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Thread: adjustments and cleaning

  1. #1

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    adjustments and cleaning

    My diy scrubber is about 4/weeks old. 10 inch wide screen, 300 gph, lit by 40 watt (actual wattage) cfl on each side.

    First 3 weeks I cleaned every 7 days, in sink, leaving some algae behind. Now after 4 days since being cleaned, I have thick dark algae.

    Should I stick to every 7 days, or can I let it go longer?

    And lastly, the chamber which the ats since in is coated with green algae growth. I am guessing it is the extra light getting to the sump unblocked. I am using 5 inch metal reflectors (heat light type)

    Is this algae bad , and should I try to get the light just yo shine on the screen, and none peripherally on the surrounding sump glass and baffles?

  2. #2

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    Pics would help

    A couple questions:

    Based on your other thread - 80g seahorse tank, correct?

    How much do you feed?

    How big is your screen?

    If you have a 10" wide screen so it might be safe to assume that you're in the 10x8 range. That's 80 sq in, /12 = 6 cube/day scrubber. Pretty big for that tank. I'm thinking you're feeding

    Lamps, 2x 40W CFL but your other thread was confusing, is that the actual wattage or the "incandescent equivalent"? I'm thinking actual. If so then your wattage is OK, on the low end, but OK.

    Reflectors - for a 10" wide screen you would want 10" reflectors, and the dome kind, not the heat-lamp kind. My guess is that your reflectors are shorter than the lamp so the end of it is sticking out and you are losing a lot of light energy, which might partially explain the sump algae.

    All that being considered, and if my assumptions are correct, if you have a screen that is too big, but your light is focused on a smaller area, your screen is essentially de-rated. So I would say you have a 3 or 4 cube/day equivalent scrubber with the light being more intense in the middle where the lights are focused, and this is your active scrubber area. Your growth is probably dark because of the high N and P and that will green up over time.

    You can clean 7 days, 14 days, whatever works best. I would go 10 days and see how the screen looks after you clean. If all the algae comes off after you scrape, and there's almost none left (in the holes) then that was too long of a growth cycle.

    HTH

  3. #3

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    Pics would help

    A couple questions:

    Based on your other thread - 80g seahorse tank, correct?


    Yes sir, 8 seahorses, about 7 fish, about 20 or so lps and sps frags.

    How much do you feed?

    Not much believe it or not, at least not anymore, maybe 4 cubes total spread throughout the day of regular mysis.

    How big is your screen?

    it is ten inches wide, I cant remember how much it hangs down. I want to say it is 10.5x 13.5

    If you have a 10" wide screen so it might be safe to assume that you're in the 10x8 range. That's 80 sq in, /12 = 6 cube/day scrubber. Pretty big for that tank. I'm thinking you're feeding

    Lamps, 2x 40W CFL but your other thread was confusing, is that the actual wattage or the "incandescent equivalent"? I'm thinking actual. If so then your wattage is OK, on the low end, but OK.

    Actual wattage. The equivalent of 80 watt bulbs, (i know that number is meaningless, but the actual consumption is 40 watts per bulb,)

    Reflectors - for a 10" wide screen you would want 10" reflectors, and the dome kind, not the heat-lamp kind. My guess is that your reflectors are shorter than the lamp so the end of it is sticking out and you are losing a lot of light energy, which might partially explain the sump algae.

    That makes complete sense. I was under the impression, the dome metal reflectors were heat light types. (At least that is what I used to use on my reptiles back in the day)

    All that being considered, and if my assumptions are correct, if you have a screen that is too big, but your light is focused on a smaller area, your screen is essentially de-rated. So I would say you have a 3 or 4 cube/day equivalent scrubber with the light being more intense in the middle where the lights are focused, and this is your active scrubber area. Your growth is probably dark because of the high N and P and that will green up over time.

    You can clean 7 days, 14 days, whatever works best. I would go 10 days and see how the screen looks after you clean. If all the algae comes off after you scrape, and there's almost none left (in the holes) then that was too long of a growth cycle.

    HTH

  4. #4

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    Actual wattage. The equivalent of 80 watt bulbs, (i know that number is meaningless, but the actual consumption is 40 watts per bulb,)
    This is what was confusing me...when someone says "equivalent" they are generally referring to the incandescent equivalent listed on the box - like when one says "23W CFL, equivalent to 100W". All we care about is the actual wattage. You have 80W (actual, total) on your screen, 40W (actual) per side. So it's not 80W "equivalent", it is 80W actual. Just clarifying that for you so that you don't confuse someone else into thinking you have 80W of "incandescent equivalent" light.

    I want to say it is 10.5x 13.5
    Not much believe it or not, at least not anymore, maybe 4 cubes total spread throughout the day of regular mysis.
    10.5 x 13.5 = 140 sq in or about 12 cubes/day, but that's if you had minimum 70W per side.

    So you are light-limited, in terms of capacity. 80W total = about 6 cube/day scrubber

    So for your amount of feeding, you are fine (less than 2x the size/capacity compared to feeding).

    Do you have a pic of the reflector you are using? Or a link to what it look like at least.

  5. #5

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    Yes sir, I will attach it as soon as i get to work.

    Just because I was bored and needed to pass time, I ran another test. .50 this morning. Up from .39 yesterday. Not much more algae growth, so I am thinking either something died in my tank, doubtful, or because the light isnt beaming on screen because of reflectors, the intensity isnt there to penetrate deeper algal growth.
    I will get the proper reflectors tomorrow.

  6. #6

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    http://m.homedepot.com/p/FlareAlert-...B&gclsrc=aw.ds


    These are the I ones I just picked up. 8.5 inch dome, white inside, plastic, won't rust or corrode. Think they will work?

  7. #7

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  8. #8

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    this one was what I've seen used more often

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-150-W...1?N=5yc1vZbm7i

    Not sure about the plastic one, but probably OK

  9. #9

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    Yea that's the one I was going to get. But truth be told they have always broken on me or turned the hell. The white ones seem built better, don't have to worry about salt etc.

    Just don't know if white will reflect light as good as metal chrome looking stuff

  10. #10

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    results thus far

    So the last time I checked phosphate and nitrate was a few days ago. Yesterday they measured .35, and I enacted a 25 gallon (25 percent) water change last night. So mathematically my phosphate should have been a .26 when I checked it today (75 percent remaining water X .35 phosphate level is .26) I decided to run a phosphate and nitrate test today, my nitrates were 0, and my phosphate was a .19 on the checker, in back to back test. My growth, although still not GHA, is dark again after cleaning it from just three days ago. So I suppose in the last 24 hours, it has knocked phosphate down from .26 down to .19.

    Looks as if it is going in right direction. Certainly my nitrates have for for the first time shown a yellow color on the API kit. (zero)

    Two of the last pieces of rock i have put in display are turning green. Interestingly enough, the other 50lbs of rock or so is newer than 6 months old. THe last two I have put in are from an old tank, that was high in phosphate.

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