greenmagi said:
JProx said:
well i volunteer for building one along side you, maybe we could try 2 different approaches and measure the results. you already know my interest in an
ATS.
What type of tank would you be building your
ATS for?
SW fish only, Reef,
FW of some kind.. just trying to get an idea of what kind of differences we would have..
i have been looking for a reason to start up a reef tank again... (i moved in late 02 and had to sell off my old tank and its inhabitants.) of course using an
ATS on a brand new tank (regardless of type) will really take a long time before accurate data can be collected and analyzed. i am thinking at least 3 months before any of my data can actually be used for anything. however i have a 55gallon fresh water shark tank, that i wouldn't mind overhauling filteration wise. my tap water has been spiking in phos. for the past few months, and as a result i am getting green water outbreaks from water changes and i was thinking of making it into a planted tank to break the green water cycle, but i have always wanted an
ATS anyway...
i have always heard
ATS systems were 4-6inches deep with light out around 100 - 250 watts and those can be ODNo,
VHO,
PC, or even metal halide, merc. vapor, or halogen and the lights should be as close to the water as possible, to reduce the wattage requirements. i have never heard of the sq/m per watt rule before, so it sounds like i might need to pick up some reading material on the subject again. and the yellowing condition can be controlled with the use of a
UV sterilizer connected to the output of the
ATS in case anyone is really concerned over that side effect.
but i can see alot of people already turned off to the
ATS system though, the magic bullet in the reef/salt water world these days is a refugium, and with an
ATS system the fuge is almost worthless (other than a spot to raise live food)
czcz: Why does microalgae need so much light, compared to higher order plants? Am I missing something? Thanks.
the
ATS system is a complete replacement to a traditional bio filter, a regular bio filter just needs No-of some sort and oxygen, as long as both are supplied in neccesary counts it will work just fine. but with
ATS you need the higher lighting to make sure the algea is kept at the peak of life, if its not at the peak, then its efficienty (absorption of
NO regularly) falls very drastically and since its a replacement to traditional bio-filters it has to be kept running at peak effficienty or the tank will die off pretty quickly. however i am not liking the idea of 1000watts of light for an algea scrubber, i did a bunch of research when the idea was marketed in the aquarium trade years ago, and never did i hear them using such a ridiculous amount of light, maybe i am alittle ignorant on current gen systems, but like most things in the aquarium trade, filters/devices seldomly change much over a few decades (case in point,
HOB filters, Underground filters, wet/dry, etc) and the other guy did have this system on a monstrous tank so maybe that explains it.
i mean seriously.. does this commerical unit look has it has a 1000watt lighting engine under its hood?
http://www.aquaticengineers.com/images/Eco-Wheel_Model12.jpg