Aha! That looks sweet! Do you have one in operation yourself? It definitely looks like it could be the missing link for the RDWC systems. Great work man.
-TF
I whipped that up yesterday afternoon. Granted there was a few weeks of research that went in to it.
Going in to 'operation' tomorrow. Won't know how it does for a few weeks though while the bennies build up. Not sure 'how' I will know that it's 'working' unless I just don't get the snot algae. Again, 45$ is about 1/3rd of 'Down Under HF' or Zone.
Idea/design is sound though, 'trickle filters' are what pond enthusiasts and other aqua-culturists use. Koi people are crazy. Google 'skippy filters' for way more info than you ever cared about. :)
Bennies are a proven 'preventative' for the snot algae. (Bio-Buckets anyone?) I built this for my UC systems, hoping to build up the colonies and disconnect, flush, clean, sterilize the system and put it right back in for the next crop without skipping a beat, maybe an innoculation of Aquashield or Rootshield immediately after a res change or something, but maybe not?
I looked at aquarium 'canister' filters, couldn't justify the $150-$300 for them (because I could build that quickly and easily) AND I think they utilize BioBalls and other 'made' media (which are $$$) that as shown in the chart in the doc, while they ~look~ cool, don't have nearly the surface area that scrubbies do... Those things are made for the person that wants to buy a bag of filter media (sintered charcoal, ammostop, etc.) drop it in and forget about it for a few weeks or aquariums in dentists offices.
And besides, no one wants to drop 300$ on a filter from Petco, open it up and see dollar store scrubbies.
I've got a few more to build, but will run this one for a week or two in a system to see what I like/don't like and probably make a v1.1.
It is definitely a 'working' protoype. As with the nute doser, I hope that this gives others ideas to improve upon AND they post up changes here for everyone. It's not going to hurt my feelings, I promise.
I will say that I KNOW I saved some people all the crazy looks in HD I got while I was assembling this thing, in my mind, on the floor, back and forth between various aisles. I think I drove the plumbing 'associate' crazy... Pretty sure he thought it was a bong or a big pipe bomb.