ClearWater Algae Scrubber v2 CW-100

[jtichenor]

Anyone own a V2 ClearWater Algae Scrubber? I would love to hear your thoughts, tips, tricks, etc.
I have just installed the CW-100. I am using the 'JEREPET 800GPH 30W16FT Aquarium 24V DC Water Pump' on it's lowest setting and getting quite a bit of overflow. Very little water is draining over the grid sheet. Hopefully it will settle down and allow for more water flow over the grid sheet once it gets coated with slime.

 

[Dan_P]

Anyone own a V2 ClearWater Algae Scrubber? I would love to hear your thoughts, tips, tricks, etc.
I have just installed the CW-100. I am using the 'JEREPET 800GPH 30W16FT Aquarium 24V DC Water Pump' on it's lowest setting and getting quite a bit of overflow. Very little water is draining over the grid sheet. Hopefully it will settle down and allow for more water flow over the grid sheet once it gets coated with slime.

Do the instruction indicate how much water should be flowing over the screens?

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

@Josh@ClearWaterScrubbers

 

[jtichenor]

I've just discovered the mesh mounting plate (that the water runs over) is not bi-directional! I had it backwards. Once I turned it around, I have much better flow over it and through the slit. face-palm

 

[anthonymckay]

How are you liking it so far? My nitrates have climbed quite high and I'm considering an algae scrubber for nutrient export as I dont have any space in my sump for a refugium. Does it come with the little stand you have it sitting on to keep it above the water or is that DIY?

 

[jtichenor]

How are you liking it so far? My nitrates have climbed quite high and I'm considering an algae scrubber for nutrient export as I dont have any space in my sump for a refugium. Does it come with the little stand you have it sitting on to keep it above the water or is that DIY?

So far so good. It isn't growing much yet so I can't comment on how affective it is a lowering phos and nitrates. I've cleaned it once and it's about half covered in hair algae now. I think 2-3 more weeks will be more telling.
The stand is sold separately.

 

[bbpros2b]

Ok so there is a couple important things about the clear water algae scrubber that you might want to take note on.

First thing to take note of is that you cannot find replacement lights anywhere to buy for this when the lights burn out like you can with other competitors. what brought this to my attention was what happened with my algae scrubber today. I purchased the CW-100 V2 algae scrubber and have had it installed for 2 weeks lights running 24/7 to seed the screen. Today I looked under my cabinet to find the lights on the scrubber off. Checked all the wiring everything was fine and definitely no way for anything to get wet. The brick on the plug for the lights has a green light on it when it’s plugged in and that is still lit up but the lights stopped working. I called BRS where I purchased it and they got me in touch with Clearwater and they said that they have been having issues with the new lights, if one burns out then they both don’t work. So unfortunately it sounds like it may be a couple weeks before I can get replacement lights sent to me. Really unhappy that I paid 800$ for an algae scrubber that already let me down in 3 weeks. I sure hope the next lights don’t burn out in 3 weeks because then it will be out of the 1 month warranty by BRS. Is this a common issue or did I just get a faulty set of lights?

Clearwater is sending me a set of replacement lights for the scrubber free of charge which is expected but all of this made me realize that you can’t purchase these lights anywhere for this algae scrubber when the lights reach their full life expectancy of 50,000 hrs. So what are we supposed to do when the lights stop working in 6 months and are out of warranty? Spend 800$ more on the whole scrubber all over again? Because you can’t purchase replacement lights?Nonsense.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

First thing to take note of is that you cannot find replacement lights anywhere to buy for this when the lights burn out like you can with other competitors.

Well, you can't buy off-the-shelf replacement lights for mine either, or several others that I know of

So what are we supposed to do when the lights stop working in 6 months and are out of warranty? Spend 800$ more on the whole scrubber all over again? Because you can’t purchase replacement lights?Nonsense.

