Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Well after the wife saw the new refugium for the first time she has decided she wants it as her tank and want s a dwarf fuzzy in it. So vie set up an area in my sump for cheato, but I would also like to build a turf scrubber. So if anyone has experience building one I could use some advice. I'm handy and can build most anything, just wondering if anyone ahs any good build threads, or diagrams to build off of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waldend Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Hey Damon. I havent read this whole thread but its got about everything. http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=132&t=4299 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I'm gonna attempt to build one this weekend, that read was very informational, and maybe I'll be able to take the skimmer off line as well. Never realized that option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustangMatt Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Hey let me no what u use for a screen, and how easy it is to build. I have a 10 gallon bucket I want to try this with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Knitting screens from a craft store work really well as turf screens. I used 2 back to back tied together. The key is taking a hole saw and manually roughing up the screens first. I'd be happy to walk someone through my setup if you have any questions. I'd be interested to see if anyone else comes with a better way of mounting everything as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I'm going to use the knitting screen with hole saw roughing up, seems to be the norm on every site I've been too. I really think I'm going to use the overflow from the 75 I just set up as my water source for this. And I'm going to have it suspended over my rubbermaid stock tank and have it flow from the 75 down the screen and into the stock tank. I'm gong to use two clip on lights from lowes and use a screen about 12 inches wide and about 1.5-2 ft long( depending on water flow. And I would love it if I could get some advice on easiest way to cut the slit in the PVC and how wide. I am also considering building a trough style one, anyone have any comments on effectiveness of trough style Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 So I got a wild hair today and decided to build the turf scrubber. It cost me 42 dollars at lowes and that included the super glue and drill bit as well, so in reality it's about 30-35 for my design. I cut the return line from my 75 being fed by a rio 2100 pump, and ran it through the top tube. To create that tube I used a circular saw to cut a slit down the center of it, then went back with a drill bit to make half circle cuts on either side for water escape. Then I roughed up a sheet of acrylic and used that as my media for now( it's held in the tube with zip ties so switching to or adding knitting sheets will be easy as pie.) I'm just doing this to compare results from the two medias. I also created the loop you see at the end as a clog failsafe. If any algae grows and clogs the outlets this will prevent tank flood hopefully. This took all of 45 minutes with a half hour spent roughing the acrylic, and I do think after algae takes hold i'm going to attach knitting sheets to either side. Hopefully this works as planned and eventually I can take the skimmer off line and build a bigger better replacement. Here's some pics of the finished project, and anyone who wants to build one I will gladly lend a hand, and everyone is more than welcome to come by for ideas as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I'm going to use the knitting screen with hole saw roughing up, seems to be the norm on every site I've been too. I really think I'm going to use the overflow from the 75 I just set up as my water source for this. And I'm going to have it suspended over my rubbermaid stock tank and have it flow from the 75 down the screen and into the stock tank. I'm gong to use two clip on lights from lowes and use a screen about 12 inches wide and about 1.5-2 ft long( depending on water flow. And I would love it if I could get some advice on easiest way to cut the slit in the PVC and how wide. I am also considering building a trough style one, anyone have any comments on effectiveness of trough style I've been told a dremel tool is the easiest way to do it. I didn't have one so I just marked a straight line and used a small drill bit to create a line of sprayers. I'm not sure I've seen a trough style one in operation but it sounds like a good mix mix of a fuge and scrubber. I'd be interested and reading more about them if you have a link. I have mine vert so I have more surface area. I can light both sides that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 never mind looks like you got it all figured out. Looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orlando809 Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 hey damon let us know how it does for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Switched out the acrylic sheet for the plastic canvas, and I'm much happier with the flow over it. I still probaly need some more flow as I'm running 600 gph over a 13 inch wide screen. I should have around 900 gph per the 35 gal per square inch as you double it since there's tow screens. It will take a few weeks to really start working, but I'm thinking it will solve my issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hocky Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Is the falling water noisy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I can't hear it over my overflows in the tank, lol. You make the screen go into the water about an inch or two so that the water runs off in the water and doesn't fall into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I can't hear it over my overflows in the tank, lol. You make the screen go into the water about an inch or two so that the water runs off in the water and doesn't fall