Installing an algae scrubber in your refugium or sump - a DIY how to

[Creekview]

Couple of other updates. I installed a pod-dominium in the opposite end of the refugium. I got some corrugated plastic poster board from Walmart, cut it up and wedged it in the last chamber.

I also noticed a dozen or so mysid have moved into the space between the first and second weir.....

[video=youtube_share;SiDKs9dSy6k]http://youtu.be/SiDKs9dSy6k[/video]

 

[DaveK]

This is a great project, Especially now that it is coming together and running.

I would make one suggestion. Those blue airstones fall apart after a few months in SW. When you replace it, which will happen, set it up so the air stone can be easily replaced, rather than gluing it to your scrubber.

 

[Creekview]

Ya, I know about the stones. It only has a dab of silicone on it. I have some rigid tubing I've been playing with. Drilled little holes in it, not quite right. Like I said in the narrative, flow is more important than aeration. The darker area in the middle of the screen is where the drain from above hits. I've put a T on the bottom of the drain to split the flow and create more turbulence across the screen.

 

[DaveK]

It's almost impossible to drill small enough holes.

In thinking about it, what might do well is the smallest needle wheel pump you can get, like the type found on some skimmers. That would give you the bubbles, without the airstone clogging and breaking you get. Even a small normal power head might be able to do it, if you let it suck in air.

 

[Creekview]

I found industrial glass bead coarse diffusers. You can clean them with everything from acetone to acid, so I think they'll probably stand up. However, I'm not absolutely certain of the need for aeration anyway. The scrubber this one is replacing was a horizontal flow with no aeration. It grew just fine. I have also collected quite a library of both scientific and commercial application studies. The vast majority of the designs use no external aeration of the collector surface. Virtually all of them are comparatively high flow rate designs.

 

[Creekview]

Updates on the scrubber/frag tank/pod farm/fuge.......I had removed the screen after my post on the 7th to let the algae grow on the tile collector. It's covered wall to wall now in green and brown algaes, some hair. The pod population is starting to appear in the nooks and crannies. Mysid shrimp are in all of the chambers, but prefer the higher flow zones. Today, I'm putting a little frag rack in the middle chamber. I have a bunch of zoas and polyps that I wanted to frag off. Had some egg crate, cut it to fit and used PVC cement to glue it together. Also put a couple of 10w 20000k LEDs on a piece of heatsink and wired them up to the dimmer.

 

[landshark]

how did you get mysid to grow in the fuge?

 

[Creekview]

They appeared over a span of months in both of my DTs and my scrubber. Didn't do anything to seed them. I do feed frozen mysids, and it is suspected that some eggs survive the freezing process. One note is that they appear to have displaced some of my other 'pod population.

 

[landshark]

I see i would love to grow some in me fuge i will have to try your suggestion of using corrugated plastic poster board for my podes. what brand of frozen mysids do you use?

 

[Creekview]

San Francisco Bay brand is what's in the freezer, but that package says mysis, which are very likely processed from freshwater species. They could have also come in as hitchhikers on some of the live rock I got a while back. All I know is they're everywhere.

 

[Creekview]

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I exposed the tile collector to the lights by removing the screen collector in front of it. I have a bumper crop of mostly hair algae. Looks like this'll work just fine....

Side view

Lots of 'pods in the algae, and a big mysid colony. I'll clean it by shutting the pump down, letting flow stop, and use an old tooth brush on the collector surface. I then siphon the chamber dry and collect the algae in a bucket. I'll let it settle, and use a baster to suck up any critters.

 

[goma]

WOW, that is a lot of buildup in a short period of time.

 

[Creekview]

Best performing scrubber yet. I'm convinced it's the lights I used, as I had a nearly identical setup i built in an old 3 chamber sump.