tdannhauser30 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 I have a very simple Idea I want to carry out. I want to hang a piece of screen from the top of my nanocube sump chamber (not sure which one) and put an air stone at the bottom of it making bubbles rise around the screen making an upflow algae scrubber. SImple enough and lots of people have done it but I am confused as to what screen material I should be using. Obviously nothing metal but something that I can rough up and make the algae hold to. Also will this work for lighting it and growing copious amounts of algae? http://www.amazon.com/LED-Plant-Grow-Light-Replaceable/dp/B01DGHL74G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1461215724&sr=8-5&keywords=gooseneck+light+fixture Ive read that the red spectrum is very important and for algae I cant imagine it has to be all that powerful. This little light seems to have everything I need super cheap. Anyone with input please help. What for screen material and what do you think of that light??? Link to comment
Matteo Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Dude I am down for this idea! Just make sure bubbles don't under the the DT! as for light I would remove some of vinyl backing so you can tape the strip straight to the back and not have a clip hanging out. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 Dude I am down for this idea! Just make sure bubbles don't under the the DT! as for light I would remove some of vinyl backing so you can tape the strip straight to the back and not have a clip hanging out. I have already removed the vinyl back like you suggest. I would get a strip of LEDs but for 25 bucks a gooseneck with a bulb that is in the right spectrum is too hard to pass up. Im just nervous as to whether it will grow efficiently because I have no idea about anything when it comes to lighting. I think it says its the right spctrum but what do I know.. A strip of LEDs would definitely give me a better spread of light over that chamber as opposed to this sort of spot light though... hmmm. Also I am wondering if I do this is it going to turn one of my chambers into a cesspool of algae? I want the algae on the screen but I feel like Its going to be hard to tell the algae not to grow on the chamber walls lol. It seems like It could be a good simple Idea but what do I know lol. Link to comment
smeagol108 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 It will work. Use cross stitch plastic screens you can get at Michaels crafts or Ac Moore. Sand it with some rough sand paper and mess it all up to make it all nice and gritty. U can even use a razor blade to scrape again it etc. I use a Santa Monica hog .5 up flow algae scrubber and I love it. Link to comment
Matteo Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 I say just give it a try! http://www.amazon.com/Toogod-Spectrum-16-4ft-Waterproof-Growing/dp/B00XHRYX2O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1461246825&sr=8-4&keywords=Plant+strip+led Link to comment
Reefer69 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Try the Santa Monica Scrubber. I have one for sale in the classifieds lol. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 It will work. Use cross stitch plastic screens you can get at Michaels crafts or Ac Moore. Sand it with some rough sand paper and mess it all up to make it all nice and gritty. U can even use a razor blade to scrape again it etc. I use a Santa Monica hog .5 up flow algae scrubber and I love it. Alright I'm definitely doing it. Going to zip tie an air stone to the bottom of the screen so bubbles come from directly under it and Thank you I've been really wondering what screen to use. I was looking at the Santa Monica scrubbers thats what got me interested but holy god those are expensive for a box that grows algae.... Ill just turn a chamber in my nano cube into one of those boxes lol. Thanks for the help everyone! Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 I have a piece of that plastic craft screen separating my fuge section from the return section bubble trap of my sump to keep strands of cheato from getting thru & get a bunch of geen/brown algae growth on it without even scratching it up. Don't have an air stone either, just flow & a full spectrum bulb. So I'm sure yours will work fine. I've seen all these fancy scrubbers & now I know how easy it is with a .79 piece of plastic, no way they'd get $100 out of me. Maybe I should rough my screen up, prob work even better! Lol Link to comment
smeagol108 Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Trust me I felt the same way buying the Santa Monica as it is made out of junk, but I am lazy, and it works wonders. I get insane nasty growth every seven days. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 Trust me I felt the same way buying the Santa Monica as it is made out of junk, but I am lazy, and it works wonders. I get insane nasty growth every seven days. Yeah as simple as it is its a great idea and he is the only one making something like that it seems so he can charge whatever he wants. such a good idea though Link to comment
