DROP.6x(TM)
Drop-In Scrubber(TM)
with Green Grabber® surfaces
Eliminate water changes. Remove nuisance algae, nitrate and phosphate. Cultivate seaweed for feeding.
Purchase here
Videos:
DROP.6x unbox and install, by Mile High Reefers:
https://youtu.be/0dnUw1XbpNA
DROP.6x installed on dirty freshwater tank:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFyyRY7CSk
DROP.6x first cleaning on dirty freshwater tank:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppvvl_8Cbv4
Similar DROP1.4 installed on saltwater reef pond:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGxK28lUq4I
Comparison of all the DROP scrubbers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUEKRh3g6Kk
DROP.6x dimensions: 3.25" wide x 5.5" tall x 2.75" thick front-to-back (8 cm wide x 14 cm tall x 7 cm thick). It requires at least 5" (13 cm) of water to operate in.
Operates on both 120 and 240V. Can be shipped to any country.
Welcome to algae scrubbers. All the oceans, reefs, lakes and rivers are naturally filtered only by algae, and all the organic particles remain in the water to feed the creatures. Reduce your glass cleaning and water changes, and create an environment for living micro-animals to grow inside the scrubber. No more dosing or possible overdosing. No more refilling. No more pale corals from low nutrients, and no more sick animals from high nutrients. Far more powerful than chaeto or refugiums, and does not remove the food particles. And you can use the algae as food!
Finally an aquarium filter that offers drop-in installation in the smallest of spaces, along with reduction or elimination of water changes and nuisance algae. And it's small enough to drop into the back compartment of many all-in-one aquariums. It operates the way the oceans and lakes do, using algae to do all the filtering, and it truly can replace all other filters in your aquarium if sized and operated correctly. The DROP.6 grows well in saltwater with phosphate up to 0.2 ppm, and in freshwater with phosphate even higher.
Strong injection-molded case! This DROP.6x drop-in algae scrubber has 14 square inches (87 square cm) of extremely rough Green Grabber ® one-sided algal growth surface which can grow up to 1/2" (1 cm) thick green hair algae in saltwater (thinner in freshwater). This is designed to absorb the nutrients from this much feeding per day:
0.6 Frozen cubes, or
6 Pinches of flake, or
6 Square inches (36 square cm) of nori, or
0.06 dry ounce (1.8 grams) of pellets
The physical size or number of gallons or liters of water in your tank or sump does not matter; however the amount of problem rock you might have, does. If you have rocks which are soaked with phosphate from having been in a problem aquarium, each 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of this problem rock will add 0.2 cube a day to your feeding amounts; so be sure to account for this when choosing a scrubber size or number of scrubbers. For example if you feed 0.5 cube a day, but have 20 pounds of rock that came from a tank with nuisance algae problems, this rock will add 0.4 cubes a day to your feeding. This applies even if the rock was dried out and bleached, because this does not remove any nutrients from the rock.
If you feed more than the above amounts, you can get multiple DROP.6x units; multiple units are preferred over one larger unit because you can clean one unit per week, and because you'll always have one unit filtering while the other one starts growing again after a cleaning. Multiple DROP.6x units are also good for backup.
The DROP.6x will fit into any size aquarium, underneath sumps, and many back compartments of all-in-one aquariums. Nano and pico tanks, with sumps on the back side, normally have compartments at least 3" (15 cm) wide; and the DROP.6x only need 3.5" width.. And of course it can fit into the display (the main part of the tank). Just keep it suspended above the sand so that circulation can get into the filter. (Larger models such as the DROP1.2 and DROP1.4 have a special plate on the bottom which allows them to sit on sand).
The DROP.6x has water inlets and outlets at the bottom of the growth compartment, where internal upflowing air bubbles inside the unit (from an air pump which you provide) flow up into the growth compartment and bring aquarium water inside it. As the water enters the growth compartment, it mixes with the air bubbles, and rubs the algae-attachment Green Grabber textures, and gets blasted by the super-red 660nm LED light. This rubbing of bubbles causes algae to start growing on the rock hard (and heavy) Green Grabber textures; freshwater grows thin stringy algae, and saltwater grows thicker, denser algae. The air then goes out of the top of the unit, and the water goes down and out the bottom, without many air bubbles remaining. Positioning the DROP with 1/2 inch (1 cm) above your waterline will eliminate all bubbles.
The Green Grabber algal growth attachment surface is so rough and prickly that it might be the roughest thing you've ever felt. A cactus might be sharper, but that's about it. Rough surfaces are critical for allowing algae to attach and grow and thus provide strong absorption of nutrients. The rock-hard protrusions stick straight out 1 to 3 mm. Previous algae scrubber screens were made from "slippery" plastic canvas that is used for sewing and knitting; algae take a long time to attach to it. Green Grabber growth surfaces are not plastic at all; instead they are rock hard and have jagged rough edges and points (don't let children play with them). And the white color of the Green-Grabber surface reflects as much light as possible, allowing lots of light to reflect back to the algae. Light = photosynthesis = filtering.
