Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

Yes I've noticed this after about a week and a half that's happened. Also at the bottom of the screen down in the water.

Exactly same thing occurred with my screen. I let it go 14 days and the dark growth just gets thicker. I am surprised by the amount of pods on it though!

Yeah all I've read was to clean it once a week. I have GFO and carbon dual reactor going as well, and I have mainly a light brown growth after a week.

the GFO reactor is pulling out all the phosphates and preventing algae from growing on your screen.

Here's my sump with ATS. A bit of a difference than the normal sump. I have no baffles and no micro bubble issues.

Do 2 less hours.

Is it better to have the lights on the scrubber turned on when the lights on the tank are off or does it matter?

It's not going to matter for most situations.

Ok so I'm getting a major algae issue in my tank so I have decided to build a scrubber. My sump has 3 compartments. (!st reactor and skimmer, 2nd Chaeto, 3rd return) where in the sump should I put the scrubber? Ill be adding a seperat pump into the sump just for it.

Chemically, it does not matter. So put it where it fits and is easiest.

SantaMonica said:

Chemically, it does not matter. So put it where it fits and is easiest.

Click to expand...

My plan is to either change my overflow or have the second pump move the water from stage 1 into stage 2 via the scrubber

Adam Picard said:

Ok so I'm getting a major algae issue in my tank so I have decided to build a scrubber. My sump has 3 compartments. (!st reactor and skimmer, 2nd Chaeto, 3rd return) where in the sump should I put the scrubber? Ill be adding a seperat pump into the sump just for it.

Click to expand...

Anywhere after the skimmer chamber is fine, you want your extra pods to make it to the DT. Also, preferably before the return because the water level is always changing in there. (not an issue unless you're worried about a waterfall sound).

Zissou said:

Anywhere after the skimmer chamber is fine, you want your extra pods to make it to the DT. Also, preferably before the return because the water level is always changing in there. (not an issue unless you're worried about a waterfall sound).

Click to expand...

I already have a waterfall sound from my skimmer only sucks in the morning if I gotta pee really bad.....lol....

Srry still learning some lingo whats DT again?

Ok ill be going to the plumming store tomorrow and Ill also be buying a pump what flow rate should I be investing in since it is going to be fed by pump and not gravity?

DT= display tank

And how fast you want the water moving over the screen depends on how long it is, its something like 30 gph for every inch long. Not totally sure

Ok so I am going to go pick up a pump tonight or tomorrow but just want to run this by to make sure I have everything correct.

i'm making the screen 8x7 because its about 55-60 gal of water i have in my tank. Feeding it with probably a 300+ gph pump that i will controll the flow with a ball valve.

Size the screen according to how much you feed:

Nutrients "in" (feeding) must equal nutrients "out" (scrubber growth), no matter how many gallons you have. So...

An example VERTICAL waterfall screen size is 3 X 4 inches = 12 square inches of screen (7.5 X 10 cm = 75 sq cm) with a total of 12 real watts (not equivalent) of fluorescent light for 18 hours a day. If all 12 watts are on one side, it is a 1-sided screen. If 6 watts are on each side, it is a 2-sided screen, but the total is still 12 watts for 18 hours a day. This screen size and wattage should be able to handle the following amounts of daily feeding:

1 frozen cube per day (2-sided screen), or
1/2 frozen cube per day (1-sided screen), or
10 pinches of flake food per day (2-sided screen), or
5 pinches of flake food per day (1-sided screen), or
10 square inches (60 sq cm) of nori per day (2-sided screen), or
5 square inches (30 sq cm) of nori per day (1-sided screen), or
0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food per day (2-sided screen), or
0.05 dry ounce (1.4 grams) of pellet food per day (1-sided screen)

High-wattage technique: Double the wattage, and cut the hours in half (to 9 per day). This will get brown screens to grow green much faster. Thus the example above would be 12 watts on each side, for a total of 24 watts, but for only 9 hours per day. If growth starts to turn YELLOW, then increase the flow, or add iron, or reduce the number of hours. And since the bulbs are operating for 9 hours instead of 18, they will last 6 months instead of 3 months.

Ok I think I got it all figured out

What is the total wattage a 2-sided 6x7 screen should get? And how much does that feed?