Lighting on algae turf scrubber build

greg1786 · Oct 14, 2021

Hey guys. I am building an algae turf scrubber and need a little advice. Ive got all of my acrylic cut, sanded and ready to be welded. I recieved my lights in the mail a few days ago but am now second guessing them. Before i put this whole thing together i need some opinions or advice on the wattage. I went with 150 watt led flood lights. They are 660nm, ip65 grow lights. Initially i was going to go with 100watt versions of the same light but my side panels on the scrubber are 6 inches wide so the lights are going to be 3" away from the mesh on both sides. I guess i figured being that far away, the stronger lights would be the better option. At this point im wondering if that will be too much light for hair algae to grow. Should I send them back and opt for two 100watt lights or roll with what I have? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks all

sunken3 · Oct 14, 2021

i built a few turf scrubbers and use this light from amazon..

i have 2 on each side (so a total of 4 per screen). they work great.

that said, BRS did a video a few years ago on fuge lights, and the kessil H1200 (380w) grew well, as well.

greg1786 · Oct 15, 2021

Hey thanks for the reply man. Wow 380 watts? Sounds like i should be ok with 150 per side then?

sunken3 · Oct 15, 2021

maybe... i think that depends on the proximity of the light. I have heard brighter can be better, but there is a point where it's too bright. I am using really bright (to the eye) lights.. but with 4 its still only 48W total. that's about an inch or so from the algae mesh.

DavidinGA · Oct 15, 2021

sunken3 said:
i built a few turf scrubbers and use this light from amazon..

i have 2 on each side (so a total of 4 per screen). they work great.

that said, BRS did a video a few years ago on fuge lights, and the kessil H1200 (380w) grew well, as well.

What size is your screen? Seems like 1 per side would be very adequate unless you have a very large screen....

greg1786 · Oct 16, 2021

My screen is going to be 6" wide by 9" tall.

sunken3 · Oct 16, 2021

DavidinGA said:
What size is your screen? Seems like 1 per side would be very adequate unless you have a very large screen....

mine are 16" wide.. one light might be enough if it was further away from the mesh... but they are close, so i needed two.

Duncan62 · Nov 2, 2021

greg1786 said:
Hey guys. I am building an algae turf scrubber and need a little advice. Ive got all of my acrylic cut, sanded and ready to be welded. I recieved my lights in the mail a few days ago but am now second guessing them. Before i put this whole thing together i need some opinions or advice on the wattage. I went with 150 watt led flood lights. They are 660nm, ip65 grow lights. Initially i was going to go with 100watt versions of the same light but my side panels on the scrubber are 6 inches wide so the lights are going to be 3" away from the mesh on both sides. I guess i figured being that far away, the stronger lights would be the better option. At this point im wondering if that will be too much light for hair algae to grow. Should I send them back and opt for two 100watt lights or roll with what I have? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks all

Too much. My 3 tunze are all 13 watts. They also have a cheap nicrew reef strip light. I harvest a bucket full every week.