Author Topic: Kenn inspired Algae Turf Scrubber Discussion (Read 9327 times)

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #25 on:** May 13, 2011, 23:00:52 »

The water in mine doesn't exactly flow 50/50. If you can turn your tube you can cause water to flow on one side more than the other and tweak it to flow as close to 50/50. That's why I didn't glue that coupler to the drain. As long as its getting good flow, shouldn't really be a major issue but I would tweak it to be as close to 50/50. Can you post some pics?

Boonjob · « **Reply #26 on:** May 13, 2011, 23:21:55 »

Yeah I'll get some pics up in a sec...Mine isn't even 50/50 it's more like 90/10 at best

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #27 on:** May 13, 2011, 23:50:52 »

Quote from: Lazylivin on May 11, 2011, 20:20:42

The acrylic case is going to get splatters and salt creep significantly cutting down light. Consider having the screen extend down into the water and then you wouldn't need the acrylic case and would be getting much more light on the algae, better growth or could use less wattage lamps to reduce energy consumption.

I'll be getting some new screen this week. The splatters for the first day were only on the underside and now have gone on the sides of the walls i made. So there isnt much i can do about the side splatters but that would be a huge contributor to salt creep. Plus with the longer screen (nothing wrong with oversizing) it will make it quieter, not that it's loud, kind of like a small fountain. So while i'm in dayton on sunday i'll stop at hoby loby and pick up a couple screens.

Boonjob · « **Reply #28 on:** May 14, 2011, 00:20:14 »

Thats with it hooked up to my phosban reactor(just cause the pump for the scrubber is mixing salt atm since it was down for mods)

The phosban can go up to 200gph not sure what it was running in that pick but it was wide open. but I yield almost the exact same results with the normal pump just slightly stronger flow on the one side

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #29 on:** May 14, 2011, 00:49:56 »

The CFL's you are using are Daylight 6500k ones, i used those for a while, they dont do all that well, it takes forever for the algae to grow with that light, the 2700k warm whites do better, just a little tip.

I think i ran into this before. The PVC is so thick and the cut you make into it has to either be straight, or cut into a V to balance out any variation because the pressure of the water coming out will go in the direction of the slit of the pipe. It has enough thickness to push the water to one side. I always slant the inside a little since its near impossible to cut perfectly straight.

Boonjob · « **Reply #30 on:** May 14, 2011, 02:47:28 »

Hmmm... thanks for the info on the light... I figured a cooler light would produce certain unwanted algae.. I know my cheato is growing like a weed with it; I had a softball sized piece just a week ago and it has easily tripled in size. I had the soft whites in there to begin with I will just swap em out...

I'll have to try putting the cut on a slant...

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #31 on:** May 14, 2011, 02:52:30 »

I too started out with cool white lights because I had them on hand but it doesn't grow the long hair algae that you'll want growing to filter your tank. It moreso grown the short compact algae that can cause problems (die off mostly)

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #32 on:** May 15, 2011, 09:21:30 »

any update Boon?

Boonjob · « **Reply #33 on:** May 15, 2011, 13:59:09 »

I v'd the cut as instructed... and it did increase the flow but I still can't get a 50/50 mix... I'm just gonna let it go the way it is, and see if I get anything I would assume as the algae grows the friction will cause the excess water to go into spots with little to no algae growth and just cause those spots to grow...we shall see

Boonjob · « **Reply #34 on:** May 21, 2011, 00:21:50 »

So here is the progress after the ATS being functional for one full week, this is my first cleaning, just did it tonight.

Boonjob · « **Reply #35 on:** May 21, 2011, 00:29:23 »

Dt view of one week after cheato/scrubber combo has been added... Also performed 40gal W/C this past week and replaced the phosphate media. My flow is suffering atm due to a koralia going down(please disregard

)

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #36 on:** May 21, 2011, 00:34:52 »

Lookin good

Boonjob · « **Reply #37 on:** May 21, 2011, 00:36:45 »

I think so, I'm currently very happy with it... best $$ I've spent on it yet imo...certainly the cheapest

lazylivin · « **Reply #38 on:** May 21, 2011, 09:55:30 »

Consider sliding your koralia down the side of your tank to about the 1/2 way point and point it toward the middle front of your glass. Position it horizontally or slightly up at about 10:00 position. It will get some circular motion going which will give much more even flow dispersed all around the tank. Once you get a replacement pump put it on the left side back of the tank pointing to the opposite side of the tank. This will exponentially increase flow. They would be working together creating a whirlpool and if positioned well it can even create a small vortex in center of the tank.

