Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

[johntanjm]

Alright guys, I have been missing in action for a bit and here's my update. I have changed my algae scrubber design. Reasons for doing so: (1) too much splashing inside my cabinet, (2) the way my bulbs are wired in the middle is very risky, (3) the way i hung my screens if you refer to earlier posts, i have instances where the screen slid down and jammed the slit and caused spraying, (4) maintenance wasn't that convenient.

This is my new design, water is fed directly from overflow, gushes horizontally across the screens, finds its way through a 'refugium' (lots of pods in there), and then go through bubble removing socks and then hits the return pump. I cover the screens with a piece of acrylic so there's only no splash evaporation rate is pretty much negligible.

Here you see the water flow, its just like the rapids, a lot of churn and turbulence and bubbles. Of course, great growth still.

If you want to know the parameters, nitrates are 12.5 still. someone told me that i need to divide that number by 4.3 or something cos i'm using a Tetra test kit. I don't own a phosphate test kit unfortunately. Anyone is welcomed to drop by and test if you're really keen on the results. Tank is clear, I feed many times a day, nuisance algae is not apparent at all.

[VelvetAirwaves]

nice layout, seems like you've solved your microbubble problem?

[SantaMonica]

That's certainly some flow. Did you double the screen area?

[Underwater]

Bro John,

You are quite innovative. l can see huge flow and good algae growth. What screen are you using and are there holes on it? it looks flexible.

Btw, if you are using Tetra NO3 testkit, then your actual NO3 is near zero liao after dividing by 4. Envy envy...

[peacemaker]

This is my new design, water is fed directly from overflow, gushes horizontally across the screens, finds its way through a 'refugium' (lots of pods in there), and then go through bubble removing socks and then hits the return pump. I cover the screens with a piece of acrylic so there's only no splash evaporation rate is pretty much negligible.

Bro, no mechinical filtration before the screen? Would it trap a lot of dirt?

[samchenz]

Nice work John.

Can share where u buy the lighting and screen, and how much?

Thanks.

[Creetin]

its the rapids in there! really nice work and no risk of splash...

[johntanjm]

JimmiPiage: I channeled the water into these thick 'bubble reducer' socks made by Dymax. Bubbles are significantly lesser than before. I'm using a MH so bubbles are obvious right under the lamp and I'm thinking of switching to FL tubes so the bubbles are visually less apparent. no need for such strong light after all i run a FOWLR

Santa: actually i must say that total screen area has been reduced. I used to have 2 algae growing surfaces, now its just one.

underwater: I use a piece of thin acrylic plastic for the sloping surface so its quite flexible. Under the weight of the water, it bends. There are no holes in it. I do not grow the algae on the plastic itself. I layer a piece of cloth over the plastic. the plastic gives the screen support and shape, and the cloth gives a good rough surface for algae to grow.

peacemaker: in my overflow, the water hits some wool then it hits about 1.5 feet tall worth of bio media before it reaches the screen. don't think there's much to worry about in my case la.

samchez: this lamp cost me $20!!!!!!! friggging expensive! its a 20W energy efficient spotlight 2700K warm day light. i bought at jalan jurong kecil. screens wise as in the plastic? $3-4 from any hardware store, can even ask them to cut to size. bras basah complex have some acrylic shops. A1 Sign, friendly, reasonable price and can custom cut for you with buffed edges. as for the cloth, I also dunno how to describe what cloth. its just cloth. haha

creetin: yeah boy. I had a lil firework display once cos the splashing caused a short circuit. scary!

[samchenz]

Hi SM,

If the algae screen is placed submerged slightly under water surface in the sump, will it still work?

Please see diagram below. Thanks.

algae_scrubber.bmp

[yellowtanker]

John: Woah! Saw yr cleaned algae scrubber at yr house on fri nite and just 4 days later, there's an explosion in growth again.... makes me jealous lol.... still waiting for mine to show your type of results hehe. Must say it is a very clever diy... so neat and clean, no splashing (the latter is what is keeping me subsciously awake at nite, worrying abt a short circuilt from a sudden splashing.

Samchenz: i no expert here but bro John slanted his scrubber at a slight angle, allowing the water to naturally flow sloping downwards - very clever. You might want to consider that (using different height for yr support structure) as i see that what u have in mind is a flat horizontal piece. But note that good water flow is impt as SM has indicated and also evident from John's posted pics.

Regards,

[SantaMonica]

Sam the water would have to be held at the exact level by a top-off controller, and, you'd need strong waves over it, for it to work. You'd be better to float the screen, and then dump your overflow onto the middle of it.

[SantaMonica]

Here are some more designs to give you more ideas:

Freshwater: Delilah on the TA site:

Freshwater: Hop2jr on the FL site:

And the rest are saltwater:

Adee on the SARK site:

10

[SantaMonica]

Amalick on the MASA site:

Andreas on the MASA site:

Andy on the FF site:

20

[SantaMonica]

Azules27 on the spanish AR site:

BalaShark on the MFT site:

Beazalbob69 on the SWF site:

Bigploch on the LR site:

30

[SantaMonica]

BigTanner on the RS site:

Bluespotjawfish on the RS site:

Brettb2020 on the MASA site:

Cbrownfish on the RASOC site:

40

[SantaMonica]

Christophe on the MD site:

50

[SantaMonica]

Chudly on the MD site:

Cvermeulen on the MFK site:

Cyberseer on the algae scrubber site:

DangerDave on the MB site:

Darkblue on the RP site:

60

[SantaMonica]

Dave3441 on the UR site:

Dohn on the MASA site:

Drakken on the SWF site:

70

[SantaMonica]

DrPepperSmith on the algae scrubber site; This is one of the non-nano horizontal designs that looks like it will work. Note that it is lifted above the water:

Emperador on the spanish AR site:

Enatiello on the RS site:

80

[SantaMonica]

Gatorzone19 on the SWF site:

Gechav on the spanish AR site:

Glock339 on the UR site; This one is on the top of the display, and uses the display's MH:

90

[SantaMonica]

Iceman on the SG site:

100

[SantaMonica]

Ikarbary on the SARK site:

Jared on the RS site:

Jason on the spanish AR site:

Joeyp on the RP site:

Johntanjm on the SG site:

Jtremblay on the MD site:

Juliovideo on the spanish AR site:

110

[SantaMonica]

K+n_vts on the UR site:

UserKeithtty on the algae scrubber site:

120

[SantaMonica]

Khawyc on the MD site:

Lance126 on the RP site:

Leochngyh on the MD site:

LethargicCoder on the MB site:

Lxa783 on the RASOC site:

Madeley on the algae scrubber site:

130

[SantaMonica]

Majorjoey on the FR site:

Manuelink on the spanish AR site:

MikeBushie on the MASA site:

MJM on the SARK site:

140