I didn't consider this idea earlier when I saw this thread a while back, not because I have doubts about it's effectivenes but because it exposes the water too much in the atmosphere resulting to humidity and cooling of water (2 main reason I have to dismantle my existing filter system). Specially with strong lights heating up the air making it absorb more water. I am about to build a coil denitrator in a few weeks when I thought of reading this thread, and now I guess I will have to give this system a try first before I go with the coil denitrator. As proven by many "This system Works!" it's just a matter of how much moisture it creates and how much it cools the water if it is indeed practical for my set up. Plus it requires more energy (lights) compared to energy required to run a coil denitrator. Will be building a 3' wide screen to try it out.
Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Well, cooling and evaporation can be eliminated, by using a sealed enclosure like acrylic or a bucket, or in your case a plastic storage bin with a lid. The main requirement with a sealed design is that you waterproof the electrical pathways with aquarium safe silicone (meaning, you could pour water over the wiring and it would be fine.) There will be condensation all over the insides of the container and wiring.
Last Results of 2008:
dave3441 on the UR site: "an update for you, been running scrubber since day 1, 19th nov 08 [7 weeks] and tank cycled very quickly 10 days!, although i did have some seeded tonga rock which i kept live bout 15 kgs, the rest was out of water for 36 hours so would have died off. started adding fish at 5 days just 3 chromis to get things fired up then added more fish and corals at 3 weeks still no sign of any additional spikes. its been about 6 weeks now and i have had the very faintest of blooms, just a dusting on glass. cant believe how good this cycle has been compared with first tank set up in 2002. scrubber has been cleaned weekly, to be honest i am cleaning both sides every week as it gets so clogged up
. starting to see some more stable green algee now, and this does not come off like the brown/red/black slime does. i just use a george forman plastic spatula and run it down both sides of screen. i would say i get about 1/2 normal size tea cup off screen each time. i gotta say i think this is a very good system, as the algee is definatly growing on the scrubber rather than all over the tank. i have never seen a new tank without the dreaded algee bloom occuring before. i must add i am skimming, although just with a small mc500 deltec which needs emptying approx every 3 days or so. just did battery of tests today approx 7 weeks running now: sal 1.024, temp 27.5, phosphate absolutly zero crystal clear reading not even hint of blue."
dave3441 on the UR site: "an update for you, been running scrubber since day 1, 19th nov 08 [7 weeks] and tank cycled very quickly 10 days!, although i did have some seeded tonga rock which i kept live bout 15 kgs, the rest was out of water for 36 hours so would have died off. started adding fish at 5 days just 3 chromis to get things fired up then added more fish and corals at 3 weeks still no sign of any additional spikes. its been about 6 weeks now and i have had the very faintest of blooms, just a dusting on glass. cant believe how good this cycle has been compared with first tank set up in 2002. scrubber has been cleaned weekly, to be honest i am cleaning both sides every week as it gets so clogged up
. starting to see some more stable green algee now, and this does not come off like the brown/red/black slime does. i just use a george forman plastic spatula and run it down both sides of screen. i would say i get about 1/2 normal size tea cup off screen each time. i gotta say i think this is a very good system, as the algee is definatly growing on the scrubber rather than all over the tank. i have never seen a new tank without the dreaded algee bloom occuring before. i must add i am skimming, although just with a small mc500 deltec which needs emptying approx every 3 days or so. just did battery of tests today approx 7 weeks running now: sal 1.024, temp 27.5, phosphate absolutly zero crystal clear reading not even hint of blue."
For anyone who's doing this, since you're going to have a three dimensional frame with four screens wasting your space, why not chuck some huge pieces of filter medium* in the middle part and have the spray bars run all the way across the whole thing? (as in a huge block of filter medium in the middle, with four sheets surrounding the outside for algae to grow on).SantaMonica;2298849; said:Yes FW too.
For large tanks, just frame it out:
... although you'd want lights on the outside too.
That way you get enough filtration for a hundred red eared sliders
*substitute with bio-rings, bio-balls, activated carbon and sand until you're satisfied
For the new year I finally got a camera, learned how to use it, and took some pics. They are linked below, and will be updated as new pics/vids are taken.