into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I can't hear it over my overflows in the tank, lol. You make the screen go into the water about an inch or two so that the water runs off in the water and doesn't fall into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I can't hear it over my overflows in the tank, lol. You make the screen go into the water about an inch or two so that the water runs off in the water and doesn't fall into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodlenugs Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 I have seen a few where the person has the knitting screen just barely in the water to avoid that splashing sound. As far as cutting the split again in the future for anyone else, I would be really easy with a table saw. Looks good damon! As orlando mentioned keep us posted on how its doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2010 Wow two days in and I already have algae forming on the screen, they didn't joke that a super rough screen will speed the process up. I had seeded it with turf algae from inside my overflows and it has taken off. My phosphate and nitrates are still high, trates at 20-30 and phosphate middle of card, forgot value, lol. But I'm hoping in the next few weeks once a good mat gets going that these will come down significantly, and once it's been running a few months I will take my skimmer offline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralhead317 Posted November 20, 2010 Report Share Posted November 20, 2010 Damon, I bet you'll like what the scrubber does for your tank. I've been running my reef and my broodstock tank exclusively off that Santa Monica scrubber and have had no problems- even with the way I feed! Looks like you did a great job. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 So it's been a week or two now, and I've had to clean my screen twice. I'm still going through the black sludge stage as my nutrients were very high, but already my nitrates have went from 80 to less than 20 already. All my cyano is starting to melt and no new algae is growing in my dt, mission complete, lol. And I have kept my feedings the exact same everyday as I weigh out the food to get unbiased results. I am totally sold on this, it's giving me better results than my biopellets, and I am getting tons of pods off of the algae. Plus it cost less than 30 bucks to build and requires no extra pumps or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodlenugs Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 So it's been a week or two now, and I've had to clean my screen twice. I'm still going through the black sludge stage as my nutrients were very high, but already my nitrates have went from 80 to less than 20 already. All my cyano is starting to melt and no new algae is growing in my dt, mission complete, lol. And I have kept my feedings the exact same everyday as I weigh out the food to get unbiased results. I am totally sold on this, it's giving me better results than my biopellets, and I am getting tons of pods off of the algae. Plus it cost less than 30 bucks to build and requires no extra pumps or anything. Great news!! Any new pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted November 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 So I've figured out why I was getting mats yet and I need more flow. So I taped off half the screen holes and have only the first half of both screens active right now. I am getting great algae growth and just need to up my flow for better results. So if anyone has any pumps they would sell, I'm interested. Need submergible and at least a mag 9 or greater so 900+gph at 4 ft head is my baseline for what I need. Here's the screen just after cleaning, the dark spots are where the turf algae is starting to make a mat, the entire screen was covered in dark algae, which means my nutrients are still high, but are definitely dropping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon Posted December 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 So after putting an extra pump on my turf scrubber, it has boomed. I was cleaning today and noticed a ton of little white Copepoda and amphipods all over everything. It was cool because you could see them crawl on coral then get chomped, never seen it before it was neat. I lost all my fish a week ago due to a heater leaking elec, but all the coral and inverts made it, but fish did not. So I figured this would be a perfect oppurtunity to let me tank fallow for 6-8 weeks, just so I know that my tank is free from any nasties, and any new qt'd will be good too. Just for peace of mind really. But I'm at the point now where I feel safe going skimmer less, as I'm cleaning my screen weekly and getting nice thick mats. All my levels are non existent now, I went from 60ppm nitrates to not being able to see any now. And they only thing I've changed is adding the scrubber. I had weighed my food everyday so feedings were the same. I have an swc 250 extreme dual sicce pump, with upgraded volutes and pinwheels installed by Luke. I'm going to keep it for a week or two just to monitor as I take it offline incase I need to stick it back on. But I'm going to be letting it go, so if you're interested send me a pm, as we can work something out now and get it out of here in a week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hocky Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 There are so many success stories for these.... I wonder why more companies aren't manfacturing nice versions of them. I want to try one, but I am way too lazy to DIY. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 I found a store online the other day selling LED 100 watt replacement flood lights at 6500k. The price seemed reasonable at the time. Since the recommend changing the CFL bulbs every 3 months due to color shift I was running through bulbs on mine. If The LED bulbs get decent reviews I'll probably try them out when I get my scrubber going again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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