turf scrubbers

[posiden]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstdv8 http:///forum/thread/382073/turf-scrubbers/220#post_3340653
I like posiedens idea if there were a way to make that tile rough enough. the reason ebing is that if its a cement type tile supposedly cement has alot of phospahte in it so it grows algae really well.
I beleive the old time scrubbers were made of cement and some of the new comercial ones are too. the old ones never fqactored in a need to clean or a way to clean. so failure was immenent they just didn't know it at the time.
I used a ceramic floor tile. I found one on sale at Lowes for .25 cents. The tile has ribs along the backside and its smooth in between. This way I could scrape off the algae right down to the ribs, and I'd still leave behind some algae to regrow. The way I did the back of the Bio Cube, the tile just sat in the back on an angle. I scrapped off the paint and placed the light outside of the tank. There has been a lot of talk a while back, about using the backer board for tile. This is a great idea BUT....be careful of any anti fungal additives to that product. I don't want to see anyone nuke their tank.
Jstdv8;
How's Kress's scrubber doing? I haven't been on the scrubber site in a while. He made his own tile. I really wanted to make my own tile after seeing him. I just couldn't find access to the equipment, that wouldn't cost me a lot that is. I did the tile thing before he built his LED unit. "At that time" Turf was what we wanted to see grow. It grew on my tile very well. The porosity of the ceramic gave the algae a really good grip. I just tried to mimic the surfaces that it grows on it the wild. If I rebuild one, I will have a surge on mine. I still have to fine tune it to be silent............

 

[posiden]

You know I had a thought. I think it might be worth taking some the plastic that everyone is using. Then, taking an idea from Paul B. Smear some of the DIY rock mixture on it to give a real nice growing surface??
I wonder if that would cause more of a splashing issue though?

 

[btwk12]

when i took a hole saw to the screen it made it pretty rough! and i had gha in prob. 10 days and it is making a big difference already i started mine on the 3rd of this month

 

[gill again68]

Yeah I really ruffed my plastic screen up as well. In a couple of days I saw growth. Maybe luck but I have real good flow and 0 splashing. I tucked the screen up in the pipe pretty good. Also used the tip of not ruffing the top inch or so and sure enough that area is not or very slow to grow. I had to remove my splash guard pipe as it was pipping water out of the tank. Real nice mess. I am going to shorten the whole thing so that it fits better in the width of my tank. So far so good.

 

[gill again68]

Ok so I think I have been running about a week and here is the question. I have some nice color on the screen but nothing that I think needs to be cleaned off at this time. So do I clean it anyway? I would assume that I want to get a thick cover on it prior to cleaning the first time?

 

[jstdv8]

Santa monica says clean it once a week no matter what, even if it doesnt look like it needs it.
Remember, if yours is 2 sided you are only cleaning one side this week and once side next week. But be sire to rinse both sides during every cleaning to kill off the pods that are on the screen. (part of the reason for the cleaning in the first place) I always swirl my screen around in the sump gently before cleaning to wash any pods intot he sump that might be hanging out on the outside.

 

[deejeff442]

hey jstdv8,i havent even seen this thread.this is my screen after 3 days.nitrate is zero and phosphates at .5
i double tested both.i was surprised they were so low.

 

[jstdv8]

looks like a good start.
You wnet by the paramenters for turf scrubbers when figuring screen width/ GPH flow and wattage per gallon of water right?

 

[jstdv8]

thread is getting long, wouldnt hurt to repost that info every so often for new people.
Scrubber Quick Guideline:
0.5 actual (not equivalent) fluorescent watts per gallon MINIMUM [0.13 watts per liter].
1.0 actual (not equivalent) fluorescent watts per gallon for HIGH filtering [0.26 watts per liter].
1.0 square inches of screen per gallon, with bulbs on BOTH sides (10 x 10 = 100 square inches = 100 gal)
[1.64 square cm per liter]
2.0 square inches of screen per gallon, if vertical but lit on just ONE side. [3.28 square cm per liter]
4.0 square inches of screen per gallon, if HORIZONTAL [6.56 square cm per liter].
1.5 actual (not equivalent) fluorescent watts per gallon if HORIZONTAL [0.4 watts per liter].
18 hours of lights ON, and 6 hours of lights OFF, each day.
Flow is 24 hours, and is at least 35 gph per inch of width of screen, EVEN IF one sided [60 lph per cm].
Very rough screen made of roughed-up-like-a-cactus plastic canvas.
Clean algae off of screen every SEVEN (7) days NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK.

 

[deejeff442]

not exactly.i need to get a timer .the lights are on 24/7 now.as for bulbs i bought two 3500 k 23 watt =i think 120 watt bulbs
i dont even know the flow of the pump it is old probably around 350-400 gph maybe not even that. .the screen is 8 inches deep and 13 across.
seems to be working .i dont know if its 100% efficient .i need to get another pump this one is a bit noisey but i had it laying around.

 

[jstdv8]

Sounds like the flow will probbaly be pretty weak because your screen is so wide.
the lights will likley grow some algae but not very 3Dish without going to a 26-30 watt bulb on both sides.
I was running 23 watt bulbs and they worked ok for a while, I jsut replaced them 2 days ago with 26 watters and the growth is crazy just in a few days.
It may not seem like a big deal, but these parameters are pretty neccesary to really make these things work good.
the ones Ive seen that failed you usually get out of them that they didn't do this or they didn't do that, or they tried a different screen.
The ones with alot of success are the ones who followed those guidelines.
what you have will likley get you growing at least some algae though so I'd work on getting a new pump and see where that gets you.

 

[deejeff442]

i will get some bigger watt bulbs tomorrow.i can use these around the house plus a timer.as for the pump it might be a 700 gph i dont know the writting is worn off.the screen has plenty of water flow down it with no bare spots anywhere.

 

[btwk12]

i have a 23 on 1 side and 26 on other. i thought 23 was fine. i have very good growth, but i guess it wouldnt hurt to get a 26 next time im out that way.

 

[deejeff442]

on my way to get the bulbs and timer.i believe i found the pump size.almost positive its 750 gph.i think it will be fine for the next couple week untill i get a new one.i also have to buy a r/o unit i left mine outside the other night and didnt watch the weather.yep 29 degrees+full unit=blowout.oh well it needed all new filter by now anyway and the whole unit wasnt much more than the filters.i will be looking around for a better unit.this one was just an ebay deal.

 

[deejeff442]

got me a couple 30 watters and a timer set it for noon to 6 pm to be off.so time to kick back and watch the magic.

 

[jstdv8]

Sweet.
keep us posted. Id guess in 3 weeks you will start to see that phos number go down. And in 5 weeks all the nasties will be at 0.
Did you rough up that screen? and how do you take it off for cleaning?

 

[deejeff442]

i put a little sand paper to it but not crazy.i just have to pull off the tube from the pump and the scrubber pipe is just pieces of velcro to keep it in place.

 

[jstdv8]

that screen has to be really rough for it to hold the heavier algae.
You may consider taking a holesaw to it before you get too much growth and its alot messier.

 

[deejeff442]

holesaw? what do you do with the holesaw?

 

[jstdv8]

you take it in your hand and rub it all over the screen to rough it up really good. it should feel like cactus when you're done.
This is a very key part to the process, the screen must be really rough in order for it to hold algae really good.