Finally here is a presentable acrylic scrubber box:
Video of box:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G_FEncUGDY
Here is the diagram if you want to build it:
Full size:
http://www.radio-media.com/fish/100.jpg
Specs:
o 25 inches long (63.5 cm)
o 7.25 inches wide (18.4 cm)
o 6.5 inches tall (16.5 cm) with cover, or 6.25 inches tall (15.9 cm) without cover.
o Much stronger filtering compared to CFL-powered screens of same area and wattage.
o Very strong stand-alone filtering for a 50 gallon high-load reef tank.
o Good stand-alone filtering for a 100 gallon medium-load reef tank.
o Supplementary filtering for a 180 gallon medium-load reef tank.
o 100 square inches (645 square cm) of growable two-sided screen area, not counting the part that goes into the pipe.
o This is a high-performance scrubber, packed into a small space (which is what I wanted for the limited space under my tank). There is no wasted light; 100 percent of the light hits the screen, and is only 1.5 inches from the screen.
o The light is the same distance from the screen, from one end of the screen to the other.
o It works equally well in Fresh or Salt (but not for planted-only tanks).
o The all-black acrylic blocks out almost all light from escaping.
o The lid stops any evaporation or cooling. If you do want evaporation and cooling, just leave the lid off. If you wants LOTS of evaporation and cooling, put a fan on it. It will light up the whole room, however.
o The recommended four bulbs (Current Nova Extreme model 1127) deliver about 100 watts (8000 lumens) of flourescent light. If less filtering (and less power consumption) is needed, bulbs can be removed to give you about 75, 50 or 25 watts of lighting. (You cannot reduce the flow, however)
o The unit is only 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) tall. Only a few more inches are needed above this to be able to lift out the pipe/screen.
o Has a water-tight drain which allows the unit to be placed on top of the tank, or even on a shelf, where it can drain back to the display.
o Requires 800 GPH (after head loss). Do not skimp on GPH, because the long pipe will not fill with enough water if you do. An Eheim 1260 pump works good if the scrubber is down in the sump area, but if you put the scrubber up high on a shelf above the tank, something bigger like an Eheim 1262 would be needed. I have and use both of these pumps. At the sump level, there is not much difference in flow between these two pumps, but when you have to pump up to a shelf above the display, the extra power of the 1262 (or similar) would be needed.
o The 22 inch (55.9 cm) wide screen allows much more water flow to be filtered for the same screen area; this gives more filtering per hour than a narrow screen of the same area.
o The long T5HO bulbs distribute the light evenly from one side of the screen to the other, and are only 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from the screen. So there are no "burned" spots in the middle of the screen as there can be with CFL bulbs (because they put all the light into one spot).
o The box allows water to "pool" at the bottom when the algae gets thick. This creates algae that is floating in this turbulent pool, and lets the algae get more three dimensional, which lets water flow throughout the algae strands. This creates more filtering than just a flat sheet of algae.
o The top shelf keeps water from dripping on the lights when you take the screen out, and it also holds the lights in place.
o The bottom shelf keeps water from splashing up from the sump onto the lights, and also makes a wide base to keep the scrubber stable. The lights sit on this shelf.
o Replace the bulbs every 3 months. Most any K bulb below 6500 should work (including plant-grow bulbs), but F24T5HO/830 are suggested and are $7.99 from here:
http://www.bulbs.com/eSpec.aspx?ID=14267
o Clean your pump (run in pure vinager for a hour) every 3 months to make sure the flow stays high. If there is no longer a swirling "pool" on the bottom of the scrubber, then your pump needs cleaning.
