ATS (algal turf scrubber) project smaller tanks 75 and 29gal

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i would love to see some pics of your system ashdavid, i am thinking it would answer some my little questions.
 
I can get some more pics , I will take the buckets out so you can see the way I set it up, I will say it is a mission to get pics though so just wait a day or two please. I know what you are going through, b/c when I was hunting for pics and info I could not get it fast enough.
 
ashdavid.. Thank you, this is quite alot of work for you it seems..
I have been thinking about it and on advise from BrianNY when it comes to what size aquarium to start out with young discus he advised the 29 gallon for mantainace reasons..
So I think Im going to build a scrubber for a 29 gallon and get the 29 gallon some time soon first before taking on the 75 gallon project.. the 75 gallon wont be needed untill the discus have grown some.. Just and update on what Im thinking about doing... :p
 
Ive been told by some readers that they dont understand what exactly a ATS does or how exactly it does it... I was wondering if anyone posting hear could help me explain this better to the readers of this thread? TIA... :p
 
well at its simplest design, its a tray of water, with a grate that allows algea to cling to and grow. the tray is then filled with water from the tank that contains all the nitrogen in varies cycles, produced by the fish in the tank. this water is held in the tray for a given amount of time, then returned to the tank, via sump or pump.

instead of having bacteria break down the nitrogen as we all are custom to doing, this system uses algea to do it all, in the ocean most of the filtration is done in this manner. to keep the algea properous a light is used to satisfy the basic demands of the plant while it sucks the nitrogen out of the water. a system that is functing properly can be more effective than a regular bacteria fueled system and has some benefits over a bacterial filter, algea overgrowth will need to be scraped from the trays to keep the filter is constant growth, this overgrowth can be prepared and fed to fish in the tank, it oxygenates the aquarium water, and is restistent to medications aimed at killing off bacteria (bacteria that causes ick, hole in the head disease, etc)

thats a crude explanation of the system, i am sure ashdavid or czcz can go into the more detail. or people can always google it, we do live in the information age.
 
JProx is right, but just a few things to clarify. The grate is probably best explained as mesh or as what is used for making fly screen , also a very important part of the design is the wave generater, usually in the form of a wave bucket, without this piece of equipment algae production usually decreases about 50%. Algae dose not break down the nitrogen as your typical bacterial will, it takes the nitrogen up in whatever form there is and converts that in to plant matter, this is called nitrogen fixation. Algae can also have an antibiotic effect on fish. With the scraping it has to be done regularly, preferably in a time frame of 7 to 14 days otherwise the algae will die and return all the fixated nitrogen back into the system. Also there is no know filter today that can bring nutrients down to the level that the ATS can.
 
And what does it actually do for the water...?
It completes the nirtogen cycle when the algae is scrapped..
And what exactly is absorbed by algae?
Ammonia.. dissolved inorganics and organics, and the sweeping algae also allows dissolved protein attach itself to the turf all of wich are removed from the system when the screen is scraped....
any of this sound off?
 
That sounds good to me, but as for dissolved organics, it has been said that the algae will leach some back into the water after taking them up. I this respect protein skimmers seem to excell.
 
Ok.. dissolved organics is understood.. but of course a protein skimmer really isnt an option on a FW tank unless you've seen it done.. and if you have please fill us in there are several members that I know of that are intrested in that subjet!

I need to start thinking about the design for a 29 gallon tank..
 
im think offf doing a ats for more then one tank would this be possible?
like one ats for 2-3 tanks?







btw theres freshwater sharks?
 
you can use an ats for more than one tank, however if 1 tank is infected with something, all of the tanks will become infected and plus an ATS needs the incoming water held in the system for a set amount of time (think of it like a washing machine, where it fills up with water then agitation is applied, then drained) and if you have larger tanks your ATS will need to be big enough to be effective which if you have limited space might be a challenge.

there are tons of fresh water sharks, the shark is one of the oldest fish in the history of our planet (thats still alive today) and have adapted to their environment in countless ways. sharks are directly related to catfish and sting-rays and plectos (which is a member of the catfish family) as well. there's glass cats, plectos, channel cats, red tail sharks, Iridescent sharks (they are pretty when they are young but after 2-3yrs then turn jet black and get huge) balas', rainbows, etc. however all of the freshwater sharks (to the best of knowledge) are not the Carnivores you might expect, most eat plants, and scavenge in the wild eating whatever they find most will eat flakes, brine shrimp and algea wafers. i have a pair of 9inch Iridescent . sharks and all they will eat is algea wafers, and on occasion shrimp pellets.
 
madchild24 said:
im think offf doing a ats for more then one tank would this be possible?
like one ats for 2-3 tanks?
Click to expand...

What your speaking of here is a central filtration system and if designed correctly ATS can be used for this application.. but there are hazards to central filtration as noted above.. and keeping fish tanks that need similar water conditions is also a givin.. HTH
 
Sorry guys , I don't mean to keep you guys waiting, the pics are comming, I am just flat out with work and believe it or not I don't own a Dig camera, it is my father in laws, so I have to go to his house and upload the pics from there. Sorry
 
Good things are worth waiting for, a wise man once said.

but its kind of funny, you live in japan but don't own a digi-cam.
 
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