On the right track?

Well it is certainly a tight fit but with a little reconfiguration of some sump plumbing. The scrubber is test fit into its new home.
Next step is hooking up the plumbing and drilling the emergency drain in the side.
If everything goes smoothly I should have it 100% operational by next week.


I put clean socks on for this?

 

Well the scrubber is installed, plumbing is run and the lights are set on a 4hrs on 4hrs off schedule with the switch flipped to position 1 (6 of 12 leds lit) until I get some good growth going.

Also, you guys were right on with using 3/4" pipe, what a difference that makes. Specifically, Turbo, your comment on how increasing the pipe size increases the flow of a pump - You were spot on! Before making the new configuration I was using a lot of 1/2" push to connect to run my reactors and barely had the amount of flow that I needed to make it happen. Now that I have run most all of the lines out of 3/4", not only do I have enough flow to run the reactors and ATS but I actually have to dial it down. Like you said, it is like having a whole different pump. Anyway, here are some pics of the new setup.

Two halves of the manifold




New plumbing installed







It is definitely a tight fit but it is all in there and besides a bit of tweaking on the flow I think I am done. Plus I don't think that I could get anymore under that stank even if I had to.

Lastly, I took some picks of the tank before the scrubber was put online and I will update the progress, if it works or not and post them to the thread

Thanks for looking and for all the help,
Tom G

 

WOO HOO!!!!! I have algae growing on my screen!!!! And it has only been 4 days. I am so freeking excited.

 

So this is my screen after about 10 days.
Does it appear that the growth you see is consistent with what is common?
Also, my photo period is 3 cycles of 4hrs on then 4hrs off with 3 deep red leds on each side.

Thanks
Tom G



I put clean socks on for this?

 

Kool, I was hoping you would say that.

 

Here is a pic of the screen at 19 days online. Starting to fill in a little more and also seeing a bit of green growth. The algae in my tank is starting to come back but does not appear to be as strong as before.

 

Here's my growth a few days shy of 1 month.
I also did my first light cleaning and the growth on the screen looked fairly even. It appears that I am on my way to a successfully riding my DT of gha.

 

I actually don't think I test for nutrients in the water.
Unless you are talking about,
calcium 445ppm
magnesium 1380
alkalinity 8.4 dkh
po4 - 0.5ppm
no3, nh3/nh4 and no4 are all 0.00ppm

 

I am a newbie with saltwater and in it for just over a year, so just about everything that happens in my system is a learning curve. If I had to guess from what I have researched and surmised, the GHA in the DT is taking up any nutrients that may show up on any test that I perform. But then again, that is nothing more than an uneducated guess based on info that I got mostly from the internet and not experience.

 

Well I have learned something new today.I can start drinking now.

 

Thanks for the advice. In fact I was soon going to ask about carbon, gfo and bio-pellets.
Prior to putting the scrubber online, I was running carbon, gfo and bio-pellets 24/7 and changing out the carbon and gfo monthly.
Now with the ats starting to gear up and hopefully working as anticipated. Should I remove the bio-pellet reactor from the system? If so, should I do it after the ats is in full swing or now?
Thanks,
Tom G

 

Thanks for the heads up and advice, I hadn't given much thought about the change in bio-load when removing the pellets. I only run 175ml if pellets but like everything in this hobby, slow and steady wins the race.
I run the carbon and gfo in brs reactors which keeps the gfo tumbling but I hadn't realized that carbon clogs that quickly. Good to know. Maybe I will start a bi-monthly change out.
Thanks again,
Tom G

 

Well it has been 13 days since my last cleaning and 6 weeks 4 days since my ATS was put online.
AND THIS THING IS MAKING ALGAE LIKE A CHAMP!
Here is the latest pics.



I harvested 11.2 oz of beautiful algae and I pitched it in the trash.

Thanks for looking,
Tom G