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I have been running a bucket scrubber with CFL bulbs for 8 months and I am considering building an acrylic led scrubber. I am starting to do research and I am mentally playing around with a few ideas. As for LEDs I think I will wait to see what Floyd’s experiment yields. As for dimensions, I wanted to get everyone’s input. The typical acrylic scrubber is wide with only a few inches of screen hanging down. This makes sense with the use of long T5 bulbs but is this optimal for an LED scrubber? It makes sense to me that a led scrubber might be built more efficient by designing it with a longer vertical screen. This would allow for a lower total flow rate on the scrubber’s inlet while maintaining the same flow/sq inch requirements. A lower inlet flow requirement would mean a cheaper pump during the initial investment and lower total power month to month, reducing energy expenses. I would also like to consider the advantage a scrubber of these dimensions might have on achieving good 3d growth. I am not sure on this one but it seams logical that a short width scrubber might allow faster 3d algae growth. You may be able to further take advantage of this by tapering the scrubber box so that it is narrow at the bottom (Plexiglas close to screen) and wide at the top (Plexiglas further from the screen). These are just some things I have been thinking about and I wanted to get some feedback from the community.
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