If ATS Screen Size is Based on How Much Food...

[PIPSTER]

If the size of a tank doesn't matter to ATS screen size, but the amount of food fed does...then doesn't that mean the bioload isn't relative to tank size either? :worried:

In other words, can we have 40-60 anthias in a 40B feeding 3X+ daily as long as the ATS is big enough? :eek2::spin2:

If the ATS is supposed to handle the bioload, then why not?:uzi:

I'm purposefully exaggerating the point to make obvious my question. :deadhorse:

 

[PIPSTER]

Fish aren't people.

I'm only asking this in the scope of bioload and ATS, it doesn't really have anything to do with the actual number of fish. The number was exaggerated on purpose to explore what's the real limit on bioload, if it's not really relative to the aquarium size since the ATS is incorporated.

 

[jayball]

Rules of thumb tend to break down when you bring them to extremes. I would imagine the lack of biological filtration in you example would throw a wrench in the works.

 

[PIPSTER]

The exaggeration isn't the point, it's meant to clarify the point.

If a 300 gallon tank is only fed 1 cube of food per day, then the screen's going to need to be small.
But if a 300 gallon tank can be fed 30 cubes of food with a larger screen on the ATS and more lighting, that means the bio-load is taken care of.
Then why can't a 100 gallon tank be fed 30 cubes a day with the same size ATS?
The more we can feed the tank the better, that's my point.
I bring the fish into the equation because certain kinds are schooling or swarming and having SOME more fish would be nice for schools.

 

[Horace]

OP

Logic tells me your exactly right. Its the bioload, NOT the tank or water volume. The rules of thumb for ATS size probably account for the average bioload of a given amount of water. Im betting if you put a larger ATS on a smaller tank that has a larger than avg bioload, it should do the job just fine....just my thoughts using basic logic, but what do i know

 

[PIPSTER]

@op

Sorry if I have misunderstood your query. But your query is impractical. Main point is to keep our pets healthy and thriving. Just having a very large ats along with too much fishes in a small cube won't do it.

Bioload is indeed related with tank size. You should not consider only filtration. I would say one 12 inch fish in a 3 feet cube is excess bioload even if it has got a big enough ats.

It's ok, and you're right...what I'm really trying to accomplish is feeding more, just with a lopsided angle.

 

[MorganAtlanta]

An ATS does not know how big a tank it is attached to. Give it nutrients and light and flow and it will grow. However, you have to keep in mind that the "average" nutrient removal rate is different than the nutrient removal rate at any specific point in time.

Let's say you have a "heavy" bioload in a 100 gallon system and an ATS designed to handle 10 cubes of food a day. On average, maybe it can keep up. But, every day it goes through cycles where it isn't processing nutrients at all, and with the heavy bioload your nutrients are going to climb quickly. If this is at the same time of day you have your lights on in your DT, you'll likely get algae happily growing there because the ATS isn't really competing with it. Then, let's say you clean the ATS. It takes a few days for it to really restart growth and in the mean time, you'll have 30 cubes worth of nutrients built up. In the mean time, that algae in your display will be happily consuming those nutrients, and your corals might be suffering. Then consider what would happen if one of the lights in your ATS got turned off for a week for some reason and you didn't notice. You might have a disaster on your hands that the system would take months to recover from (or even be in a teardown/restart situation).

Compare that to a "normally" loaded 100 gallon system fed maybe 3 cubes a day, and an ATS designed for that load . That's only 30% of the load rate and 30% of the available nutrients at any time compared to the heavily loaded system. You are much less likely to get growth of unwanted algae in your display because the nutrient levels will never be as high as the heavily loaded system. This system will be much more stable over time and much less likely to head south quickly if there is any kind of hiccup.

 

[azjohnny]

For the most part an ATS absorbs nutrients that would cause GHA and by adding cubes of food you are keeping the ATS alive. In the beginning you will have lots of phosphate in the water/rocks and you won't have to feed the ATS that much and once the ATS is mature it will start to pull phosphate from the rocks and the GHA will start to die off. At this point is when I would be concerned about feeding the ATS the proper amount

After a week or 2 of starting up an ATS you will notice you have less algae growing on the glass. It might take 6-8 weeks before the GHA on the rocks to start to disappear