RAIN-8(TM)
Twin-screen pole mount saltwater algae scrubber
8 cubes feeding per day
Eliminate waterchanges, remove nuisance algae, nitrate and phosphate
8 waterproof submersible GEM5® lights, 2 Green Grabber®
screens, 2 power supplies, and pole mount
Cultivate seaweed for feeding
No dangerous metal 240/120 volt lights
Ships in one month
in big 26x26x20" 30 lb double box
Videos:
RAIN-8 dimensions: 14.5" (36cm) wide by 11" (27cm ) long by 15" (38cm) high, not including pole mount.
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"
Double shipping box size 26x26x20" (66x66x51cm) and 30 pounds (12 kg)
Water pump required: 600-700 gph (37-44 lpm) (adjustable is best).
Replacement GEM5 lights are [here] Replacement screens are [here] Replacement power supplies are [here]
Welcome to algae scrubbers. We are the only source for patented waterfall scrubbers (10655095, 11814612) that use the dome/tray/pole combination that makes cleaning and harvesting easy. All the oceans, reefs, lakes and rivers are naturally filtered only by algae, and all organic particles remain in these waters to feed the animals. 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 of chemicals. No more refilling media. No more pale corals from low nutrients, and no more sick animals from high nutrients. Far more powerful than chaeto or refugiums, and you can use the algae as food!
Designed for large open sumps and coral farmers, the RAIN-8 will do most of the filtering needed for your saltwater aquarium, and in most cases it will do all the filtering if it is the proper size for your amount of feeding that you do and the amount of rock that you have. Part of this filtering includes helping eliminate two very important things that drive most aquarium owners crazy: Algae and waterchanges. The filter works by growing algae on the screens, and these algae consume all the "bad" things out of the water*. This is how all the oceans, and all the lakes, are naturally filtered. And the twin screens of the RAIN-8 allow you to clean/harvest one while leaving the other one to continue growing and filtering. So no more rising nutrients after a cleaning.
Because of the high filtering photosynthesis of our scrubbers, it's not recommended to run them with macro refugiums or chaeto reactors because the macro or chaeto will die and the nutrients will be absorbed by our scrubbers. If you have a macro refugium or chaeto reactor, you can continue to use it while the RAIN-8 starts growing, but after it's growing well you should remove the macro or chaeto.
After the invention of the original waterfall algae scrubber in 2008 comes the largest version: the RAIN-8. The underwater submersible and electrically safe GEM5 lights allow the RAIN-8 to be placed in your sump anywhere you like, as low to the water as you like, which saves a lot of space. And the pole mount means you don't need a shelf or a bracket to place the RAIN; just use the pole mount to set on the bottom of your sump. But if desired it can be set on a shelf using the included fittings; in this setup the pole mount is not used.
The RAIN-8 is the first and only waterfall scrubber to have two layers of construction... black and white. The black outside PETG layer blocks red lights from getting out, and the white inside PETG layer reflects and multiplies the red light 360 degrees around the screens. PETG is more impact resistant than acrylic, and allows for curves that enhance operation in important areas.
Safety is a prime concern, and our GEM5 lights keep the 240 or 120 volts far away (2 meters way), with only a safe low voltage going into your sump area. The system is so safe that you could cut the GEM5 lights in half and put them in saltwater and nothing would happen. Other waterfall scrubbers use so-called "waterproof" Chinese lights that are bolted onto the outside of the scrubber box, and the 240 or 120 line voltage comes right into the sump area. Not only are these lights not waterproof (don't ever put them in water), they are not even water resistant; and salt creep will eventually get inside them, causing an electrical hazard. Our power supplies are UL and Canadian UL certified. The Chinese lights that others use, are not. And since the eight GEM5 lights provide so much power, we've added cooling air vents on the sides of the dome lid cover.
Included are two 2 mm thick patent pending 3D printed Green Grabber® algae attachment screens. They have far more micro algal-attachment surface area than smooth plastic knitting canvas screens. Also, similar to our air bubbling upflow UAS scrubbers, the screens of the RAIN-8 are surrounded by air so that when algae growth is strong, the algae can get the carbon it needs from the CO2 in the air (instead of from the alkalinity in your water) after the CO2 in your water is used. Thus the scrubber growth (filtering) is not limited by your alkalinity and CO2 in your water, and your alkalinity will stay at higher levels. This is compared to sealed chaeto reactors which don't contact air and thus must get all the carbon it needs from your alkalinity, which causes the alkalinity to drop faster, and the growth to slow down.
Comes with 8 of our GEM5 lights which will be already mounted to the inside of the dome lid cover using snap-in mounts that allow easy replacement. Includes 2 power supplies so you can start off with fewer lights when needed, and can control them easier with a controller if you have one. Two 2 power supplies are also great for backup, in order to always have some of the lights operating (photosynthesis water filtering only works when illuminated). The inside of the dome lide is covered in white to reflect light back to the screens, and this also evens-out the spread of the light across the screens and below the screen, including into the growth catch boxes. The lights should run at least 18 hours per day for best filtering, but if you want to reduce filtering you can reduce hours more.
The two growth catch boxes are white on the bottom and ends to allow after-growth when the algae starts dropping below the bottom of the screens. Instead of piling up at the bottom of the screens which gets thick and blocks light and flow, the growth can hang over 7 cm before touching the bottom of the growth box, all the while receiving light and flow from both sides because the sides of the box are clear. Sometimes you can get as much growth in this after-growth area as you can on the screens themselves, and this is why the dome lid is as large as it is; to make room for more growth.
