Ace's ATS Build

BEST... ADDITION... EVER!!!! :D

It took about 8 weeks to get "mature" and really start working.. I am at week 14 now.. in the last 30 days my tank went from still algae infested to 99% algae free just in the last 30 days.. each day I could see a noticeable reduction over the last month.. simply amazing! I would have never thought I would have seen it work that quickly, especially after 8 weeks of little progress in algae reduction... but once it matured, BAM, bye bye algae AND bye bye phosphates. I have not run GFO for the last 45 days and I am now at 0.01 on my Hanna meter!

[YT]lsXKdd55s8w[/YT]

[YT]ylPXA7xQTu8[/YT]
 
Last edited:
What can I say? It all looks amazing! Corals have great, full color and look to be in top shape. Glad you were able to wean of the GFO, as well. Good to know it worked so well for someone else, too.
 
And to think... a couple years ago when I started seeing Santa Monica's post about the ATS I was a non-believer.. I listened to someone who is normally very smart in this hobby and he gave me the standard 80's excuses.. doesn't work, yellows the water, etc. Since he has been right about so many things and is a walking encyclopedia with scientific names for anything SW related I just believed him hook, line, and sinker. After the last couple years of readings more and more success stories.. and honestly, your success, Amphiprion, was the tipping point for me, I had to try it. Now I have no idea why anyone would do without one. They are so cheap and easy to make and provide such a huge positive service to a tank. IMO it does more positive to filtration than anything else out there. Sure skimmers work... just not very efficient.. carbon works good, GFO works... but nothing works nearly as well as simple algae on a screen on my tank.

Also, one other major positive I have seen is in pH. Since I moved I have been battling low pH, 7.4 at its lowest, 7.8 at its highest since I moved until I installed the ATS. In that time I replaced my skimmer (AquaC Remora) with a bigger cone skimmer thinking that would help the pH.... not at all.. I dumped in 2 LARGE bottles of Seachem Balance to try and fix the pH.. only had bad effects on the tank. Since I installed the ATS my pH went from those low numbers to now 8.2 in the morning and 8.4 at the end of the day. I couldn't get my pH to 8.2 for more than a few seconds (dumping chemicals in) for months. I put in a large airstone for a week as well with 0 effect.. but the ATS solved that issue real quick.

And yes.. colors are just WOW! I thought the colors were good before I moved.. and they were... but now it is like "whoah... need sunglasses just to look at the corals" The colors of the corals are eye piercing now.
 
Good stuff ace, really looks good.
I agree, Ive been nothing but pleased with my setup. Took longer than I thought to really get some think stuff growing, but even when it wasnt growing a ton it had my trates and phos wayyy down.
Easily best bang for your buck you can do to the tank I think.
 
im running a similar estup to your on my moray tank and omg i have to do each panel twice a week its insane , but it keeps my tank looking good so im happy lol
 
Nature has almost always a better way of doing things when it comes to plants and animals.
I mean vs synthetic or refined chemicals humans use.
 
So.. I am now in the planning stages of ATS v.2 to try and fix some of the problems I have encountered along the way due to my design.

The biggest issue I have that I would call a negative is due to my sump setup. I am using a rubbermaid container as you can see from the posts. The problem I have found with this method is the light will grow algae and cyano all over the sump. I need to find a way to contain the light in just the spot I need it. Santa Monica's ATS-100 design certainly solves that issue.

So, new plan.. ditch the rubbermaid and use a new 55G tank for a sump. First chamber will be the ATS/Overflow chamber. I will be using glass to make 2 "pockets" on each side of the chamber to place 6 LEDs. I will paint the outside of this chamber black and also make a lid out of black ABS plastic. I will also glue black plastic to the glass baffles separating the first and second chamber. On top of the "pockets" will be small plastic lids with small fans (made for video cards) to move air in and out of the pockets to keep the LEDs cool. So the plan is for the first chamber to be almost 100% blacked out from the outside and second chamber. Second chamber will contain a skimmer, pump for my chiller, pump for my reactor, heater, pH and temp probes, and a little live rock where I can fit it. 3rd chamber will contain the return pump, ATO float switch, return line from chiller and reactor.

The skimmer and reactors will not be run 24/7.. right now I am leaning towards running them for only 1 hour a day. So that is my plan.. I have the 55G tank and LEDs. I just need to get some glass cut to size for me today and find a place that sells sheets of ABS plastic and I can get moving forward with this project.
 
I want to point out the use of LEDs for the ATS is still very experimental. No one has made a ATS work with LEDs as well as CFL bulbs. I do think I have enough knowledge and skill with lighting to figure out the issues and correct them, but I do think it will require some time and a lot of tweaking to get it working well. I do not think my first attempt will be the end all be all answer to LEDs for an ATS, merely a starting point for me. I wanted to throw that out there so people know my current lighting plan is probably not the correct one for others to use. ;)
 
Nice ace, looking forward to seeing the LED build. I just built a new one last night, V2 for me as well, I'm hoping to get it in place and running tonight, I'll post a new thread when I do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom