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Thread: Scalability of algae scrubbers in food-fish applications

  1. #11

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    I just bought a case of Orville Redenbacher's Original Gourmet. I think this is going to get interesting.

    perlboy: I like your idea for a submersible sandwich box for an upflow type scrubber with access to screen and lights from the top. I'm thinking of using some sort of plastic track to slide items up and down, might be something as simple as a groove in the acrylic.

  2. #12

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    acrylic U channels

    Here's where I got the idea for creating guides to slide the light bars and the substrate down into the sandwich box.

    http://usplastic.com/search/?q=acryl...Shapes&skip=60

    Notice Item # 44132, 1/2" OD, 3/8" ID. Split this lengthwise and solvent weld.

    BTW: This company's dead-tree catalog is a font of ideas. It's free. They don't always have the lowest prices but they have an incredible inventory of stuff. I could buy my acrylic sheet from them but I think I'll order the first two from tapplastics.com, after building a mock-up in 1/4" ply, to get the dimensions right.

  3. #13

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    I've changed my mind...

    I no longer favor the acrylic U channels as drop-in guides for the light bars. Instead, I see the light compartments as undifferentiated rectangular spaces. I intend to mount the light bars to a drop-in carrier, which is simple acrylic stock sized to the inside dimensions of the light partitions. The light bars can be screwed to the carrier with flat-head stainless steel machine screws. The bars already have mounting tabs so attaching them to the carrier is a no-brainer. Simple and cheap and for me, since I don't know how close together the light bars should be spaced, I can experiment. Also, if the lights could benefit from a backing reflector, there is mirrored acrylic sheet available that costs only a little more than clear.

    Does anyone have an opinion on which surfaces, if any, should not be clear and what the color should be?

    I'm working on a CAD drawing and will upload it when it is finished.

  4. #14
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    Any surface that light does not shine through should be opaque white.

  5. #15

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    Opaque is good, so...

    Hmmmm...

    Thanks. I had a feeling opaque was desirable. Here's what usplastic.com catalog says about colored acrylic:

    http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/ite...3901&catid=442

    Acrylic 1/4" Tinted & Colored Sheeting
    Acrylic sheets are lightweight and have many applications where weather and impact resistance is important. This material is excellent to use in place of glass, where breakage is a threat to safety. Sheets are UV stabilized. Black is opaque and will not transmit light. Grey and bronze are dark tinted and provide a see through visibility. White and other colors are translucent and provide low level of light transmission. White #7328 allows 18% of light transmit, #2447 allows 35%. 1/4" = .236" or 6 mm. Forming temperature is 290°F to 320°F. Sheets 36" x 48" and larger must ship Motor Freight.

    Two different versions of white, comes in 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" stock. I think I'll use black for all outer surfaces.

  6. #16
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    Those would be fine; does not need to block all the light. It will just glow red at night.

    A more complete version would be a layer of opaque black coated with a layer of white, but for a test is not needed.

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