Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Thanks guys for the photography tips. I will give it another try when I get a chance to play.

The tank is doing well. I got a bit of a diatom bloom at first but it's pretty much gone by now. Livestock is all happy, corals have displayed growth already.

I still have to finish up some miscellaneous "neatening" tasks, but for the most part all major systems are in operation. The ATS is running, but so far is just growing a really thin coat of brown slime. Hopefully it'll kick off in earnest soon.

 

[thebanker]

Looks good dwzzle.

Keep the photos coming!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I did play with the camera in RAW mode last night, during "sunset," and I have high hopes. Will post the results once I tweak a bit more.

As some may remember the ATS is a dual design, I basically have two separate screens in the sump. I planned this to allow me to harvest one screen at a time, hoping to avoid huge swings in stability when harvesting occurred. But now I'm performing an experiment - I'm cleaning one of the screens on a regular basis, even though there's basically nothing on it but a thin layer of brown slime, and I'm leaving the other one intact, to see if it seeds with "correct" algae species more quickly.

 

[thebanker]

I always wondered, could one seed the ATS with edible algae?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I've never heard of that, dunno much about edibility of marine algae. I do know that several people who've used these longterm are composting their waste for use as a garden fertilizer and I'm sure it's excellent for that.

Generally you let the tank naturally seed the screen, and you get what you get. There are a handful of typical (or desirable) species but designing the scrubber for optimization of nutrient export really self-selects certain species.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I think I read the the species will also change depending on what is the optimum for the conditions.

 

[thebanker]

designing the scrubber for optimization of nutrient export really self-selects certain species.

Good point.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I think I read the the species will also change depending on what is the optimum for the conditions.

Yes, indeed. I'm definitely not an expert but generally the idea is to design a system that caters to the optimal green hairy algae, since it is typically regarded as the best for nutrient export.

As I mentioned above though I'm definitely not there yet. Mine's just growing slime, which seems to be typical when they're this young.

 

[kcress]

You can feed your fish any of the green algae that shows up on your screen. You can feed it fresh or dried.

 

[Misled]

Yes, indeed. I'm definitely not an expert but generally the idea is to design a system that caters to the optimal green hairy algae, since it is typically regarded as the best for nutrient export.

The system at the Pittsburgh Zoo used to run it off sunlight. It was kept in a greenhouse with no overhead lighting. The only thing that would grow was hair. IMO light will be part of what determines what type you will have.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Light definitely plays a role.

Anyone interested in ATSs should head over to the advanced forum, there are two stickied threads there that have TONS of really, really good info in them. The "standard approach" has been refined since I originally built my unit last fall, and there have been some interesting trials of various advanced approaches.

 

[thebanker]

Light definitely plays a role.

I can tell you, that since I've upgraded my refugium to T5, I'm getting WAY more algae growth in there. The Cheetos (Flamin' Hot) are growing quickly, GHA is growing on the overflow bits (which I clean off periodically), and geldinia red wire algae is flourishing in spots (I don't cut that stuff out, I love it).

 

[iwishtofish]

Wow, I thought this project was toast! I was searching for a good LED build reference thread, and stumbled back across this thread. I'll need to go back and catch up!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I didn't put much detail about the LED build here, because it's not totally conventional and I don't think people should use it as a "standard" reference for a typical build. If you have questions though lemme know.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Okay, so I might as well admit at this point, I've pretty much lost my mind. The thing's barely been running and I'm already thinking about major changes, when through this whole process I've been telling myself, "you need to get it up and running and then just leave it alone and enjoy it for a while."

Every time I open my stand doors, a thought hits me. It's kinda silly to have a gigantic sump with a big expensive pump on it for this tank. I mean, what do I have in the sump?

1) ATO
2) ATS
3) Potential for a media bag of chemical filtration media if the need arises

The heaters are already in the overflow box, to provide heat to the tank in the event that the return pump fails.

The ATO is tiny and would be easy to set up elsewhere.

So, that basically means I'm running this massive pump on this gigantic sump purely so I have a place to hang the ATS screen and associated lighting.

Well, I've been thinking about building a new, self-enclosed ATS at some point in the future. So, that sparked a thought. I have tons of open space up in the hood area, why not just put the ATS up there? I could put it's supply pump in the overflow box, and put the ATO up there, too. The overflow box would become a sort of in-tank sump, and I could remove the return pump, drain plumbing, and sump itself (I could put the sump in the basement and use it as a frag tank or quarantine tank).

And I'd love to have the space back in my stand. Right now the sump basically takes up half the stand area, but it BLOCKS me from getting to the other half (because I'd have to reach over the sump to get back there) so it basically takes up the ENTIRE stand!

So, am I crazy? Does this make any sense at all to anyone?

 

[TheFishMan65]

Have you thought about it over night. Yes. Good. Go for it.

 

[thebanker]

Makes sense. I've been sumpless since day 1 and while it has its disadvantages, there is something comforting about the simplicity and knowing that if the power goes out, everything will be okay!

 

[amcarrig]

Okay, so I might as well admit at this point, I've pretty much lost my mind. The thing's barely been running and I'm already thinking about major changes

I'm shocked! Shocked I tell ya! :lol:

I'm guessing that you don't have any future plans to add a kalk or calcium reactor that would warrant the need for a sump then?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I effectively have a kalk reactor, it's run on a peristaltic pump and it's in the basement. The only "requirement" from the sump/tank perspective is that the airline running from the unit to dose the fluid has to have somewhere to drip. The peristaltic pump is more than powerful enough to push it up to the tank from the basement.

Fishman, I've done more than think about it overnight. I've stayed up all night thinking about it pretty much all week.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Well then I would build the new scrubber your posting about and then take out the sump. Sound like a good plan to me.