my screen is 7.5" wide by 10" long. i did not build a large screen since my tank is not very large and it takes about 3 days to notice any green on it and about a week before it's covered. and about 2-3 weeks before i need to scrape it clean. my API test kits say nearly 0ppm of phosphate and nitrate. so either i don't have much in my tanks and the algea grows slow or there is something wrong with my scrubber setup. not sure which.
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Those results are good!! Does the algae grow real thick, as in off the screen. Mine was getting about 1/4" thick, maybe a hair more?? The screen should be sized to the amount you feed. Take for instance the frozen brine shrimp you can buy. They are in what looks like Ice cube trays. Imagine if you filled those with food you feed daily, how many cubes would you feed a day. I am only feeding about 2-3 of those per day so I re-did my screen to support 3 cubes. Each cube takes 12" of screen. So one cube would need a screen 3"x4" lighted on both sided. I made mine for 3 cubes which is 36", so I built it 6x6. If you are using a one sided it needs to be a little bigger then 12" per cube, maybe almost double-ish and lit very well. Mine was 9+"x6" which was way over kill and not a real thick green growth. I had good water tests the other way, my readings where always about zero.
it's dark green but it's pretty thin and not stringy alge, it's like that slimy stuff u see in the bottom of a puddle thats been there for a long time.. i'll make the screen smaller and try that. now i know water flow is a big deal but if say i reduce the size and basicly fill the cut so that all the water flows over the screen could it be to much?
Ideally your water flow should be at least 35 gph per inch of slot. I think mine is a bit more so I put in a valve so I can slow it down until the flow looks even and fast. I cut mine down to 6x6 and think I might go smaller. I am gong to give it about 3 more cleanings and see how it looks then, its much greener and thinker now but there might be room for improvement algae was like mine. Cutting down my screen made a big improvement and has more of the medium green algae now and the water tests are still as good if not a bit better.
This is from very weak light.
When your scrubber is running correctly, the slime/cyano/etc on your rocks will go away. There is never any need to boil rocks; that just kills the living oranisms inside, which puts even more nutrients in your water when you put them back in. You want the stuff in your rocks to stay alive.
14 days max. Any longer and the roots are dead.
Since you are feeding so little, all the nutrients will be coming out of your rocks, which eventually, will start growing GHA on them, ans the algae eat the phosphate coming out of the rocks.
This is true if you can get all the light onto the screen. All of it. Problem is, most bulbs, and most reflectors, are way bigger than this unless you build a custom reflector. The best bulb for such a small screen is a CFL spotlight:
!!!
When your scrubber is running correctly, the slime/cyano/etc on your rocks will go away. There is never any need to boil rocks; that just kills the living oranisms inside, which puts even more nutrients in your water when you put them back in. You want the stuff in your rocks to stay alive.
14 days max. Any longer and the roots are dead.
Since you are feeding so little, all the nutrients will be coming out of your rocks, which eventually, will start growing GHA on them, ans the algae eat the phosphate coming out of the rocks.
This is true if you can get all the light onto the screen. All of it. Problem is, most bulbs, and most reflectors, are way bigger than this unless you build a custom reflector. The best bulb for such a small screen is a CFL spotlight:
!!!
Need translator for Availability Schedule...
Availability Schedule
I have Chinese finished, but I need other languages too. So if you or someone you know can translate that page into another language and email it to me on a Word 2000 document, let me know how much $ it would cost.
Thanks!
Availability Schedule
I have Chinese finished, but I need other languages too. So if you or someone you know can translate that page into another language and email it to me on a Word 2000 document, let me know how much $ it would cost.
Thanks!
Whats your email. I got a file in Portuguese. I will email it to you and see if it works for you. I ask you this on the scrubber site too.
Mine is kerry@americanhotrodsolutions.com
Mine is kerry@americanhotrodsolutions.com
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Here is a pic of my latest algae scrapping, its better here then in my display!! And yes I DO FEED A LOT!!!! and have no nutrients when I test.
Pic of screen pulled from Scrubber sump. Notice the credit card beside the pics for size comparison.
Pic of the side scrapped.
Pic of the bottom scrapped to separate huge amount of algae hanging off the screen!!!!
Pic of screen pulled from Scrubber sump. Notice the credit card beside the pics for size comparison.
Pic of the side scrapped.
Pic of the bottom scrapped to separate huge amount of algae hanging off the screen!!!!
