What about adding AIR ???? just curious

[pnavarro170]

I have a regular turf scrubber, i know it just needs running water over the screen but what if i were to add the air line to the pump, making it basically a skimmer type pump that would add alot of air to the water falling over the screen. would this help or do anything. was reworking mine up yesterday and just had me thinking ???

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Yes some people have done that in the past, and I think it did help.

Theoretically it should certainly help, since the gas/water interface of the bubbles helps to break up the boundary layer around the algal strands, and this helps the metabolites transfer to the water faster.

[pnavarro170]

thanks for the response, i just didnt get why you would use a bubbler on an upflow scrubber, if all you needed was water moving over the screen. I might try it out, but then i just added more flow and an extra light to my one screen so not sure if i try it now or wait.

[SantaMonica]

The thin layer of water on a waterfall scrubber is an attempt to create a thin air/water interface layer, but it can never be as thin as the wet-dry-wet cycle of a bubble passing by.