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Filtration Newby ATS DIY

Discussion in 'Algae Scrubber DIY' started by Erik737, Jul 15, 2018.

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  1. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    This is my first attempt at building an ATS. The downside of most ATS imo id that cleaning the screen seems like a hasle. So I wantend to build something with an easy to clean screen.

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]
    So far nothing out of the ordinary.

    [​IMG]
    My version has 2 spraybars on the side. They do get plugged so I clean them with a toothbrush whenever I clean the screen.

    [​IMG]
    The screen fits in the middle so it’s easy to remove for cleaning or getting some algea for my docters.

    [​IMG]
    This is the setup in the sump.

    [​IMG]
    The screen is 13x27cm and is lit from two sides, each side is equipped with 8x 2w 660nm LED’s 18hr per day.
    Water supply comes from a take-off from the overflow.

    [​IMG]
    One week of algea growth.
    I feed one cube per day and the ATS has been running for six months now.
     
  2. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    Looks good! I've seen several versions of scrubbers built like this, one was a commercially available unit at least for a while (not sure if it's still being built) but it had the screen attached to the lid just like yours.

    Thanks for posting, great build! Keep the pics and updates coming!
     
  3. Adobo_Reef

    Adobo_Reef New Member

    I would love to see this design on my Reefer 170. How thick is the sheet?
     
  4. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    The sheet is 4mm perspex.
     
  5. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    I’ve been running this scrubber since march last year and so far I’ve been happy about the results.
    Phosphates and nitrates have always been close to zero and corals are growing fine.
    [​IMG]

    Over the last few weeks alqea growth has decreased and has now come to a point where there is hardly any growth.
    Corals (and fish) are still doing well.
    I suspect that there are now so many ‘users’ in the system that there is not enough left for the algea to grow and I need to feed more, perhaps add fish.
    Anyone with more experience that has an idea?

    Erik
     
  6. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    If you're still feeding about 1 cube/day, the scrubber is a little large for that system. Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.

    I think if you have a gradual reversal of growth like you're seeing, it's just lack of nutrients in general. I've seen this happen on other people's systems as well - growth tapers off.

    It looks like this went on an established tank, so the rock may have been holding in some nutrients. That could explain why the scrubber grew so well for a year - it was basically "cleaning up" the system. This is just one possibility, but it seems to match what occurred.

    Now that the system is cleaner, your scrubber is oversized compared to what you are feeding. Also, corals do consume food, but also excrete waste, so they should be like the fish - a net zero.

    I would say that it would be time to modify the scrubber slightly. I would start by dialing back the intensity. If you have a way to connect the 2 lights in parallel with each other and run them off one power supply, this will cut the lighting intensity in half.

    Or you can use some diffusers, or reduce the screen size, or reduce the size of the LED array, etc. I would start with the less permanent solutions and see what you can make happen

    HTH
    Bud
     
  7. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    Thanks for your reply.
    I put the ATS in as I was about 1 month in the tank start-up and, indeed, still feeding about 1 cube/day.
    I always saw corals as just another type of algea growing.
    Whatever the cause is, the ratio between scrubber and feed-rate seems off at the moment and you’re right; why start feeding the algea when you can decrease the ATS.
    I tried playing around with the lighting timer, that didn’t seem to make a difference.
    Putting both sides in parallel is easy to do, I’ll try that this weekend.
    If that works I wouldn’t mind a a bit more room in my sump, so I may build a smaller version of the scrubber.

    Erik
     
    Turbo likes this.
  8. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    3 weeks since I modified the scrubber. Algea growth is better, although not nearly what is was half a year ago and mostly at the bottom of the scrubber instead of on the screen.
    Still measuring 0 on nitrate and phosfate but the tank is doing well.
    I’ll keep it like this for now and see how things develop.

    Erik
     
  9. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    When it comes down to it, this is the goal - nutrient reduction. 0/0 might not be the perfect goal, but at least it tells you that it is working.

    You may actually want to dial back the intensity or duration a bit. There can be detrimental effects to driving nutrients down too low
     
  10. slirp87

    slirp87 New Member

    16
    4
    Italy
    erik737 do you run yout system skimmerless? do you still make waterchanges ?
     
  11. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    Yes, I don’t have a skimmer.
    Water changes are very infrequent; 15% and somewhere between 1 and 4 months intervals. More to get rid of unwanted elements that may build up.


    Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk
     
  12. slirp87

    slirp87 New Member

    16
    4
    Italy
    wow , do you have acros? what are your po4 and no3 levels? i'm very curios ,i started 1 mounth ago
     
  13. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    At the moment I am doing a re-start because the lights fell in my tank and killed practically all corals.
    I used to have acropora formosa growing.
    NO3 and PO4 are too low to measure for me, I don’t have a Hanna-checker and on a conventional test it just looks 0 to me. At one point I just stopped testing for it, just keep a good eye on the corals.


    Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk
     
  14. trivodi

    trivodi Member

    75
    11
    USA
    How s the tank doing? Did you recover from the accident with the lights?
     
  15. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    It’s getting back on track.
    Looks like i’m back at the point where algea growth is slowing down.
    Just cut back the lighting intensity again and see where it goes.

    [​IMG]


    Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk
     
  16. trivodi

    trivodi Member

    75
    11
    USA
    Looks very nice
     
  17. semiroundel

    semiroundel New Member

    Erik737, are these the spraybars you used?
    US $0.99 |NuoNuoWell DIY 3/8'' 1/2'' Fish Tank Rain Pipe Aquarium Top Filter Drip Tube 20mm Outflow Pipe Spray Rain Bar External| Fish & Aquatic Supplies Parts| | - AliExpress
    I can see from your build (very accomplished) and the fact that you admit to cleaning out the jets when you harvest, that the "impossible" slot that never blocks up with algae, is not far short of impossible on a diy build. I think that as it's easy to lift the mesh, it will be just as easy to clean the jets
     
  18. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    I made the spraybars myself, just drilled some holes in 20mm pvc tubes.
    I think, if I would have taken a bit more care in keeping the spraybars away from the light, blocking with algea may have been better.
    There’s a couple of things like that I would do different, but I’m a bit too lazy to make a new one and it works so I’m fine with it.
     
  19. Erik737

    Erik737 New Member

    Been fighting Dino’s and finally resorted to Dino-X. It helped to get rid of the dino’s but would not recommend it because I lost some SPS (maybe overdosing from estimating netto volume)
    And I had to run on a skimmer for a few weeks, which is a foul smelling headache, glad to be back on the ATS now.
    Also got bryopsis in return which seems to be receeding now.
    Calcium and carbonate consumption is back up, looks like it is going in the right direction again.

    [​IMG]
     
    trivodi and Turbo like this.
  20. trivodi

    trivodi Member

    75
    11
    USA
    Looks really nice again, got any fish in there?
     

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