Hey guys, sorry for the really delayed response. Pictures of my set up can be seen on page 102 of this thread. I have since moved the light closer to the screen. My lighting is nothing fancy and I am sure if I upgrade it I would see better results. I am using a 12 gallon eclipse system and I started with 4 goldfish. The nitrates ranged at about 7ppm. I added 2 more goldfish to see what would happen. My nitrates dramatically increased and remained at 40 to 80 ppm. I recently got rid of 2 goldfish going back down to a total of 4. My nitrates began to drop and today they were at about 20ppm. The scrubber definitely works with fresh water, but it does have its limits. Im sure that if my screen were larger and I had better lighting, the scrubber would be able to handle 6 goldfish. I just cleaned the screen and I expect to see a spike in nutrients soon. I will continue to monitor it and keep everyone updated. My next step is to make a better scrubber with good lighting.
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
earthstudent;4562408; said:I have tried to talk several friends into running a scrubber and all replies are, they don't know enough about them and don't want to make one. I even helped (basically built it for him) a guy build one (several months ago) and he still has not put it on his tank.
I guess it is an "in the know" kind of thing. They have now become part of all my systems.
Tien: Doing a setup that pushes the scrubber to the max is a great idea. Can you post details and pics about this setup please.
Sorry, I meant to reply to you in my last post. Look at the post above.
Did you ever move the bulb closer to the screen? You originally had it so far away that it almost would not work at all. Needs to be within 4 inches of the screen.
I think you have a 13 watt CFL bulb. Good size for a 12 gal tank. You should be able to feed a 1/2 cube of frozen every day, and have zero nitrates, if your bulb is 4 inches from the screen.
I think you have a 13 watt CFL bulb. Good size for a 12 gal tank. You should be able to feed a 1/2 cube of frozen every day, and have zero nitrates, if your bulb is 4 inches from the screen.
I did move the bulb closer to the screen. The algae takes longer to grow than I would expect though. Do you think these bulbs( http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9870&pcatid=9870 )would be better for my set up? I only have an incadescent 75 watt grow (blue) bulb and that doesn't do a great job. I would like to use a florescent set up, but that is more money than I wish to spend for a test system. The nice thing about the lights from the link are that they are florescent but screw into a standard fixture.
Blue bulbs don't work at all. Purple "grow light" bulbs do.
The bulbs you linked to are 10 watts, so the 6700k one would be ok, although 2700k is better.
The bulbs you linked to are 10 watts, so the 6700k one would be ok, although 2700k is better.
I am probably going to buy a light found on this page:
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/lights.shtml
the light is about 2/3 down the page with the title
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+1]"Compact Light System [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Includes 125 watt CFL Bulb)[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+1] "[/SIZE][/FONT]
however I will buy the 2700K bulb. I hate to spend so much money for a test but I really want to make this work for my $500 gallon eventually and my test is helping keep nitrates lower but they are still high. I think this bulb should be more than enough for my little 12 gallon set up. I hope I can get nitrates back below 10ppm. I will also take some more pictures of my set up now that I have moved the light closer.
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/lights.shtml
the light is about 2/3 down the page with the title
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+1]"Compact Light System [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Includes 125 watt CFL Bulb)[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+1] "[/SIZE][/FONT]
however I will buy the 2700K bulb. I hate to spend so much money for a test but I really want to make this work for my $500 gallon eventually and my test is helping keep nitrates lower but they are still high. I think this bulb should be more than enough for my little 12 gallon set up. I hope I can get nitrates back below 10ppm. I will also take some more pictures of my set up now that I have moved the light closer.
