Turtle Pond Scrubber

[mrgoodkat]

Hey guys and gals,

thanks for all the help. I managed to build my first scrubber.

It's about 40*22. I cut three separate slots in it to keep some parts holding the pipe together and I used 2 layers of screen.
The only problem now is that the flow is not enough because I didn't have a big enough hose (currently 3/4), but I ordered a 1 1/4 and it should be enough flow then. You can see that the water currently doesn't flow all the way to the left side.

Pictures show algae grow over the last 24 hours since I used it first. Not bad I think and it's super quiet.





BTW: Is it better to keep the 2 layers separate? I bound them together with fishing line.

[SantaMonica]

You should really only use 1 layer.

You can remove the left screen and tape up the slot; this will give more flow two the middle and right.

[kerry]

I had better luck with a single layer. Also make sure its SUPPER ROUGH, the screen cannot be to rough.

[mrgoodkat]

Thanks for the comments. I hope the screen is rough enough, I pulled a saw blade across it. Got a huge heap of plastic per side.

@SantaMonica: The water should reach the left screen once I put the bigger hose in place.

As to the double layers, I remember reading somewhere here that those give the algae better hold and make sure that there is algae left in between even after cleaning it. Not true?

[SantaMonica]

That was old logic. What actually happens is that the thicker growth gets darker quicker, killing the roots sooner and causing detachment. Also it traps stuff between the layers.

You'd be in a good position to make one screen single-layer, and compare.

[mrgoodkat]

I took out the second layer and installed the new hose. Now it's way too much flow. It's gushing and washing the algae away.

The pump has ~1700 gallon/hour spread over 40 inch. About 42 gallons per inch, should be within the range.

Any suggestions?

[SantaMonica]

Should be fine.

[mrgoodkat]

1 Week growth. Only sunlight.

Looking good.

I went back to 2 layers, works much better and is quieter than only one layer.

[SantaMonica]

2 layers will fill in faster because it traps stuff in the middle. But when it gets thick the middle will die off faster from lack of light. But looks good for now.

[Don Stephens]

MrGoodKat and Turtle-keeping others...

Hello...I'm new here and just encountered this particular kind of water-management approach, but have been caring for aquatic turtles (mostly fresh-water) since the 1940s and striving to "keep it clean". So I'm still at the very bottom of this forum's learning curve. But this turtle topic did already bring a couple of related thoughts to mind:

1) If turtles are a part of your world, and you haven't discovered it already. you might find much of interest and answers to questions on their husbandry, at the Austin's Turtle Forum: http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upl...ex.php?act=idx and, incidentally, we are currently discussing scrubbers on several forum topics there, such as: http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upl...owtopic=163835 We'd love to have you join in, ask any question you have on turtles and share your insights.

2) Also, I notice a number of depictions and references here, to the use of PolyVinylChloride piping as part of aquarium algae-scrubber devices. As a "seasoned-professional" Enviromental-Home Designer, I have encountered enough troubling information about PVC-plastics toxicity, the potential for water-contamination by leaching and off-gassing, and conscequent hormonal and nuerological damage to humans and other living things (particularly those that spend much or all of their lives aquatically, that I've elected to try to completely avoid all products made with this particularly questionable, but ubiquitously utilized chlorinated-plastic formulation, with members of my own captive, long-term, conservation-breeding "assurance-population" of my particular chosen threatened turtle species of interest. In as much as many advanced aquarium-keepers already take measures to minimize chlorine in the water they use in their systems, it occurred to me that if they haven't already become aware of and decided just where they stand on this controversial industrial formulation, they might want to do their own investigating. To that end, I'd suggest as a good place to start your own research...you might find the following of interest: http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upl...yl+%2Bchloride...

Looking forward to learning and sharing more here, I am,

- Don Stephens,
dongreenershelter@hotmail.com