I have decided to by a Clearwater CW-50 from bulk reef supply on Black Friday with a new skimmer. I have spent some time trying to figure out how to mount this in my sump for the Red Sea Reefer 250. I believe I came up with a great way. There is not much information about this on youtube or the internet. First I installed my new skimmer to see what room I had left over.
I found the space between the left side of the sump and the wall is about an 1.5 inches. This is the thickness of the common 2x4. I cut 2 pieces of 2x4 to 14 inches, this puts it to the top of the glass of the sump. I then screwed the 2 pieces of 2x4 together to hold them together.
Then I measured the base of the algae scrubber and cut a piece of 1/2" plywood to 7x8 inches. I then screwed the plywood to the top of the 2x4. The width of the 2x4 is 7 inches.
Now it was time to paint my shelf that I made for the scrubber. I bought a quart of black semi-gloss paint it to match the cabinet and protect the wood from saltwater. I then installed the drains on the scrubber. Turn the bulk heads around so the threads are on the outside of the scrubber. I got some 1/2" schedule 40 pvc pipe and 90 degree elbows. Do not get grey schedule 80 pvc, this is thicker pipe which means the inside diameter of the pipe is less, thus less water will flow out of the scrubber. On the bottom drain, I put the pipe barely into the water, but there was a noise from the drain with lots of bubbles. To solve this, I put a 90 degree elbow at the bottom of the pipe and turn the pipe so the 90 degree elbow is near the top of the water. Do not use any glue to put the pipe together, there is not enough pressure to cause any leaks. You will then be able to take it apart and clean the pipe.
Now its time to hook up the water to the pump. I use a MJ 1200 pump, it has a flow rate of 295 gallons per hour. This scrubber requires 150-200 gallons per hour. I use a 1/2 ball valve, 1/2 silicone tubing, stem adapter 1/2" tube x hose stem, 1/2" x 1/2" straight union push connect to supply water to the scrubber. I got all this from Bulk Reef Supply.
Ball Valve - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/two-little-fishies-ball-valve-1-486d016ed2f8a1de28c4b664be01f35f.html
1/2" Stem Adapter - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/mur-lok-stem-adapter-tube-x-hose-stem.html
1/2" x 1/2" push connect - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/mur-lok-ro-straight-union-push-connect.html
MJ 1200 Pump - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cobalt-mj1200-powerhead.html
This all works good, but I wanted to make sure that the whole screen is covered by water. If I increase the flow, then I get gurgling noise because not enough water can flow from the drain pipe. I wanted to increase this, so I went to 3/4" pipe. That will not fit the 1/2" bulk head, but you can get a 3/4" 90 degree elbow and it will slip over the threads of the bulk head and make a good seal. I made a new pipe assembly like the 1/2" above. Now I able to tune more water going over the screen. You will hear a little noise of the water going through the drain pipe, this is ok. With the doors closed on the stand, you will not hear this. This is way quieter than running bio pellets like I was before.
I do recommend getting the light covers from Bulk Reef Supply for the scrubber.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/algae-scrubber-light-shield-set-clear-water.html
Now that I have the drain pipes configured, I ordered some red pvc pipe to match my skimmer. I wanted to fit a small reactor to run carbon or gfo or both. There is not much space left. But I found a way to make it work. The reactor was were the scrubber was before. I will need to run gfo for now till the scrubber kicks in.
There is not really any room to run a supply line going to the reactor due to the shelf being in way. Under the shelf for the scrubber I have another MJ1200 pump to feed the reactor. I did order more parts and silicon tubing to plumb this in, but I didn't feel like waiting for it to come. I installed the MJ1200 pump under the shelf, took the skimmer out to give me room. I used a blow torch to heat the tubing to be able to shape it. Please do not use a torch on the tubing itself, keep the flame away from the tubing. The heat will transfer to the the tubing by keeping the flame a few inches away from the tubing. I was now able to connect the tubing. If you don't want to do it this way, just order the parts above that feeds the scrubber water for the reactor.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I have just installed this, so I do not have any growth yet. It was hard to figure out how to fit everything under this small sump.
