Hi peeps,
This is an unboxing of an ATS bought from Jude Tok via his Carousell account (some of you would know him). It’s an ATS made in China and he brings it into Singapore. The price is SGD 230 dollars. I have no prior experience in ATS therefore this writeup is not meant to be a review or any form of comparison to another ATS. This writeup is only based on my personal views of this ATS and a preview of what to expect from unboxing the product. I normally don’t do any writeups but Jude asked if I could share my views on this ATS so I agreed (Ahhh the sweet smell of a year’s free Starbucks).
This is the smallest model with the dimensions of 300mm long by 230mm tall and 105mm wide. Jude told me there are another 2 other larger sizes. If you’re interested you’d have to check with him directly.
Upon opening you will find a China made pump rated at 800 L/H, the ATS, a tube, and the LED.
From the first touch and look I must say I’m impressed with the build quality. The material is sturdy with a black shine and doesn’t feel like it was poorly made. All the sections that connects are flushed and well fitted into each other as you can see from the images.
Unlike other China ATS models that you can search up from Taobao or whatever other website, this one has the company logo printed on it which gives it some form of standard and company pride rather that passing off as a replica. This is one of few times where I actually can use the word stunning on a product. Adds a 10% proudness score if I had to open the sump cabinet for my guests. Let’s just hope it functions as good as it looks.
The pump you receive is rated at 800 L/H. Pretty powerful for an ATS with a waterfall concept. I reckon you’d be fine with an Eheim Compact 300 pump.
It comes with a hose attachment that fits into the supplied tube and into the pump. I have a problem where the hose attachment was too loose when fitted into the pump. It would slide out easily and that’s problematic as there were some instances for me where the tube just slid off when the pump was running. This is however a minor issue for me as you could easily replace the pump with any other pump you prefer. Perhaps I was just unlucky to receive a loose attachment. Thankfully gambling isn’t a hobby of mine. The flow can be tuned down with a rotational knob however I felt there was no significant differences as I tried tuning it at either of the extreme ends. Again maybe the Gods just hate me and I received a defective pump.
The LED strips has a total of 24 diodes with 12 on each strip.
It comes with a switch so you can turn the light on and off. On the switch it is labelled that the LED is 12 watts RGB. The LED gives off a pretty nice red-violet coloration and with 24 diodes it’s really bright.
Thankfully it’s enclosed and in the cabinet or my house is going to get raided when neighbours see blue and red lighting emitting from my windows. Not that I know what actually goes on in houses that emits red and blue lighting… That’s as much lighting info I can give because my knowledge of lighting is as far as what’s printed on the labels. Yeah I know kinda like those lectures who just reads off the slides.
The LED section is a separate piece and it is NOT submersible so do not put it into water. I repeat DO NOT submerge the LED section in water. Link to Google translate in case anyone needs the words DO NOT in different languages : https://translate.google.com/
The main body is designed in a triangle shape which to me is really well thought of.
This allows for the water to just slide down the growth medium due to the angle and you can be sure the water will hit the medium even with a lower flow pump. Again I’m not a guru of ATS but so far from what I’ve seen I’ve only come across rectangular boxes with a 90 degree vertical flow designs. I reckon this really isn’t going to be a huge factor as for every ATS the whole internal is going to get damp anyway and once algae grows it’s going to mat all over. What I really like about this growth medium is that it can slide out easily to clean plus the rough mat is only on one side. The mat is glued down on a clear acrylic sheet which is great because you’re not going to have hairballs or algae getting tangled at the front and back of the growth medium. I reckon cleaning it would be rather simple.
Perhaps some others might think otherwise and that is of course open for debate. Another plus point for me is that because the growth medium is a separate piece, it can be easily changed in future should you so need to. So if you prefer to not have the acrylic piece you can easily buy any soft mats or slim plastic grids and slide it in. Just take note of the allowed thickness of the growth medium if you’re planning to change. There is a little notch at each end that keeps the medium in place. Another small but thoughtful part of the design is the little cut away at the top. This allows you to just pinch the medium and pull it out.
Ok so the LED hangs at the outside part of the sump while the main body hangs inside the sump. Do note that you have to hang the LED section first then the main body hangs on top of it. The hooks of the main body is designed to hook over the width of the LED section and the tank glass. The spacing of the hooks is at a maximum of 15mm so technically it should fit up to 15mm glass. I wouldn’t think that this should be a concern though because sump glass thickness would typically be at a maximum of 12mm. But hey, who am I to dictate what’s the norm right? Anyway if you really do like this fella and for some reason your glass has to be 15mm or more, I reckon you could have a section where the glass is thinner to accommodate the ATS.
Because the main body holds the LED section in place, it will keep the LED section flushed against the glass regardless of the thickness of the glass. Confusing? Never mind it’s pretty idiot proof so if you do get a hold of this product you’ll get what I mean when you set it up. If you still don’t get it after purchase please note that I do not think any lesser of you.
This ATS fits perfectly in the area of the sump I intended for it to be. The bottom sinks in about just 3cm in the water which is great cause I won’t have micro bubbles from a waterfall effect and there’s plenty of unsubmerged surface area for the algae to grow inside. The measurement of my sump glass after the water surface is 16cm in case you’d like to know.
In my case the ATS hugs the glass perfectly well. No gaps or irregular alignment is seen. Totally anti-OCD if you’re a perfectionist for geometrics.
So that’s about it for this unboxing writeup. I probably wouldn’t see any algae growth on it till sometime later because this is a new tank and still under a month old. Perhaps once algae start to grow I will update the post but don’t hold your breath on this one. Would want any casualties on my account.
In case you're wondering, the light you see at the top of the tank is my living room ceiling light. This tank has no lights fitted yet.
