Here's the outflow from the ATS
and then then overflow tube
The first issue I discovered was that in the process of taking out the old sump, cleaning the pump, and moving the pump from the far right like it was here:
the pump flow rate increased by about 10-15%, which caused there to be enough flow to push over the top of the emergency overflow pipe (which is there in case the screen slot clogs up). It was enough so that I added a pipe extension to prevent splashing. I came back after a couple hours and the air had blown out of the pipe and it was siphoning all the water down the pipe. I shortened the pipe and put my hand over it to reset the flow, and then turned the post-pump shutoff valve about 1/4 of the way, and the emergency overflow stopped.
The second issue was that the bubble coming out into the sump from the ATS were occasionally 'blowing' quite a bit. I removed the extensions under the sump water level and turned the second 90 straight up. There is no longer a blowing issue, but there are lots of microbubbles. I had to put the foam intake on the return pump.
I'm going to have to figure out a way to deal with the microbubbles. The idea behind the ATS is that the water from the DT flows down the illuminated screen, and algae grows (very fast) on that screen. The algae filters all toxins out of the water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, silicate, heavy metals, etc) and leaves everything in the water that you coral find beneficial. This is the way the ocean performs it's own natural filtration - with algae.
The only maintenance needed is cleaning of the screen, usually every 7 days (give or take, depending on growth) you scrape all the algae off one side of the screen (NOT while it's in the tank) and rinse the screen with fresh water. Freshwater kills off all the excess pods on the screen, which if left alone, would eat the algae until it detaches from the screen and enters the DT, and releases what it has absorbed back into the water (defeating the purpose).
Some of the big bonuses:
First, since the algae on the screen sucks up all the nutrients algae needs to grow, you get no algae growth in your DT - it will even knock out cyano bacteria over time.
Second, you get an endless supply of pods. Before cleaning the screen, you can swish it in the sump to release them, and after cleaning the screen with FW you will have thousands more in no time. This will be great for the Scooter Blenny in the tank.
The second one is where I'm concerned, because due to the amount of microbubbles in the sump, I currently have to use the foam filter on the pump intake. My thought is that the pods should have no problem making it through that foam, through the pump, and into the DT. But if that's not the case, and they can't make it through, I will have to add some up/downs, which will be a pain in the butt with the tank already in place. I have another 40 breeder that I could swap out while I silicone some glass in place, but still, a pain. I am thinking I can make some out of plexiglass and fit it in place with some rubber strips so that it's not permanent.
The other issue with the up/downs is that they would be right under the shutoff valve at the bottom of the overflow. That valve can be opened to shut off the screen so that it can be cleaned, having up/downs right beneath it just makes it a bit more complicated.
Overall, the build went pretty much just as planned. I ordered a seed screen from Inland Aquatics in Terre Haute, IN today and it will be here tomorrow. I will attach the seed screen to the top edge of the filter screen, and should have a full screen of algae within a week or so.
but thats the reason my LFS guy just gave it to me, he said it was dead, and either thats true, or he was hooking me up nice, and he did a lot of that that day... Thanks for being patient!