That's really up to each manufacturer. One thing you have to remember is that many product manufacturers in this industry end up under the microscope on things like this (customer service issues). So if out-of-warranty replacements (due to product failure rather than abuse/misuse/etc) are often worth just taking care of to maintain a happy customers vs having a bunch of people feeling they were wronged and going postal about it.

The burn happens when you put out a product that turns out to have broad issues and you have to replace a lot of parts...that can break the business' back. I've had to do that a couple of times myself, one of them cost me $10k out of pocket but it was the right thing to do.

My point is, don't expect the worst.

 

[bbpros2b]

Well, you can't buy off-the-shelf replacement lights for mine either, or several others that I know of

That's really up to each manufacturer. One thing you have to remember is that many product manufacturers in this industry end up under the microscope on things like this (customer service issues). So if out-of-warranty replacements (due to product failure rather than abuse/misuse/etc) are often worth just taking care of to maintain a happy customers vs having a bunch of people feeling they were wronged and going postal about it.

The burn happens when you put out a product that turns out to have broad issues and you have to replace a lot of parts...that can break the business' back. I've had to do that a couple of times myself, one of them cost me $10k out of pocket but it was the right thing to do.

My point is, don't expect the worst.

I totally agree that this is an excellent scrubber. I am completely satisfied with the product other than the light issue which is being taken care of. I actually just spoke with Josh again at Clearwater scrubbers and he was excellent in answering my questions. Anyone that needs to purchase replacement lamps can email Clearwater and they can assist you in ordering replacement lamps. I hope this helps as I am sure many people will want to replace the lamps at some point!

 

[Trickman2]

Following along....Any updates

 

[bbpros2b]

Following along....Any updates

Received another set of Lights, Clearwater scrubbers was great about taking care of the light issue along with explaining what happened with the lights. As far as performance, this thing Grows algae something fierce 1 week of running light 24/7

I purchased this algae scrubber because I wanted help battle algae growth in the tank. With weekly 20% water changes on 120 gallon and this algae scrubber running full time the algae is losing the battle. As we all know it’s a slow and steady battle when it comes to algae. As far as nutrients in tank nitrates are 2, phos 0, alk 11.2, ph 8.2, ammonia and nitrites 0. I do have a lot of other reactors and filtration systems running to achieve these water conditions so I’m not saying this will provide the fix to all your problems but for growing algae in the box to outperform the tank this thing works. Nothing else has worked for the algae problems.

 

[Villious]

Does anyone have an idea of it would be ok to invert the lights so the cord is on the top?

 

[jtichenor]

Does anyone have an idea of it would be ok to invert the lights so the cord is on the top?

Not a good idea since the actual LEDs are offset to be at the right height when mounted with the cord down. If you mount them upside down the leds would be at the bottom half of the screen.

 

[ClownSchool]

Received another set of Lights, Clearwater scrubbers was great about taking care of the light issue along with explaining what happened with the lights. As far as performance, this thing Grows algae something fierce 1 week of running light 24/7

I purchased this algae scrubber because I wanted help battle algae growth in the tank. With weekly 20% water changes on 120 gallon and this algae scrubber running full time the algae is losing the battle. As we all know it’s a slow and steady battle when it comes to algae. As far as nutrients in tank nitrates are 2, phos 0, alk 11.2, ph 8.2, ammonia and nitrites 0. I do have a lot of other reactors and filtration systems running to achieve these water conditions so I’m not saying this will provide the fix to all your problems but for growing algae in the box to outperform the tank this thing works. Nothing else has worked for the algae problems.

Did you notice any improvement on pH as the scrubber built up algae?

 

[Murica]

Is the Bulkhead on the bottom threaded or slip?

 

[jtichenor]

Is the Bulkhead on the bottom threaded or slip?

Slip

 

[butcherreef]

Slip

What size pvc slips into it? Just got one today.

 

[Brisk]

What size pvc slips into it? Just got one today.

1" pipes if I remember correct.