Icecap algae scrubber

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

I have the large scrubber and my lid is very warped already. Salt spray/creep is coming out and making a mess. Anyone else? I’m hoping it’s something coral vue will replace.

 

[Peace River]

Have you reached out to [email protected] yet?

#IceCap @Jeff@CoralVue

 

[vetteguy53081]

That's not good, but may be more logic to this. As PeaceRiver stated= Do reach out to support as this is a fairly new unit on the market.
I would guess heat from light causing warpage leading to salt creep?

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

Have you reached out to [email protected] yet?

#IceCap @Jeff@CoralVue

I haven’t but plan to. I know there are others who own the scrubber and wondered if they have the same issue. It had a slight warp to start with. Other than that I like it. It’s growing a ton of algae.

 

[Feet4Fish]

If the top is acrylic it could definitely warp with the heat off the lights. Polycarbonate would be less likely to warp in my understanding.

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

That's not good, but may be more logic to this. As PeaceRiver stated= Do reach out to support as this is a fairly new unit on the market.
I would guess heat from light causing warpage leading to salt creep?

That’s my thought. Maybe to much heat from the lights. The scrubber lights are on 12 hours and the scrubber pump is on 24/7.

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

If the top is acrylic it could definitely warp with the heat off the lights. Polycarbonate would be less likely to warp in my understanding.

I’m assuming it’s all acrylic. Something needs to be changed though. It’s not even that old.

 

[Feet4Fish]

Currently building an ATS with a PVC box/lid and acrylic panels. Will record the build and progress and see how the PVC lids respond.

 

[Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers]

I have the large scrubber and my lid is very warped already. Salt spray/creep is coming out and making a mess. Anyone else? I’m hoping it’s something coral vue will replace.

Going to be hard to replace that when the lids are welded onto the hinges. They would have to send out a complete unit. This is why we don’t put hinges on our lids. Acrylic will do this every time unless it is reinforced with another piece on the underside of the lid. That’s why most screen tops for Aquariums are made from polycarbonate or pvc.
You can always break the hinges off and flip the lid upside down and it will relax but you may have to continue to flip it back and forth to keep it flat.

 

[Reefnoobz90]

Mines starting to do the same but not as bad. It was one of the first things I noticed when I got it. Figured it was going to warp eventually

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

Going to be hard to replace that when the lids are welded onto the hinges. They would have to send out a complete unit. This is why we don’t put hinges on our lids. Acrylic will do this every time unless it is reinforced with another piece on the underside of the lid. That’s why most screen tops for Aquariums are made from polycarbonate or pvc.
You can always break the hinges off and flip the lid upside down and it will relax but you may have to continue to flip it back and forth to keep it flat.

Sounds like this unit needs updated and replaced . Flipping the lid back and forth really isn’t a fix. Thank you for the insight.

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

I sent a email to coral vue

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

I must say I’m very impressed with Coral Vue. They answered my email the same day. And are sending out a new body. I’ve always heard there customer service was great. I’d have to agree.

 

[Empire]

this is good to know - i'm currently setting up my tank + icecap medium. how long have you used the unit for before it started warping?

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

I bought it at the end of September. I run it 12 hours and it grows a ton of algae.

 

[725196]

Other than the lid warping what do you think of the Icecap? I have been reading up on them and this is the one I am leaning towards?

If anyone has another brand please chime in too

 

[Reefnoobz90]

I like mine with conditions:

1) mine leaked pretty bad once algae started growing, if algae grows over the little spray holes it will shoot water down the tube and out of the unit between the pipe and the main body. I fixed that by adding an o-ring to each side of the tube and there hasn't been a leak since. so that's fine i guess, maybe that's a common thing with scrubbers?

2) same thing as one except when the algae grows over the holes sometimes it grows in a way that it will shoot water a little crooked and it will sound like someone is peeing in my sump because the spray is hitting the water directly. I'm going to make some kind of cover for the spray bar to block the light so hopefully it stops growing over the holes. they are a pain to clean out.

3) it's metric plumbing. . . i'm just not a fan, if I want to modify something or if the union starts leaking down the line I can't just go to home depot and replace it.

4) the screen is perfects smooth when you get it. mine wouldn't grow anything so I roughed up the screen and it took off.

that said for the price it's great, just know going in that you'll have to make some modifications but it's much cheaper than the other options (except DIY?)

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

They did send out a new body. They changed the way the lights attach. It’s a lot easier to mount them or take them off to clean. The plumbing intake mounted to the body is different also. I busted part of the mount trying to put the old side pipe on the new body. It wouldn’t snap into place. When it did it broke the mount. It’s fine I guess as it still works.

Mine also leaks. There’s a gap that allows water to drip down the body. I keep my pump turned down until the algae starts to fill the screen and covered the water hole by the gap with a zip tie. It’s down to just salt creep now. But still annoying. I keep a towel under the spot. Some kind of gasket there would work.

It does grow algae and is easy to clean.

 

[Williamson’s Reef Verified Sponsor]

And just like that I come home to water everywhere.. a stream running down the side of my scrubber. My fix didn’t work long term. I guess I’ll look for a rubber ring that fits.

 

[CoralVue_Marketing]

Just wanted to share some improvements that were recently made to the scrubbers:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...e-improvements-based-on-your-feedback.678899/
Please contact us at [email protected] if you were an early adopter and are having trouble with your scrubber because we would love the opportunity to help you out.