your feeding not the size of your tank.

[Pny]

To much screen grows little algae and does not filter very good

Why would a large screen grow less algae than a small screen? That does not make sense...

[rleahaines]

Why would a large screen grow less algae than a small screen? That does not make sense...

I think the theory is you end up spreading the algae out over the larger screen and missing out on some of the filtering capability you may get with denser growth.

[rleahaines]

3 cubes per day of feeding is an awful lot of food for a 29Gal tank. What are you planning to put in it?

[SantaMonica]

A wider screen has to spread the nutrients out over a larger space, so it does not have the material it needs to grow out into the flow.