Aquarium size: The RAIN-8 has 132 square inches of 2-sided growth surface and is designed to be the only filter on an aquarium that is fed up to:
8 frozen cube per day, or
80 pinches of flake food per day, or
100 square inches (650 sq cm) of nori seaweed per day, or
8 grams of pellet food per day.
The amount of water in the aquarium, or the dimensions of the aquarium, are not important. If you feed more than the above amounts you can use additional filters (such as our SURF or HOG models) to add up to the amount that you are feeding, and then clean one of them at a time on a rotating schedule (one every few days, etc). The number on the model (such as HOG3) is how many cubes of daily food it can handle.
Pole mount: The base of the pole mount sits on the bottom of your sump on a 6x11" pvc plate that is 1/4" thick. This plate is narrow to fit alongside other equipment, but it can be made larger (for more stability) by gluing on the two additional included plates. Once set on the sump bottom, you can place rocks or other equipment on top of the plate. The included pole mount pipes (12, 10, 8 and two 6") can be selected to place the bottom of the bottom tray from 9" (22cm) to 16" (40cm) from the sump bottom.
Drain Pipe: A slight splashing sound can occur if you set the bottom of the tray higher than the sump waterline (as water falls out of the tray). In this case you can use the included black 1" (25mm) schedule 40 pvc pipe and 1" ID drain bulkhead. But if you can, it's easy and silent to set the bottom of the tray down to the sump waterline.
Head Room: If you are installing the RAIN-8 in a sump with limited space above it, you will need at least 2" (10cm) above the top of the dome lid in order to remove the lid off the bottom tray; you can lift the dome lid up and then forward, or just tilt it forward.
To remove the bottom tray off the pole mount when the dome lid is still on, lift the tray 5" (25cm). If you don't have 5" available, remove the dome lid first, and then lift up the pipes and screens out of the tray; there will then be a lot of room to lift the tray up.
Whichever way you remove the dome lid or the tray, water does not need to be turned off and no plumbing needs to be disconnected.
If you commonly have power outages, all other waterfall scrubbers will dry out after a few hours, but you can prepare for and prevent this with your RAIN by placing it low enough in your sump (even underwater if needed) so when the power goes out the water level in the sump will rise up high enough to keep much of the screens under water. The GEM5 lights will not be harmed at all because they are designed for underwater use. With the screens submerged like this, it can last for several days with no flow or light. Do not try this with other waterfall algae scrubbers because it would be a serious electrical hazard.
Lights: The GEM5 lights can be put on a timer so that they stay on for part of the day, and off for the rest, to possibly improve growth and filtering. However you can try 24 hours of light (no timer) if you like because sometimes it does work well in saltwater with high measured nutrients such as more than 0.5 ppm phosphate. But generally, algae need dark time to rest, so plan on using a timer or controller, especially on a new tank with low nutrients.
The lights are connected in the light-control junction box at the top of the dome lid; you can plug and unplug each light to set how much light there is, and where the light is. These hard-wired plugs are much more reliable than an electronic timer or wifi.
The dome lid is entirely black on the outside and blocks all light from escaping; only a few small spots of red light are visible, and are usually not noticed compared to the SMF RAIN logo.
Water: A water pump that can pump at least 600 gph (37 lpm) is needed. An adjustable pump is best, and water flow should be 24 hours a day (never turned off). The easiest installation is to connect the pump using 3/4" flexible tubing to the included 3/4" gray barbed fitting on the pole mount, however it can instead be hard piped to the 3/4" hole on the pole mount. The included 3/4" to 1" adapter can be used if you prefer 1". Any low cost pump will work; one example is the Rio 2500 pump.
Tray: The bottom tray is flat on the bottom to allow it to set flat when cleaning on a sink or table, or if you opt for shelf mounting. Because it's easily accessed by removing the dome lid, it can be easily cleaned without needing to reach into a box like other scrubbers.
Power: The power supplies will run on both 120V and 240V, and come with 10 ft (3 m) power cords with U.S. plugs. If you require different plugs you can get adapters at any local hardware or travel store, or online, or you can cut off the U.S. plugs and install your own plugs from a hardware store. They are simple 2-prong plugs and no transformer is needed. Or you can use laptop C7 figure-8 cables from any country; it plugs right into the power supplies.
* Water Changes: If you have been doing water changes to reduce nitrate, phosphate, or nuisance algae, then an algae scrubber filter will greatly reduce the need for them and may possibly eliminate them. When algae grow in the filter, they consume nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia/ammonium, metals, CO2, and some toxins; so it’s just a matter of growing enough algae inside the filter to do the filtering you need, compared to how many nutrients you are putting into the tank with the food you feed (that is why the RAIN filter is sized for a certain amount of feeding per day). However, this filter (and algae in general) do not supply calcium, alkalinity, magnesium or strontium. So if you wish to reduce or eliminate water changes, and have stoney corals, you will need to supplement any calcium, alkalinity, magnesium or strontium that you were depending on water changes for. Freshwater aquariums, which may only need alkalinity (hardness) to be maintained, may get enough alkalinity from just doing evaporation top-offs with tap water from your sink.
This RAIN-8 (except screen) comes with a 1 year warranty: The Green Grabber screens come with a 6 month 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 "0000" 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 double shipping box size is 26x26x20" (66x66x51cm) and weights 30 pounds (12 kg).
RAIN-8 dimensions: 14.5" (36cm) wide by 11" (27cm ) long by 15" (38cm) high not including pole mount.
RAIN-8 Instructions:
No returns; please make sure this is the model you need.
