My Algae Turf Scrubber, ATS, Build

So it sounds like red is efficient for an ATS since you said shallow algae such as turf does best in the red range. I'm not up on my algaes but I assume that turf is the green hair algae grown in an ATS.
 
SkullV said:
Shouldn't have to seed it Bill, if the screen was roughed up with a good rough sandpaper GHA and Turf Algae should seed itself relatively quickly. Also, if you can, run lighting on both sides of the screen. I run CREE XT-E 2xRB, 2xCW, 2xR on my fuge and it grows chaeto like crazy, I've been considering adapting it to use in an ATS but not sure I can handle the trickle noise in my open sump.
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I'm sure this model should solve the trickle noise but not by much if you are looking for Dead Silent!!!


3ymusuju.jpg

ate6a8ug.jpg
 
labas39 said:
so it sounds like red is efficient for an ats since you said shallow algae such as turf does best in the red range. I'm not up on my algaes but i assume that turf is the green hair algae grown in an ats.
Click to expand...

i would think so as well , since this would be considered " shallow " and it is a turf algae ?
 
Here's a video of the first week's progression of Turbo Aquatics' ATS on some system. His growth is definitely faster than mine but there can be many reasons for that such as lighting, the bio load on the systems, the nitrate and phosphate levels, light, flow, etc. Anyway, his day 2 kind of looks like my day 3. He had first signs of green algae on day 7. I don't expect to see that until week 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SAKbQiBfb4
 
I have a Turbos Aquatics L3. It can take a week or two to get much of anything. The startup can be slow for a good month on a new screen. It was for me very slow.

I think algea growth,if that is what you have, is sometimes a natural first step towards good algae growth.

In addition to the start up delay, at first I was dosing too much vinegar and that was inhibiting algea becase it was promoting bacterial growth instead.

But I am extremely happy with my L3. Hope your scrubber continues to progress.
 
The new LEDs are in. They seem to be of pretty decent quality. They have an orange tint to them, however. The site only claimed that they'll be in the 630nm to 780nm range. From the graph that wld1783 uploaded in Post #20, orange looks to be from around 600 to 650 so I'm assuming these lights are on the lowered end of the specified range. Also from that graph, the greatest efficiency is around 670nm; 630nm is just below the efficiency midpoint.

That said, I guess they'll do the job but things may be more efficient. I'll only get a chance to hook these up on Sunday at the earliest.

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Any update on the progress of the scrubber? Thinking about my own build soon enough. Would you change anything about your original build?
 
I have made changes to the lighting.

Those red lights weren't strong enough so I bought a 150 Watt equivalent CFL bulb from Home Depot. That got the algae to grow but it was brown, not the good green algae.

Then, I went on vacation and left the tank to someone who never had a tank and they let the sump run dry. The pump to the ATS burnt out and the algae all dried up. I started it back up and the algae is growing again but I wanted to get that good green algae.

I month or more back, I recommended to my friend to get a magenta LED which he did and he has awesome growth. I ended up buying this from eBay, in 40 Watts, Friday and since it's from China, it will take a while to get here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261570851009?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=560442195045&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Another person on this forum bought this one, in 10 Watts, from the same vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10W-20W-30W-50W-Blue-554nm-Red-660nm-Hydroponic-Plant-Flood-LED-Grow-Lights-/251248529710?pt=US_Hydroponics&var=&hash=item3a7f94512e

He said, however, that the light was really intense in the center, therefore, I bought the one that uses 2 Watt LED's with their own lens.
 
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I found this LED mix perfect for plants.

With a simple conformal coating it can be mil spec water resistant/proof

Bill
 
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Well, after the brown algae in my ATS died while I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I ended up buying this light from ebay:

4cb05a3c-33a0-4ef4-a64a-7de943e66c7a_zpsc84f3bb1.jpg


It's 40 total watts with 20 2W LEDs: 6 blues @ 445nm and 14 reds @ 660nm. It has a magenta appearance. It's totally cool to the touch, too!

After only getting brown algae from the 42W CFL, 150W equivalent, now, after just 12 days, I finally have green algae growing!

I paid $45 for the fixture and it shipped from China in like 1 week.
 
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