Try again: Is anybody running an algae scrubber as primary filter.

[rbc1225]

Do you have the link to that thread?

[Swanwillow]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1218097

its not very detailed though.

[jglackin]

Originally posted by rbc1225
I am not sure if you are responding to me as far as thenks for the thread and the pics are gone, but look in the gallery and they are still there.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showg...147252&thumb=1

These look pretty good. It looks pretty simple. The water flows into the "bucket" that is mounted on a hinge. The water fills to a certain point and then it dumps out across the algae that is growing on the mesh and then drains out the other end. There are lights mounted over top that provide the necessary lighting and that is about it. Nothing fancy, but effective.

[Swanwillow]

my only question is how the bucket goes back to the up position after it dumps?

[jglackin]

It's probably weighted.

[rbc1225]

Actually in a way you are correct. If you look at it closely the front of the bucket is not straight up or down it is angled out away from the bucket. This allows the weight of that side of the bucket to increase as the water fills the bucket. As the weight gets large enough it tips the bucket. After the bucket is dumped the weight distribution is close to being equal again. It is not exactly equal due to the extra material on that side of the bucket but it is neglegable as it is the weight difference of the water on that side that dumps the bucket.

[Swanwillow]

okay, but how does it right itself. Unless its not going all the way over, or if theres a spring in there somewhere that I'm missing...

[jglackin]

Originally posted by Swanwillow
okay, but how does it right itself. Unless its not going all the way over, or if theres a spring in there somewhere that I'm missing...

I don't know. Maybe just the force of the water flowing onto it. The force of the water holds the bucket upright until the point that the weight of the water in the bucket exceeds the force of the water flowing into it and then it dumps.

I have e-mailed the guy to see what he has come up with.

[rbc1225]

After the water is dumped, the water coming from the line is then hitting the back side and bottom of the bucket and I would think that would be enought to make it come back. It is a balancing act so to speak. The fulcrum has to be in the middle both from top to bottom and side to side, or at least that is what the instructions I have seen said. I would think it might have to be more towards the top just a little to make the bottom a little heavier than the top, thus turning it back upward.

[Flatlander]

This is a good ATS thread.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...&highlight=ats

I dont know if Inland sells them any longer, because of patent issues or whatever it was. I still see the turf screen listed on their site though, which is good for starting the turf algae.

Mine is still sitting idle. Going to set it up on a friends 120, that has some red turf algae problems and see what happens. However unless we purchase a turf screen, it takes a fair bit of time to get some decent turf algae growing.

[bergzy]

i found their webiste:

http://www.algalturfscrubber.com/


but correct me if i am seeing things...

here is a picture from their website:



Fig.2. Model coral reef closed to import for eight years and controlled solely by ATS. This microcosm coral reef had a carbonate production rate and a biodiversity level equal to the best wild coral reefs.


sorry, but their 'model' coral reef reef looks horrible...absolutely horrible even if it is eight years running with nothing but an ats.

imo, i think ats is a great supplement to other forms of filtration (skimming, carbon, water changes etc) for an aquarium but yikes, the 'reef' doesn't look too good to me unless the blurry picture is not doing it justice...but i think the picture would have to be realllllllly blurry to say it looks okay...

[Swanwillow]

I found the guy that was on here trying to sell them, he's e-baying, for.. well, I think I can figure out a DIY myself, or something.

Thank you all for replying. I'm figuring out this whole thing slowly but surely. I may either invest in one, to add to my filtration, or not. We'll see. Since its going to be an in-wall tank, everything loud will have its own room, so I might get one just to see how it does.

eidt; not get one, MAKE one, and find the seeds for it...

[rbc1225]

Where is his ebay link? Can you PM it to me?

[Frick-n-Frags]

this is weird this thread popped up. I am currently playing with a salt bucket ATS design to add to my system to replace the fuge tank full of valonia rock and unfortunately my chaeto wad, that I had to cut off of the system..

after just stopping running with the fuge for so long.....

[Swanwillow]

LOL, isn't it great when things just.. show up?

