how many of you with ATS are skimmerless

miatawnt2b

miatawnt2b

New member
I spun up an upflow ATS a few months ago, and as soon as I started seeing good growth I ripped my problematic skimmer out of the tank.
Just wondering how many of you ATS guys are skimmerless and have you noticed any effects long term?
-J
 
We've been running an ATS since July and absolutely love the results, but haven't taken the skimmer offline. It's still pulling gobs of gunk and provides nice oxygenation from outside air to help with stabilizing the pH.

Maybe we'll catch ya in Fishy Bizness some time.
 
My skimmer died almost a year ago and I have not replaced it. My ATS has been working really well, even out competing the chaeto. I kinda let the tank go a year and a half to two years ago and had never really gotten rid of the hair algae that I have had for 3 years. But now when I am on top of the tank maintenance and cleaning the scrubber regularly, I have almost completely eradicated the GHA. There is only a bit left deep in the deadspots of my birds nest, but otherwise is completely gone from my rocks and corals.

TBH I do plan on replacing the skimmer eventually, but I am upgrading from a 46 bowfront to a 75RR and got new LED lights from my wife for Christmas, so I have no money in the budget for a new skimmer for now. I'll just upgrade my ATS and buy more LR to handle the additional the larger tank, and larger bioload when I stock it too.
 
That video is pretty convincing.....not saying skimmerless is best but that shows it can work very well.

Corey
 
I'm a big fan of harvesting algae in some way. I'm loving my Turbo L3 ATS and looking forward to getting his latest and biggest L8.

That said I see no reason to go skimmerless. It's a great way to help aerate the water and helpful in removing organics that can attach to the bubble before they break down to unwanted nutrients. Skimmers also in the long run are fairly cheap and easy to maintain.

The ATS will then pick up where the skimmer leaves off and consumes those nutrients that have dissolved and no longer is able to attach to the bubbles surface.

I see it all working together and a part of a whole.

That all said there are some people that just refuse to use a skimmer. More power to them. I would suggest they then run GAC to help remove those organics. I would say GAC is more efficient then a skimmer and could also work in conjunction with it all as part of that whole. But it does cost more in the long run and can require more maintenance. GAC also if not rinsed properly could cause health issues with fish. I suggest a good acid washed carbon like ROX.

There's always someone for and against something.
 
jason2459 said:
I'm a big fan of harvesting algae in some way. I'm loving my Turbo L3 ATS and looking forward to getting his latest and biggest L8.

That said I see no reason to go skimmerless. It's a great way to help aerate the water and helpful in removing organics that can attach to the bubble before they break down to unwanted nutrients. Skimmers also in the long run are fairly cheap and easy to maintain.

The ATS will then pick up where the skimmer leaves off and consumes those nutrients that have dissolved and no longer is able to attach to the bubbles surface.

I see it all working together and a part of a whole.

That all said there are some people that just refuse to use a skimmer. More power to them. I would suggest they then run GAC to help remove those organics. I would say GAC is more efficient then a skimmer and could also work in conjunction with it all as part of that whole. But it does cost more in the long run and can require more maintenance. GAC also if not rinsed properly could cause health issues with fish. I suggest a good acid washed carbon like ROX.

There's always someone for and against something.
Click to expand...

Some excellent points here.

At a minimum if you have a well designed ATS then you could downgrade your skimmer. Smaller skimmers cost less, are usually quieter and use less energy.

I like to run GAC for water clarity. I like your comparison of the GAC and skimmer. Furthermore, a skimmer needs to be cleaned regularly and requires another pump that will break eventually.

I've seen many skimmer based systems that were bad. I've never seen a bad system that incorporated ATS. Although an ATS is not necessarily a cure all the benefits of one are clear and probably is best ran in conjunction with other equipment.
 
They do different things.

The skimmer removes waste - uneaten food and fish/invertebrate export (poop). Mine generates a wet export and a dry export. Take a look and let me know what you think it is...

