Diy hog algae scrubber for my 29 bio

surfnsalt · Sep 30, 2015

I had a bunch of stuff lying around from older builds and I wanted to put some of it to good use. Im using a old little air pump and some roughed up mesh with a little air stone. A Jbj nano refugium light and magnet to support the top side. Just turned it on last night and seems good so far. I will update in a week. Now I know red light is better for growing algae so is there something I can put over the light to make it red?( like red paper or plastic to tint it )Or is that not how it works.(sorry don't know much about lighting.)

surfnsalt · Sep 30, 2015

@Floyd R Turbo

Harold Green · Sep 30, 2015

Putting a red filter won't change the wave lengths to red only block out the other colors by absorbing them. Plants will grow under white, yellow, red, blue and probably other colors so the intensity is first in importance, then you can concentrate on which colors provide best growth if you need more than you're getting.

surfnsalt · Sep 30, 2015

Harold Green said:
Putting a red filter won't change the wave lengths to red only block out the other colors by absorbing them. Plants will grow under white, yellow, red, blue and probably other colors so the intensity is first in importance, then you can concentrate on which colors provide best growth if you need more than you're getting.

Thank you.

chris31759 · Sep 30, 2015

That's a nice little scrubber. You may want to rough up the plastic canvas a bit more. Use a hole saw and scrape it up a bit more. More surface area for the algae to attach. Good luck.

surfnsalt · Sep 30, 2015

chris31759 said:
That's a nice little scrubber. You may want to rough up the plastic canvas a bit more. Use a hole saw and scrape it up a bit more. More surface area for the algae to attach. Good luck.

I used a wire brush on a drill. Its pretty rough even though it doesn't look it. Thanks

chris31759 · Sep 30, 2015

You are all set. Once again yours looks a lot better than the one I built. I have it over my sump.

surfnsalt · Oct 11, 2015

I broke down and got a Santa Monica drop .6 scrubber. Two main reasons were I wanted to hide the scrubber and it fits perfect in the 3rd chamber. And also for the overall better quality. Its great and cheaper doing things yourself but they have done a lot more trial and error than me. My diy ran for 8 or 9 days and barely had any growth. We will see in 8 days if it's any differance with the S.M. scrubber. Update to come.

SantaMonicaHelp · Oct 12, 2015

Good luck & let us know how it goes! What tank exactly do you have?

~SF

surfnsalt · Oct 12, 2015

SantaMonicaHelp said:
Good luck & let us know how it goes! What tank exactly do you have?

~SF

Bio cube 29g. Thanks I'll update in a week. My goal is to keep nitrates to 5 ppm. With water changes and your scrubber.

surfnsalt · Oct 18, 2015

Update on scrubber. After a week of running at night from 8:00pm to 7:00am nothing. So we shall see in another week. I've been bringing down nitrates all week with extra water changes but they are still 20ppm. I was expecting a little growth. Any thoughts.

SantaMonica · Oct 18, 2015

Looks like the light has not been on.

surfnsalt · Oct 18, 2015

I can see a red glow from the top when it's running.

SantaMonicaHelp · Oct 21, 2015

Did you make sure the bubbles are rubbing the screen? It's possible it got a little tilted and the bubbles are not hitting the screen, it's necessary they do, otherwise there will be no growth.

surfnsalt · Oct 22, 2015

SantaMonicaHelp said:
Did you make sure the bubbles are rubbing the screen? It's possible it got a little tilted and the bubbles are not hitting the screen, it's necessary they do, otherwise there will be no growth.

Check it last night seems to be doing everything it's supposed to. Gonna give it some time.

SantaMonica · Oct 22, 2015

Sometimes if the tank is new, or the nutrients are really low, the white will stay white for up to 2 weeks.

Try tilting the unit forward a bit, so the bubbles rub the back side more.

surfnsalt · Oct 22, 2015

SantaMonica said:
Sometimes if the tank is new, or the nutrients are really low, the white will stay white for up to 2 weeks.

Try tilting the unit forward a bit, so the bubbles rub the back side more.

Will do thanks for the concern and help