Yeah, I came to the same conclusion. In the past, I have had massive problems with too much house humidity from the tanks. It is bad in the winter when the house temp is about 68, and the tanks are 78-80 F.arl;2580259; said:
Sure, you could seal up the algae scrubber, but it's difficult to seal it up good and make cleaning convienent. Plus, cleaning that thing twice a week is not going to be pleasant.
I've decided to use the coil denitrifier to remove the nitrates to make the fish healthier. My nitrates aren't bad, but it seems like a relatively low maintainance and inexpensive thing if you already have a pump sending water through PVC pipes (my sump return).
I'm also going to get a UV sterilizer to help clear up the water. My water isn't green, but isn't crystal clear either. You can get a decent UV sterilizer for about $100 that treats 300 gallons (less expensive for smaller tanks). Also, I have read that you don't have to run the UV 24/7. You can run it as needed or set a timer for 12 hours/day or whatever. So it will be much less energy cost than an algae scrubber. Now granted, you do have the expense of replacing the UV bulb about every year, which is another $15-30, but you should replace your flourescent tubes about every 6 months on a scrubber as well.
The big plus, IMO, is that a coil denitrifier and UV sterilizer combo is going be far less maintainence. Sure, the UV will not get the algae on the glass, but I can scrape the glass pretty quick. I guess I'd rather scrape the glass than clean an alge curtain, but this is all just an opinion..
Santa Monica, this isn't putting down your idea. I read this entire thread and I am still following it. I think it's a wonderful idea. I thought for weeks about doing it myself. It's just for me it would be difficult to make it work without creating an eyesore which is important to my wife.
My water tests today, all Salifert:
N03: 0 (clear)
P04: 0 (clear)
Si: 0 (clear)
Ca: 490
Alk: 9.3
Mg: 1500
pH: 8.4
N03: 0 (clear)
P04: 0 (clear)
Si: 0 (clear)
Ca: 490
Alk: 9.3
Mg: 1500
pH: 8.4
Update:
Someone came up with a great way to attach Rug Canvas. Rug Canvas is the highest performance screen material; it is preferred over Plastic Canvas because Rug has small fibers that algae can attach tightly too. This means you get growth faster, and you get more growth sticking to the screen after cleaning (thus, no overly-cleaned bare spots). The problem with Rug is that it's a flimsy material, and the edges tend to unravel. It also won't last forever. So consider it more work, in order to get the highest performance.
Anyway, this idea is very simple, but I've not tried it. So you might have a plastic canvas version as a backup, in case you can't get the Rug working properly. You'll need to make the slot wider, to accomodate the plastic rod. The trick will be getting the right "fit" between the rod/screen, and the slot, so that the water flows smoothly. It will be trickier than a simple plasic canvas, no doubt. So plan on experimenting with it for a few days in the bathtub.
You can get Rug Canvas at any crafts/sewing store. Also, you might need to sew/glue/hotmelt/etc the loose edges so that it does not unravel.
Someone came up with a great way to attach Rug Canvas. Rug Canvas is the highest performance screen material; it is preferred over Plastic Canvas because Rug has small fibers that algae can attach tightly too. This means you get growth faster, and you get more growth sticking to the screen after cleaning (thus, no overly-cleaned bare spots). The problem with Rug is that it's a flimsy material, and the edges tend to unravel. It also won't last forever. So consider it more work, in order to get the highest performance.
Anyway, this idea is very simple, but I've not tried it. So you might have a plastic canvas version as a backup, in case you can't get the Rug working properly. You'll need to make the slot wider, to accomodate the plastic rod. The trick will be getting the right "fit" between the rod/screen, and the slot, so that the water flows smoothly. It will be trickier than a simple plasic canvas, no doubt. So plan on experimenting with it for a few days in the bathtub.
You can get Rug Canvas at any crafts/sewing store. Also, you might need to sew/glue/hotmelt/etc the loose edges so that it does not unravel.