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/09CD78AB-2F26-4314-A3BE-B73D3480A090_zpsoe8ygoov.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/09CD78AB-2F26-4314-A3BE-B73D3480A090_zpsoe8ygoov.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 09CD78AB-2F26-4314-A3BE-B73D3480A090_zpsoe8ygoov.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/6EBCFDD3-BDA3-4427-82FF-ED75EC5A57D2_zpssax3wime.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/6EBCFDD3-BDA3-4427-82FF-ED75EC5A57D2_zpssax3wime.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6EBCFDD3-BDA3-4427-82FF-ED75EC5A57D2_zpssax3wime.jpg"/></a>

and with a flash to get the colors right

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/8A2B6C5D-5712-4ED0-A985-525A255EB4EE_zpsu84ucdix.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/8A2B6C5D-5712-4ED0-A985-525A255EB4EE_zpsu84ucdix.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 8A2B6C5D-5712-4ED0-A985-525A255EB4EE_zpsu84ucdix.jpg"/></a>

The ATS, on the other hand, removes the inorganic nutrients that are food for plants and microalgae... These are the outputs on the microfauna and bacteria filtering the other waste material, breaking it down to nitrates and phosphates.

For that, you first need a biological filter like live rock and live sand. I use a modular DSB and live rock solution. Small buckets of sand and other media full of worms, pods, etc... with a dark crypic layer deeper down. Above the biological filter, I use a chaeto farm for additional export and pod culture.

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/CEA2D325-5213-419F-A768-0849301AF55E_zpsxz2e0lc5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/CEA2D325-5213-419F-A768-0849301AF55E_zpsxz2e0lc5.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo CEA2D325-5213-419F-A768-0849301AF55E_zpsxz2e0lc5.jpg"/></a>

here's a better picture from when I first set it up

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/C1C7CC7B-CDFF-472C-A14F-51DBC741A30F_zpsbszvt6hl.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/C1C7CC7B-CDFF-472C-A14F-51DBC741A30F_zpsbszvt6hl.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C1C7CC7B-CDFF-472C-A14F-51DBC741A30F_zpsbszvt6hl.jpg"/></a>

Once the nitrates and phosphates are in the water, you can't remove them without an active export (or water changes).

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/9ECCCF5B-8265-48D0-9C0F-406190F50BC6_zps1vpsfuym.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/9ECCCF5B-8265-48D0-9C0F-406190F50BC6_zps1vpsfuym.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 9ECCCF5B-8265-48D0-9C0F-406190F50BC6_zps1vpsfuym.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 76BBC291-1A20-4FE0-A556-17906D17E49F_zps37fdhust.jpg"/></a>

If you keep up your filter and export, then you can feed and that makes your corals go...

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/C9B6EEE0-BA43-4610-9779-3961741EF06E_zpsbn5rijpf.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/C9B6EEE0-BA43-4610-9779-3961741EF06E_zpsbn5rijpf.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C9B6EEE0-BA43-4610-9779-3961741EF06E_zpsbn5rijpf.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/A9B671E0-35D3-40B9-B0EC-203CD3D304B7_zpsrek3xdrh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/A9B671E0-35D3-40B9-B0EC-203CD3D304B7_zpsrek3xdrh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo A9B671E0-35D3-40B9-B0EC-203CD3D304B7_zpsrek3xdrh.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/karimwassef/media/3FF48367-922D-4B3F-AD58-ADEC56B65E42_zpsqxt395rf.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t496/karimwassef/3FF48367-922D-4B3F-AD58-ADEC56B65E42_zpsqxt395rf.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 3FF48367-922D-4B3F-AD58-ADEC56B65E42_zpsqxt395rf.jpg"/></a>
 
Last edited:
Jade5051 said:
Some excellent points here.

At a minimum if you have a well designed ATS then you could downgrade your skimmer. Smaller skimmers cost less, are usually quieter and use less energy.

I like to run GAC for water clarity. I like your comparison of the GAC and skimmer. Furthermore, a skimmer needs to be cleaned regularly and requires another pump that will break eventually.

