Algae Scrubber vol.2

You need around 1 square inch of screen per gallon of water. So a 36 gallon tank would need a mesh screen of 6”x6” to filter the tank. It’s not a good idea to have two screens as one screen may die while the other one eats all the food, so try at your own risk. You also need to choose the correct gph for your pump so you can get enough water to spray across the mesh screen. Here is a simple chart to help you with that. 35gph per inch of screen is a general rule when making this filter. Account for drop off in water pressure do to pipe, bends, fittings and distance having to push the water through as this will reduce flow rating so adding 40% onto your initial rating will help counter that. You can measure the water flow coming out of the setup by placing the screen over a bucket, dived the bucket size and number of seconds it takes to fill, then multiply by 3600, works on both gallons and litters.

Width---------- GPH (Gallons Per Hour)
2" 70
3" 105
4" 140
5" 175
6" 210
7" 245
8" 280
9" 315
10" 350

Lighting for your screen is the most important thing. Without it you have no algae growth and no filtering. It’s even more important to have the correct lights so you will be able to grow sufficient amount of turf algae for your filter. You also want to get a container big enough as to be able to get the light close enough to the mesh screen. The redder the color of light the better it is, algae likes a redder light. A plant light or “grow light” will do or any yellow/greenish light will do as well. Any light within 2000k or 3000k, even a 6500k will work for the light. Remember we are growing algae, not plants. You won’t see it so lighting should not appeal to you anyways.

The best bang-for-your-buck light will be a CFL floodlight or bog light. A 23 watt light is a bare minimum and 33 to 40watt being ideal and a “plant growth” color of 2700k is recommended as it the ideal temp for growing algae. A 50-60watt is too much and should not be used, but you can double up on lights using two 23 watts on both sides for added growth. Bulbs should be placed on both sides so as to promote growth on either side. It’s best to buy “floodlights” if you don’t then its good practice to get a “CFL reflector” to direct the light back on your screen. If your light does not have a white coating on the sides you may also want to get one (i.e. a coil bulb)

A good thing you can do for this filter is to put it outside in direct sunlight. If you do this then you don’t need light bulbs. You can run a hose outside to your screen then back in. if this is the case then you will have to check how much loss you will have in GPH with the tubing and consider that in the pump requirements.

It’s best to leave your lights 18h on/6h off. If you are using a timer, make sure when the power goes out to check and see if the timer saves the setting. Some timers lose the settings and with keep the lights on all day, killing your algae. If not given rest periods then the algae will die. Another good idea is when the tanks lights are off for the algae lights to be on. So you will filter through out the night.

Algae Scrubber vol.1<<< >>>Algae Scrubber vol.3