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Algae Turf Scrubber (ATS) LED Cannon build - MakersLED (PICS!)


Milad LEDGroupBuy.com

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com

I've been getting alot of question about ATS (Algae Turf Scrubbers) and LEDs so I deiceded to do a quick build with LEDs.

 

Here is my original plan for the ATS but its now changed to only 1 screen and 1 LED fixture (turns out this is more than enough for my feeding schedule)

ATS-LED.jpg

 

For Algae, the basic ratio to use is a 4:1 660nm to 455nm setup

 

My build includes:

5x 60 degree 455nm Royal Blues

16x 60 degree 660nm Deep Reds

6" MakersLED Heatsink kit

500mA 12v Power supply for the fan

40w 700mA Inventroincs driver

Arctic Silver Ceramique 2

 

Additional tools:

Old credit card

Scissors to cut the old credit card

Phillips head screw driver

Solder iron and solder

Some good tunes

 

 

So first question you are probably asking yourself is why do I only have one driver for 21 LEDs? Well I dont really care about sunrise/sunset for this and Im using very efficient Deep Reds that only use 2.3v.

 

This means the 40w driver can do up to about 24 Deep Red LEDs without a sweat. I want to get as close as possible to the max of the drivers voltage because its easier on the driver and it will last longer.

 

First we get all our screws lined up:

DSC007711.jpg

 

Then we cut up the credit card into a nice little strip and use it to smear the thermal grease around the LED and also the heatsink. You dont want to touch the grease because the oils on your hands can break down the grease.

DSC007741.jpg

 

Royal Blues lined up:

DSC007751.jpg

 

All the LEDs:

DSC007841.jpg

 

Everyone always curses at this point because if you dont think about how your wires are going to run, you will kick yourself at this point. I switched every rows polarity position so I can easily just jump between LEDs when wiring:

DSC007901.jpg

 

All wired up:

DSC007941.jpg

 

Just barely on:

DSC007951.jpg

 

Full on:

DSC007981.jpg

 

As you can see, all the LEDs are 53.1v at 500mA so almost the max of the driver

DSC007991.jpg

 

The finished product:

DSC008171.jpg

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
Pretty cool, and you can use it at a Halloween party too!

 

I'm just waiting for the cops to show up and ask about the "grow op"

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
10 hrs seems kind of short. But then a agian, that is a lot of LEDs. How big exactly is this scrubber?

 

8x11.5ish

 

How many hours are they usually on?

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Man, I was just reading on this topic today and was curious if we can use something like this and do a LED build. You da man! Following along. Maybe we can come up with something for a nano setup.

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
is this an upflow scrubber?

 

Correct

 

Man, I was just reading on this topic today and was curious if we can use something like this and do a LED build. You da man! Following along. Maybe we can come up with something for a nano setup.

 

I'm just finishing up one for a customer that is built into a 14g biocube. So the second chamber is basically the ATS. ill post a build thread once its done.

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You should also check out www.algaescrubbers.net where they have been using led-driven upflow and waterfall scrubbers for some time...Santa Monica is the 'guru' there, but there are many with ATS experience willing to help newcomers.

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How many hours are they usually on?

I read around 12-14 hours was best, as algae loves light. But the amount of leds you have on the scrubber is incredible! Can you dim it and see at what level you get the best results?

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
I read around 12-14 hours was best, as algae loves light. But the amount of leds you have on the scrubber is incredible! Can you dim it and see at what level you get the best results?

 

just upped it to 12

 

Ya its dimmable but i have them running at around 400mA. I should start seeing some green in the next few days.

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  • 1 month later...
Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
How is the turf turfin'?

 

Im actually just about to clean it. Ill take a couple pics

 

Turns out the first 2-3 weeks I didnt have the air rising correctly (slit wasnt big enough) so had to start over.

 

The ATS is inside an area where I have other macro and the other macro has EXPLODED.

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jedimasterben
Im actually just about to clean it. Ill take a couple pics

 

Turns out the first 2-3 weeks I didnt have the air rising correctly (slit wasnt big enough) so had to start over.

 

The ATS is inside an area where I have other macro and the other macro has EXPLODED.

Nice.

 

I just bought some deep red and royal blue chips to run on mine instead of the 6x XM-L at 2.8A or so. Should get about the same result with much less power.

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com

Here is what it looks like after a week:

 

ATS%201%20week.JPG

 

 

It should be noted that my skimmer is barely picking anything up now. Its been a week and its only got maybe 1/6 of its cup full.

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jedimasterben
Here is what it looks like after a week:

 

ATS%201%20week.JPG

 

 

It should be noted that my skimmer is barely picking anything up now. Its been a week and its only got maybe 1/6 of its cup full.

as peter griffin says, freakin' sweet! :lol:

 

how long til you take the skimmer all the way off? ;)

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
as peter griffin says, freakin' sweet! :lol:

 

how long til you take the skimmer all the way off? ;)

 

I think I could start taking it off line most of the day right now and see what happens.

I use to have to clean it twice a week!

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Milad LEDGroupBuy.com
Nice. If I ever get a tank large enough to add a sump, I'll have to put one of these in.

 

Ive installed one on a 14g biocube middle chamber.... is your tank larger?!

 

Basically used 4 660nm Deep Red, 1 450nm Royal and a 12V 500mA power supply to run them all.

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Here's mine:

 

reef%20fuge%20005%20resized.jpg

 

reef%20fuge%20008%20resized.jpg

 

 

Not an ATS, just a macro grow-light. Twelve DRs, three RBs. All some cheap offbrand LEDs, I think they're Bridgelux. Mostly.

 

Has been on for three months (24/7), with VERY heavy feeding of the tank. Started with a fist-sized clump of chaeto, and I've given away eight gallons (yes, really) of clumped chaeto so far.

 

 

The new one will have six deep red, six warm white, two royal blues, and two true violets. And I'm growing ochtodes next time. Screw this "giving away chaeto" crap. $$$$!

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jedimasterben

I really need to just replace the XM-Ls over my fuge with some DR/RB/WW at some point. Although I love that the XM-Ls are almost as bright as my entire fixture on my main tank :lol:

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