I've seen many skimmer based systems that were bad. I've never seen a bad system that incorporated ATS. Although an ATS is not necessarily a cure all the benefits of one are clear and probably is best ran in conjunction with other equipment.
Click to expand...
My skimmer maintanence is extremely minimal. I use a swabbie neck cleaner that has done an excellent job cleaning the neck keeping it squeaky clean.

74dbdbf12f232b864850d7d639296d84.jpg


Then that red tube connects down to a 5 gallon bucket. That 5 gallon bucket has a horizontal float switch that alerts and tells me I need to dump it. Then it also has a pressure switch above that level that again alerts me saying you idiot why didn't you listen to me before and then it also shuts down my skimmer.

Now the maintanence on that is me bringing up Apex Fusion on any web browser and turning a pump on that I also have sitting at the bottom of that bucket. That pump has a hose attached that feeds to a floor drain next to it. The beauty of it is I don't have to time it when to turn it off. I turn it on for a second and right back off. It then siphons the rest out.

So, far I've spent 3 seconds of my time every so often on maintenance. If I want I have a IR night vision type webcam I can remotely control to get a visual of what's going on or can see how full the skimmate bucket is and dump it sooner than alerted if I cared too.

The next maintanence chore on it is cleaning out the collection cup. I'm far to lazy to bring it up to the sink. So, I put my finger on the air intake which then floods the collection cup to the skimmate bucket flushing it all out. I also have a new saltmix container that has a pump in it directly to my sump. I turn it on for a few seconds so my ATO doesn't replace the saltwater that just flushed out the skimmer's collection cup. I fill up the bucket and release my finger. I then take my 3 seconds to turn on the bucket's pump for a second to empty it.

That maintanence is a real chore and takes me a good 60 seconds to fill up that bucket. Not to mention the 5 seconds to turn on the new salt mix pump AND back off. Then the bother to take the final 3 seconds to turn on and off the bucket's draining pump.

It's a drag and I do that every TWO weeks! Or really on schedule now when I scrape my ATS screen which I do now on the 1st and 15th of the month so its easier to remember then every two weeks.

The Bucket
1a41f5a08f82d379ea110e59dafba3fb.jpg




As for cost. If the pump goes out its a reliable and efficient yet inexpensive sicce based pump.

I am looking to try out an MTC skimmer which I already have a fairly inexpensive mag1800 pump to go with it.

Which I already have spares of both. As I also run a mag 1800 for my return pump. I always keep spares of stuff.

But yes, some skimmer pumps are crazy expensive but very nice.
 
Last edited:
Personally, I don't think skimmer and ATS are mutually exclusive. As mentioned above, they're perform different functions.

I have skimmer, ATS, remote DSB (inherited it), mangroves in my sump (looks cool), and carbon dosing.

I like redundancy - if something happens to the ATS, then it won't result in nasty algae outbreak.

I can feed fish/corals all day long without worrying about algae. Adding carbon (amino acids/soy milk/vodka) provides larger bacterial population, which is good.

I see small serpulid tube worms everywhere in my tank, so there is enough food for them and my corals as well.

And last, I run my skimmer in wet mode, so it changes water little by little (about 2-3 gal/day).
 
Yes the skimmer pulls out solid organics that the ats can't, but given time some of that would have decomposed and then the ats would remove it. Also, the skimmer doesn't just remove waste, it removes your coral food also.

The ats is producing oxygen when the light is on, and the waterfall affect is providing gas exchange.

Nothing is perfect. There are benefits and drawbacks with everything.
 
Keep in mind a skimmer is not a very efficient mechanical filter which I think is a good thing. If you feed enough your corals will get plenty of food and enough left over to feed the ATS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Overflowbox work?
Replies
7
Views
424
wvned
wvned
A
Overflowbox work?
Replies
4
Views
334
griss
griss
E
What's Old is New Again
Replies
2
Views
460
Uncle99
Uncle99
Paul B
How Fish are Different from most of us
Replies
1
Views
1K
Paul B
Paul B
Niven
I'm back....and ready to jump back in, feet first in the deep end, speedo, everything!
2
Replies
20
Views
523
vlangel
vlangel
Back
Top