Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Oh, much cheaper lol! I didn't realize they were made. I went to a hydroponics store and they didn't have any smaller 2700k CFLs. After you mentioning it I did a google search and found tons of them. Yeah, that will be much cheaper. I currently have a 6500k CFL (I think it is 23 watts as well) and I am getting some algae growth.SantaMonica;4641348; said:
So here is a question for you Santa. Will the 2700k make the algae more productive at nitrate removal or just grow more algae? See, my screen is covered in algae (it takes a few weeks of growth to do this) and my nitrates are still high at 20 to 40 ppm. However, I have never done a water change so it is working but not reducing nitrates to low levels. Will the 2700k reduce nitrates further or only increase the speed that the algae grow?
More growth is the same thing as nitrate removal. 2700 should grow more.
You can't let it go more than 7 days. Clean it no matter what. Leaving it there several weeks is why you still have nitrates.
Cleaning Guidelines:
Black/oily growth, but no green: Clean every last bit of it off every three days.
Dark brown growth, but no green: Clean all of it off every 4 days.
Light brown growth, but no green: Clean most of if off every 5 days.
Mostly brown growth, but some green: Clean all of the brown off every 6 days, but leave some of the green.
Half brown and half green growth: Clean most of it off every 7 days.
Mostly green growth: clean most of it off every 10 days.
In all cases, stronger lighting will help you get to green faster, even if the extra lighting is only temporary.
Also, when there is lots of green, you are getting the most filtering. So to minimize nutrient spikes which might occur after cleaning the green off, consider cutting the screen vertically into two halves, and cleaning only one of the halves every 5 days. This give 10 days of growth for each half (about the max you can go), but always leaves the other half to do the filtering.
After several months, you may start getting some thick brown algae that feels like fuzz, and it won't come off. That's turf algae. You don't want turf because it's thick and dark, and it blocks light from reaching the screen (also, because turf does not grow fast enough to be a good filter.) Scrape the turf off with a hack saw blade. Matter of fact, if you start getting turf, you can just start doing all your weekly cleaning with a hack saw blade.
Black/oily growth, but no green: Clean every last bit of it off every three days.
Dark brown growth, but no green: Clean all of it off every 4 days.
Light brown growth, but no green: Clean most of if off every 5 days.
Mostly brown growth, but some green: Clean all of the brown off every 6 days, but leave some of the green.
Half brown and half green growth: Clean most of it off every 7 days.
Mostly green growth: clean most of it off every 10 days.
In all cases, stronger lighting will help you get to green faster, even if the extra lighting is only temporary.
Also, when there is lots of green, you are getting the most filtering. So to minimize nutrient spikes which might occur after cleaning the green off, consider cutting the screen vertically into two halves, and cleaning only one of the halves every 5 days. This give 10 days of growth for each half (about the max you can go), but always leaves the other half to do the filtering.
After several months, you may start getting some thick brown algae that feels like fuzz, and it won't come off. That's turf algae. You don't want turf because it's thick and dark, and it blocks light from reaching the screen (also, because turf does not grow fast enough to be a good filter.) Scrape the turf off with a hack saw blade. Matter of fact, if you start getting turf, you can just start doing all your weekly cleaning with a hack saw blade.
Alright folks here are some pictures of my algae scrubber. I have had it running for about 3 weeks or so now. I didn't clean the algae of for the first 2 weeks, till I saw the post about not allowing it to go more than 7 days. Anyway there are some pictures of the whole thing and some of the screens. The screens were cleaned on Friday morning (4 days growth). The back of the screen has better algae growth than the front (pictured). I still have algae growth in my tank though. I may need a better pump as I just went with what I already had on hand. This is from a 125g overstocked with SA Cichlids.
Jim
Jim
Yes I found that the water seemed to flow more even with the screen right up to the edge but NOT inside the slot. When I picked it up, it just kinda bowed out a bit in that spot. All the water coming out of the pipe does go across the screen. I will give it a couple weeks of cleaning the screens promptly every week instead of waiting. I am also doing weekly water changes till the algae in the tank goes away.
Jim
Jim
Santa Monica, A few more questions for you.
1. Is the photoperiod really that important? I haven't turned the lights off on my scrubber since I started it except to clean the screens. Will it work better if I set it to a 18 hr cycle?
2. Is there some way to know when the optimal time is to clean the screens? It seems like the growth I have been getting could reap significant algae in less than 7 days, maybe clean them every 5? And I still am getting algae on the glass, even with water changes. Need to get some new bristlenose plecos, had a catfish eat them all. Lowering my fish load as well.
I will post updates on how it's working.
Thanks!
Jim
1. Is the photoperiod really that important? I haven't turned the lights off on my scrubber since I started it except to clean the screens. Will it work better if I set it to a 18 hr cycle?
2. Is there some way to know when the optimal time is to clean the screens? It seems like the growth I have been getting could reap significant algae in less than 7 days, maybe clean them every 5? And I still am getting algae on the glass, even with water changes. Need to get some new bristlenose plecos, had a catfish eat them all. Lowering my fish load as well.
I will post updates on how it's working.
Thanks!
Jim
