Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!
- Thread starter SantaMonica
- Start date
Update: Screen Sequence
Here is the typical sequence of algae on a new screen: First is a light brown coating, like a slime. After a week of that, you clean it lightly, and the next week you get a darker brown. After you clean that, you'll either get very dark brown/black stuff which stays very hard and thin, or you'll start getting some green hair. If it's the dark stuff, clean it right way (don't wait a week). After a few cleanings of this dark stuff, it too will start turning green. After a month or two, most of the growth will be green hair. If you start getting purple cyano on the screen, it means your light is too weak or too far away. If you start getting a hard yellowish plastic-like coating that covers the algae, it means your flow is too low in that area. If you start getting bald spots near your bulb, it means you are leaving your bulb on 24 hours, when you should be turning it off 6 hours a day. If you start getting round holes in your algae, it means pods are eating through it, because you are not using freshwater in your 7-day cleanings.
Here is the typical sequence of algae on a new screen: First is a light brown coating, like a slime. After a week of that, you clean it lightly, and the next week you get a darker brown. After you clean that, you'll either get very dark brown/black stuff which stays very hard and thin, or you'll start getting some green hair. If it's the dark stuff, clean it right way (don't wait a week). After a few cleanings of this dark stuff, it too will start turning green. After a month or two, most of the growth will be green hair. If you start getting purple cyano on the screen, it means your light is too weak or too far away. If you start getting a hard yellowish plastic-like coating that covers the algae, it means your flow is too low in that area. If you start getting bald spots near your bulb, it means you are leaving your bulb on 24 hours, when you should be turning it off 6 hours a day. If you start getting round holes in your algae, it means pods are eating through it, because you are not using freshwater in your 7-day cleanings.
update: all secondary filteration has been romoved for about a week and everything is continueing to improve. on my sheets brown started and soon turned dark brown with some green patches. i cleaned when the brown was too thick to see the sheet and noticed quite a bit of green underneath.
coralline has noticanly increased its growthrate already and algae growth has almost stopped in the display, or my algae eaters eat it faster than it can grow. the rocks "leaked" for just a couple days and now are almost completely nuissance algae free and looking great. i am really impressed with the speed and effectiveness of this thing. i think using fabric really helped because how well the agae spores catch and hold on. in my opinion it is superior to any medium tried yet.
soon i will be doing another one for my friend then a few more around town, thanks santa monica! still need builders???
coralline has noticanly increased its growthrate already and algae growth has almost stopped in the display, or my algae eaters eat it faster than it can grow. the rocks "leaked" for just a couple days and now are almost completely nuissance algae free and looking great. i am really impressed with the speed and effectiveness of this thing. i think using fabric really helped because how well the agae spores catch and hold on. in my opinion it is superior to any medium tried yet.
soon i will be doing another one for my friend then a few more around town, thanks santa monica! still need builders???
Great to hear again. Yes builders are still needed... fill in the info...
http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25
http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25
I don't build any. I've only build one bucket version in 2008, and one acrylic version that I'm using now. As for the other people, I don't know, because people contact them directly.
Screen Recomendations
I've been doing research on the ultimate screen material. I want it to have all the best characteristics, so if you have some ideas as to what the material should do, or what it should have, let's hear it.
I've been doing research on the ultimate screen material. I want it to have all the best characteristics, so if you have some ideas as to what the material should do, or what it should have, let's hear it.
I had a question regarding shaping. is it possible to curve the screen? for one i was thinking this would allow screen to more uniformly keep close to the light.
I was wondering b/c a project i am going to do(farther down the road when i get my 150 back up) was making my sump appear like a terrarium, including using plants.
I was going to hide some w/d towers with a fiberglass rock face and when i was reading this i thought about incorporating a couple "slides" for water that could act as a algae scrubber.
Kinda hard to explain but just wondering if it had to be vertical. As for cleaning was figuring on using a scraper/pad.
And how would fiberglass work as a screen if i didn't paint it and tried to not smooth too much?
I was wondering b/c a project i am going to do(farther down the road when i get my 150 back up) was making my sump appear like a terrarium, including using plants.
I was going to hide some w/d towers with a fiberglass rock face and when i was reading this i thought about incorporating a couple "slides" for water that could act as a algae scrubber.
Kinda hard to explain but just wondering if it had to be vertical. As for cleaning was figuring on using a scraper/pad.
And how would fiberglass work as a screen if i didn't paint it and tried to not smooth too much?
no it doesn't have to be vertical, its just easier to get uniform flow over the whole thing. ruffed fiberglass will work but remember the ruffer the better. the only way this will work for you is if when you clean it you remove all the agae, if let to just go back into the water it breaks back down into everything it ate 
freshwater right?
freshwater right?
