DIY Upflow Algae Scrubber

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• published: 10 Feb 2015
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Parts List: Amazon 10pcs Aquarium 3 Way Air Distribution Line Connector for 5mm Tubing Sold by: uxcell $5.57 CMS Magnetics® Neodymium Magnets N50 1/2"x1/4"x1/4" NdFeB Rare Earth Magnets 10 Ct. Sold by: CMS Magnetics $11.00 2 of Hammond 1591ESBK ABS Project Box Black Sold by: 3DPD Supply $9.80 AQUATEK CO2-Proof Tubing 16 Feet Sold by: Aquatek $9.99 Arctic Silver Arctic Alumina 5g Premium Ceramic Thermal Cooling Adhesive Set (AATA-5G) Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $5.34 Aqueon Silicone Aquarium Sealant, Black, 3-Ounce Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $7.82 JW Pet Company Fusion Air Pump 700 Aquarium Air Pump Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $17.99 Jardin Plastic Aquarium Fish Tank One Way Air Check Valves, 2-Piece, Clear Black Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $7.16 Plastic Canvas 12x18-Clear Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $4.63 heatsinkusa.com 3.500" x 7" high quality extruded aluminum heatsink is 3.500" wide. Leds and driver from rapidled.com 0-10V Dimmable Nano Driver with Potentiometer NANO-POT 1 $30.00 USD $30.00 USD Philips Luxeon Rebel ES 660nm Deep Red LED LXM3-PD01-0300 6 $3.50 USD $21.00 USD SemiLEDs Violet UV LED (410-420nm) C35L-U-A 2 $4.50 USD $9.00 USD Subtotal: $60.00 USD Build Guide 1. drill holes to mount the driver on the back of the project box. Use a bit appropriate size to use the accompanying screws that came with the project box to mount the driver. 2. drill holes to run the wires through the back and through the top for the wires to the dimmer. Also drill holes on the back of the dry side for the led wire from the driver. 3. Cut the wires to the dimmer, Attach the driver to the box. Run the wires into the box for the leds and the dimmer. Splice the wires back together for the dimmer and attach with double sided tape. 4. Drill holes on each side of the wet side, in between the screw posts, and holes across the top of the wet side (for bubbles to escape). 5. Dremel the corners out of each box to affix the magnets. I used a grinder tool to accomplish this. Grind it down enough to make the magnets flush with the top. 6. insert the heatsink into the dry side with all wires tucked behind except for the led wires. 7. Rough up the screen material so that it is really course but try not to break the lattice completely. I used a saw blade across the material in several different directions for about 20 minutes. The rougher the better. 8. Cut the screen material so it fits nicely but has room to move in the wet side. 9. Cut a hole in the top of the wet side to run the tubing. 10. Use the dremel tool to cut a notch out of the middle screw post on the wet side project box. 11. Run hot water on the airline tubing and mold it into an L-shape so that it will fit inside the project box. 12. Use silicone to attach the screen and airline tubing in the wet side bottom. I did this in the center of the box and used a very liberal amount of silicone. Don’t cover the airline tubing in silicone on the top. You’ll also need to cut a bunch of holes in the top of the tubing about every half-inch or so. I terminated the tubing against the screw post and filled the inside with silicone so that air wouldn’t escape the end of the tube. 13. Epoxy the leds to the heat sink and solder in series. If you don’t know how to do this find some other DIY led videos. You can use all red leds if you prefer, or 7 red 1 violet. 14. Attach the tubing to the air pump using the Y pieces. You might need to heat up the tubing with hot water to get it to fit on the pump and the connector. I also ran a backflow stop. You can assess if you need this or not. I run the leds at about 80% because it keeps the heat sink much cooler that way. I started running at about 6 hours on per day but have ramped it up to 11. At 100% the heat sink is hot but still within a safe temperature (I think).. You can put the driver on the side and mount a fan to the back if you wish (a modification by my friend, Ken Saxon, who also built one.) Results after two weeks are looking very promising. Ill put up some photos or videos in another two weeks.