Anybody here used a turf scrubber before?

[SantaMonica]

Another reefer with a good camera offered to take pics and vids of my display, but until we can arrange for that, here are some sump shots with my old 2meg camera:

[SantaMonica]

Result Of The Day:

"garypower" on the UR site: "i was on one of the first couple of pages on this thread and decided like others to give it a go! my screen is now 2 months on, and its there as predicted, full of algea turf deep red brown colour and having to start using a blade to make space! my tank parems have gone to non-detectable po4 and zero nitrates! the tank in appearance looks like polished water yet i dont run carbon! my skimmer is now only running one hour every four hours with my ozone unit on a timer, i have a much better growth rate with my corals, there is less build up of algea on the glass i only use a magfloat once a week to clear very faint dusting of algea."

[graphixx]

could you give me the names of these sites your allways refefing to like the "UR" "RP" "AC" I would like to pop into these sites and see what they are about. ..... thank you

[SantaMonica]

Anyone know anyone who could build some acrylic scrubbers? People have been asking me to build them, but I don't want to.

[Grue]

Problem with custom builds is EXPENSE. Most will have to resort to buying plastics retail. At tap plastics for a 1/4" Sheet it is about 54.00 For a 2'X4' sheet. I am sure you can buy whole sheets a bit cheaper but the site doesn't show. http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=334&
If you wanted thinner It is cheaper but still would be pricy. Let's say you limited the size to 24" X 10" X 4 You would need 2x 24X10 2x 24X4 and 2x 10X4 Plus about 10% waste (If your good) I think you can get it all out of a 2'X2' sheet. SH plus labor. Tools needed saw (Table prefered) Router (For Half circled area and to prefinish edges.) Squares and a propane torch to clean up the edges. Weather it is 1/4 or 1/16 the labor would be the same. I think it would be about 6 to 8 hours per unit. Unless you can get an order of lets say 10 or more. At this point it would probly cut the time down to about 4 to 6 hours per unit. Here in Califorina Min wage is 8.00 so that equates to 32.00 to 48.00 If you were willing to work at that wage. I guess what I am saying is an 1/16" thick unit could be made for about 100.00 and an 1/4" (Thickness of the plastic) for about 150.00. Once you add in the screen and the union and the end cap you could easly add 15.00 and 1 more hour to each unit. Will people buy these at 175.00 to 220.00 plus shipping? Another thought would be to buy prefab boxes and rework them. Tap plastics will not ensure they will hold water. I asked them to build me a sump they said Ok but no guarentee it will hold water.
I am capable of making boxes, but I am unsure as if it is worth it on a limited scale. My 2.2 Cents
Grue

[SantaMonica]

Good points. Maybe other folks would have different ways of working around things too.

Here's an idea: How about a directory of scrubber builders, with the following info on each builder:


Location:

City
State
Country

Material that the builder knows how to use:

PVC
Plastic
Acrylic
Glass

Components that the builder knows how to build:

Pipe
Screen
Frame for floppy screens
Bucket for screen
Box for screen
Sumps/Fuges with Scrubbers
HOB Scrubbers
HOT Scrubbers
LED Scrubbers


Misc:

Turn-around-time
Price range
Experience (number of scrubbers built)
Guarantees (if any)
Customer help after the sale
References
Misc items available (pump, timer, fan, unions, clips, etc)
Example drawings available?
How large/small can builder handle?


One problem with posting a directory is that it will need constant updating and re-posting. Would there be a better way to do it than posting in a thread? I could host it on my site where I put all the pics, or I could put it on the algae scrubber site. But ideal would be being able to post it here, and be able to edit it here.

[Grue]

I don't know. I Think the information is useful. But directorys and such are a bit much for a hobbist site. If there is an alge scrubber site, that caters to the manufacture of them that would be a great place for a directory of people willing to manufacture the item in whole or part. My 2 Cents and not the views or opions of the members of this site.
Grue

[SantaMonica]

Ok here is a directory template; If you would like to be listed as a scrubber builder, copy and paste the below info into a PM to me (do not post it here on the thread). I'll compile it from there...



