Algae scrubber ideas

KleineVampir · Jan 13, 2020

Hey guys, I'm gonna revive this thread to update you on the santa monica drop 1.4. It should be here tomorrow.

I think the only real question is, to put the "shade" in there or not? They say you should actually put this little black mesh deal in there to dim it out a bit since apparently it will initially be too bright for its own good and you're more likely to grow slime. But...I dunno about you guys, but I have never had any problems growing hair algae!

Scrubber_steve · Jan 13, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Hey guys, I'm gonna revive this thread to update you on the santa monica drop 1.4. It should be here tomorrow.

I think the only real question is, to put the "shade" in there or not? They say you should actually put this little black mesh deal in there to dim it out a bit since apparently it will initially be too bright for its own good and you're more likely to grow slime. But...I dunno about you guys, but I have never had any problems growing hair algae!

It can take quite a while for the good algae to seed on a screen. I would follow the instructions - the "shade" is a good idea.

If I were you I would set up the scrubber, & gently run bubbles not stop, but no light at all, for a week. A bio film will grow over the screen, & that is a beneficial thing. Be patient.

KleineVampir · Jan 13, 2020

Well that's ***** disappointing...I thought I was getting both the pump and the scrubber today but just got the pump. Turns out Santa Monica does not even have these things made to order. So they gotta sit there and build the thing first.

And here I was all psyched up to get my scrubber today... You'd think after spending 250 on a scrubber you could get it within 5 days. I guess this is what happens when aquatics guys try to run a business. Lol. Oh btw there's 0 tracking for the scrubber. So 90% of my money is just in the ether right now.

NHgoalstop · Jan 13, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Well that's ***** disappointing...I thought I was getting both the pump and the scrubber today but just got the pump. Turns out Santa Monica does not even have these things made to order. So they gotta sit there and build the thing first.

And here I was all psyched up to get my scrubber today... You'd think after spending 250 on a scrubber you could get it within 5 days. I guess this is what happens when aquatics guys try to run a business. Lol. Oh btw there's 0 tracking for the scrubber. So 90% of my money is just in the ether right now.

Seems odd that theres all built to order. They look like molded plastic and something that they could easily have on hand without a ton of o overhead.

KleineVampir · Jan 13, 2020

NHgoalstop said:
Seems odd that theres all built to order. They look like molded plastic and something that they could easily have on hand without a ton of o overhead.

Apparently some are made to order, some (mainly the more expensive ones) are not. So you pay more for slower service. I definitely agree that they could probably keep a few on hand at any given time.

NHgoalstop · Jan 13, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Apparently some are made to order, some (mainly the more expensive ones) are not. So you pay more for slower service. I definitely agree that they could probably keep a few on hand at any given time.

I'd really love to know how they waterproof the led and what size they are for a DIY scrubber I want to do

KleineVampir · Jan 14, 2020

Well I got it! I'm running the air 24/7 and the lights will be on 16 off 8, which is my night cycle. I put the shade in there too.

Seems like pretty good build quality of the unit itself. Nice airline tubing, extremely bright lights! But we shall see what this thing can do. Of course I discontinued the half-baked "algae scrubber" system that was in place. Though I will say I pulled a decent amount of algae out of the system when I pulled the knitting meshes out of the water. So the light over the knitting mesh can work to some extent, if that's what you have on hand.

NHgoalstop · Jan 14, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Well I got it! I'm running the air 24/7 and the lights will be on 16 off 8, which is my night cycle. I put the shade in there too.

Seems like pretty good build quality of the unit itself. Nice airline tubing, extremely bright lights! But we shall see what this thing can do. Of course I discontinued the half-baked "algae scrubber" system that was in place. Though I will say I pulled a decent amount of algae out of the system when I pulled the knitting meshes out of the water. So the light over the knitting mesh can work to some extent, if that's what you have on hand.

I have the mesh, inward just curious how many watts their LED is and how exactly they waterproof it since it is inside that black case with the salt water.

