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Thread: Horizontal or Vertical?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    12

    Horizontal or Vertical?

    I was just wondering if you had plenty of room to build a horizontal one
    say 20 x 30 inches Horizontal instead of one that was 20 x 15 vertical.

    In some ways it seems it would be an easier build, I was just
    wondering if there were any real down sides to going Horizontal.

    Thank you

  2. #2
    Administrator
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    Oct 2008
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    Horizontals need 4 times the area, and 4 times the lighting, to equal a vertical.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    12

    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica
    Horizontals need 4 times the area, and 4 times the lighting, to equal a vertical.
    Thank you, Now why was I only thinking 2x ...... Hmmmm

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    USA
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    59

    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    My experience with a horizontal version was positive. . . however they are messier. LOTS of splashing and there needs to be more flow to get the same results as a vertical. I stopped and went with a vertical model and its easier and more effective. My 2 cents
    75RR / 20g sump / DIY Scrubber / 3 x 150DE MH & single T5 actinic

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    12

    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    Quote Originally Posted by mrbncal
    My experience with a horizontal version was positive. . . however they are messier. LOTS of splashing and there needs to be more flow to get the same results as a vertical. I stopped and went with a vertical model and its easier and more effective. My 2 cents
    Thank you, I built up a vertical one, it was more of a wondering thought

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    76

    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    I have found with my horizontal that it does require a lot of flow. I thought I would be ok with about 800gph on my 10 x 30 screen, but I have found that 1300gph or around there has produced much better results. I have also found that letting the growth go about 8-10 days as apposed to 7 days also has produced better results as well. I came across this as I got lazy and didn't clean the screen for almost two weeks, and the algae in the main tank was dissapearing before my eyse. I then let it grow for two weeks at a time, and after a month, I had zero algae in the main tank. I'm not an expert, maybe SM has some reason why this may be a good or bad thing on a horizontal. I still would like to have a vertical, but that's a whole other story! :mrgreen:

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    12

    Re: Horizontal or Vertical?

    Interesting.

    I have a basement sump so I have a lot of room to use.
    In some ways a horizontal would have been easy to build and maintain.

    I could have made one up to 2x4 feet (1152 sq inches) fairly easily
    and I could use standard 4 foot shop lights to light it

    I already had the Vertical one built when I thought about the Horizontal one.

    It got me thinking that someone could easy enough build a large one into a tank top hood
    I'd love to go get a 75 gallon to experiment with this (you can never have too many tanks right)

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