Inline Algae Scrubber

[andrek787]

Hi All. I am new to algae scrubbers and would like to add one to my 55 gallon african cichlid tank. I wanted to ask if anyone has tried converting a UV sterilizer into an algae scrubber? I am thinking about buying a 36W UV sterilizer off ebay, replacing the UV bulb with an equivalent CFL and putting a "tube" of screen material into the housing. That should give me about 120 sq. inches of attachment surface and about 3000 lumens of 3000 kelvin light. The idea is to hook the unit after a canister and use a 500gph external pump to recirculate water through it.

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Problem is, no air-water interface.

[andrek787]

Ok, I assumed the air feed was to create water flow. So, the air bubbles need to flow past or through the algae growth? Is it for gas exchange? What about adding an inline diffuser/atomizer (such as Up-Aqua Co2) on the inlet of the assembly and feed high pressure air to it from a deepwater air pump? The bubbles should be very fine.

I working on fixing up a 90 gallon tank but the stand that I have doesn't have space for a sump. Doing water changes with that large of a volume will be pretty difficult so an algae scrubber is a must. Can a HOG3 be hidden by a 5"D X 9"W overflow cover if both top and bottom are open? The plan is to have about 30 adult mbuna cichlids in it

[SantaMonica]

You want big bubbles, not fine. Also, a UV container would be almost impossible to clean out.

A HOG3 is 6" wide X 8" tall, so part of it would still be visible if you are trying to hide it. However you could extend the overflow cover, or decorate or paint the HOG3 shell.

You could also consider a floating scrubber to float on the display surface.

[andrek787]

I guess this is just to do something unique. I think the size of the air bubbles could be potentially adjusted by lowering the pressure as the inline atomizer requers for 30 psi to produce fine CO2 bubbles. You are absolutely right, the unit will be very difficult to clean, probably only by using a round toilet brush. I guess since I already have an sterilizer and a big air pump, it would not be hard to actually try it out on my 55.

Most likely I will end up getting a HOG3 and hiding it behind an overflow cover (5"D x 9"W x 24"H). I have a couple of questions if you don't mind me asking,

Is it possible to silicone in the LED side of the HOG to the the glass, putting shade material on the algae side?

Whats the thickness is the HOG housing?

Can I feed the hair algae to my fish if their diet in the wild is almost entirely algae?

[SantaMonica]

Yes you could silicone the HOG3 lights to the outside, and you can still use a cloth or cardstock to cover the lights, by only gluing the top of the light and leaving the rest to hang so that you can slide the shade up into it.

The HOG3 housings are 2" thick on the outside, and 2" on the inside.

Yes the growth, when green hair, can be fed to the fish. It will be mostly Spirogyra.