DROP1.4(TM)
Drop-In
Scrubber(TM)
with
Green Grabber® surfaces,
and
strings for saltwater
Eliminate
water changes. Remove
nuisance algae, nitrate and phosphate. Cultivate
seaweed for feeding.
Videos:
DROP1.4 installed on saltwater reef pond:
DROP1.4 first 15 days growth in saltwater reef pond:
Comparison of all the DROP scrubbers:
DROP1.4 dimensions: 3.25" wide x 6" tall x 2.75" thick
front-to-back (8 cm wide x 15 cm tall x 7 cm thick). It requires at least 5" (13 cm) of water to operate in.
Operates on both 120 and 240V. Can be shipped to any
country; you can find shipping costs by putting the item into the
shopping cart; be sure to click "display rates"
No dangerous metal 240/120 volt lights.
Welcome to algae scrubbers. We are the only source for patented upflow scrubbers: U.S. Patent 9,115,008 and
9,708,207. 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 creatures. 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. And you can use the algae as food!
Get the no-overflow advantage of an upflow scrubber: since it is ALL underwater, it can't overflow onto your floor.
Finally an aquarium filter that offers drop-in installation in the smallest of spaces, along with reduction or
elimination of water changes and nuisance algae. And it's small enough to drop into the back compartment of most
all-in-one aquariums. It operates the way the oceans and lakes do, using algae to do all the filtering, and it truly
can replace all other filters in your aquarium if sized and operated correctly. The DROP1.4 grows well in water with
phosphate up to 0.6 ppm, which is high for saltwater tanks. It is not recommended for freshwater, however,
because the strings are hard to brush slime off of.
Strong injection-molded case! This DROP1.4 drop-in algae scrubber has 17 square inches (105 square cm) of
extremely rough Green Grabber ® two-sided algal growth surface with ribbon
strings which can grow up to 1" (2.5 cm) thick green hair algae in saltwater. This is designed to absorb
the nutrients from this much feeding per day:
1.4 Frozen cubes, or
14 Pinches of flake, or
14 Square inches (87 square cm) of nori, or
0.14 dry ounce (4 grams) of pellets
The physical size or number of gallons or liters of water in your tank or sump does not matter; however the
amount of problem rock you might have, does. If you have rocks which are soaked with phosphate from having
been in a problem aquarium, each 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of this problem rock will add 0.2 cube a day to your
feeding amounts; so be sure to account for this when choosing a scrubber size or number of scrubbers. For
example if you feed 0.5 cube a day, but have 20 pounds of rock that came from a tank with nuisance algae
problems, this rock will add 0.4 cubes a day to your feeding. This applies even if the rock was dried out
and bleached, because this does not remove any nutrients from the rock.
If you feed more than the above amounts, you can get multiple DROP1.4 units; multiple units are preferred
over one larger unit because you can clean one unit per week, and because you'll always have one unit
filtering while the other one starts growing again after a cleaning. Multiple DROP1.4 units are also good
for backup.
The DROP1.4 will fit into any size aquarium, sump, and almost all back compartments of all-in-one aquariums. Nano
and pico tanks, with sumps on the back side, normally have compartments at least 3" (15 cm) wide; and the DROP1.4
only need 3.5" width.. And of course it can fit into the display (the main part of the tank). The DROP1.4 has
a special plate under it which allows it to sit on the bottom of your aquarium or sump, including sitting on sand;
the plate not only keeps sand from getting into the filter, but also blocks most of the red light from coming out.
The DROP1.4 has water inlets and outlets at the bottom of the growth compartment, where internal upflowing air
bubbles inside the unit (from an air pump which you provide) flow up into the growth compartment and bring aquarium
water inside it. As the water enters the growth compartment, it mixes with the air bubbles, and rubs the
algae-attachment strings and Green Grabber textures, and gets blasted by the super-red 660nm LED light. This rubbing
of bubbles causes algae to start growing on the rock hard (and heavy) Green Grabber textures; saltwater grows
thicker, dense algae. The air then goes out of the top of the unit, and the water goes down and out the bottom,
without many air bubbles remaining. If you position the top 1/2 inch (1 cm) of the DROP above the water, it is very
quiet and all bubbles are removed.
