paul b June 1, 2015 Share June 1, 2015 I have been experimenting with this concept and so far the small version grew an enormous amount of algae so I built one on a larger scale. It is basically just a cotton sheet suspended over my tank by an acrylic tube that has holes drilled in it which tank water drips through slowly flowing over the material then back to the tank. A light is hung in front of it. Soon, hopefully, it will be covered in algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k June 2, 2015 Share June 2, 2015 won't the cotton become frayed from the salt and eventually disintegrate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 2, 2015 Author Share June 2, 2015 The cotton should last a couple of years. I thought about that. The test piece I tried has been in there for many months with no problems yet. It doesn't matter because when the cloth becomes covered in algae, I can easily remove it and change it. That hopefully will happen in a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 2, 2015 Share June 2, 2015 So the only difference with this DIY scrubber is a cotton sheet vs a mesh material? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 2, 2015 Author Share June 2, 2015 That and the flow is very slow. The cloth hangs by gravity and there is no need for any sort of housing or enclosure. My reef is behind a wall so you don't see any of this. If I had a sump, I would put it in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 2, 2015 Author Share June 2, 2015 This is the original experiment. This was a small sheet of cotton material draped over the algae trough. Water is not even pumped over it, it is just wet from one edge laying in the water flow inside the trough. I peeled algae from this to seed the new device. This grew in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w June 2, 2015 Share June 2, 2015 That is an interesting concept to hang the cloth into the water to soak up enough water and nutrients to grow algae. Most people stick to the theory that fast water flow is needed to deliver nutrients, but you show that isn't necessarily the case. It's also interesting that you use cotton. Most people recommend inert material like fiberglass or plastic screens that can be cleaned off with a stiff brush. But if it's easy for you to scrape off algae then plastic screen might not be the preferred material. At least now you have a use for all the old sheets and pillowcases which would otherwise end up in the garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 2, 2015 Author Share June 2, 2015 All my previous scrubbers used plastic screening, this is a test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime June 2, 2015 Share June 2, 2015 I imagine that it will go well, anything porous enough for it to hold onto easy. I bet you egg crate would work, that's the place all my hair algae seems to appear. I've seen all sorts of things used, I think the most successfully measured material I've seen was the plastic mesh sold for stitching in crafts stores. Interested to see your cotton results. It's like a mad scientists lab behind your tank, good thing there is no sump! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruleyii June 3, 2015 Share June 3, 2015 You have me thinking about a way to rig this up for my sump now. I don't have room for chaeto but I'm still lookin for a natural way to control it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 3, 2015 Author Share June 3, 2015 I will try anything as my tank is and always has been an experiment. I'm surprised I have not crashed it yet. As I get older and closer to the time when I will take this tank down, my experiments are getting more risky. But I don't really care, I just like to find new ways to do things. I am not in this to have the best looking tank. I just want the best looking Supermodel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickB June 3, 2015 Share June 3, 2015 Always love your creativity Paul , Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 3, 2015 Author Share June 3, 2015 (edited) quote name="YHSublime" post="657284" timestamp="1433284735"] I imagine that it will go well, anything porous enough for it to hold onto easy. I bet you egg crate would work, that's the place all my hair algae seems to appear. I've seen all sorts of things used, I think the most successfully measured material I've seen was the plastic mesh sold for stitching in crafts stores. Interested to see your cotton results. It's like a mad scientists lab behind your tank, good thing there is no sump! A day generally doesn't go by when I am not trying to design (or break) something. The tank is just a very small part of it. I just love to design or re-design things. This morning I re-designed the windlass (auto anchor) on my boat. I think it was originally designed by a Jiboni. Edited June 3, 2015 by paul b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 7, 2015 Author Share June 7, 2015 The thing started to grow algae from the top down. I added some iron paper clips to the cloth to see if the algae grows faster in those places. It's a test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 8, 2015 Author Share June 8, 2015 So it's been a week and this is what I have so far. Some streaks. The blobs are pieces of algae that I stuck on there to "seed" it but it looks like I didn't need to do that. A am not sure why it is growing in those streaks but I assume in a few weeks the thing will be covered in algae. If that is the case, I will make another piece of cloth and change it or just clean it. I don't know yet. But it seems this will grow algae much faster than a submerged screen because I added a piece of this cloth to my algae trough almost a month ago and it is just barely growing anything. This is just a test to see if the algae grows better in air and using a cloth instead of a plastic mesh. Yes, I realize I am not curing cancer, it's just a hobby and I also realize people have been making all sorts or algae scrubbers for decades. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prunfarm June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Do the streaks match the hole locations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruleyii June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 The streaks look to be where the water flows more. They all seem to be coming from where the cloth above can pool water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 10, 2015 Author Share June 10, 2015 Do the streaks match the hole locations? I am not sure but there are about 10 holes in the pipe. I would assume that is where the water is coming out. I will check, and if that is the case, I will increase the flow to the tube so more algae should grow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruleyii June 18, 2015 Share June 18, 2015 Any updates on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 18, 2015 Author Share June 18, 2015 Yes, just now I removed it. I had a leaking problem right behind it but not from it that I had to fix. I just posted about it Yesterday I went downstairs to do something creative, I don't remember, maybe trim my ear or nose hair and I noticed the carpet around the tank was damp. The tank is in a closet and has sat in this spot, on this home made stand since 1979. I didn't think the tank was leaking because this has happened a few times before. I removed the items from the closet, things like the Super 8 movie projector that we needed to view our wedding movies in 1974, a "dial" phone and an 8 track tape player. If you don't know what any of those things are, Google them and grow up some more. Inside the closet there was a puddle. There was also a fish in the puddle, a wrasse that I have been looking for, for a week or so. Unfortunately the puddle wasn't deep for the fish to still be alive. Anyway, where is the water coming from? I crawled under the tank, and on my way I checked out the bottom glass of the tank with a flashlight to see the amphipods scurrying away from the light. I think some of them were doing the Macarana. Then a drop of water falls on my bald head and makes a noise. If you are bald, you know the noise. I get to the far stand leg and see that it is extreamly rusty. This is not a surprise because a few years ago I noticed it and bolted another leg to the tank to support the weight. Those legs are made of "Kindorf" which are galvanized steel building supports that we use in construction for everything. But even the heavy galvanizing on Kindorf will not stop rust forever. The leg was wet and water was slowly oozing down. I removed the dead fish and got up (after hitting my head numerous times) Above the corner of the tank with the water I have my manifold for my Reverse Undergravel filter screwed to the wall. The thing has stand offs to keep it away from the wall but after so many years, salt built up behind it and the wall allowing a slow progression of moisture to run down the wall and leg. This probably has been going on for many years which is why the leg looks like it does. The opposite leg looks like the day I installed it. I removed the manifold, which I don't ever remember removing and I made longer "stand offs" in back of it to keep it away from the wall and the rim of the tank. I also put a de humidifier in the closet to dry it up before I put all my "valuable" stuff back in. You never know when someone will need a Super 8 movie projector from the 50s Here is the manifold as it was mounted over the tank. Water is pumped into it and it is split up into 3 tubes that come out the bottom to evenly supply water to all 3 UG filter tubes. (Stop laughing about the reverse UG filter) This is the thing removed from the tank And the rusty leg. The "new" leg is the one to the left of it. Someday I will have to empty the tank and install new legs, but I hope that day never comes. This was the wrasse. I really need to replace this guy and cover the spot that fish seem to enjoy leaping from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 18, 2015 Author Share June 18, 2015 I will be re doing that algae scrubber with some modifications as it just started to grow algae Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle June 18, 2015 Share June 18, 2015 I love the wrasse. what type is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM June 18, 2015 Share June 18, 2015 looks like a linespot (also called dot-dash) flasher wrasse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul b June 19, 2015 Author Share June 19, 2015 It's a dead wrasse. When I replace him I will pay attention of the name, but I think it is a flasher as said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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