The main advantage of the DROP.6 or any algae scrubber is that if you size and operate it properly (based on how much you feed), it can be the only filter for your tank, even replacing waterchanges. It can, however, also be used with other filters. Some other filters such as carbon dosing (Zeo, pellets, etc) may slow down the scrubber, but nothing will really "hurt" the scrubber except possibly large amounts of algaecide or copper medications. The DROP.6x is also dry-out proof, since it's always under water. Power outages will not affect it. And it can't overflow onto your floor.
The DROP.6x will run on both 120V and 240V, and comes with a 10 ft (300 cm) UL and CE approved power adapter cord with a U.S. plug. If you require a different plug you can get an adapter at any local hardware or travel store, or online, or you can cut off the U.S. plug and install your own plug from a hardware store. It is a simple 2-wire plug, which is also the same as a laptop power supply cord. The power cord is actually the same as a laptop computer cord with a C7 connector (looks like a figure eight), so you can swap your laptop cord with your DROP if you want to.
The DROP.6x uses a low voltage that is perfectly safe. The 2 LEDs are sealed in a triple waterproofed manner; this prevents corrosion from fresh and saltwater. The UL and CE approved power supply works on both 120 or 220 volts, it converts (and isolates) the 120 or 220 volt mains to the safe low voltage which is isolated from the water, meaning that even if the LED were not sealed at all you could put the LED into the water and it would continue to work and nothing would happen. It is recommended that you use a GFCI safely plug, available at any aquarium, hardware, electrical or home improvement store, or online.
Comes with 3 ft (90 cm) of vinyl airline, but requires a small air pump. Any small pump will work. It is the air bubbles which move water into the growth compartment and up the growth surfaces, and also supply carbon dioxide (CO2 in the air) to the surfaces, which allow algae to grow in the filter. One pump which works well is the Fusion 700 from JW Pet, which we modified and sell HERE
The LEDs are two red (660 nm) 3-watt LEDs, which are triple sealed in epoxy. Some red light does come out of the bottom holes, and they make little red dots on the bottom of the aquarium or sump (other DROP models have a special plate on the bottom which blocks most of this light). You will need to get a timer so you can run the LED for up to 22 hours per day (preferably not 24). If you don't have a timer, you can start out without one until the growth develops. The LEDs never needs replacing.
The DROP.6x will need to be cleaned ("harvested") every 7 to 14 days or when thick with growth. Just lift up the DROP.6x out of the water, open the hinged lid, and pull the algae out (freshwater will usually require taking the filter to your sink). You can even feed some of the algae to your fish, and there will probably some some pods inside that you can feed too.
The DROP.6x comes with a 6 month warranty: Warranty is for replacement or repair only; not a refund. Costs for shipping back to us are covered if you are in the U.S. Costs for shipping back to us are not covered if you are not in the U.S., however we will pay for shipping back to you. In either case, you will need to ship the entire unit back to us before we can ship a replacement. Warranty is limited to repair or replacement, and does not cover fish loss, personal injury, property loss, or direct, incidental or consequential damage arising from the use of it. The warranty and remedies set forth above are exclusive and in lieu of all others, whether oral or written, express or implied. We specifically disclaim any and all implied warranties, including but not limited to lost profits, downtime, goodwill, damage to or replacement of other equipment and property, and any costs of recovering animals, plants, tanks or other aquarium related items and/or equipment. We are not responsible for special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any breach of warranty, or replacement of equipment or property, or any costs of recovering or reproducing any equipment, animals or plants used or grown with this product.
Can be shipped to any country; you can find shipping costs by using the shopping cart; be sure to click "display rates". If you don't have a zip code, enter "zip code" instead. Note that shipping outside of the USA might require you to also pay an import charge when it arrives, although the DROP.6x is low cost enough that many customs offices will not charge for it. We cannot mark it as "gift", however. The lowest cost overseas shipping is generally USPS First Class Mail International, however this option does not offer tracking outside the U.S. Therefore a better option is USPS Priority Mail, which offers both tracking and insurance. The size of the shipping box 10" x 7" x 5" (25 cm x 18 cm x 15 cm).
DROP.6x size: 3.25" wide x 5.5" tall x 2.75" thick front-to-back (8 cm wide x 14 cm tall x 7 cm thick). It requires at least 5" (13 cm) of water to operate in.
DROP Instructions:
English (Word)
English (PDF)
Comments:
"I have a DROP.6x and am really happy with it. Keeps my phosphates to zero in my two foot aquarium" -- Aaron on the SGR site, Singapore.
Pictures only:
Lucky198717 on PH8.4 site:
Comments about the similar DROP.6:
"Crazy amounts of growth! Phosphates are showing no blue... Def below .03 without a doubt. Very interesting result indeed... This is with exhausted phosguard running in my system. Every tank will have one of these" -- CJ's Aquarium on youtube:
"Really happy with the quality of it [DROP.6] and I have the top 1/2" protruding out so it's silent, other than a faint hum from the air pump" -- Phill on the UR site.
"Working well already. I love the design of this DROP.6" -- Travis1787 on the RC site:
"So now I believe that Algae Scrubber works and will help my tanks. The Drop box 0.6 proved it!" Wally B, Canada:
Pictures only:
Surfnsalt on the R2R site:
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