Santa Monica DROP-10 UAS® Bubble Upflow Algae Scrubber

Dimensions: 

14 1/2" (36cm) long 

5 1/2" (14cm) wide 

9" (23cm) tall (add extra 2" for handle)

 

 

Welcome to algae scrubbers. We are the only source for bubble upflow scrubbers: All the oceans, reefs, lakes and rivers are naturally filtered only by algae, and all the organic particles remain in the water to feed the livestock. Reduce your glass cleaning and water changes, and create an environment for living micro-animals to grow inside the scrubber. No more dosing or possible overdosing. No more refilling. No more pale corals from low nutrients, and no more sick animals from high nutrients. Far more powerful than chaeto or refugiums, and does not remove the food particles; in fact, it grows amphipods and copepods for food. And you can use the algae as herbivore food too! Patents 9,115,008 and 9,708,207 and China CN203392929U.  

 

Finally an aquarium filter that offers drop-in installation, reduction or elimination of water changes and nuisance algae, along with almost no-light escape, and possibly most important, one-handed cleaning with no disassembly required. It operates the way the oceans and lakes do, using algae to do all the filtering, and truly can replace all other filters in your aquarium. Not affected by power outages like waterfall scrubbers are; all growth stays underwater and does not dry out.

 

The DROP-10 has the most scrubber surface area, in the most compact space, of any model scrubber. It's more growth area than even our current largest model SURF8. However it is not quiet, because most of the unit is for lighting and growth attachment, and there is no foam surrounding it like the SURF models have. The massive amount of air bubbles from the 8 high-output bubble outlets creates a rolling soup inside the unit, enabling the most turbulent air/water interface which grows the most algae, the fastest, in this size unit. It quietens down once thick growth starts absorbing sound inside it, but it will probably not be suitable in rooms where sound is a concern; a SURF4 or 8 is a much quieter bubbling upflow model, and the RAIN-4 can be a dead silent waterfall model. But for applications like frag growouts in a garage, or LFS backrooms, it's perfect.

 

This DROP-10 scrubber has 120 square inches (750 square cm) of extremely rough Green Grabber® algal growth surface and strings which can grow up to a 2" (5 cm) thick mat of green hair algae. This is about ten small handfuls, and is designed to absorb the nutrients from this much feeding per day: 

 

10 Frozen cubes, or

100 Pinches of flake, or

100 Square inches (645 square cm) of nori, or

25 grams of pellets

 

The physical size or number of gallons or liters of water in your tank or sump does not matter. If you feed more than the above amounts, you can get multiple DROP-10 units; or a DROP-20, or a combination of DROP and HOG or SURF models; multiple units are preferred over one larger unit because you can clean one unit at a time, and because you'll always have one unit filtering while the other one starts growing again after a cleaning. Multiple DROP-10 units are also good for backup where reliable filtering is critical, such as frag tanks.

 

The Green Grabber algal growth attachment surface is so rough and prickly that is might be the roughest thing you've ever felt. A cactus might be sharper, but that's about it. Rough surfaces are critical for allowing algae to attach and grow and thus provide strong absorption of nutrients. The rock-hard protrusions stick straight out 1 to 3 mm. Previous algae scrubber screens were made from "slippery" plastic canvas that is used for sewing and knitting; algae take a long time to attach to it. Green Grabber growth surfaces are not plastic at all; instead they are rock hard and have jagged rough edges and points (don't let children play with them). Green Grabber surfaces are so good at grabbing algae and letting it grow, that if you have high nitrate and phosphate you may start seeing tiny growth spots within hours instead of days. And the white color of the Green-Grabber surface reflects as much light as possible, allowing lots of light to reflect back to the algae.

 

The DROP-10 starts with 8 bubble openings at the bottom, where upflowing air bubbles (from a strong air pump) flow up into the growth compartment and bring aquarium water in with it. As the bubbles and water enter the growth compartment they rub the algae-attachment rocks and strings, and get blasted by the super-red 660nm LED light. The bubbles then circle around and around inside the growth compartment, rubbing against the strings and the Green Grabber super-rough rock-hard attachment textures as the bubbles rise up. This repeated rubbing of bubbles causes algae to start growing on the strings and textures; freshwater grows thin stringy algae, and saltwater grows thicker dense algae (although DROP-10 is best for saltwater). Or, the growth can be slime which filters really well. The air then goes out of the top of the unit, and the water goes down and out the holes in the sides.

 

The main advantage of the DROP-10 or any algae scrubber is that if you size and operate it properly, it can be the only filter for your tank, even replacing waterchanges. It can, however, also be used with other filters. Some other filters such as carbon dosing (Zeo, pellets, etc) may slow down the scrubber, but nothing will really "hurt" the scrubber except possibly large amounts of algaecide or copper medications. The DROP-10 cannot even dry out, since it's always under water.

 

The DROP-10 comes with one power supply powering four GEM5 lights (total of 20 LEDs). Not only does this provide backup, it allows you to start the scrubber with less light which sometimes helps growth start faster in low-nutrient water or new tanks.