KleineVampir · Jan 14, 2020

NHgoalstop said:
I have the mesh, inward just curious how many watts their LED is and how exactly they waterproof it since it is inside that black case with the salt water.

I dunno but I doubt they're dying to give away part of the secret as to how they make their scrubbers! However they do say they use LED's that are safe for being in water. Also I think a lot of the wiring is in the back of the box, isolated from the water. But I'm not sure.

NHgoalstop · Jan 14, 2020

KleineVampir said:
I dunno but I doubt they're dying to give away part of the secret as to how they make their scrubbers! However they do say they use LED's that are safe for being in water. Also I think a lot of the wiring is in the back of the box, isolated from the water. But I'm not sure.

Thanks for the response. I'll probably just end up making a nice waterfall style. I just have to figure out how many watts each led needs to be.

Scrubber_steve · Jan 14, 2020

NHgoalstop said:
I just curious how exactly they waterproof it since it is inside that black case with the salt water.

How are the electrics in a submersible water pump waterproofed ???

KleineVampir · Jan 14, 2020

Well I just checked on it at the beginning of this night cycle. It seems to want to tip over, which of course I wish it wouldn't do. I managed to nestle it between the overflow pipe and the filter pad I have in there, which is one of those stiff plastic ones. So right now it's more or less upright.

The really good thing though is that there is next to 0 light bleed now. Wheras before I just had a huge kessil going all night shining light everywhere in the room. So it's kind of a double whammy. More light on a more ideal place to shine it, and less light bleeding into the display. Pretty slick!

NHgoalstop · Jan 14, 2020

Scrubber_steve said:
How are the electrics in a submersible water pump waterproofed ???

I'm curious about the LEFs and what they are enclosed in so they dont diminish light and dont leak.

KleineVampir · Jan 15, 2020

Does anybody think fish need a nightlight? Cuz they are in the abyss right now! Might cut down on the aggression on the little clown from the big clown though.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 15, 2020

Scrubber_steve said:
SantaMonikas scrubbers are submerged, calls them up-flow scrubber. Uses bubbles to draw the water upwards through the unit. The unit sits against the glass with the lighting on the dry side shinning into the unit.

Had a santa monica unit. You do need a very strong air pump for successful operation. Mine did ok.

KleineVampir · Jan 15, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Had a santa monica unit. You do need a very strong air pump for successful operation. Mine did ok.

Yeah that's one thing that I wasn't totally sure about. I mean it's only a 20 buck air pump but this is what I got: https://www.marinedepot.com/tom-aquatics-stellar-air-pump

vetteguy53081 · Jan 15, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Yeah that's one thing that I wasn't totally sure about. I mean it's only a 20 buck air pump but this is what I got: https://www.marinedepot.com/tom-aquatics-stellar-air-pump

THIS SHOULD WORK. WORSE THAT CAN HAPPENS IS THAT YOU NEED TO UPGRADE

KleineVampir · Jan 17, 2020

Aw no growth after night 3 with this thing. That's kinda disappointing. How long should I expect it to take?

NHgoalstop · Jan 17, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Aw no growth after night 3 with this thing. That's kinda disappointing. How long should I expect it to take?

A few weeks to a month for some green stuff I would think.

Turbo's Aquatics · Jan 17, 2020

KleineVampir said:
Aw no growth after night 3 with this thing.

An Algae Scrubber is a long-term solution. Getting the base of growth to start can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. In some extreme cases, I've had customers have it take over 3 months for a scrubber screen to really get growing consistently. It all depends on your specific system, so there is no blanket answer that covers everyone.

But, 3 days is not a point where you can judge effectiveness. Now, if you have zero progress in growth and a completely bare white screen after a couple weeks, there's a problem.

Generally speaking, you will start getting a discoloration of the screen (usually brown, which is typically diatoms). If you take pics of the screen a couple times a week you can see this when you look at them side by side. If you want to get really specific about it, take the screen out and place it on a white cutting board and take a pic with the flash on. That really brings out the color progression (as long as you don't get flash glare).