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Unread 07/06/2008, 07:19 PM   #30
SantaMonica
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
Posts: 2,511
Nano sized: I bet a tiny version could be made for a nano. If the one-square-inch-per-gal rule works, you would only need a few inches square; could fit it into a plastic box that some retail products come in, and would be even smaller than the Tetratec. I looked up the Tetratec PF150 Power Filter: "Tetratec Power Filters have the Living Filter Chamber which alternately fills and drains completely, submerging the three-dimensional Bio Foam media and then exposing it to oxygen-rich air. This allows increased contact time between the beneficial bacteria and the toxins in the water, ultimately resulting in healthy, biologically balanced water." Maybe the fill-drain mechanism from it could be used, although the reviews I saw said it was very noisy.

Boxes: I did a quick search and found several cheap $5 nano-sized boxes here on the web, but I found every size imaginable (although more expensive) here: www.ClearAcrylicBox.com

Odor: This has been mentioned a few times, so I'll have to predict since I have not done it yet. Obviously the objective of the unit is for it to process as much water as possible, but this also means it's "processing" as much air as possible. If what it does to the air is expel odor, the the "closed box" option seems to be the only choice. I personally want mine under the tank in the cabinet; the cabinet currently has no problem containing the skimmer odor, which you clearly find once you open the cabinet door. But you can't seal the turf box closed, because you need the air in there. And adding complex carbon attachments/filters/mufflers seems overkill. So this area will probably just have to be tried case-by-case.

Cleaning: The super small screen size (that seems will be adequate for my 100 gal) should be no problem to remove; it's smaller that a piece of paper. And for a nano, it could be as little as a cell phone. Thus it does not seem too difficult to just lift it out and clean it (maybe hold a cup underneath it while you walk to the sink, like I do with filter socks.) On further thought though, you could just lift out the whole box... just detach the lights somehow. Maybe the lights don't even need to be attached, they could just be leaning against the box. Indeed, if you put the box in a 5 gal bucket, and set the lights down in the bucket on both sides of the box, they would all be contained close to each other. To lift the box out you just move the spraybar(s) and put your finger over the drainhole.

Use with skimmer: This is one of the big and long-term questions. I read posts going back to 2000, and some users removed their skimmers, and some did not. My understanding is that skimmers remove organics and small particles (which includes phyto, pods, and other food unfortunately), and turf removes inorganics (N,P, and metals too I think). Unless you are running a big fish-only tank where you want to get the waste swept up and skimmed as quick as possible (and where excess N and P are not a problem), I would think that a filter that removed N and P, while leaving all food in the water, would be prefered. That way food stays in the water until it is eaten, or untill it decays (which gives it more time to be eaten.) But my current goal is just to get one running (with skimmer), and deal with this issue later.

Screens: Those screens you linked are a good idea; I was not aware of tank dividers like that. They even have the "frame" around them to hold them in place.

ATSmann: With a name like that, you must be the one to talk to about these things. By the way, why does it say "moved on" for you, when you are here posting? Anyways, great to see your account of using turf with no water-tinting problems. You say the most important thing is to harvest the turf; are you saying that not harvesting often enough will cause tinting? Obviously you have to harvest to remove nutrients, and I read that growth slows down as the turf thickens. Maybe as the newer turf grows, the older turf underneath starts to die or detach, causing tinting. And it sounds like you are running yours without skimmer, correct? If so do you ever use carbon?

Exclusion of microherbivores: I read this a few times too; pods and such eating the turf. However maybe the vertical screen would reduce their numbers with each wetting, since they'd be flowing down with gravity. If not, a standard freshwater flush during scraping seems to work.

Salt spray: Wow, this one proved to be difficult, especially since piercho says it's the biggest obstacle he had. Got a possible solution from the way some goggles work for off-road racers: peel-away strips. But in our case, I think plastic food wrap is better:



You remove the cutter from the wrap box, and glue it onto the bottom of the filter box. Also in this case, the bottom of the box is open, or at least slots are cut to allow the wrap to exit the bottom (so obviously this is for above-sump only). Either way, you don't need the drain hole anymore:



Now, since the wrap is on the INSIDE of the box, and the light on the outside, the roll of wrap can just sit on the light. To clean salt spray, just pull down the plastic wrap and cut off with the serrated edge:




However, since you were truly surging, you obviously had lots of bubbles and thus more salt spray. I'm hoping that by having the water just flow down, the spray would be reduced enough to be able to just manually clean it once in a while. But if implemented, the plastic wrap would indeed keep it clean.

Magnet flap method: That's an interesting way of filling/draining. Would still need a pump though, unless taken from the overflow. However it gets into the same question of: is it enough surge to be effective, compared to a waterfall. It's just filling up and draining slowly.

Spraybar design: Maybe "spraybar" is not the right word; I'm envisioning a lot of water coming through the tube, like a powerhead. Not really a spray. Maybe like 200 gph. Would be a tradeoff between enough water, and blowing off the plastic wrap (if used).

Speaking of flow and pumps, does anyone have recommendations of a pump of this size that can be switched on and off?


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