I found the space between the left side of the sump and the wall is about an 1.5 inches. This is the thickness of the common 2x4. I cut 2 pieces of 2x4 to 14 inches, this puts it to the top of the glass of the sump. I then screwed the 2 pieces of 2x4 together to hold them together.
Then I measured the base of the algae scrubber and cut a piece of 1/2" plywood to 7x8 inches. I then screwed the plywood to the top of the 2x4. The width of the 2x4 is 7 inches.
Now it was time to paint my shelf that I made for the scrubber. I bought a quart of black semi-gloss paint it to match the cabinet and protect the wood from saltwater. I then installed the drains on the scrubber. Turn the bulk heads around so the threads are on the outside of the scrubber. I got some 1/2" schedule 40 pvc pipe and 90 degree elbows. Do not get grey schedule 80 pvc, this is thicker pipe which means the inside diameter of the pipe is less, thus less water will flow out of the scrubber. On the bottom drain, I put the pipe barely into the water, but there was a noise from the drain with lots of bubbles. To solve this, I put a 90 degree elbow at the bottom of the pipe and turn the pipe so the 90 degree elbow is near the top of the water. Do not use any glue to put the pipe together, there is not enough pressure to cause any leaks. You will then be able to take it apart and clean the pipe.
Now its time to hook up the water to the pump. I use a MJ 1200 pump, it has a flow rate of 295 gallons per hour. This scrubber requires 150-200 gallons per hour. I use a 1/2 ball valve, 1/2 silicone tubing, stem adapter 1/2" tube x hose stem, 1/2" x 1/2" straight union push connect to supply water to the scrubber. I got all this from Bulk Reef Supply.
Ball Valve - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/two-little-fishies-ball-valve-1-486d016ed2f8a1de28c4b664be01f35f.html
1/2" Stem Adapter - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/mur-lok-stem-adapter-tube-x-hose-stem.html
1/2" x 1/2" push connect - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/mur-lok-ro-straight-union-push-connect.html
MJ 1200 Pump - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cobalt-mj1200-powerhead.html
This all works good, but I wanted to make sure that the whole screen is covered by water. If I increase the flow, then I get gurgling noise because not enough water can flow from the drain pipe. I wanted to increase this, so I went to 3/4" pipe. That will not fit the 1/2" bulk head, but you can get a 3/4" 90 degree elbow and it will slip over the threads of the bulk head and make a good seal. I made a new pipe assembly like the 1/2" above. Now I able to tune more water going over the screen. You will hear a little noise of the water going through the drain pipe, this is ok. With the doors closed on the stand, you will not hear this. This is way quieter than running bio pellets like I was before.
I do recommend getting the light covers from Bulk Reef Supply for the scrubber.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/algae-scrubber-light-shield-set-clear-water.html
Now that I have the drain pipes configured, I ordered some red pvc pipe to match my skimmer. I wanted to fit a small reactor to run carbon or gfo or both. There is not much space left. But I found a way to make it work. The reactor was were the scrubber was before. I will need to run gfo for now till the scrubber kicks in.
There is not really any room to run a supply line going to the reactor due to the shelf being in way. Under the shelf for the scrubber I have another MJ1200 pump to feed the reactor. I did order more parts and silicon tubing to plumb this in, but I didn't feel like waiting for it to come. I installed the MJ1200 pump under the shelf, took the skimmer out to give me room. I used a blow torch to heat the tubing to be able to shape it. Please do not use a torch on the tubing itself, keep the flame away from the tubing. The heat will transfer to the the tubing by keeping the flame a few inches away from the tubing. I was now able to connect the tubing. If you don't want to do it this way, just order the parts above that feeds the scrubber water for the reactor.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I have just installed this, so I do not have any growth yet. It was hard to figure out how to fit everything under this small sump.
