Hi there! I've had my eyes on the scrubbers almost since I started with reefing 2008, but I wasn't hooked until I recently saw the SURF2 scrubber. Being an DIY-guy I'm now in the process of building my own scrubber...
I will try to do an algae scrubber inspired by some of your experiments and also the "SURF2" design. I'm planning a "multi-chamber" design, a real heat sink on top, more light intensity than the SURF2, and possibly with a water flow additional to the bubbles.
Sounds like an interesting combination. I might recommend that when you start it running, you let it "cure" using only the bubbles for flow. Let it grow until you are getting the thick mat of growth we've all seen in the SURF videos. Then, add a gentle flow through via a powerhead with a valve on it. Start the flow very low, so that you can see if this makes any difference. the SURF style may or may not work with a lot of flow, no one really knows. But I think that too much flow at first may discourage growth, because submerged algae does attach to surfaces but not very strongly, IMO/IME
Thanks for the advice! I've not really decided how to include the extra flow yet... From the side or from below... I've been experementing with a carlson surge device, which would be really nice on a floating scrubber since it would not affect the water level in the aquarium or sump containing it, (the scrubber would float on different depths depending of the amount of water inside), but the height difference is probably to small to get it flowing reliably.
My scrubber is being built... I had not planned posting anything yet, but I just run out of glue so I can't continue, but there is a bit left to do... Most of the light is also still much to do... My non-floating "Belgian Blue" scrubber is my own design inspired both by the experiments of Garf and the SURF2 scrubber by Santa Monica... Pic 1: The outside of the scrubber... Pic 2: Inside of scrubber has 3 separate chambers with a total volume of 3,5 liter. (Substrate not yet glued to box). Pic 3: Underside of scrubber has the pipes for the water input.
Its not going to float... ;-) It will rest on the edges of my sump, partly in water... I could add some more foam to make it float, but then it will not fit there I want to place it... I could skip all the foam but it is good sound isolation, I'm not sure if I can run it with only water flow or if I will need to add bubbles also (noisy).
Almost ready for lift of! I'm very proud of the looks of it, remember that this is my very first scrubber... now lets see if it can perform some algae growth, also. I'm planning on trying it without bubbles first and add bubbles if I dont get the growth I want... I have started a thread on algaescrubber.net: http://algaescrubber.net/forums/sho...most-floating-algae-scrubber-The-Belgian-Blue
If those strings do in fact grow algae on them, be sure to strip it all off during harvest. Certainly in the case of cable ties, if you leave too much on it it blocks all the light to the substrate and it stops growing there. Not really sure there is a benefit with strings, unless you can make them stick straight up, when filled with water. Great build btw
