DIY AquaClear 110 Algae Scrubber

[Creekview]

A couple of weeks ago I decided to convert one of the AquaClear 110's that are on my 40 breeder reef tank. I had originally planned to convert it to a HOB refugium, having done one previously on a 37 long I had several years ago. The 110's make a great HOB refugium, and are easy to convert. I had read some posts about algae scrubbers, so I switched the conversion from refugium to scrubber. I installed 4 3/4 watt LED tube lights using zip ties to the basket. Added a full width plastic air tube, and poked some pin holes in it for larger bubbles. Roughed the screen with a sawsall blade. My intent was to avoid modifications to the 110, and to also negate the need for a skimmer. The tank runs a total of 3 HOB filters, 2 AquaClear 110's on either side of a Fluval C4. One 110 and the C4 take care of chemical and mechanical filtration, running a full kit of Chemi Pure Elite in the Fluval C4, with a stock AquaClear sock of carbon, two Purigen prepacks in the 110. The 110 also holds the two bags of stock bio-tube ceramic material that came with the 110s.

After two weeks, I had minimal algae growth on the screen. I had a hunch that either there wasn't enough light, the screen was too big (10x8" ), or not enough nutrients, or some combination. My tank has a lot of macroalgae growing in the display area, and my water parameters are nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and phosphates all zero. First fish were installed this week, so feeding has also increased, as well as livestock bio-loading. I added a blue/white LED light bar I had bought a couple of years ago for a Fluval Edge nano I had. Presto, within 2 days, significant growth of brown and some green algae. Funny thing is, it is concentrated where the blue and white LEDs shine on the screen, not where the red ones shine. I repositioned the red LED's so they all shine on the back of the screen, and the blue/white bar shines on the front. We'll see where it goes from here. In any case, I now have a functioning algae scrubber!!

 

[StirCrayzy]

According to the latest info, that is probably an oversized screen. Can you link some info about your LEDs?
when i first tested my ATS i used white LED christmas lights, and did get some growth, but not lush.
Even though it eliminated Algae growth in the display, i am after nutrient removal.
simply put, the more hair you have, the more nitrate/phosphate can be consumed.
You want major growth of GHA like the specific 660nm Red bulbs produce.
im curious though how your macros handle the lowered nutrient levels.

 

[Creekview]

I'm monitoring very closely. Macro growth seems unaffected so far, but I've not had major scrubber screen growth until I added the extra LEDs. I was getting very light growth of green algae after about a week running just the reds. The LEDs are 660nm reds, I've confirmed that with the vendor. Each tube is supposed to be ~3/4 watt, though I suspect they are less than that. The blue/white bar has 4 1w LEDs with wide angle lenses on them. Only three of the 4 blue/whites actually shine on the screen, two blues and a white. That's why you see three areas of growth on the screen. I thought it was interesting that there is no appreciable difference between the white light area of growth and the two blue light areas. I know that according to the "rule of thumb" my screen is twice as large as recommended, but I figured what the heck. It is, after all, part of the grand experiment that is reef keeping. I'm saving up some cash to build a custom LED array in the next month or so. In the mean time, I'm going to watch it closely and see what happens. My main interest is to avoid a skimmer if at all possible.

 

[Bearjohnson]

IMO the only led's that you need are the reds. I built several of them and i have seen the best greenest greens with reds only. Next time I clean mime I'll post a pic if I remember and I can find this thread.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Next time I clean mine I'll post a pic if I remember and I can find this thread.

You can find it click on your screenname (Bearjohnson), click View forum post

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/search.php?searchid=461246

 

[StirCrayzy]

I used 4 phillips bulbs and a 700Ma driver w(with dimmer pot) For my 4x12" screen, $45.

 

[ddelozier]

Red LED's work well for Turf scrubbers, Warm white(3500k-4500k) work well too. The key is More light. MORE LIGHT MORE LIGHT MORE LIGHT. I have a 65 with a 15"wide by 18"Tall hanging scrubber. I use a CFL 3500k bulb equivelant to a 75watt incandescent. I get hair algae and red algae on it constantly. I dont have a skimmer on the system at all. I had to move the Chaeto out of the sump to another tank. It was shrinking. My nitrates are always at 0. Skimmers are great, they pull out tons of stuff. But if nitrate is the enemy you battle most(ie algae in the DT), a turf scrubber is your friend.

My Kenya Trees(aka my water condition monitors) are out and waving. No carbon, no GFO, nothing else. Just the scrubber. I do plan to add a skimmer, but as i use RO/DI water for makeup/top off, and do 10% water changes monthly, its not critical that i get it RIGHT NOW.

