apos
Member
My last DIY project was creating a deep sand bed, hooked into my system remotely.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/305309/starting-remote-deep-sand-bed-diy-in-bucket
It was fun, simple, and as far as I can tell, effectively cut down on my nitrates, or at least played a role.
For my next project though, I want to take things to the next level and try out something relatively rarer in reef tanks my size: an algal turf scrubber. I've been reading about them for awhile, and a recent thread on another board inspired me to just go ahead and try it out already. Scrubbers are often used in commercial water treatment applications, and the principle is sound: make nuisance algae work for you and consume virtually all latent levels of phosphate, nitrate, and even some toxic heavy metals. Some people have even spoken of turf scrubbers being able to replace most of the function of protein skimmers, or even being superior, because scrubbers do not remove food particles, phyto, or certain trace elements from the water. Is it true, or is it hype?
We'll see... or rather, I'll try it out, and who knows what will happen? The debate over scrubbers has been going on for decades now...
First, the basic idea: much like a macro fuge, the engine of the filter is algae, which consumes bad things from the water. Unlike a fuge, however, scrubbers are supposed to be turbo charged, built entirely around satisfying the growth needs of a particular type of voracious algae that prefers not submersion, but rather a surf-like environment.
The basic setup is a screen over which tank water flows. The screen is lit for plant growth, and some form of air movement is usually necessary for optimum performance (a small fan). The screen then accumulates algae that prefers this sort of environment, and the screen is partially cleaned to export nutrients.
In the basic designs I've seen, there are several setups: a surge/"dunk" system that dunks water on the algae (noisy), a tipping system where a mat seesaws in and out of the water (again, big noisy, moving parts), a drum of screen rotating in and out of the water (takes up more space and rotation is tricky) and a "waterfall" method. I'm going to be using the latter, as it is the simplest and most compact.
The basic idea for this design is that you have a single removable screen sitting vertically in a container, and you pump water over it using a piece of pvc with a slit into which the top of the screen extends. The water then runs down over the screen to the bottom of the container where it drains out and back into the system. If a bucket is being used, you'd light both sides of the screen from above at an angle. And, unfortunately, the bucket would have to drain back into the system from above, which is a huge pain for those of us, like me, who only have the space below the stand to work with.
This means that my design is going to have to overcome this hurdle, while still being effective. The goal is something: 1) compact 2) capable of working off a single pump 3) degrades gracefully with the pump off (no floods in power outages) 4) has a screen big enough with enough light and air movement to do it right 5) has the screen easily removable and cleanable, even in cramped space. I'll update as I try out new designs and prototypes.
There's one final issue that worries me: smell. As far as I know, algae smells when it’s out of the water even a little, and I have no idea how serious of an issue that will be here. I haven't been able to find much information on smell with scrubbers, which is odd. But if it really stinks, then scrubbers, however awesome they are as filters, will be consigned to basement and outdoor applications. Of course, I'll have some of those soon too, so no worries...
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/305309/starting-remote-deep-sand-bed-diy-in-bucket
It was fun, simple, and as far as I can tell, effectively cut down on my nitrates, or at least played a role.
For my next project though, I want to take things to the next level and try out something relatively rarer in reef tanks my size: an algal turf scrubber. I've been reading about them for awhile, and a recent thread on another board inspired me to just go ahead and try it out already. Scrubbers are often used in commercial water treatment applications, and the principle is sound: make nuisance algae work for you and consume virtually all latent levels of phosphate, nitrate, and even some toxic heavy metals. Some people have even spoken of turf scrubbers being able to replace most of the function of protein skimmers, or even being superior, because scrubbers do not remove food particles, phyto, or certain trace elements from the water. Is it true, or is it hype?
We'll see... or rather, I'll try it out, and who knows what will happen? The debate over scrubbers has been going on for decades now...
First, the basic idea: much like a macro fuge, the engine of the filter is algae, which consumes bad things from the water. Unlike a fuge, however, scrubbers are supposed to be turbo charged, built entirely around satisfying the growth needs of a particular type of voracious algae that prefers not submersion, but rather a surf-like environment.
The basic setup is a screen over which tank water flows. The screen is lit for plant growth, and some form of air movement is usually necessary for optimum performance (a small fan). The screen then accumulates algae that prefers this sort of environment, and the screen is partially cleaned to export nutrients.
In the basic designs I've seen, there are several setups: a surge/"dunk" system that dunks water on the algae (noisy), a tipping system where a mat seesaws in and out of the water (again, big noisy, moving parts), a drum of screen rotating in and out of the water (takes up more space and rotation is tricky) and a "waterfall" method. I'm going to be using the latter, as it is the simplest and most compact.
The basic idea for this design is that you have a single removable screen sitting vertically in a container, and you pump water over it using a piece of pvc with a slit into which the top of the screen extends. The water then runs down over the screen to the bottom of the container where it drains out and back into the system. If a bucket is being used, you'd light both sides of the screen from above at an angle. And, unfortunately, the bucket would have to drain back into the system from above, which is a huge pain for those of us, like me, who only have the space below the stand to work with.
This means that my design is going to have to overcome this hurdle, while still being effective. The goal is something: 1) compact 2) capable of working off a single pump 3) degrades gracefully with the pump off (no floods in power outages) 4) has a screen big enough with enough light and air movement to do it right 5) has the screen easily removable and cleanable, even in cramped space. I'll update as I try out new designs and prototypes.
There's one final issue that worries me: smell. As far as I know, algae smells when it’s out of the water even a little, and I have no idea how serious of an issue that will be here. I haven't been able to find much information on smell with scrubbers, which is odd. But if it really stinks, then scrubbers, however awesome they are as filters, will be consigned to basement and outdoor applications. Of course, I'll have some of those soon too, so no worries...
