Mega Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover - DIY!

[Harlequinmania]

There is no UV light. The scrubber lights are regular 2700K flourescent.

I have not used any media for the coralline.

Do not use a filter before the scrubber... you want all the stuff to circulate back to the tank to feed the corals and small fish.

you mean there is no need for any mechanical filtration for this system to work ?

[Firestarter]

Here is my scrubber, dated 130709. Was too busy to post that day and forgot all about it.

I have a question now, is it normal for the scrubber to become clear again? I noticed that the screen seems to be losing algae growth.

[lpm1825]

Hi Bro

Thank you for your reply.You mean do not need to add calium,magnesium,kh?What temp u set & your mh light on how long

[Firestarter]

you mean there is no need for any mechanical filtration for this system to work ?

Yes, what SM means is that there is no need for any mechanical filtration, any uneaten food or waste will be consumed back by the fishes/corals.

[SantaMonica]

Tarraza on the AS site: "THANK YOU SM. without this site my tank was a mess. Now I can enjoy this hobby for ever. 8 months now and i forget what NITRATE, PHOSPHATE IS ALL ABOUT, AHH!!, WATER CHANGE? NOT FOR ME ANY MORE!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU GUYS!!!!"

Firestarter on the SG site: "I was rather hesitant to change to an algae scrubber at first and doubted it would really work, as it was too good to be true. Almost 1.5 weeks of converting to the scrubber, I can see such great results! My corals are finally doing better, pods population has almost tripled, and I don't even need to clean the tank glass at all (usually by now it would be covered my a thin film of brown diatoms). Its amazing what the results were. Forget expensive skimmers, denitrators etc, just a good light source and good flow will do. One of the main reasons why I changed to a scrubber was because of my high nitrate reading. When I finally bought a test kit and tested it, the reading was more than 100mg/l and now it has dropped significantly to 25mg/l. Another advantage was that I could skip the skimmer pump which resulted in my water temp dropping 0.5 - 1 deg."

Craig on the NZ site: "My tank water is so clear and clean looking, and the sand is clean.

I have a Dragon Goby and he has gotten fat ever since I moved to the scrubber and removed my skimmer, he moves a heck of a lot of sand. But I stirred up my sand like I occasionally do and this time there was no muck coming out as I stirred it. My [nuisance] algaes in my overflow have receded, and the coraline on the rocks has grown quite quickly over the last few days. Even the water in my sump (even thou there is a bit of crap on the bottom) is clear and clean."

Gannet on the NZ site: "i have gone from cleaning the glass on the front of the tank 2-4 times a week to once every 2 weeks ... my nitrates has gone from 80ppm and is now 0-5ppm ... and the pods and mysis, i have that many in my sump now that i scoop them up with a net and feed them to my fish works a treat."

ImDaring on the LR site: "I built mine [scrubber] because I had to clean my glass every day because of green algae, and then to top it off I had a Brown algae breakout... it had covered the bottom of my sand bed it; looked like slime. the first week of having my scrubber hooked up I only cleaned my glass 1 time, now on my 2nd week I have not had to clean it at all, and the brown algae is almost gone."

[bobiegoh]

i am trying out TAF on my small sump. Setup on 18 Jul 2009 (last Sat) till now still no sign of algae on the screen (6"x12"). How many days to kick in? I also rubbed my tank algae on the screen and light within 6" away from the screen. Is this setup correct?

[SantaMonica]

One sided or two?

Tank size?

Did you rough up the screen like a cactus on both sides?

Bulb type?

Move the bulb to 4"

[bobiegoh]

One sided or two?

Tank size?

Did you rough up the screen like a cactus on both sides?

Bulb type?

Move the bulb to 4"

tank size is 3'. 2 screens one side flow with Z-slop design. ya i did that. Should i wait for another day?

[SantaMonica]

pics

[bobiegoh]

pics

not sure if you can see it clearing or not. It is basically 2 layers of screen and the light is 4" away from the screen.

The screen has a transparent anti slip rubber sheet on it.

[SantaMonica]

No, need better pics. Remove the skimmer and take pics with the scrubber lights on, and off. And try to show the flow.

