Scott26's 90 Gallon Wave Front Build

[scott26]

Well I got the mock up done on my new scrubber design I still need to fine tune it some but it fits.

 

[scott26]

I had to redo it since I had the supply tee at the top if I ever wanted to clean the screen by unscrewing the unions I would have to cut the supply hose off so I moved it below the union so now it is just unscrew and take to the sink.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Any updates?

 

[scott26]

Any updates?

Yes there are... :D

 

[scott26]

Well I finally got my ATS up and running for the most part. I had to order some special fittings to complete the build the way I wanted it. The PVC tee's that were at the bottom of the scrubber are now replaced with 4 way tee's so that way when I detach the scrubber from up top the upright supports don't just fall over.

It was a little tricky getting it to fit into the sump with how tall it is but since the bottom half of it is just dry fitted I just slipped it apart and reassembled in the sump.

Pictures.

Video: (What you hear the most of at the start is the skimmer overflowing)

YouTube - 90 Gallon ATS Scrubber

[YOUTUBE]paIKtUc4krw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[scott26]

I don't know if I should paint the piping black to match the rest of the outer piping or leave it white to match the inside of the sump?

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Thats pretty cool. I have no room for a scrubber, I have a 3, maybe 4" clearence under my tank and above my sump.

 

[scott26]

That seems to be one of the challenges you could always do an external scrubber.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

No room around the tank either, plus I just solved my ha problem, so I probably wont need one. I did need one a while ago, but I never went with it.

 

[scott26]

Well this will be day 3 of the scrubber. I already have growth but I still need to fine tune the system I still have to add a second light and brackets to mount on the underside of my stand to clamp the light to. I also have to figure out the exact amount of flow going through the system to get 35 gpm over each 1" span so 350 gph.

 

[scott26]

I was looking back through and I notice it has been a while since I did a FTS so I took some pictures yesterday of the tanks current state. The Monti's I got are doing great the green one is getting its purple rim back and the orange ones look to be growing already. Along with my Zoas and Frogspawn, I also recently changed out one of the 10k bulbs for antoher Antic.

So here are some pics.

And a Video during the end of feeding.

YouTube - scottie92688's Channel

[YOUTUBE]rAxIjiDzg50[/YOUTUBE]

 

[scott26]

Well it has been a while since my last update and everything is going great the coral growth is doing really well I think all of my Monti Cap have grown about 1/4" around and the frogspawn has started to split its heads and has grown a baby head and the base of the plug. Also the trumpets that were the only ones to survive my heater nuke are doing better then ever they are very full and plump.

Anyway on with the pictures!!!

I also have gotten around to finally finishing up my scrubber which is a great piece of equipment! On the next post.

 

[scott26]

Onto the scrubber, I have not been documenting this as much as I would like but something is better then nothing I guess.

This was the photo taken after the 2nd cleaning of the scrubber.

So far the design makes it really easy to take the scrubber screen offline and clean it. I really need to buy some of the reusable zip ties though. Trying to wedge a knife to release the tab and loosen the tie has already got me cut once.

I was also able to finally get enough time to take the scrubber offline for about 1 hour and get the other light set up on it. I was trying to figure out a way to mount the light so that it is exactly 4" away from the screen. So I came up with the idea to use PVC to make a mount that goes across the top of my stand and attach the lights this way. It works really well and I can now adjust it if I want to as well.

I also felt that it was time to take the GFO offline. Now that the scrubber has some good algae growth on it I feel it is not helping, but hurting by taking away nutrients from the scrubber.

I will see how this does but by the looks of it I might have an extra reactor now.

 

[johnanddawn]

when you clean that screen on your filter does the algae then have to start all over or do you only clean half at a time

 

[johnanddawn]

double post

 

[scott26]

when you clean that screen on your filter does the algae then have to start all over or do you only clean half at a time

When I clean it I use a Kent plastic scrapper commonly used for cleaning acrylic aquariums to not scratch the viewing pane. This is used to clean the screen it only removes the excess growth and not the algae that has grown into the crevices of the screen.

 

[johnanddawn]

how often do you have to clean it and do you know the type of algae that is growing on it

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

One half at a time, to keep the scrubber going

 

[scott26]

There is more then one right answer to that question. Here is a thread on the subject of cleaning.

Algae Scrubbers • View topic - Cleaning Guidelines

 

[scott26]

I was having a great deal of trouble trying to get the window frame to bend to the sharp curves of my wave tank. So I had to come up with something better, and was given a suggestion by a fellow reefer to use egg crate / light diffuser as the frame and to just zip time the screen material onto it. and this has worked great!