Keep it clean >>> family thread!!!

I am always into trying new things. I liked the scrubber thread and very intrigued. I have a 3 staged filtering set-up. Main tank drains into Berlin sock in the beginning, a pump pumps up into a 20 long filled with bio balls and they both drain into my refugium that has my protein skimmer. I was thinking of incorporating the scrubber set-up before my main Berlin bag in attempt to not have to add another pump. In regard to pumps and heat, my question was doesn't that light heat the water up more from pointing on it? and if I added a small fan, wouldn't that cause splashing where I don't want water? I followed the thread and it was stated that the screen helps cool the water but I am still a little lost. I wanted to start another thread but didn't want all the arguing and didn't want to tick Matt off. I saw how out of hand it got. Everyone has their own opinions and some things work for others that may not work for someone else. It's a hobby, it's just people trying to help other people by explaining what worked for them and trying to save others the hassle and money. I appreciate any help I can get and enjoy the new projects.
PLEASE KEEP THIS THREAD CLEAN!!! It is just questions and people giving other people advice what worked for them.
THANK YOU!!!!

 

If you are having a problem with heat then I would worrie about it but untill that point I would try things first.

 

I have alot of light on my tank now. I run pretty hot and I really need to get a chiller but can't afford one right now. I figured I try this method and it may help "air out" the water and cool it a bit but I also want to lift my canopy off the tank too because it's just trapping that heat. I just didn't want to add another thing to heat the water... let alone another pump besides the heat from the light. I know I may lose beneficial reflected light but it's getting kinda hot. I have never had any water quality problem but I just recently noticed my kH down at 8 and my Phosphates creeping up to .5

I appreciate your response.

 

Have you considered fan's? You could build them into your canopy.

 

I have a fan on either side of the canopy but I heard the heat still gets trapped in there from not being freely blown across?? I dunno, I noticed my tank ran alot cooler when I just had the bulbs bolted to a 2x4 while I was building a canopy to house all them. Now that the canopy is on there it gets in the 80's. I have 1140 watts on a 55 gallon from noon til 3pm... SUPER hot. The t5s run 8am to 8 pm at 640 watts. But I was thinking of running the sump fan all the time to keep it cooler down there. It only blows on my 36" PC for the fuge from 9pm-5am.
But, I do have a really elaborate filtering process. It may all be a waste but it makes me sleep well at night and I have never had a problem with params til now. I think I am over feeding. But I figured this may help a little extra on phos and param control and also be a dual beneficiary in cooling it down for me.

 

I doubt the heat given off by the light would heat up the water that much, here is my thinking - The water travels down the screen and sort of drips back into the water column correct? Any heat that is given off by the light would probably heat up the water but once it hits the surface of your water it should be able to cool down to your tank temp, if my thinking is correct. I really don't know much about the subject at hand because I have no experience with the turf algae scrubbers, but I would just give it a try. If it is impacting your temp at all you could always make some sort of tray for the water to trickle off and cool down even more, at least that is what I would do. Got a picture so we can actually see what you mean?

 

I should also say that I am really tired so if that makes no sense than disregard it

 

I was going off a thread that Matt closed down. It was from a guy Sante Monica who was giving his thoughts on a turf scrubber system that worked for him. I had some unanswered questions but mainly about added heat. In theory the heat should dissipate with air hitting it. The light is beaming on it though kinda like a pre-heater. I understand what you are saying because that is my thinking and I am in agreement with trying it and heck, if it don't work... I tried. I had the screen from previously trying to keep growth out of my return pump. I just have alot crammed under my cabinet right now and I had to make my 72 cabinet 48" to accommodate everything. Now I just got a calcium reactor because I am going to Germany with the Army and I don't want my parents having the hassle of measuring stuff for my tank until I get situated over there.
Wayyy off topic... lol... I will try it and see if I have any heat issues. I'd hate to set-up a catastrophe before I leave the country.

 

You are correct, a scrubber will always cool the water if it has a fan on it, even if the bulb is powerful. If you don't want the cooling/evaporation, you would build it into a box, with no fan.

 

The only way to cool down your temps without a chiller, and without removing any heat sources would be to promote evaporation, leading to more water top up's. Having more fans blowing across the water would do this (aka more circulation through the hood)