Boonjob · « **Reply #39 on:** May 21, 2011, 12:29:55 »

Good deal, I will have to do that

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #40 on:** May 22, 2011, 20:54:29 »

here is my scrubber before my 4 day cleaning

when its dark like that, that means theres a lot of nutrients in the water and you have to get it cleaned off sooner than 1 week or else the underlying layers of algae will start to die off and pollute the water with the stuff you are trying to get out of it because the light cant penetrate it. Eventually, there will be the lighter hairier green algae that will grow massively, and its starting to happen, but you cant really see it in the image.

Boonjob · « **Reply #41 on:** May 22, 2011, 23:25:16 »

I bought some 2700k lights, Was wondering if switching out the 6700k with them is really gonna improve the growth? I seem to have a good start with the 6700k and though I don't mind putting on the 2700k, I don't want to start growing bad algae

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #42 on:** May 23, 2011, 00:03:09 »

I started with 6500k and got descent growth. Never really developed growth longer than a centemeter. But it could have been due to underpowering with 60w bulbs. With 2700k, the algae grows really fast as it has more of the red spectrum. Many others have reported exceptional growth with 2700k compared yo any other.

Boonjob · « **Reply #43 on:** May 23, 2011, 00:05:08 »

Sounds good, I'll switch em out right now

thepipbull · « **Reply #44 on:** May 25, 2011, 05:42:17 »

Just thought I join the ATS gang. It has been up for 2 weeks and doing just fine.

running for 2 days

1 week

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #45 on:** May 26, 2011, 21:44:11 »

Had to clean my screen. Should have prob done it a couple days ago. I cleaned it really good because that dark algae really cakes on and can be a little bit of a pita to get off. Again, another 4 days after my last cleaning, but it could have used it sooner as it looked to be about this way a couple days after cleaning....

put some tape on the end so the end cap wouldnt fall off

replaced my bulbs also, it's been close to 3 months and they were getting slightly dimmer. if you enlarge the this image you can see how clean it got it with my scrub brush. A few more weeks maybe and my scrubber should be getting back on track.

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #46 on:** June 01, 2011, 20:44:54 »

made a slight modification. As you can see the light green algae is starting to take over. Thats the algae that you want. In the last image is the modification. I draped some clear plastic over the top to stop the splatter which is what the side walls were for. Until i get the larger screen from slandis, i had to put the base covers on to stop splatter from the bottom. Also in the end cap i put in a air line to help prevent the air from spurting water everywhere making noise and mess (pressure release). I tried running airline from the top but the water moves so fast that it just sucks the air down with it. So now its 10x quieter, no side walls to clean and obstruct the light, and i installed a bracket to hold up the tube to release any pressure wherever it may cause problems.

DarinSchmidt · « **Reply #47 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:13:20 »

Man, i cleaned my algae scrubber yesterday and you should see the algae growing off of it now. I was in such a hurry to get it cleaned that i forgot to take a picture..... I'll get a picture of it again in a week. Almost all the dark algae slime is gone and the nice healthy light green hair algae is taking over.

I should have cleaned it a few days ago but these past couple weeks have been really busy and algae started growing on my rocks because my skrubber wasnt able to do its job properly without a cleaning. should be back to normal within the month and the algae in the tank should be reduced back to normal within a couple weeks.

micki · « **Reply #48 on:** June 12, 2011, 09:14:45 »

Cool!

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #49 on:** June 12, 2011, 11:00:43 »

Quote from: DarinSchmidt on June 12, 2011, 09:13:20

I should have cleaned it a few days ago but these past couple weeks have been really busy and algae started growing on my rocks because my skrubber wasnt able to do its job properly without a cleaning. should be back to normal within the month and the algae in the tank should be reduced back to normal within a couple weeks.

Sounds like it is a cheap effective method, but Sounds like too much work for me.

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Author Topic: Kenn inspired Algae Turf Scrubber Discussion (Read 9327 times)