I was dreaming about these last night.. scary. I think I looked too far into them.

[bergzy]

Originally posted by Frick-n-Frags
this is weird this thread popped up. I am currently playing with a salt bucket ATS design to add to my system to replace the fuge tank full of valonia rock and unfortunately my chaeto wad, that I had to cut off of the system..

after just stopping running with the fuge for so long.....

i would love to see the bucket ats!!!

i use bucket fuges exclusively now!!!

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1257307

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1258948

[jglackin]

The guy referenced above is selling his turf scrubbers on Ebay:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcarnavor64

[rbc1225]

Those look pretty sweet.

[Swanwillow]

but not for that price, IMO.

[rbc1225]

About half the cost of a skimmer that would be needed for the same size tank. I am not looking to get rid of my skimmer, but as an add on it would not be too bad.

[Swanwillow]

but, if you DIY, I see possibilities of doing it at half the price, and being just as effective.

I'm looking at skimmers right now too, octopus are the same price range.

[johnny]

If you're looking for a cheaper option, you can do what I did... a modified durso standpipe ATS.

I built a small tank (maybe 10g) out of acrylic, then drilled a hole in the bottom and attached a bulkhead. Then placed a durso inside the tank, but WITHOUT an airhole drilled in the top... it needs to be airtight for suction. I then put a piece of eggcrate in at the level that the 90 degree elbow was at. I plumbed part of my overflow into the ATS. The water fills until it gets to the top of the durso elbow, then empties until the suction breaks. This provides a constant up and down waterflow over the eggcrate. Just make sure when you scrape the eggcrate that you leave some of the algae on it, I once removed it all and it took a while to get it started again. This DIY took a bit of adjusting to get the right amount of input water, and could be a bit noisy, but worked as the primary filtration on my 150g for about 3 years until I moved. Just now got the tank set back up and will hopefully set the ATS back up some time in the future.

Nick

[Mark]

Whoa, back from the dead!

I was an ATS user. I had both berlin and ATS systems at one point. It worked well for the type of system I was working towards. I think, though, the direction this hobby has gone, the berlin method is better suited. We've worked ourselves away from high diversity and Au Naturale, to more sterile tanks for better sps coloration. Both are good in my book. Skimmers and bacterial methods like vodka/zeo/probidio have come such a long way, that people are experimenting with nitrogen supplementation!

I run my current tank without a DSB, and just use a heavy skimmer. It works. Back to basics. I keep some delicate animals this way. However, next year, I hope to move into a house with a basement, and still hope to grab an old 75g and create an ATS system. Probably something like a lagoon setup. For Now, my inland ATS sits in the garage for now. It worked though, and quite well. But the final product in the display would be something much different than the tanks you see on RC today.

[Frick-n-Frags]

heh, this is a really old thread. we kicked all sorts of ideas around over the years.

I love salt buckets!
speaking of salt bucket doo-dads, i need to look into mesh modding my gen-x pump. I stole the shade from a torchiere. it is the most awesome skimmer neck I've ever seen i want to make a jumbo version of my good old triple-pass berlin, but better.


And this is as good a time as any to note that, this hobby continues to evolve. Coming from the total, schmidt, dark ages to now = WOW!
As you mention, today's skimmers are NOT like yer mama's skimmers

and a big shout out to all you denitrator folks playing with them and building them! this technology would be great to also become just another no-brainer that you can easily set up and maintain and this is how it will happen.

that tunze "reef sewage plant in a box" concept is going to get really slick along the way here too methinks. the pieces parts are all out there around people's tanks already.
Some technologies/methodologies still have a bit to mature, but once the methods are refined to the generally "best" method, the methods will be implemented and merged with the advancing controllers like that current tunze thing, only better and cheaper.

very exciting.

[rbc1225]

Originally posted by Swanwillow
but, if you DIY, I see possibilities of doing it at half the price, and being just as effective.

I'm looking at skimmers right now too, octopus are the same price range.

Oh I agree, you can save a lot of money on a lot of things DIY, but finding the time makes it hard somethimes.