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So I want to make an ATS - Page 2

post #21 of 36
12/18/11 at 4:13pm
Thread Starter 

oh yeah, I ended up sticking to using a supply pump instead of supplying it the the water from the overflow.

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post #22 of 36
12/18/11 at 4:58pm

bigg.gif

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post #23 of 36
12/18/11 at 4:59pm

I think your system looks great - I like the box around the screen, I honestly think you need to get your lights closer.  I was hoping you were going to try the overflow into the screen I have one tank I want to try that on.

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post #24 of 36
12/18/11 at 5:01pm

Lights aren't close enough to the screen. Take the screen out and rough it up and wash it with freshwater. Won't hurt a thing. Lights need to be close, very close. If you can't do that then double the light wattage. 

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post #25 of 36
12/18/11 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 

how close do they need to be, and why do they need to be so close?  I moved them and they are now like .5 inches from the box, about 3" total from the screen.  They were probably only 7" away.

 

I'll probably take the screen out and rough it up one night this week after work

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post #26 of 36
12/18/11 at 5:39pm

Think about it in terms of a flash light. shine the light 2 foot away at a wall and it's intense. Shine it 10ft away and it's a little duller. Shine it 100ft away and you can't tell you have a flashlight. Same thing with the bulbs. The further away the light is from the screen, the less intense the light is. Hair algae needs extreme intense light to grow enough to do a bit of good with filtering your water. The more algae you can grow, the better.

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post #27 of 36
1/31/12 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 

ok, So i've had my scrubber running for some time now, the growth on it is great, and i see a reduction in the amount of algae in the DT( not all, but it's still going away slowly).  the issue i have is I'm seeing alot of stuff settling in my tank( i can notice it on the bare bottom tank i have in the basement) and i'm not sure if its because of not running the skimmer any more or lacking in the cleanup crew area.  any thoughts?  if i had to describe it the stuff settling looks like dirt/dust

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post #28 of 36
1/31/12 at 2:31pm

Basically marine snow and if it is settling in your display tank all over instead of being swept into your filtration system or to one side of the aquarium for siphoning, then there's not enough flow in your tank. Add some flow or reposition your powerhead o get more flow on the bottom. Another optio would be to simply place a mechanical filter after your scrubber. 

 

There is absolutly nothing wrong with using a scrubber and a skimmer on the same tank. IMHO. If you stir up that stuff, you will notice your corals are sent into a feeding frenzy. 

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post #29 of 36
1/31/12 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 

I do have sponges after the scrubber if thats what you mean.  I know there isn't alot of flow in my tank downstairs, but I do notice it settling on rocks upstairs where there is plenty of flow more so than i did previously.  Is this the stuff that the skimmer would be taking out?  I did notice the corals ready to eat when i stirred it up though.


Edited by dempseyjosh - 1/31/12 at 6:59pm
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post #30 of 36
1/31/12 at 3:32pm

Hmm

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post #31 of 36
2/25/12 at 7:35am
How is your ATS working? I just finished mine about a week ago.... is your algea all gone in ur tanks? How the water parameters?
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post #32 of 36
3/8/12 at 8:08am
Thread Starter 

My scrubber was working great.  It greatly reduced the amount of algae in the tanks, but then I had a malfunction in the pump and I haven't fixed it yet.  The algae quickly returned. 

I'm bad at testing my levels, I just try to keep up with regular water changes. and would test if stuff wasn't looking good.

 

but since i've had some issues with equipment, I think i'm going to be doing some work on the plumbing, wiring, and sump so i've got a question.  I've mentioned before of feeding the scrubber with the overflow from my tanks and was told that would work.  The only issue i'm concerned with here is how do I know the slit in the pipe will be enough for it to flow freely as quickly as it would un restricted?  I don't want my tanks to overflow.  Using a pump there was a force behind it to push the water through, without that i'm not sure what would happen

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post #33 of 36
3/9/12 at 6:07pm
Yea you do have a point there. If for some reason it did plug up it would over flow your tank. I just had an extra pump and that's what I used.
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post #34 of 36
3/9/12 at 8:35pm
Thread Starter 

I'd prefer not running an extra pump.  my electric bill is already 50% more than if I didn't have the tanks. 

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post #35 of 36
3/10/12 at 9:54am

Try to buy a low wattage pump if you can. Lol. 

 

 

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post #36 of 36
3/10/12 at 10:42am
A maxi jet would probably work great and use little electricity.
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