Ats

[daytondb]

hey everyone. about 7 months into the hobby. have a 120 reef. want to start up some kind of refuge for my tank. Right now i have a wet dry with a skimmer. Anyone know about algal turf scrubbers? Pros and cons? i have been reading the 1st volume of The Reef Aquarium in which it is discussed. seems like it would work, but the book was published a while ago and i have never heard of anybody using this method for their filtration. thanks.

 

[daytondb]

sorry title should have been ATS not ATF.

 

[liveforphysics]

Though I havent tried myself, I would avoid auto tranny fluid in your tank.

ATS filtration however can be one of the best systems available when done right.

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/m_lidster_100498.html

 

[liveforphysics]

I like that they recomend 10% water change per year, yet actually do less. I like that they encourage over feeding and rapid bioload fluctuations. I like that they dont skim anything, yet the water quality is extremely good. I like that they encourage no cycleing time.

I'm really impressed, I currently use macroalgae as my only nutrient export, and I over feed and dont water change or skim, and water quality is always good.

They are saying that hair algae filters 10-100 times better than macro algaes are capable of. If I can't make my system accumulate anything now(as long as I dont skim), I cant imagine what it would be like with 10-100times the filtering power.

I might switch to this system just to try it out, or setup another tank and build this bucket-dump type ATS system for it as an experiment.

 

[daytonaconnecti]

wow great reading, has anyone seen one of these setups running, sounds to good to be true.... but the reading is very interesting..

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I went ahead and edited the title of your thread from ATF to ATS for ya .

I've seen Inland Aquatic's set-up that Morgan is talking about in the link above. It is an enormous system, very impressive, and if you ever get a chance to go out to Inland Aquatics (Terre Haute, IN), I'd highly recommend it. Our club goes there every year for our annual tour of their facility (going again in March if you are in the Indiana area). The dumping of these huge scrubbers acts as a wave in the water, too. I'm not sure how much yellowing you'd see in the water by using algae?

Here is a link to the thread Let's Talk About ~Filtration Concepts~ page 7, scroll down to post #96. You can see a hobbyists version of the ATS. Paul B on RF has just posted recently of his cement trough he has to grow algae on.

Here is some more info on building the ATS.

 

[Flatlander]

I Have used a turf scrubber for the last several years. The pic is of the unit when new. The acrylic body was broken on mine so it now sits in a glass body. The other pic is of the turf screen in the scrubber, which by the way grows turf algae not hair algae. :razz: Mostly red and green turf.

It is fed by a large powerhead from the sump and dumps direct into the tank. Over the years its been on several different tanks. I have usually run a large skimmer along with it. I can feed very heavy and never have any ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate. However I wonder about its ability to function as a complete filter alone on the size it was rated for, which was
250g. Perhaps its because until recently, I never had a good turf algae growth. To hard to get the seeded screen up here, so I never bothered.

Its lit with a pair of 55w power compacts, run during the night. I scrape the screen once or twice/week, depending on how ambitious I am.

 

[liveforphysics]

I have this hunch that if you stopped running the skimmer, the ATS could function like its intended.

I know my cheato couldnt grow for beans when I used to skim.

 

[Flatlander]

I have this hunch that if you stopped running the skimmer, the ATS could function like its intended.

I know my cheato couldnt grow for beans when I used to skim.

Tried it several times. Noticable increase in algae growth on the glass, etc. Believe me, when I purchased it used from another aquarist, that was my sole intention.

 

[liveforphysics]

What color temp of light do you have on the ATS? I have found that my system just flat cant function with temp value higher than 4200k, and 2700k standard cheapo compact florecent spot lights they sell at home depot produce awsome growth, but the 10k setup I had just didnt work for beans.

 

[daytondb]

so where can i buy one or get directions on how tho make one?

 

[daytondb]

what are the dimensions of your scrubber Flatlander? i see that it was rated for a 250 gallon but what size are you running it on? thanks.

 

[Paul B]

I saw my name mentioned here so I figured I would join.
My algae trough was added about a year ago on my 35 year old reef. The tank has been getting cycles of algae for about twenty years now. They always dissapear on their own after a few months but I didn't want the algae growing on my corals but I do want it in my reef. The trough in the picture was my prototype, there is now a much nicer version built from vinyl fence posts and sliced about an inch and a half. The nice thing about it is that it sits above the water in my main reef to the rear and just under the MH lights. It shields the back of the tank from light which I want anyway.
It is on a slant so the water runs fast and there is a cement infused screen at the bottom. It is fed from the skimmer and the water travels almost 6' to the other side of the tank where it enters over part of the screen in a gentle no splash way. It is free to operate because it is using tank lighting and skimmer water. The screen is easily rolled up to clean or change as I do once a year. This is the first year that even in an algae cycle I have no algae in the tank, but there is some in the trough.
Take care.
Paul

 

[Flatlander]

what are the dimensions of your scrubber Flatlander? i see that it was rated for a 250 gallon but what size are you running it on? thanks.

Outside, its about 3ft. by 1ft. The turf screen is 120 sq. in. I have no idea who, if anyone sells them anymore since the lawsuits.

 

[Flatlander]

What color temp of light do you have on the ATS? I have found that my system just flat cant function with temp value higher than 4200k, and 2700k standard cheapo compact florecent spot lights they sell at home depot produce awsome growth, but the 10k setup I had just didnt work for beans.

Interesting point. I have always used 67K bulbs. Perhaps its the difference between turf algaes and other algaes used in sump filtration.

 

[daytondb]

since the lawsuits?!:shock: