Hi all,
I will in this thread be describing an algae scrubber as described at:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161957&highlight=scrubber
Thats a greate link lots of info please read it..
I have a little 10G tank setup, it is my first salt tank ever, so i am using it as a learning tank, to perhaps later I will setup a much bigger tank.
Anyway, I wanted to do things a little different. And i love to DIY, so this is not about saving costs or so, this is just to enrich the mind..
The tank has just 2 pieces of live rock. In it are 2 inhabitands, a clown fish and a neon damsel. It also has a small annemone
i don't know the name of it, anybody knows it please let me know.
Before i build the scrubber the tank was well setup and was using a hang on the back filter.
Lighting is 2x14W white and 1 x14W blue.
I wanted to build a scrubber but a few things where of some concern to me. One was a possible leak so lots of water would spill on the floor. e.g. if a pump would fail or just a leak in a hose.
I did not want to hang a bucket over my tank as it looks a bit silly in my view.
I was worried about the light setup. The lights in above thread should be placed very close to the screen. But that means very close to water, salt water. Where I live the Voltage is 220V,so in my mind putting 220V close to saltwater no mater how well you isolate it, thats a dangerous mix.
So i came up with the idea of reserving a small part of the tank and corner that of and make it water tight and hang a screen in there. Then on the outside of the tank i would put the light. So while i was busy thinking this over i decided to make this light source a LED light source to see if it was possible to grow algae using led lights.
Below is the tank and on the left side you can see the cornered of part of the tank that houses the scrubber.
So one thing that i could have done better here is that i should have got my self real black plastic. I got this plastic for free, but does not 100% block the light, thats why you also see inside the tank a sheet of blue plastic, to give the fish some night rest, while the scrubber is active in the night.
I have been running this scrubber since mid September, i made pictures of various stages, and i will put all info in this thread.
Some parts of this DIY are very simple like cutting some plastic and silicone it in the tank. Some other parts are more advanced and need an understanding in programming and Micro processors.
HUE ?? what? micro processors?
well i decided to also make my timing using a AVR micro processor just for the kick of it.
Over time i will share this stuff. But i will start with the basics of the design.
I will in this thread be describing an algae scrubber as described at:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161957&highlight=scrubber
Thats a greate link lots of info please read it..
I have a little 10G tank setup, it is my first salt tank ever, so i am using it as a learning tank, to perhaps later I will setup a much bigger tank.
Anyway, I wanted to do things a little different. And i love to DIY, so this is not about saving costs or so, this is just to enrich the mind..
The tank has just 2 pieces of live rock. In it are 2 inhabitands, a clown fish and a neon damsel. It also has a small annemone
i don't know the name of it, anybody knows it please let me know.
Before i build the scrubber the tank was well setup and was using a hang on the back filter.
Lighting is 2x14W white and 1 x14W blue.
I wanted to build a scrubber but a few things where of some concern to me. One was a possible leak so lots of water would spill on the floor. e.g. if a pump would fail or just a leak in a hose.
I did not want to hang a bucket over my tank as it looks a bit silly in my view.
I was worried about the light setup. The lights in above thread should be placed very close to the screen. But that means very close to water, salt water. Where I live the Voltage is 220V,so in my mind putting 220V close to saltwater no mater how well you isolate it, thats a dangerous mix.
So i came up with the idea of reserving a small part of the tank and corner that of and make it water tight and hang a screen in there. Then on the outside of the tank i would put the light. So while i was busy thinking this over i decided to make this light source a LED light source to see if it was possible to grow algae using led lights.
Below is the tank and on the left side you can see the cornered of part of the tank that houses the scrubber.
So one thing that i could have done better here is that i should have got my self real black plastic. I got this plastic for free, but does not 100% block the light, thats why you also see inside the tank a sheet of blue plastic, to give the fish some night rest, while the scrubber is active in the night.
I have been running this scrubber since mid September, i made pictures of various stages, and i will put all info in this thread.
Some parts of this DIY are very simple like cutting some plastic and silicone it in the tank. Some other parts are more advanced and need an understanding in programming and Micro processors.
HUE ?? what? micro processors?
well i decided to also make my timing using a AVR micro processor just for the kick of it.
Over time i will share this stuff. But i will start with the basics of the design.