Marc.The.Shark Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Trust me I felt the same way buying the Santa Monica as it is made out of junk, but I am lazy, and it works wonders. I get insane nasty growth every seven days. Oh yeah, I know they work great. I built an original waterfall one 8 or so years ago & what a noisy POS, didnt even use it. The new upflow design works great, but you're right on the quality of the parts. I just accidentally created this one. Needed that screen to stop crap floating into return & bingo! Algae grows all over it. I clean it off about once a month, but again its not roughed up so prob doesnt stick well. Between my cheato & that, i have next to no algae in DT & very low to no PO4 & Nitrates, which I need to bring up! Lol Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 Anyone ever worked with those light strips on amazon like the ones Matteo posted? How waterproof are they.. Can I put like three 2 foot strips all on the same power supply? Link to comment
Matteo Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 If they are 12v you can put multiple on them. They were just the first ones I found. They are water proof but I would NOT submerge them. I am excited to see the build and see how it works! I think down the road I will do the Phosban cheato reactor in my other thread I was talking about and use these strips to wrap around it. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Is it possible that the air stone could be providing too much flow? Would I be better just letting the pump in that chamber pull water down past the scrubber instead of bubbles flowing up? Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I can't imagine it would be too much flow seeing as how that's a lot of folks get it done. Light should be fine. Honestly a simple clamp light with a CFL would be sufficient as well as far as I can tell. Just be sure to rough up your screen. Should feel fuzzy/prickly. Secure the screen to the air stone with some zipties, drop it in, put your lights on a timer, and play the waiting game. With the startup cost of these sorts of filters so low when compared to their apparent effectiveness, I'm baffled they aren't super comminplace. Link to comment
SantaMonica Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Can't really have too much air. And no they don't work (grow rapidly) without an air/water turbulent interface, like the bubbles provide. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Can't really have too much air. And no they don't work (grow rapidly) without an air/water turbulent interface, like the bubbles provide. Ok thank you very much! It makes me feel a lot better having the professional scrubbers approval. I appreciate you helping out even though its not one of your scrubbers ( which I am in love with by the way). Anyway thank you! I can't imagine it would be too much flow seeing as how that's a lot of folks get it done. Light should be fine. Honestly a simple clamp light with a CFL would be sufficient as well as far as I can tell. Just be sure to rough up your screen. Should feel fuzzy/prickly. Secure the screen to the air stone with some zipties, drop it in, put your lights on a timer, and play the waiting game. With the startup cost of these sorts of filters so low when compared to their apparent effectiveness, I'm baffled they aren't super comminplace. Right!? It seems like most everyone battles algae. why not fight it with something that grows just as fast.... More algae!! What should I rough the screen up with? Rough sand paper? Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 I used a small hole saw bit. I didn't even use a drill. Just rubbed the ever-living shiz out of it until carpal tunnel set in. Them flipped it over and did it again. Giggity. Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 I used a small hole saw bit. I didn't even use a drill. Just rubbed the ever-living shiz out of it until carpal tunnel set in. Them flipped it over and did it again. Giggity. Got it thank you.. And Giggity to you too sir. Link to comment
Matteo Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Bro. It's been three days. Where's the build!? Link to comment
tdannhauser30 Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Bro. It's been three days. Where's the build!? Hahaha Man its working like a dream! I am handicapped when it comes to technology ( no build threads or pictures for me lol) but yeah the thing is working great! been up a week and getting some brown growth on it. Some looks like its turning into hair algae too which is exactly what I wanted. That amazon light is doing great besides getting hot ( which i am surprised by due to the fact that it is LED's.) Anyway all in all it has worked better than I could have hoped for. Dont buy one make it yourself!! and thank you to everyone who answered my questions about it, without your input it would have sucked lol. Link to comment
Matteo Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Hahaha Man its working like a dream! I am handicapped when it comes to technology ( no build threads or pictures for me lol) but yeah the thing is working great! been up a week and getting some brown growth on it. Some looks like its turning into hair algae too which is exactly what I wanted. That amazon light is doing great besides getting hot ( which i am surprised by due to the fact that it is LED's.) Anyway all in all it has worked better than I could have hoped for. Dont buy one make it yourself!! and thank you to everyone who answered my questions about it, without your input it would have sucked lol. nope. no pics or it didn't happen...just like going to the gym Link to comment
rjl45 Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Algae scrubbers are easy to make and fun. For those who are diy challenged Santa Monica has some great options. Regadless, everyone who has a nano should run a scrubber. One of the easiest methods of managing nutrients. Link to comment
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