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Thread: Various RAIN waterfall growth pictures

  1. #1
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    Various RAIN waterfall growth pictures

    Here we will post pictures of growth that other people have had with their RAIN waterfall scrubbers. Don't forget to go to the last page of this thread, to see the new photos. To be notified when a new growth photo is posted, subscribe HERE

    Our first growth example is a customer's fully grown RAIN2 that has been lifted off the sump in one step (easily done one-handed). Just think how much disassembly and cleaning you would need to do with anyone else's waterfall scrubber (even though we invented those in 2008).

    This super thick, darker growth from high nutrients in the water is making good use of the very strong GEM5 lights. Also note how the textured bottom tray has held on to the growth (and even grown there) so that the growth did not fall out the drain hole. The next step of course is to just pull the red cap off and slide the Green Grabber screen out with one hand.


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    (the red cap is a trademark of Santa Monica Filtration, and the tray is patent pending)

  2. #2
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    Growth Rings to the rescue...

    The LED lamps in Santa Monica scrubbers (such as the GEM5 lights on the RAIN, and the sealed LEDs in the DROP) are strong enough to create "growth rings" on the algae attachment surface screens and rocks. Growth rings have darker algae growth on the outside of the ring, lighter growth on the ring itself, and no growth (just white surface) inside of the ring. This gives the advantage of self-adjusting ring size growth based on nutrients in the water, because the inside of the ring can handle higher nutrients (because of the stronger light) when the outside of the ring grows darker slime. And indeed, a common time to get growth rings is in high nutrient water, and, when the scrubber is fairly new. They may eventually fill in if conditions need it. Otherwise they just adjust in size.

    The white surfaces inside the ring (especially on a DROP) also provide for more reflection of light back to the dark growth areas. And for waterfalls like the RAIN, growth rings further help to eliminate dying of algae that often occurs on waterfall scrubbers when growth gets too thick in the middle and blocks light and flow from reaching the screen. The growth ring keeps the growth hanging on longer here, without letting go, because light and flow can still get to the middle.

    Growth rings require very strong lights, like the GEM5.

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  3. #3
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    Nice growth sequence of customer's RAIN2, which would be similar on a larger RAIN4. The growth ring starts in the beginning, and enables water flow and light to reach the middle of the screen so that the roots there do not die. Then the ring fills in once the user's cleaning/harvesting pattern keeps the growth from getting too thick.

    (the red cap is a trademark of Santa Monica Filtration).

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  4. #4
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    RAIN2 holiday colors!

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  5. #5
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    Here is a customer's RAIN4 with the red cap removed. Can you tell what caused the empty spots on the screen, from looking at the growth on the tray?

    Answer: The growth got too thick, too fast, before the customer cleaned/harvested it. So it let go and landed on the tray. This RAIN is still fairly new so the attachment is not as strong as it will be later, so more often cleaning is needed when the screen gets thick and heavy quickly. Also, as is typical on new scrubber installations, the nutrients in the water are high and causing this darker, thicker growth.

    No worry however, because the RAIN cannot overflow onto your flow, ever, because it's on your sump.

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  6. #6
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    "My 2-light version of the Rain2 has been working phenomenal I think it’s one of the best money spent on my tank, finally I keep control of my nitrates and phosphates, appreciate it and thanks for such an amazing product! In my case it helps a lot specially because I am handicap and only able to use one hand, so with the pole mount it’s a breeze for me to remove it to clean and harvesting the algae. Again excellent product" -- Simon Romero, Weston, Florida, USA

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  7. #7
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    RAIN4 gets its first overdue cleaning/harvesting, complete with a great "growth ring" which keeps growth from dying in the middle of the screen.

    https://youtu.be/T8WgRwzs3W4

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  8. #8
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    View your RAIN2 growth as it hangs in the air...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9t7ZSSokgc

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  9. #9
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    This customer's RAIN2 waterfall in saltwater shows some very dark slime growth that should have been cleaned sooner. Slime holds the most nutrients per square inch, especially dark or black slime which holds the most, but it must be cleaned sooner than hair algae because slime cannot hold on as long. And waterfalls especially, like this RAIN2 or any waterfall, don't have water surrounding the growth to hold it up the way our upflow UAS models operate (submerged). So when slime grows on waterfalls like this, it should be taken to your sink and brushed off sooner, like every 3 to 5 days, to get the most nutrients out of the water.

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    This photo shows the growth went too many days without cleaning, especially on the bottom tray, and the bottom layers got cut off from light and flow and turned a lighter color. This causes the growth to die and put nutrients back into the water; so the screen, tray, pipe and slot should be cleaned/brushed in your sink before this happens. Unfortunately you cannot harvest slime with your hand, but the patented RAIN lets you just lift up the tray and take it to your sink with one hand (example: https://youtu.be/zbgbCCpiJGc)

  10. #10
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    Here is a short version video of our RAIN4 waterfall scrubber in a saltwater reef sump. Why so much growth? Because of the super strong submersible waterproof GEM5 lights (5 real watts each) that do not lower their wattage when operated in the air; they keep full power above or below the water. And the 5 watts is not "equivalent" power like cheap metal frame lights (see www.LEDsafety.org) commonly use; instead it's the actual wattage of each light, which equals 10 watts of other LED lights, each. And there are 6 of these lights in each RAIN4, expandable to 8 lights.

    The growth is thick enough to reach the LED dome lid and out of the wire outlet like a vine growing along a pole. In contrast, box style waterfalls like our original waterfall (www.ats2008.org) are a pain to disassemble for cleaning, but with the RAIN all you do is lift the LED dome lid up with one hand, and remove the red cap.

    Note that this installation does not show a pole mount, which is included with the RAIN4 and is optional on the RAIN2.

    Note also that you will not get this much hair algae growth with your waterfall algae scrubber, whether a RAIN or DIY. You will get less. That's why this was called "The Most". And waterfalls cannot hold on to dark slime growth as well as our bubble upflow UAS models; so even though dark/black slime holds the most nutrients of any growth and does the most filtering, you cannot expect dark slime to accumulate on a screen that is above the waterline.

    The RAIN4 is available here: https://www.santa-monica.cc/product.asp?itemid=90


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