Almost DIYed Marine tank journal

[Arolee999]

Today finished the algae scrubber. But somehow i under estimate the flow requirement hence the water flow not really flush down evenly on the screen.
Also if the out flow pipe not able to cope the volume, haiz....Consider a failure project. Here the picture.
Front view:


Side view:


Top view:

no woa bro very good ppl is one screen urs is two screen
hmm if u feel that the water pressure is gonna be too large so expand the holes of the rain bar and allow the outlet tube to be bigger as its a merge of flow in water wow bro I really take my hat of you sia so pro you work in BCA uh hahha

Originally Posted by bugattilambo

no woa bro very good ppl is one screen urs is two screen
hmm if u feel that the water pressure is gonna be too large so expand the holes of the rain bar and allow the outlet tube to be bigger as its a merge of flow in water wow bro I really take my hat of you sia so pro you work in BCA uh hahha

it's not the pressure, it's the flowrate that might be too much.

nice acrylic work, arolee. but if [when] algae starts growing on the acrylic box, it'll be quite a hassle to clean. also what flowrate are you using for this screen/what is the dimensions of the screen?

i'll be sticking to simple refugiums

[davidw]

nice work.... mayb can change to finer netting screen to "trap" water flow... can consider sticking 2 finer screen (the ones used for preventing mozzies) together...

[fatthumb]

Hi TS, great job in DIY-ing, will upz u once bullet reload
I just curious where did you bought the acrylic sheet? Looks quite thick to me (should be quite exp)...

[craz]

bro amazing diy job there...u r really good

[Arolee999]

Thanks for all compliments.

Added my 1st livestock in the tank on Sunday 28 Jun. The cleaner shrimp!!
But it keep hiding behind the rocks. But just now when i throw in few small pieces of Tetra bits which use to feed my fresh water tetra, the shrimp grab it greedily!!

Due to the algae scrubber project not successful, i bought a pack of chaeto to put in the maintank with container temporary.
Thinking of convert the algae scrubber box to become a small overflow filter with chaeto and light. Is the flowrate need high or low? Any advise?

Originally Posted by Arolee999

Thanks for all compliments.

Added my 1st livestock in the tank on Sunday 28 Jun. The cleaner shrimp!!
But it keep hiding behind the rocks. But just now when i throw in few small pieces of Tetra bits which use to feed my fresh water tetra, the shrimp grab it greedily!!

Due to the algae scrubber project not successful, i bought a pack of chaeto to put in the maintank with container temporary.
Thinking of convert the algae scrubber box to become a small overflow filter with chaeto and light. Is the flowrate need high or low? Any advise?

IME chaeto grows best when in turbulent conditions. a rolling ball of the macroalgae is most recommended.

[Arolee999]

Recently seems the sandbed algae getting worse. Now even on the rocks with this kind of brownish algae.
What's wrong?
Anyway I'll try to get a diamond spotted goby to clearing the sandbed. Anyone know currently which LFS selling?


Meanwhile i also done another version of algae scrubber which hang on in sump type.
I m connecting the chiller outflow to the screen. Current configuration: pump-->Chiller-->UVC-->Algae scrubber.
Here's the picture.


The 1st day screen.


And my compact sump

Originally Posted by Arolee999

Thanks for all compliments.

Added my 1st livestock in the tank on Sunday 28 Jun. The cleaner shrimp!!
But it keep hiding behind the rocks. But just now when i throw in few small pieces of Tetra bits which use to feed my fresh water tetra, the shrimp grab it greedily!!

Due to the algae scrubber project not successful, i bought a pack of chaeto to put in the maintank with container temporary.
Thinking of convert the algae scrubber box to become a small overflow filter with chaeto and light. Is the flowrate need high or low? Any advise?

what was wrong with the algae scrubber? real turf algae takes a long time to grow, till then you can grow normal hair algae etc. it will help a LOT if you can seed the screen. maybe get a bit of algae from other reefers.

Originally Posted by Arolee999

Recently seems the sandbed algae getting worse. Now even on the rocks with this kind of brownish algae.
What's wrong?
Anyway I'll try to get a diamond spotted goby to clearing the sandbed. Anyone know currently which LFS selling?


Meanwhile i also done another version of algae scrubber which hang on in sump type.
I m connecting the chiller outflow to the screen. Current configuration: pump-->Chiller-->UVC-->Algae scrubber.

diatoms are the scourge of new marine tanks, but almost everybody has that problem in the beginning. they should clear up on their own. the diamond spotted goby aka orangespotted sleeper goby is almost always available at pasir ris, try either irwana or pacific reef. should have a large variety of sizes to choose from.
whichever way you use an algae scrubber, it will help to seed the screen. rub some algae all over the screen and rinse. invisible spores will remain and start to grow like crazy.