3: You may not need the water changing.
You can sometimes eliminate the need for water changes for the purposes of nutrient reduction, but there are many other important reasons to keep doing water changes. If you never plan on adding anything to your tank ever again, then maybe you can reduce water changes in general. Everything in the tank will get used to the 'soup' that they are in, but anything you try to add will struggle to survive due to chemical warfare. Doing regular water changes at some level is still applicable. That being said I don't do this very religiously but I'm also aware that I can't change anything in my tank because of it.
Wow, this thread is massive. I set out to read the entire thing but have since thought twice.. I made it about 200 posts in and the over 6600 posts proved a daunting task. Would it be considered offensive to jump in and ask a few simple questions?? If not, then I will ask now. If you prefer I read I could do that too but it's a ton of info!!!
The last thread I tried to be faithful from the start was on RDSB and I learned several days into the read that ATS provide the same benefit if not more and are much more efficient at providing it... My questions are these:
1. When running an ATS what is the advisable sump setup? Everything else just seems like a waste after what I've read. Have we actually evolved passed the DSB refugium entirely? What about a protean skimmer?
2. I believe I have a grasp on the basics of the original designs but what seems to be the newest and best? I plan to enclose mine in an acrylic box and bud DIY LED lights for it...
My tank will be, once I'm done learning and planning, a 40b lit with 300W Chinese LED modded to run on my apex, a 40b sump for added volume and whatever else ends up making sense... I am also planning ATO and AWC systems...
The "basics" post numbers within this thread are listed in my signature (which you can't see if you are viewing on Tapatalk) that will get you on the right track for a waterfall scrubber.
DSB is a different thread also, done right, it is also a viable method. Can do both also. Key word: done right.
Skimmer: still a good filtration method, but when you combine multiple methods you can "downsize" each, if you want. So for instance if you have a 200g tanks, you don't necessarily have to go with a skimmer rated for a 200g tank when you have a scrubber and/or other strong filtration methods, you might be able to scale that back to a 150g or 100g rated skimmer. The exceptions are methods that require a skimmer co-filter (like biopellets).
question for Santa monica. I have one of your original scrubbers 100, Is there a LED retrofit for that design. I would love to swap out the t5's for LED's
google "Expressions LTD" and go to their algae scrubber section. Good cheap retrofit, you'll need a couple per side.
Thanks for the reply SM, I definitely like the idea of the scrubber, which model do you believe to be more effective? I have plenty of space above my sump, but also I will have a very large sump so have space there too. I am actually looking forward to the build, it will help to hone my acrylic working skills a bit. I would like to have a fuge for additional growth of live foods but would have no need of other algae growth, is this still something people do? Or does enough life grow in the scrubber to feed a tank? Does the scrubber completely remove the need for a RDSB? Sorry for all of the questions, I just love the simplicity of this idea. Could you recommend me with some reading that can help me decide whether or not to have a skimmer with the ATS?
Thanks for your help! I'm still a couple months from being setup but I'll try to post updates when I get to building.
I'm in favor of the waterfall. Remember you only really need one based on feeding volume, not tank volume.
IMO it's difficult to structure a tank to be self-feeding. Fish need more than just algae to eat, and pod growth is difficult to sustain in volume enough to feed inhabitants.
