My ATS

[Heffernan]

I recently upgraded to a 110 gallon, and decided to give an ATS a try. So far it has been running for 7 days. The lights are 300watt cfls. Check it out and let me know what you guys think. Any comments are appreciated.

[Heffernan]

The screen is 12" X 10". I have plenty of flow available. I have been keeping the lights on for about 14hrs a day.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Welcome to the site and I'm glad you're giving it a try! Some guidelines have changed and you have a few mistakes:

Check the new guidelines/summary for feeding based screen size. That screen (properly lit) would handle 10 cubes/day. You maybe need 1/10 of that.

Your lamps are way too big for those reflectors. You are losing all of the light sideways and only getting light to the screen off the end of the lamps, which are way too close to the screen.

The ratings to use for the lamps when sizing the screen is not the incandescent equivalent, you need to use actual (real) watts.

Check the 'sticky' threads under Algae Scrubber Talk. I just updated the basics so go to the end of that thread.

[Heffernan]

Thanks for the reply. I though that I need roughly 2sqaure inches per gallon of tank. Which would give 120 inches squared on both sides and 1 actual watt per. The lights are 60 or 65 actual watts and they are about 3.5-4 inches away. I agree I do need some bigger reflectors. Am I missing something still ? Thanks again

[Heffernan]

I feed roughly 1 cube a day now but will feed more. The sizing guideline says 12square inches per side per cube, right? That seems small because I have patches of gha in my display that size. What are the disadvantages of an oversized screen. Is my screen properly lit for that size? Thanks

[SantaMonica]

12 square inches, not 12 linear inches. Your screen is 12 X 10 = 120 square inches.

2 cubes only needs 24 square inches = 4 X 6.

2 cubes only needs 24 total watts = 12 watts on each side.

Reduce your screen size, remove those bulbs and reflectors, and get two 13 watt CFL spotlights (2700k, 3000k, "warm" or "soft")

http://www.radio-media.com/fish/CFLspotlight.jpg

[Heffernan]

Ok I will try that. Just curious what are the disadvantages of an oversized system besides power usage.

[SantaMonica]

It's not proven to be able to get nutrients low, since it's usually iron limited.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Sizing the screen according to the feeding means it is perfectly sized for your bioload, since the only nutrient input to your system is your food. Oversizing causes the algae to spread it's growth out over a larger area which generally has less light per unit area and becomes nutrient deficient. Having that algae area concentrated down mean the algae if forced to grow thicker.

[Heffernan]

So iron is the limiting factor for growth?

[Heffernan]

Ok i think I may feed up to 3 cubes per day in the future so should I build 36sq inches or should I go with current feeding and upgrade later. I wonder what Im gonna do with these giant ass cfls lol

[SantaMonica]

It can be limiting on larger screens where all you get is a light brown coating. There are not enough nutrients in the water to build the 3D "ladders" of green algae that reach up to the light and the flow. And, since the growth is thin, it is more easily "burned" by the light.

Size it for what you will be feeding; you can reduce the hours if you need to for less feeding, so that you don't burn the algae.

[Heffernan]

Ok great. I will make some chAnges and keep you updated. Thanks for the advice

[kerry]

I have tried the larger screens. I have even dosed heavy on the iron. Well, it never worked!! I have reduced to what I feed and am growing algae just fine now. I did however leave room for a bigger screen just in case.

[Heffernan]

What kind of Growth were u gettin on the larger screen compared to the smaller ?

[kerry]

I was getting very thin brown growth, now with the screen to fit my feeding its a very dark green and much thicker.

[Heffernan]

Cool thanks