 

The DROP-10 has a one-handed pull-out growth tray, because something this big would not fit into most sinks. It's basically two scrubbers units... the inside growth tray, and the outside illumination shell. Since it is not a waterfall, there is no growth that will fall to the bottom of the box and need cleaning/scraping out, which is very difficult for most waterfalls (except RAINs) because you have to disconnect plumbing first and reach into a small box to scrape.

 

The GEM5 lights are easily replaceable, as well as high power (1000 PAR each), and also submersible. They have been used for ten years in the 660nm deep red growth color (not white or pink), with snap-in holders, and routing of the wires through a light-blocker. The lights shine directly (perpendicular) to the growth surface; not from above the water surface which would be very ineffective.

 

To keep all the light in, the entire structure is black, but to maximize the light inside, the inside surfaces are covered in white. The growth surface is the very well tested Green Grabber growth surface with epoxy, heavy silica rock, and 2-sided growth attachment strings that reach out into the middle areas; not 1-sided smooth plastic material that only gets light on one side and can barely hold on to growth (and will crack within a year).

 

The bubbling system is not attached to the tray, or else you could not remove the tray with one hand. Instead it has patent pending bubble director funnels that allow you to lift out the growth tray without turning off or disconnecting anything, and it still directs the bubbles to travel upwards to rub the growth surface. This rubbing removes the laminar layer of water around the algae so that the algae grow (absorb nutrients) faster than a waterfall. 

 

The water circulation, which is powered by the bubbles, pulls water in from under the growth tray in order to feed the water to the bubble director funnels, and it does this through 1/4" (6mm) circulation holes at the bottom, which are small enough to keep light in and livestock out. Then as water and bubbles flow upwards, the air is separated from the water at the top of the growth tray, and this is done with a patent pending air containment compartment at the top, with strainers to keep algae and light from getting out; the water then circulates back around and exits the side circulation holes, which also block light.

 

Most of the panels are 3/16" thick PETG plastic panels, with the top panel being 1/4", and the bottom bubble director panel being 1/2".  The back panel of the growth tray is very heavy, and is 1" thick full of epoxy and silica rock, making the tray weigh 4 pounds (without growth) and the whole unit weighing 6 pounds.

 

The DROP-10 will run on both 120V and 240V, and the power supply comes with a 10 ft (300 cm) power cord with a U.S. plug. If you require a different plug you can get two adapters at any local hardware or travel store, or online, or you can cut off the U.S. plug and install your own plug from a hardware store. They are simple 2-wire plugs. Or you can just use a C7 figure-8 power cord for laptops; it plugs right in to the power supply box.

 

Requires a strong air pump that can pump at least 8 total liters per minute (.28 cfm, 126 gph), which small low-cost aquarium pumps cannot do. You can have as much air as you like, however; 10 or 20 or 30 lpm grow better, although the bubbling is louder. It is the air bubbles which move water into the growth compartment and up the growth surfaces, and also supply carbon dioxide (CO2 in the air) to the water, which allow algae to grow in the filter. The more rapid the bubble flow, the thicker the algae can grow. Large bubbles even create openings in the algae for light to reach further into the growth; thus reducing dark areas. 

 

The currently recommended air pump is the Pondforse XF-40. It is fairly quiet, low cost, and has a control knob on the power cord which slows down the motor speed, reducing not only the air flow but also the sound of the motor. There are versions of the same pump on ebay etc; just look for up to 25 watt "pond" or "septic" or "hydroponics" air pump, up to 30 lpm, preferably with a variable speed. If a variable speed cannot be found, using a 10 or 20 lpm instead of a 30. There is 10 feet (3m) of 1/4" silicone tubing included for the air pump.

 

The DROP-10 comes with a 1 year warranty: Warranty is for replacement or repair only; not a refund. Costs for shipping back to us are not covered; you will need to ship the entire unit back to us before we can ship a replacement. Warranty is limited to repair or replacement, and does not cover fish loss, personal injury, property loss, or direct, incidental or consequential damage arising from the use of it. The warranty and remedies set forth above are exclusive and in lieu of all others, whether oral or written, express or implied. We specifically disclaim any and all implied warranties, including but not limited to lost profits, downtime, goodwill, damage to or replacement of other equipment and property, and any costs of recovering animals, plants, tanks or other aquarium related items and/or equipment. We are not responsible for special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any breach of warranty, or replacement of equipment or property, or any costs of recovering or reproducing any equipment, animals or plants used or grown with this product.

 

Can be shipped to any country; you can find shipping costs by using the shopping cart; be sure to click "display rates". If you don't have a postal zip code, enter "zip code" instead. Note that shipping outside of the USA will probably require you to also pay an import charge when it arrives. We cannot mark it as "gift". The size of the large shipping box (for protection) is 26 x 26 x 20 inches (66 x 66 x 50 cm) and weighs 16 pounds (7 kg). 

 

DROP-10 size: 14 1/2" (36cm) long, 5 1/2" (14cm) wide, 9" (23cm) tall (add extra 2" for handle). It requires at least 8" (20 cm) of water to operate fully in, but can handle 6" with reduced filtering because some of the growth surface will be out of the water.