Rev2 Horizontal build

[rygh]

Just a quick update:
Up and running for a couple of months now. Works ok, but not what I would consider great.
No N/P of course, tank hair algae sickly and very slowly dying, but dang bubble algae still hanging on.
Corals love the extra food though. (No skimmer, lots more feeding)
Overall, I must admit that I am not thrilled with a horizontal build though.
Had to do it to fit, and it is easier to clean, but just doesn't seem to grow as efficiently.

The ATS is all LED now as well. Maybe a month or so. The LEDs have been extended all the way, and CFLs are gone.
Different thread on the whole LED aspect.

I am starting to plan Rev3!
The wife finally agreed to upgrading to a 200g tank, so need a lot bigger ATS.
It will be vertical this time.
The ATS will be going outside, so no problem with space like I have now.
Unfortunately, it means electricity paying for a separate pump. Argh.
Hmm.. I wonder if I can make it all solar based.

It is funny. What I consider "not great" now on an ATS, especially with the extra feeding and such, I would probably consider fantastic
with a normal skimmer/carbon/phosban method.

[rygh]

Well, I hit the 6 month mark on this design.
From when I started on the build, so not quite running six months, but close enough.

Still working OK.
No protein skimmer running.
Zero nitrates, zero phosphates, and seeming happy fish and a few corals.

I still have a lot of bubble algae and hair algae.
So I still wish I had done a more efficient vertical one.
But I am happy with how easy it is to clean. Don't even need to turn the pump off.
Pop the 3 plates, scrape, done in 5 minutes, once a week.

The screens are getting a bit smoother due to the scraping. Otherwise everything is as good as new.
No need to change the bulbs of course. Love LED.

I am slowly upgrading to a much larger tank, and am planning a larger vertical unit for that.

[SantaMonica]

Great to hear. Maybe some pics of the typical full screens...

[inkidu]

Rygh,

In my horizontal scrubber I use an air pump which is connected to the outlet of my powerhead.

The effect is that a large amount air gets trap under and then travels up through my screen, but only at the inlet of the tray.

The effect seems to work quite well in fact I noticed a change over just one day.

The algae became greener and thicker but only at the initial inlet of the scrubber.

Also noticed that one thing that seems to make a horizontal more effective is a steep slope, which you have and something I don't have.

The effect is to create a lot of turbulence and the presence of a thin boundary layer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_layer

This almost certainly is one reason the vertical scrubbers are more effective.

Thinking about using a "air curtain tube" all along the length of my scrubber to see what happens soon.

Hoping you would have more than OK results you are an influential representative for LED users.

Good luck on a vertical I have plans for one also. (I am thinking big with the possibility that I might not need to scrape every week)

Hope this helps.

[rygh]

I will try to remember pics next weekend when I clean.

Interesting idea on the air bubbler.
Might make it more 3 dimensional, and cause nice turbulence.

The big problem with horizontal as a I see it is that algae simply cannot grow UP out of the water that easily.
As soon as the algae grows a bit, it gets matted down by the algae above it.
So it ends up being a thin and dense. Which is not very good for light and nutrients.
I think that may be why horizontal dump buckets work. A big thick slosh, and you lose the film effect.
Hard to say.
Vertical next time.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=645&start=10


My new LEDs for the big build showed up about 2 weeks ago.
Big shopping trip on ebay.
But so many things to do with the new big tank, they are still sitting in the package.
Soon.

[rygh]

Great to hear. Maybe some pics of the typical full screens...

Here you go. A bit less than a week, but normal so-so growth.
Not a ton expected, it is a fairly lightly loaded system.