New algae scrubber design.

Bugeater281 · Mar 2, 2020

This is a work in progress. But currently I want an algae scrubber but all the designs I’ve seen looks crappy or are just way out of my price range. I wanted one that wouldn’t take up a ton of room in the sump and that wouldn’t splash water all over the place. So I designed this rough sketch last night.

I found some 3v-6v hobby motors that run 3-5rpm. At 3 rpm each half of the disk will be submerged every 10 seconds. Should be enough to keep the algae wet while also making it easier to run high light on the algae. The other positive is this would just sit on the side of the sump and take up next to no room. This design calls for a 11in disk, while doing some research it seems a 7x7in square is enough for 250 gallon tank. This has more surface area that that. The other reason I designed this is to make cleaning easier. The actual disk will probably be secured with a plastic pin of some sort. Making removal easy.

Thoughts? Any ideas on how to improve the design? Most of it will be 3d printed.

ihavecrabs · Mar 2, 2020

So the rectangle affixes to the side of the sump and the wheel spins while a part of it is submerged. Seems like an interesting concept.

Hobby motors probably won't last very long. You'd be best finding a cheaper continuous duty motor.

I'm following along to see this come to life!

Bugeater281 · Mar 2, 2020

ihavecrabs said:
So the rectangle affixes to the side of the sump and the wheel spins while a part of it is submerged. Seems like an interesting concept.

Hobby motors probably won't last very long. You'd be best finding a cheaper continuous duty motor.

I'm following along to see this come to life!

That pretty much the idea, I may change the design of the disc. I was thinking a concave disk would be stronger with more surface area. But that may also add some extra resistance. So I’ll have to test that out.

Ratherbeflyen · Mar 2, 2020

I like it. Air, water, light, something to attach to, and algae will grow. I'm sure this concept would work. My only concern would be if the 3d printed material will be a durable material that algae can attach to and is easy to clean. I would suggest using clear knitting canvas, because it's tested to work well for $1. Then 3d print an adapter to attach the canvas to the motor.

theatrus · Mar 2, 2020

Ratherbeflyen said:
I like it. Air, water, light, something to attach to, and algae will grow. I'm sure this concept would work. My only concern would be if the 3d printed material will be a durable material that algae can attach to and is easy to clean. I would suggest using clear knitting canvas, because it's tested to work well for $1. Then 3d print an adapter to attach the canvas to the motor.

3d printed is pretty rough from a surface finish so it may work fine, but if you did want to use canvas, print a frame to hold it in place. You could even make it two parts and sandwhich the canvas material in between.

A 3d printed bushing for rotation may be very finicky, so I'd look for a nylon bushing you can press into the hole.

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Bugeater281 · Mar 4, 2020

theatrus said:
3d printed is pretty rough from a surface finish so it may work fine, but if you did want to use canvas, print a frame to hold it in place. You could even make it two parts and sandwhich the canvas material in between.

A 3d printed bushing for rotation may be very finicky, so I'd look for a nylon bushing you can press into the hole.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

I have the ability to print a nylon bushing if that’s the way I decided to go with it. I’m hoping a bushing/seal won’t be needed. The whole design is based on the idea that this won’t spin fast enough to throw or splash water. I absolutely hate sump areas covered in salt. So I designing this to go with a water trap return I’m building into my sump to hopefully prevent any splashing in the sump area.