Mega-Powerful Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium, Everything

[Frankie]

That would be counter productive With the zeo Vicki.

[Varga]

I'm going to start making one in my chronicles today.

now does this screen have to be in a bucket or can it be suspended above my sump?

[rmlevasseur]

How is it different than the cheato I have happily growing in my fuge?

[SantaMonica]

You can suspend it above fuge, that's fine. Might even be able to get the lights closer to the screen.

Turf is different from a fuge in so many ways:



o Reduces N and P to much lower levels than fuge/macro can.

o Is very quick to respond to excess nitrate and phosphate spikes (the turf "screen" always
stays the same size after it is trimmed); much quicker than refugiums/macros which have
smaller surface areas after they are trimmed.

o Traps no waste/food like a refugium or DSB does; waste/food flows right past the screen.

o Does not release strands into display, like chaeto.

o Does not go sexual, like caulerpa can.

o Is 1/2 or 1/3 the size.

o Weighs nothing.

o Cools the water.

o Much easier to clean/harvest.

o Can be hung above tank so pods drain into tank.

o Is free.

o Is portable.

o Can run two, for backup.

o Will oxygenate the tank if main return pump goes out.

[Varga]

I'm about half way done its going to hang above the frag tank. how important is it to have a little fan on it? I have several big fans in the fish room, you can feel air movement anywhere in the room. would that be enough? or do I need a fan directly on the screen?

[Varga]

Here it is.....I'm about to plug it in and test it out

[Varga]

Here it is in action

[SantaMonica]

Wow that's a good build. A fan becomes most useful when you are pulsing the pump with a wave timer. The "off" time allows the screen to dry out (like between waves) and remove the water boundary layer that reduces nutrient transfer. If you don't use a timer, then the fan just provides more evap/cooling/oxygen.

Sometimes, like I see in your flow pic, you will get more water flow near the end of the spraybar, than at the beginning of the spraybar where it connects to the tubing. Basically this is not a big deal since it's somewhat self correcting: The higher flow area will start getting more (or you will allow more) algae up near the slot which will slow the flow there and allow more water to be supplied to the lesser areas. But if you want to just go ahead and adjust it now, one thing that helps is to widen the slot at that beginning section. Also you could glue an extra section of screen onto the screen (thus making it double layered) in the high flow section, which will provide the same effect.

Also, and I guess you see this, the proper adjustment of flow will eliminate any sideways spraying. You want the most flow you can get without any spraying.

You have plenty of room for some serious lighting, right up next to the screen. What are you going to use?

[blue_eyes53813]

Very cool. PLease take a lot of pictures along the way of the algae growth..

[blue_eyes53813]

Originally Posted by Frankie

That would be counter productive With the zeo Vicki.

Yea I know.

[Disciple882542]

I had some macro growing in one end of my tank with a standard walmart 65 watt cf bulb. I had the egg crate in there to keep my chaeto from getting into my pumps. Ended up that the algae on the egg crate grew more than the macro. The algae that I'm harvesting is a red turf algae as well.

Very low tech indeed. I am however going to run my skimmer and chemical media as I think multiple filtration methods are generally best. I'll post some pics later today.

God bless,
Chris

[Disciple882542]

Also, a spade bit is generally a lot easier for me to use than the hole saw you posted.



God bless,
Chris

[Varga]

the water has evened out a bit, coming down in one nice even sheet now. but still covering about 1/2 of the screen

so should I turn the pump off maybe 1/2 hour per day?

for now I'm going to use these .....theyre are 33W 6500k. What you think?

[Disciple882542]

I just use the compact flourescent flood lights w/ internal reflector in stock @ wal mart. I think pretty much any light will work but you want to make sure the bulb construction is adequate for the application, ie. indoor vs. outdoor bulbs.

God bless,
Chris

[Varga]

How does this look. I'm guessing the light stays on 24/7? we already have some algae! or maybe is garbage attached to the top of the screen.