Algae Scrubber Basics

You probably have too much light for that amount of flow. You will probably need to either increase the flow or step down to the 100 watt equivalent or you may burn the algae in the center of the screen.

 

I think it's a 10x13 screen, so 2 x 42W CFLs is fine, they're just a little stronger so the lights would need to be backed off a little, or the light cycle cut back a bit if there was any burning.

 

If it is to much light I will increase flow and/or reduce the photo period.

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OK. Hypothetical situation. Lets say that I want to do this with a 500 gallon tank build. So I would need a net that is 20x25 running about 8 cfl lights and a pump pushing about 1000 gph?

 

You need 35 GPH/inch of screen width so it all depend on how you orient your screen. Size, 20x25 yes, but you might be able to get away with less depending on how big your bio-load is, and specifically how much you feed. The quantity of lights depend on the wattage. You want to match wattage to screen dimensions, in most cases that matches the tank. If you do 26W CFLs and a 500 sq in screen, you'll need more like 20 lamps. 8 would be at or below the minimum (0.5 W/gal). If you did 42W lamps then that's 336 W and that's better at 0.67 W/gal, 12 would be better, but those are pretty intense. You could build a 350 sq in screen and 8 42W CFLs and make sure you don't overfeed (which would be very difficult, unless you're using a continuous feeder)

Screens over 24" tall can be a problem as algae grows thick and long and blocks light quicker to the lower portion of the screen. If you have the flow, it's better to do wide and short.

 

My 1st Santa Monica 100 came in last night!! This thing is quality! Thick, perfectly machined acrylic. Nice light fixtures and a clean box!!

Now I just need to figure out how/where I'm going to put it...

 

Scrubber Update:
I had originally had it plumbed via ½” barbed fittings with ½” line. This was an issue that I hadn’t thought about on initial start up, but it was restricting my flow (around 150 GPH). So I changed that out for some ¾” fittings with 1” tubing, and talk about an improvement! I am at around 350+ GPH now good thing I have an overrated pump.

I also changed out the two 100 watt CFL bulbs for two 150 CFL bulbs this brought up my actual watts from 46 to 84 much closer to my 90 gallon aquarium, and it has already started to look better from last night’s cleaning (see pictures).
SCRUBBER PICTURES:














After Cleaning:

 

Thanks for putting this thread together, the content is excellent. I plan on spending a good chunk of my saturday building one of these, still trying to figure out my design, but you've certainly provided enough examples to choose from.

 

Any luck?