Made a Algae scrubber in my sump

[Mike7744]

I was having algae issues in my 125 gal. So I decided to try a algae scrubber. I built for $20. I already had the pump and the pvc pipe. Bought a grow light bulb from Lowe's. I'm hoping it works.

 

[UncommonSense]

Nice work! This will definitely do the job!

If you haven’t done so already; I recommend roughing the plastic mesh up with a wood hole saw bit until you get two good palmfuls of plastic shavings off! — it will help the algae attach to the mesh better!

If you want to double performance; add a second light to the other side of the mesh, effectively using both sides of the screen for algae cultivation!

In the long run, I’ve found that a simple short section of larger PVC pipe, with a slit cut in it works very well as a mesh retaining hanger!

(Example photos below; double lit on a 50g system!)

 

[smalltown reefer]

It will work great. I plummed in a stand alone refugium and just hung some some mesh on the side wall of the return chamber, put the same light you have and it pulls so much out of the water. These pics are 50 days of growth.

The only thing you may need to do is adjust the distance of the light from the mesh. Mine is actually too close, even through the glass. But it still works amazingly well.

 

[SantaMonica Verified Sponsor]

Nice old school build from 2008. Works every time.