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Algae turf scrubber from taobao


flowy
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this brand i not used before, but i bought another brand from taobao, its waterfall style, the craftmanship is very bad, lights they just silicone to the plastic, very unsightly they dont even bother even out the excess silicone, i also dont trust their water proofing, as ATS light is close to the water this is factor u need to consider. End of day, u pay for the design, ease of maintenance and safety. Thats y those products from US so expensive. Just my 2 cents.


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Just buy the size suit to your sump. Too big will not able to fit in to your sump.


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Thank you!, it was really helpful!!, may i know which type u got?, the 1000L/hr or the 500L/hr?. And how big is ur tank


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My tank 4ft Red Sea tank.
I think is 500l/hrs.


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Was considering the 1000L/hr but feel its super over powered. But now that i know its 500L/hr its sufficient especially since i have a protein skimmer running as well.


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On 1/8/2021 at 11:50 AM, Heroo said:

Is it really true that u no need a skimmer if u use this thing??

it depend what is the purpose of using the ATS, if the purposes is to reduce nutrient then it works.. however skimmer work as a mechanical filtration to remove waste from the water and also provide oxygen in a reef tank which is benefit to the system

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it depend what is the purpose of using the ATS, if the purposes is to reduce nutrient then it works.. however skimmer work as a mechanical filtration to remove waste from the water and also provide oxygen in a reef tank which is benefit to the system

I’ve read leon’s post regarding the ATS that you have handed over to him, was it a good buy?, from taobao as well?


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The ATS is used for growing macro algae mainly to absorb nitrate and phosphate; provided there is sufficient and  on-growing algae.  One good sign of nutrient reduction is growth reduction. That's one reason why overfeeding is less of an issue.   

A skimmer on the other hand will only take out the dissolved waste of the food and fish discharged.  Hence u see the dark brown color in the scum cup. 

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I've diy ATS a few times, initially using the CFL and the last one using waterproof leds (got mine at Sim Lim Tower). One needs to use the waterproof ones , else they spoil easily once wetted.

The hassle  of dismantling the  setup to check and  harvest.

Right now, I'm using a chaeto tumbler (Jake Adams'reefbuilder style). Also diy.

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6 hours ago, finbir said:

I've diy ATS a few times, initially using the CFL and the last one using waterproof leds (got mine at Sim Lim Tower). One needs to use the waterproof ones , else they spoil easily once wetted.

The hassle  of dismantling the  setup to check and  harvest.

Right now, I'm using a chaeto tumbler (Jake Adams'reefbuilder style). Also diy.

care to share some photos of your build ?

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Might sound a bit dumb but I'll try to get help on downloading. Meanwhile, here's a brief description of the setup. 

The whole thing  is somewhat similar to one  which is on sale commercially for around $239 (not sure if it's US  currency). Mine's made of cut ups Ferrero Roche chocolate boxes. One  big box and one small one. The completed thing is rectangular in shape and made according to the size I want. There's a curved plate about one third from the bottom. A 12w Atman is hung at one  end to feed a 13mm grey pipe with a diy flattened outlet to  increase the outflow. A handful of chaeto  is next  dumped into  the box. I currently use a 10w red and  white bulb from Ikea for lighting. N.B. Credit to Jake  Adams of Reef Builders for the idea.

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The biggest difference between an ats/uas and a chaeto/macro algae reactor like @finbir's is that we do not supply the algae for ats. 

Unlike chaeto or caulerpa,  which has to be added into the reactor by the reefer,  the ats encourages the microalgae already in all reef systems to grow. Since there are many kind of microalgae,  which make use of nitrate and phosphate at different rates,  the ats has a slight ability to correct nutrients imbalance. 

When the phosphate is high,  more brown turf algae will grow; when nitrate is high,  more green turf algae will grow

The dynamic algae population is helpful if nutrient balance is an issue. Macroalgae,  being a single species,  will not have this benefit. 

Imo,  there are two downside of ats to keep in mind. 

1. Turf algae traps a lot of detritus. So they can clog fairly fast, and cleaning should be done carefully to prevent detritus from washing into the tank. 

2. Microalgae strips a lot of nutrients from water,  competing with corals. I find this rather wasteful. 

 

Other than that,  a properly sized algae scrubber is very capable. 

 

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On 2/12/2021 at 6:23 PM, JiaEn said:

The biggest difference between an ats/uas and a chaeto/macro algae reactor like @finbir's is that we do not supply the algae for ats. 

Unlike chaeto or caulerpa,  which has to be added into the reactor by the reefer,  the ats encourages the microalgae already in all reef systems to grow. Since there are many kind of microalgae,  which make use of nitrate and phosphate at different rates,  the ats has a slight ability to correct nutrients imbalance. 

When the phosphate is high,  more brown turf algae will grow; when nitrate is high,  more green turf algae will grow

The dynamic algae population is helpful if nutrient balance is an issue. Macroalgae,  being a single species,  will not have this benefit. 

Imo,  there are two downside of ats to keep in mind. 

1. Turf algae traps a lot of detritus. So they can clog fairly fast, and cleaning should be done carefully to prevent detritus from washing into the tank. 

2. Microalgae strips a lot of nutrients from water,  competing with corals. I find this rather wasteful. 

 

Other than that,  a properly sized algae scrubber is very capable. 

 

Thanks again jiaen for the intresting breakdown, on this note i am trying to get another smaller one 500L/hr and clear it more regularly as that is the only one i can fit in my sump

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