The Green Grabber algal growth attachment surface is so rough and prickly that it 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). 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. Light
= photosynthesis = filtering.
The main advantage of the DROP1.4 or any algae scrubber is that if you size and operate it properly (based on
how much you feed), 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 DROP1.4 is also dry-out proof, since it's always under water. Power outages will not affect it.
And very important - it cannot overflow onto your floor!
The DROP1.4 will run on both 120V and 240V, and comes with a 10 ft (300 cm) UL and CE approved
power adapter cord with a U.S. plug. If you require a different plug you can get an adapter 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. It is a simple 2-wire plug, which is also the same as a laptop power supply cord. The power cord is
actually the same as a laptop computer cord with a C7 connector (looks like a figure eight), so you can swap
your laptop cord with your DROP if you want to.
The DROP1.4 uses a low voltage that is perfectly safe. The LEDs are sealed in a double waterproofed manner;
this prevents corrosion from fresh and saltwater. The UL and CE approved power supply works on both 120 or
220 volts, it converts (and isolates) the 120 or 220 volt mains to the safe low voltage which is isolated
from the water, meaning that even if the LEDs were not sealed at all you could put the LEDs into the water
and they would continue to work and nothing would happen. It is recommended that you use a GFCI safely plug,
available at any aquarium, hardware, electrical or home improvement store, or online.
Comes with 3 ft (90 cm) of vinyl airline, but requires an air
pump that can pump at least 2.0 liters per minute (.07 cfm), preferably more. A pump that
says it can handle 2 or more airstones/outlets, or a pump with 2 tubing attachments instead of one, will be
needed. You can have as much air as you like, however; 10 lpm pumps are no problem (although it will be
louder). One powerful pump which works exceptionally well is the Whisper AP 300 from Tetra. You
will need to combine the two outputs into one to feed the scrubber, using something such as the "Tee" or "Y"
air line tubing fitting from Tom Aquatics. Make sure to put the air pump above the aquarium so that it will
not drain any water if it shuts off, or use a one-way valve on the airline if the pump is lower.
The LEDs are five red (660 nm) 3-watt LEDs, which are double sealed
in epoxy. Some red light does come out of the bottom holes, but most of the light is blocked by the special
plate underneath the filter; so it will not make little red dots on the bottom of the aquarium or sump. You
will need to get a timer so you can run the LEDs for up to
22 hours per day (not 24), although you can start off without a timer if you'd like to. The LEDs never needs
replacing.
The DROP1.4 will need to be cleaned ("harvested") every 7 to 14 days or when thick with growth. Just lift
up the DROP1.4 out of the water, open the hinged lid, and pull the algae out (new installations will usually
require taking the filter to your sink and cleaning with a toothbrush). You can even feed some of the algae
to your fish, and there will probably some some pods inside that you can feed too.
The DROP1.4 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 zip code, enter "zip code"
instead. Note that shipping outside of the USA might require you to also pay an import charge when it
arrives. We cannot mark it as "gift", however. The lowest cost overseas shipping is generally USPS First
Class Mail International, however this option does not offer tracking outside the U.S. So a better option is
USPS Priority Mail, which offers both tracking and insurance. The size of the shipping box 10" x 7" x 5" (25
cm x 18 cm x 15 cm).
DROP1.4 size: 3.25" wide x 6" tall x 2.75" thick front-to-back (8
cm wide x 15 cm tall x 7 cm thick). It requires at least 5" (13 cm) of water to operate in.
No returns; please make sure this is the model you need.
Comments:
"I've got green ulva growing like crazy in my DROP1.4" -- Jlentz on the RC site.
