can you help me go skimmerless?

[skyshrimp]

Due to my hair algae problem and my initial start up of my aquarium with tap water high in phosphates, i'be decided to rebuild my aquarium with new rock dry and live. But I ve been reading lately on the large diversity of critters,sponges, dusters, great polyp extension, and healthy corals,etc you get with going skimmerless. I wanna give it a try but i need you all to help me step by step with the process so i dont crash my new set up. Any experiences from you all would help and anyone with a fair amoiut of knowledge on the subject please feel free to chime in. Ask or comment away.

 

[rhdoug]

Go to "algaescrubber dot net" to find out all you'll need to know. FWIW, I did this on my tank for a little over a year. Mine worked well for several months, but was undersized and underlit for my tank. In addition, with my setup anyway, lights were dangerously close to water, and the screen did tend to spit water on occasion when sections would clog. I hooked my skimmer back up a few months ago as the tank had began to suffer. IME, you cannot skimp on screen size or lighting - you'll find sizes and guides etc. on the site. I did see an increase in the pod population while the ATS was running, at least for a while. If you have the room to make one the correct size, or the money to buy one that this guy makes, go for it.

 

[srusso]

I agree, an algae scrubber is the only filtration I use for my tank. I learned everything I needed to know from algaescrubber.net. Its a great site for info on how to successfully run one. I have an over sized screen and it works wonders for my tank.

 

[spamreefnew]

#3 ! I have been running an ATS as my ONLY filtration for about a year now and I will never look back. BUT you have to build the ats well you cant skimp on it and an enclosed scrubber screen is best to avoid water spurting on lights.

 

[srusso]

FYI, a 10 inch by 10 inch screen can support a 100 gallon tank. I have a 12"x13" screen which should support a 150 gallon on my 70 gallon.

 

[skyshrimp]

Thanks everyone for the site and info. Just wondering if any of you have any pics of you systems on ats.

 

[spamreefnew]

I have plenty of pics but nobody can seem to help me reduce the size of them for posting

 

[srusso]

My ATS is run from the overflow. It is a simple one pump system for my whole tank. I have cleaned up the wires now and everything looks much cleaner then in this older picture.

This was taken well before my screen had matured. It now grows tons of algae every week.


Here is a picture of the harvest the day I believed my screen had matured.

The screen MUST be cleaned every seven days! Yesterday's harvest was 2-3 times as large as what was shown in that last picture. I knew I should have taken a shot of it!

 

[srusso]

Ps. I used that scrub brush only for my ATS screen and it is kept with all my other reef equipment. DO NOT EVER USE SOMETHING THAT WAS USED WITH SOAP! but I am sure you knew that... that was for noobs who dont know any better...

 

[rysher]

so if you have an ATS you don't need a skimmer?

skimmer is one of my problem, buy in to the hobby is quite expensive and as of the moment i can't afford to buy a skimmer.

 

[kuyatwo]

Google Marko haga skimmerless reef builders. It is a beautiful tank

 

[srusso]

so if you have an ATS you don't need a skimmer?

skimmer is one of my problem, buy in to the hobby is quite expensive and as of the moment i can't afford to buy a skimmer.

Yes, IMO a reef tank can be run without a skimmer if a ATS is used.

 

[d0ughb0y]

ok, so I read the instructions on how to make ats, but I am not clear where the water flows? is the pvc pipe just a holder/support for the screen? or do you feed the water to one end of the pipe and cap the other end?

doesn't the light in the sump cause algae to start growing on your sump as well?

 

[rysher]

the water flows thru the pipe where u inserted ur filter media, the pipe is capped at the end.

i also read the article, it's kinda interesting really.


my question is, if you have the "TS", can you still grow chaeto on the sump refuge?

 

[srusso]

ok, so I read the instructions on how to make ats, but I am not clear where the water flows? is the pvc pipe just a holder/support for the screen? or do you feed the water to one end of the pipe and cap the other end?

doesn't the light in the sump cause algae to start growing on your sump as well?

It has grown a bit of algae in the sump, but this just creates an optimal location for pods. In fact the ATS breeds pods by the millions daily. Because of this fact I plan to get a female mandarin for my male.

 

[srusso]

the water flows thru the pipe where u inserted ur filter media, the pipe is capped at the end.

i also read the article, it's kinda interesting really.


my question is, if you have the "TS", can you still grow chaeto on the sump refuge?

I am not sure why you would want to still grow chaeto. However you should still be able to... Feed heavier and get more live stock...

I feed tons for food in my tank and never have worries about NO3 or PO4. They are both used up as soon as it is leached into the water.

 

[rysher]

thank you

 

[spamreefnew]

skyshrimp feel free to pm me if you need help with the scrubber. I am sort of a scrubber guru lol I have done a ton of reading and have built several scrubbers to date.

 

[rysher]

spam, can i pm u too?
this ATS ahs really gotten my interest.

 

[srusso]

I am also happy to help any way I can. Feel free to PM me as well. :beer: