DIY Algae scrubber

[markstrimaran]

Here it goes again, 150 watt 40 3 watt 660nm 10 450nm blue. Submerged liquid cooled, tank heater.


This is the original growth. It has been slow going with the other lights.

 

[skytan13]

I used np biopellets in a fluidised media chamber .. so basically these are degradeable pellets made from a source of carbon that allows denitrifying bacteria to fix nitrates (or release as nitrogen) in an aerobic environment so no need for anaerobic conditions .. look up np biopellets ... when you use them to reduce nitrates start slow and build up the amount of pellets and they will remove nitrate as effectively as a ammonia and nitrites are removed by nitrifying bacteria in ur biofilter ... the big problem is that as the carb pellets are eaten in the process the excess bacteria forms a murky film in your sump .. so you need a way to extract the fixated nitrates .. lots of floss on the output would work but u would be changing nearly daily or if you can get a protein skimmer to work effectively it will too .. many marine tanks work on the biopellet and protein skimmer combo

May i know how bad is the film? I have ordered one pellet reactor , but not intending on using a skimmer .
Am going to try plumbing the output of the reactor to flow to filter wool and some 50 microns nylon mesh above the sump's water lvl. Before it drips back to a piece of sponge in the sump

Thats my plan at least for now before i get my hands on the reactor

 

[Tomt37]

filter wool should do the job if changed regularly .. the less the flow the less you will have to change ... with biopellets I'd always say start with 1/3 of dose and let run for 2 weeks until nitrates come down then add 1/3 more if not close to zero and wait a bit again ... the smallest amount you can use to the job is the best and saves money .. main reason being they will also pull some phosphates out of the water too which is good and they get replaced etc from food but - people who dump a ton of biopellets in straight away can find it can take their phosphates down to zero and hamper their main filter bacteria as they need some phosphates too

 

[Tomt37]

Replacing the filter wool regularly will mean you are extracting the bacteria .. otherwise they themselves will break down into organic matter and The point is to remove the fixed nitrates from the tank

 

[markstrimaran]

Tomt37
What is the max GPD, you can flow?

Skytan13
I am thinking the same idea, using polishing polyester felt, then bleaching it clean, so it's reusable.
The first layer, If to fine will plug up quickly.

 

[Tomt37]

If it's biopellets the flow isn't that key .. you want them constantly moving in reactor ..( it's more key for it to be very slow flow if you were using an anaerobic nitrate reductor) so if you look at some of the fluidised reactor pumps for biopellets online for flow rate as will depend on size of your reactor .. I have a 2ltr reactor with a 400ltr flow rate on a 400ltr tank + 80 ish litre sump ... the stuff that's going into your polyester will be bacteria sludge so you want it out of the tank .. I think bleach just causes bacteria protein to clump? Although I could be wrong on that so might be worth buying fine sheets of floss cheap to put on top and cutting and using as a top layer to dispose of regularly .. a slower flow shouldn't impact the speed at which nitrates are removed significantly and if it's on the lower end it'll be easier to manage the filter floss for the output imo

 

[Angelphish]

Tomt37 What skimmer are you using? Any pics of the skimmate?

 

[Tomt37]

Just the attached .. I've put in some safe start as it's a fairly new set up so protein skimmer is dialled down at min as I don't want to remove it all



View attachment 1243948

 

[Tomt37]

Very low organics in my tank at min but good amount of fresh water aquarium salt .. will update a pic in a week or so when I'm feeding and stocking more heavily .. I'm happy with what it chucked out of tank in last few days .. brown water certainly smells enough

 

[Tomt37]

With flow I think the theory is that you just need enough to keep the biopellets tumbling or moving so they bump into each other and cast off old bacteria exposing new carbon and also enough to bring in oxygenated water so the denitrification stays aerobic .. but doesn't have to be high flow