Scutterborn Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Ok. I've succumb to this idea and decided to implement it. I had everything but the light and fixtures to do this project and I said "Why the heck not?" I did as simple a design as I could to minimize uncirculated water. I didn't take many pics as I was building it. It honestly only took me about 15 minutes to source out the correct bits and pieces of 1" PVC from my "bucket o' parts". I used a quietone 4000 pump, Way overkill, a ball valve and union. Oh yeah, bits of 1" PVC. Basically what I came up with was this. I soon realized there was quite a bit of errant spray from my quick job. So I decided to build a spray shield out of some scrap acrylic I had laying around. Unfortunately I was still getting the reflectors wet and that caused me some concern. So I built another spray shield. Works much better now. I'll keep y'all posted on the progress. I've read that you likely won't see a lot of growth in the first several days. Also, for the record, these are the bulbs and reflectors I got at Lowes. - Ben - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 Ok. For the purpose of science.... Here I'll keep my progression shots. I'll document the scrubber surface and the problem spots in the DT. Keep in mind I'm not home often lately and have had problems keeping up with the maintenance. And the screen. - Ben -- Ben - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornToHula Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Pretty cool, I have been thinking about making one myself. I'm interested to see how it works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Updated pic of the screen. This was just taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 you should start seeing results in the tank in another week or so, then it wil start happening fast! about a month after starting my ATS my skimate changed color. @ 2 months it stopped producing skimate, after 6 months I took the skimmer out and am have only been running ATS and carbon for about a year now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 I took this pic yesterday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Pedretti Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 How the algae in the tank looking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 To be honest, I'm not sure. I've been working in round rock this week and have not seen the tank with the lights on at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 won't see much redustion in display until the algea on the ATS stats to go green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scutterborn Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 Time to do the first cleaning? - Ben - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Two ways to answer this: 1. If you're looking for fast growing (but more labor intensive) micro then yes 2. if you'd prefer a slower growing (but slghtly AND I MEAN SLIGHTLY less effective) algea then wait until water flow becomes a bit restricted. Myself, I have found that there seem to be more 'pods in a thick algea mat rather than the think slimy mat in your pic. I cleaned mine often when I first started it because my goal was to rid the tank of algea. Once it was gone and I got lazy I noticed more and more pods when I did clean. So, Now I clean basically when water flow decreases down to almost nothing. I typically clean late in the evening and let the cleaned algea steep in a loose strainer in the display over night to try and keep as many pods as possible. If I had to guess I'd say I cleaned every 1/2 screen every week for the first 6 months after the initial 6 weeks, and then after that I now clean every 4-6 weeks; and a lot of the time I can't tell or recall which was the previous side of the screen that was scraped. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHALAKO Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Did either of your seed the screens to avoid the delay in start up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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