[reef999]

Hi SantaMonica,

My main tank size volume around 85 litres. (2ft x 1ft x 1.5ft)

I am using a screen size as 5"x 7" due to sump tank limitation.

Is the screen on day 12 looks normal? I am using 13W PL. Thanks!

[chercm]

sorry bros but where to get or what type of screen is recommended ?

[bobiegoh]

bro, anything transparent plastics screen (from hardware shop) that does not have holes and sand it. You can also add fiber netting as per bro Reef999's pic. on top of the screen. Let the water runs through the screen vertically or horizontally. Remember to make some space for the water to flow down from the screen to the sump.

God bless.

[SantaMonica]

Did you rough up the screen?....

[bobiegoh]

Replaced the board with a cut piece of this leftover transparent drawer liner that I got from Ikea. And lowered the light.

Still looking for the ideal light that will fit my sump

bro, am also using the same material as you on the screen. Do you rough the surface of the liner? Using? How many days you manage to kick start the first spot? God bless.

[Thexder]

bro, am also using the same material as you on the screen. Do you rough the surface of the liner? Using? How many days you manage to kick start the first spot? God bless.

I used a scissors to rough up the surface. Can see lines all over. Just changed my light to 34W energy saving bulb. Waiting for the algae to start up, still quite slow.

[bobiegoh]

I used a scissors to rough up the surface. Can see lines all over. Just changed my light to 34W energy saving bulb. Waiting for the algae to start up, still quite slow.

where to buy and which brand is your 34W? Any sign of algae now? Today is my 3rd days and still no sign of algae yet. I moved my 25W light closer to about 2-3". I did not rough up the liner as i tot that anti slip surface is sufficient. Let see if anything happen in the next 4 days.

[SantaMonica]

Well?

[SantaMonica]

Update: Screens that are too small

This is an example of why a too-small screen can cause problems. The algae gets thick too quick, and the bottom layers die and go back into the water, causing cloudiness and lack of filtering. If you must use a too-small screen, clean it every 3 days instead of 7.

Click here if you can't see pic below

[bobiegoh]

Well bro, my last design failed to produce a single dot of algae after 7 days of trial. Main contributions are the uneven water's surface coverage on a horizontal screen and insufficient lighting position at 4-6" inches distance.

I decided to do a better design using modular concept and the framework is finally completed. Instead of feeding the system with the overflow water, it is supported by a dedicated 2000l feeder pump. At the bottom of the screen, it will be the house of Chaeto fencing by egg crate. Netting will be added on both sides of screen shine by a 23W ES light with diy reflector hanging on the front bar.

For the time being, I am trying out on single face. Eventually, it will be a dual face system. Hope that this system will not fail me again. Any comments are welcome to improvise the system. God Bless.

[Thexder]

where to buy and which brand is your 34W? Any sign of algae now? Today is my 3rd days and still no sign of algae yet. I moved my 25W light closer to about 2-3". I did not rough up the liner as i tot that anti slip surface is sufficient. Let see if anything happen in the next 4 days.

My algae is growing but, its the brown kind of flim algae.

[bobiegoh]

My algae is growing but, its the brown kind of flim algae.

What is your light's power and distance? Is your screen on horizontal or vertical? Is your water flow constant and even on the screen? Post your system's design here will be at great help.

My previous designs also failed me. That why i did up this framework eventually. Will keep you posted after go live. God Bless.

[dachkie]

My algae is growing but, its the brown kind of flim algae.

mine also brown/green and abit of red film algae, growing very slowly

duno issit because i am overskimming the tank plus using rowa and sulphur denitrator , but somehow my no3 still cant get down to below 25

although my po4 is undetectable using DD test kit and almost no algae on the tank wall

[bobiegoh]

mine also brown/green and abit of red film algae, growing very slowly

duno issit because i am overskimming the tank plus using rowa and sulphur denitrator , but somehow my no3 still cant get down to below 25

although my po4 is undetectable using DD test kit and almost no algae on the tank wall

Maybe other senior can advise you on this. For me, I don't have any mechanical equipment except skimmer which eventually it will be removed when the dual-face system kick starts. God Bless.