Location (fill in)

Country:
State:
City:

Material that the builder has worked with (delete the rest)

PVC
Plastic
Acrylic
Glass

Components that the builder has built (delete the rest)

Pipe
Screen
Frame for floppy screens
Bucket for screen
Box for screen
Sumps/Fuges with Scrubbers
HOB Scrubbers
HOT Scrubbers
LED Scrubbers


Misc (fill in)

Turn-around-time:
Price range:
Experience (number of scrubbers built):
Guarantees (if any):
Customer help after the sale:
References:
Misc items available (pump, timer, fan, unions, clips, etc):
Example drawings available:
How large/small can builder handle:

Contact (fill in)

Phone:
Email:
Personal or Business Website:
Forum Username:
Forum Website:

[SantaMonica]

.
This is a big Success Of The Day: "zennzzo" on the MFK site has the first freshwater scrubber success story of any thread, and he did it with a solar powered scrubber! Has has an outdoor inflatable pond that went from this:






To this...






... and it's still improving. He's in Southern California, and here are the pertinent parts of his build:


10/10: Subscribed for sure. I'm going to try this oustside in the sunlight...I would think there is enough light?

10/12: I am building one right now with plexi sheet. Started with a 1/8th sheet of clear plexi. 32" x 15" = 480 sq. inches. (good for a 650gal huh?) I sanded the plexi sheet with 40 grit in a cross-hatch pattern. Did the frame with 3/4" PVC pipe and couplings. I cut the slots with a table saw for the water to flow and used zip ties to keep it in place. A 1/2" hose barb for the water inlet on a "T". I'm building the stand so it will set in a small rubbermaid tote. I'll run a submersible pump with prefilter via hose to the 1/2" hose barb, then I will plumb an overflow, 1" gravity fed, a few inches off the bottom of the tote, back to the pond. These are pics of what I have so far...










10/13: [Realized he needed screen and not plexi] Plastic Needlepoint canvas...piece of cake, WalMart carries that. Does the holes per inch matter?, because the thicker it is, the larger the holes are. [Answer: Not really]

10/15: [Will be in] direct sunlight aprox 7 hrs. AM sun on one side and PM sun on the other... southern exposure.

10/16: "sunshine on my scrub-ber, makes me hap-py" **

[SantaMonica]

After rubbing what green Algae I could scrape up, into the mesh like a caveman, the water is now running full width, and it looks slimey(?) shiney. [Flow is] 400-450 I would have to estimate, possibly more. I used a table saw with a carbide tipped blade for the slot and cross-cuts...Make [the pipe] longer than you need so you have something to hang onto while you are sawing the slot. The cross cuts are 1" apart and the blade height was set at 1/4" for the 3/4" - sch 20 PVC pipe.

I am chalking the ground to see if there is better exposure time about 80-90 degrees counter clockwise.

10/22: Woooot! OK we have what looks like the start of something very interesting. Here's the thing... it's down at the bottom where it gets the least amount of direct sunlight...??






The canvas was seeded with what I could, and then rinsed thoroughly. That's something you said in the thread. There was no visable green on that canvas [when started].

10/26: 10 days out, no foil, no mirriors, just good ol sunlight. I did move the tub 45 degrees counter clockwise to pick up more direct sun...








There are 4 medium KOI in there, and it's cycled. Just recently, 2-3 days ago? Algae took off in the pond almost over night.

10/30: day 15, pure solar power. this is what she looks like now...








I didn't see anything for a week, and then it started as a little bloom on just one square. After seeing where the growth pattern is, I would have used some 10 grit carbide paper on the plastic...the rougher the surface the easier the initial the spores can attach. The top where the plastic canvas goes into the spraybar, got scratched the most from fitting and re-fitting the screen...it has thick green algae on it and it is shaded alot of the time. So in summary, go as rough as possible on the prep...I say. See the high spots of the grid? I wish I would have sanded the crap out of it with bigger grit. I'm still getting good flow across the canvas anyhow.

11/1: same position 17 days from virgin screen. Seems the last 48 hours has been a bit overcast and the screen looks fuller...anybody else think so?...