 

[Singlefin]

Nice. Following along. Looking to add a scrubber to my tank. Thanks.

 

[StirCrayzy]

I highly recommend reading the SantaMonica threads, to anyone building scrubbers.
They havent been updated much this year, but have detailed schematics and DIY examples galore.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...inate-green-hair-bubble-turf-slime-algae.html
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ver-replaces-skimmer-refugium-everything.html

 

[Creekview]

I highly recommend reading the SantaMonica threads, to anyone

Did that. Took it into consideration as i researched scrubbers for my own experiment. My research shows there are a variety of designs that work. Some are complicated down flows, some are up flows. Some use warm white CFLs. Some use red LEDs. Some say red and blue, some say red only. Some say orange is the light to have. What I can say is that other than the original algae scrubber at the Smithsonian, very few if any designs have been subjected to hard scientific review over a long term. That being said, most of them work at some level. The Santa Monica design is relatively cheap and ingenious. Credit where credit is due. Though given sufficient light and nutrients, I can grow algae on glass!!! Who would have thought! Guess what.....my scrubber should not work based on posts here and elsewhere. None the less, it does. I now have a nice thick green carpet of hair algae on my oversize, improperly lit DIY scrubber. Will post pics tomorrow. Just didn't have enough light, or surplus nutrients, to make it grow much of anything. Had to up feeding to a full cube of frozen mysis or brine or cyclops a day, plus some flake food, and add 4 more watts of LED lighting. Is it an optimal design? Don't know. Too many variables. If I were still doing research for a living, I might try and put together a structured, controlled study. Thanks for all of the input, but I'm happy with what I've built, and I've got several refinements in mind for v 2.0.

 

[Bearjohnson]

Here are the pics of my ATS all Reds I promised you. Basically I get about a container full every week. It is usually bright green however, I turned off the water flow to it 2 days ago and just cleaned it today.
Hope this helps.

 

[Creekview]

Been a while sine I've posted. Some health challenges, plus a move to new digs put a hold on some of my activities. Am settled now and have constructed a new 55 gallon setup incorporating a plenum feeding an in-tank algae scrubber. Have been an advocate of plenum systems for years now, have had positive experiences with them. This experiment ties plenum and UAS together, and appears to be working quite well. Have 20w of 660nm LED lighting powering the scrubber. It is installed in one end of the tank. The bubble lift pulls water from the plenum. No other filtration is present. Tank has ~100 lbs of live rock, and a 4" aragonite substrate. Plenum is 1". A koralia supplies circulation in the tank. I seeded the system with two bags of Doc's Eco Stuff, a new item at the LFS. After two weeks, the system is alive with rotifers and 'pods. The water quality tests 0-0-0, and is incredibly clear, other than the presence of live plankton, both zoo and phyto. I examine water samples microscopically couple times a day. Saturday I fed 4 cubes of brine shrimp+ and checked the water quality every 4 hours through this morning. Not a detectable change in any parameter. Growing algae, brown and green hair, like crazy. Harvested 3 oz of algae yesterday. It was full of rotifers and pods. Couldn't bear to toss all of them, so I've parked the collection surface in a holding tank with no lighting. Hopefully the algae will die off and I can save the critters to return to the maintank. Will post photos in the next day or so.

 

[Bearjohnson]

Just an FYI....Any color algae other than green green, indicates not enough nutrients to grow the algae.

 

[Creekview]

Brown definitely in the minority. GHA is 90% of the growth. Changed screen today, am feeding 2 cubes daily now.

 

[Bearjohnson]

Brown definitely in the minority. GHA is 90% of the growth. Changed screen today, am feeding 2 cubes daily now.

That's a good thing.

Remember that while it is in it's new stage, it will be feasting on the higher nutrients that have been built up in the tank over time.

Their will be a point in time that the ATS has stripped most of the nasties from the system and the algae may begin to grow much slower. So keep an eye on it over the coming weeks and you may need to adjust your photo period of the ATS.

My ATS lights used to run 24/7 until I noticed the green slowing down with time. All I've done to compensate for this was have the lights stay off for 6 hours a day and I managed to some what dial it in to the system.

 

[SantaMonica]

Glad to hear the system is working well.

Any color algae other than green green, indicates not enough nutrients to grow the algae.

Actually dark growth (especially thick black tar) usually means the nutrients are high compared to the amount of light. However if it's been growing green for a while, and starting to slow down, you'll get a thin brownish layer because there are not enough nutrients for the green to build long strings. This can be tested by dumping in triple the amount of food for a week; if it greens up, then this was the case.