FW has always worked fine. No changes.
Your sump setup won't work, however. Just build a regular one first, and use it for a while.
Your sump setup won't work, however. Just build a regular one first, and use it for a while.
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Adey is applying for a patent on something you may have seen and read about before..... 3D algal turf screens. Seems like it would have been obvious 
...
http://www.google.com/patents?id=7atgAQAAEBAJ
...http://www.google.com/patents?id=7atgAQAAEBAJ
ok, so i got about 13 pages in, and just cant get through all 120 pages...... has this been proven to reduce nitrAtes in FW?
ok well i just attemped one of these is set up and will update in a few weeks as to how well this works on my fresh water tank. made it with eggcrate and some thin plexi was only $12 dollars to build if it works well i think i will redo the design a little. and i think i need a bigger pump to push the water flow.
Here is a complete cleaning video (with one hand, and with no sound) of a mature screen from one of the two SM100 scrubbers on my tank. It shows how to clean the acrylic box, the acrylic window, and how to scrape off the turf. About one pound of algae (wet) is removed total, including the algae in the box. Most new screens less than a year old won't have any turf, but this screen is well-grown-in so the turf must be removed every 3 months or so, to give the green hair algae a place to attach to the screen.
Cleaning is done slowly, so you can see all the steps; if I were in a hurry, I could do it all in 5 minutes. Also, the box is full because I let it grow as much as possible (about 2 weeks) to show the 3D growth for the video; you would not normally let it fill up so much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAxuofJeeE
Shortcuts:
00:30 - 3D close up
03:45 - Turning off pump
06:10 - Removing screen
08:50 - Screen scraping
13:55 - Putting screen back in pipe
15:20 - View the algae in the box
17:35 - Putting pipe back in box
18:40 - Water flow again in clean box
19:00 - Cleaning window with toothbrush
Cleaning is done slowly, so you can see all the steps; if I were in a hurry, I could do it all in 5 minutes. Also, the box is full because I let it grow as much as possible (about 2 weeks) to show the 3D growth for the video; you would not normally let it fill up so much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAxuofJeeE
Shortcuts:
00:30 - 3D close up
03:45 - Turning off pump
06:10 - Removing screen
08:50 - Screen scraping
13:55 - Putting screen back in pipe
15:20 - View the algae in the box
17:35 - Putting pipe back in box
18:40 - Water flow again in clean box
19:00 - Cleaning window with toothbrush
For those who are using tap water for top-off or water changes:
Tap water sometimes contains copper to kill unwanted things. Algae eats copper, as long as the copper is not added to much, too fast. If the copper is added too much, too fast, it will stop the algae from growing for a while. So to prevent your scrubber from being affected by this, try to make sure you have as much algae on your screen(s) as possible when you add the tap water. In other words, don't clean your screen(s) before you add the tap water.
Tap water sometimes contains copper to kill unwanted things. Algae eats copper, as long as the copper is not added to much, too fast. If the copper is added too much, too fast, it will stop the algae from growing for a while. So to prevent your scrubber from being affected by this, try to make sure you have as much algae on your screen(s) as possible when you add the tap water. In other words, don't clean your screen(s) before you add the tap water.
For those who are using tap water for top-off or water changes:
Tap water sometimes contains copper to kill unwanted things. Algae eats copper, as long as the copper is not added to much, too fast. If the copper is added too much, too fast, it will stop the algae from growing for a while. So to prevent your scrubber from being affected by this, try to make sure you have as much algae on your screen(s) as possible when you add the tap water. In other words, don't clean your screen(s) before you add the tap water.
Tap water sometimes contains copper to kill unwanted things. Algae eats copper, as long as the copper is not added to much, too fast. If the copper is added too much, too fast, it will stop the algae from growing for a while. So to prevent your scrubber from being affected by this, try to make sure you have as much algae on your screen(s) as possible when you add the tap water. In other words, don't clean your screen(s) before you add the tap water.
If I put a pump with an equal gph in the bucket attached to a return line would i be able to keep this under my tank? I suppose if the return pump ever went out i would have a flooded house and dead fish tho... In just a matter of an hour.
