algea scrubber put to the test

Well after reading some posts about algea scrubbers for controlling phos and nitrate levels I decided to build one and give it a try. I built it with a 9x9 piece of plastic canvis 3/4 in pvc pipe and a rio2100 pump. I put a ball valve ont my scrubber thinking that it would be too big but after I hooked it all up and tested and calculated how much flow I had it came out to 315gph and the pump is rated for 692. So for anyone how is thinking about building one, over size your pump because you will be surprised how much flow they actually give you. Scnce my tank isn't full yet I built my scrubber for what I. Think I will be feeding once it is stocked. Only one side will be lite for now on a 6 hr on photoperiod and I will see what kind of growth I get from there and adjust accordingly. If anyone is interested I will post my result as I go. I fired it up about 3 hrs ago. I will post pics when I get to my computer.

 

Some pics

 

very cool thinking of trying one for another project so this will be a subscribed ;D

 

Well its only been 4 days and i would have to say i am convinced that this will replace gfo. I started with phos between .5-.25ppm and nitrate was zero. I took my gfo off line when I started my scrubber. As of yesturday i had 0 phos and 0 nitrate, they hair algea that was starting to grow in my tank has moved to the scrubber and my coraline is starting to grow better and the tank looks clearer. I am able to feed the tank a little more without seeing more hair algea the next day. I do have a farely small bio load for the size of the tank but with the way things are going so far I think I dont have any doubts this will work once I stock the tank and put a light on the other side of the scrubber.

 

awesome

 

I thought so. It was costing me about 40 bucks a month just for gfo. So 20-30 bucks for some parts plus whatever pump you get, some planning and and hours worth of work to save 40 a month is a pretty good deal.

 

Hello,

ATS's do work, if you can lower your screen until it touches the water it will run quite and no splash? You did a nice job i believe you will enjoy your efforts!

 

ATS are the bomb. Just make sure you do proper maintenance and keep the slot clean. I wiggle my screens every evening.

 

Theres is about an inch in the water and you can hardly hear it I wish i knew about these before i built the tank, i could have designed my sump different. I noticed the algea is a little more brown then I would like so I changed the light to a 40w, it a curly cue 150w equivalent and extended the time to 9hrs opposite of the display and see how that works out. I was thinking cleaning the screen once a week and cleaning the slot once a month.