The Amp'd-Up ATS

[Jstdv8]

you will get some algae growth after the initial die off that will be phospahtes leaking out of the rocks that have been soaking it up for owever long your tank has been running. Sounds like you are in that phase now.

Like amp said, the real downfall to Sm's new ATS is that it costs a small fourtune for the lights and mirrored acrylic. Amp's setup probably only cost 80 bucks including the tubing, lights, screen and pump.

Amph, what size pump are you using? or are you using the overflow? and what is the other hose in the original picture that looks like its going behind the light on the right?
Also, If I might make a suggestion, those spray shields may be better suited to be a solid color rather than clear so you never have any algae buildup at the slot. seems to be working great. how are you holding the screen up? zip ties?
I was going to build mine with a slot that goes all the way to the end and put a cap on it. the screen would be attached to a piece of plexi that is the same width as the ID of the pipe and would slide in the pipe and then just put the cap on. so when its time to clean I jsut slide it out the end...

Are you seeing any extra pod population? Sm says that he is making enough in his system to feed half a dozen mandarins or more.
thanks for the update, I'm just waiting for some funds so I can buy a suitable pump for mine, i have everything else made and ready to go.

 

[Amphiprion]

you will get some algae growth after the initial die off that will be phospahtes leaking out of the rocks that have been soaking it up for owever long your tank has been running. Sounds like you are in that phase now.

Like amp said, the real downfall to Sm's new ATS is that it costs a small fourtune for the lights and mirrored acrylic. Amp's setup probably only cost 80 bucks including the tubing, lights, screen and pump.

Amph, what size pump are you using? or are you using the overflow? and what is the other hose in the original picture that looks like its going behind the light on the right?
Also, If I might make a suggestion, those spray shields may be better suited to be a solid color rather than clear so you never have any algae buildup at the slot. seems to be working great. how are you holding the screen up? zip ties?
I was going to build mine with a slot that goes all the way to the end and put a cap on it. the screen would be attached to a piece of plexi that is the same width as the ID of the pipe and would slide in the pipe and then just put the cap on. so when its time to clean I jsut slide it out the end...

Are you seeing any extra pod population? Sm says that he is making enough in his system to feed half a dozen mandarins or more.
thanks for the update, I'm just waiting for some funds so I can buy a suitable pump for mine, i have everything else made and ready to go.

The way the lamps are positioned, I rarely have to worry about algal growth in the slot--well, that and the fact that the slot is quite wide. As a result, I don't really have to worry about it. I'm using a mag 12--the scrubber gets all but about 200 gph of that, minus head losses. The extra tube is actually made for a reactor, if I ever need one. That would be an extra 80 gph or so. I haven't needed to use it, though. I am using zip/cable ties.

The cost for mine was about $30, since I had most of the materials lying around. The only extras were the screens, the two lamps and bulbs. But I would say that $50-60 is a realistic budget, with $80 being a likely max, depending on how much things cost in particular areas.

The particular algae I was having went away immediately after blowing away accumulated sand and detritus. It never came back after that. Other things popping up, however, is successive, each one more nutrient-tolerant than the last. That is likely due to bound phosphate, since there was enough of it to go around after all the time it was neglected.

As far as 'pods go, I am seeing a good deal more amphipods and some isopods (like munnids). I am not, however, seeing any appreciable increase in copepods, despite feeding heavily.

 

[Jstdv8]

I was saying 80 because the pump I want for mine is about 50 bucks here so yeah, ive got about 30 dollars into mine too minus the pump I don't have yet.
SM said the pods it produces are tiny but there are so many that they will feed alot of pod eating fish. I'm hoping this is the case as I'd like to get a red scooter and a sixline eventually if I get alot of pods like he says. If not i'll just stick with my mandarin. he's fat and happy.
Sounds like a great system, I'm very excited to get mine going.

 

[Amphiprion]

Yeah, it's all still a work-in-progress for me. Hopefully I'll have all the neglect out of it in another couple of months, lol.

Edit: Oh, and I'm getting this new alga that is popping up. It's kinda weird. It is thinner than Bryopsis (it's not pinnate like Bryopsis, either), but thicker than plain hair algae. It is also odd in that it does not grow in clumps. It grows as separated filaments. The strands are all long and pretty well separated. All the other algae are dying, while this stuff has popped up. I'm hoping it's just another successive species. I forgot to mention it because it has really only popped up within the last few days and it has done it quickly. Nitrate has remained undetectable and phosphate stays at 0.01 (or undetectable) before and after it popped up, so that much hasn't changed. I'll try and get a pic of it later, but it is relatively clear with a very, very slight green hint to it, so it is a green alga. I've honestly never seen it prior to this in any tank, so I'm hoping someone will recognize it here.

 

[Amphiprion]

Oops, I guess it'll be tomorrow. I didn't charge the battery pack on the camera.

 

[Jstdv8]

got my pump today.

 

[Amphiprion]

got my pump today.

Good deal. Keep us updated. You're more than welcome to update here, as I don't mind at all, but it would likely get more attention if you make a build thread. It's up to you.

 

[Jstdv8]

what did you do to join the nylon tubing to the PVC?
my pump has the ribs onthe outlet for nylon tubing but thenthe rest is PVC, Is there a PVC piece with the ribs too?
Scuffed the heck out of my screen today.
Ran my new pump in a bucket and filled up a gallon container and found it has almost 100GPH LESS than it said on the box
So, i'm going to be pushing just over 35GPH per inch. which should work fine, i was just hoping for a little more.

 

[Amphiprion]

what did you do to join the nylon tubing to the PVC?
my pump has the ribs onthe outlet for nylon tubing but thenthe rest is PVC, Is there a PVC piece with the ribs too?
Scuffed the heck out of my screen today.
Ran my new pump in a bucket and filled up a gallon container and found it has almost 100GPH LESS than it said on the box
So, i'm going to be pushing just over 35GPH per inch. which should work fine, i was just hoping for a little more.

Oops, sorry. I didn't catch this earlier. You can buy hose barbs to connect it to the PVC. This one used a threaded street ell, a reduced threaded T coupling, and a threaded hose barb to attach everything the way it is. I didn't have much choice as to what to use, due to some pretty severe space constraints, design constraints, and part availability.

Remember that you are going to get some head loss from both height and friction, so any pump ratings will always be less. That's why I always go larger than what the application requires, since it gives me the options and the ability to simply throttle it back if it is too much. 35 gph per horizontal inch works just fine. More is better, but what you have will work.

 

[Jstdv8]

uggh, finally got mine pumping water today and found that i cut the slot an 1/8" too long nad it blows water out the hole. Also hadnt thought about it until I put it in my fuge but the lights dont fit inside the fuge with the scrubber. my water level in my fuge must be alot lower than most because I notoce most people have thier lights just above the rim of the tank and mine would have to be about halfway under the rim. Which also may not be good in a power outage. Ugg i guess I'll have to redesign my baffles to raise the water level in my fuge and redesign a new stand for the ATS. Shoulda thought of that before I cut up all that plexiglass.