fishuntbike ATS to UAS

[Fishuntbike]

Finally decided to convert my ATS to UAS and it's a minor tweak to my ATS system. All I have to do is flood by ATS box, set the screen above the anchor bubbler and convert the drain pipe from the tank to fill the box. Now the system is significantly quieter than the water fall type. All I hear is my Fluval Q2 (which I barely hear it) and a little bit of the return pump. Hoping to see big improvement in few weeks. This whole system seats on top of my sump

[kerry]

Looks like it well on its way.

[SantaMonica]

Ok then this is the first on-sump.

[Fishuntbike]

My screen was brand new from my ATS (since I am following the new guidelines and made my screen smaller) and it got seeded for 10 days and never got the chance for the first harvest when I converted my ATS to UAS last Thursday (5 days ago). I was curious to see how it looks like because all I see from a small window is green. Pulled it out tonight and all I say is wow.

[SantaMonica]

Looks like thick Ulva. We'll call it "the forest" :)

[Fishuntbike]

I know. Unbelievable!!!!! You guys nailed this UAS system....thanks

[whites]

noice!!

Love how you have a box that sits inside a bracket holding your lights..

[Fishuntbike]

Thanks....picture of the whole acrylic UAS assembly and top view of UAS bubbles inside box

[Fishuntbike]

Just an update... I noticed that every two weeks of harvest,my UAS box is covered with algae everywhere including location I don't want algae to be.....so I painted the bottom and sides just enough to exposed the screen to the light where I want the algae to grow. Also I made a screen holder out of acrylic by cutting a slit on each side and slides the screen down till it stop just enought to have space above the bubbler. My next update is to include two 80 mm computer fan for cooling the light box of my UAS. Pictures showing the updates as well as the harvest tonight and cleaning the box ..ready for another 2 weeks of scrubbing.

[kerry]

Mine does the same thing in my HOB UAS. I clean off the where the LED shines through about every 3-5 days with a tooth brush.

[Fishuntbike]

I normally wait 2 weeks before cleaning....what is the norm? That's why the algae goes really thick and long.

[SantaMonica]

That's fine as long as it's not letting go or turning dark in the under layers.

[Fishuntbike]

The algae is totally green and bond strong to the screen, I have to use a good scrapper to remove...okay thanks

[Fishuntbike]

Will this led bulb works for my UAS current setup? It seems like the watts is not enough. Thanks for any feedback.

Current set-up:
25 sq in screen
Double sided
2 CFL bulb 23 watts 27000k

I also added 2 x 80 mm fan to my UAS box

[Fishuntbike]

Oooppps. My feeding is about 2 cubes / day..thanks

[SantaMonica]

It says 6 watts, which probably 3 watts is for the LEDs. Plus it's white, not red. Probably good for one cube, if the light covers an entire 3 X 4 inch screen. If another bulb on the other side, then two cubles.

[Fishuntbike]

There are 4 led bulbs on top and it says 6 watts, does it mean 1.5 watts per led? Also the equivalent watt is 30 . Are you saying the led must be red and not white, so this is a no go for my UAS? Or should I give it a try? Its $20 a piece from Home depot. I use two sided scrubbed. Thanks SM.

[SantaMonica]

Half the power is going to the power supply heat. So 3 watts are left for the 4 LED's.

Red (660nm) is the best color. White will work, but less. But you have it, so try it.

[kotlec]

It says 325 lumen or so. 3 white cree 1w led will output that amount of lumen roughly . So thing its 3w of white LED light.
30W equivalent is to incandescent not CFL ant that is not much.

[Fishuntbike]

Ok. Thanks guys....I did not buy it yet...just took pictures from home depot yesterday and I will pass on this one.

[Fishuntbike]

I want to clean my UAS after 14 days but I noticed the flow in the drain line from my UAS box is getting slower and slower as it past 7 days or so,because the algae on my screen gets really thick. Also the box front and back panel gets dirty. Right now I am running the lights for 9 hrs. Should I run it less than 9 so algae wont grow really fast? Or just clean it every 7 days? Or any alternative? Thanks for any recommendation. Pictures shows the dirty UAS box, the screen with thick algae and cleaned box ready for scrubbing.

[Garf]

Why change anything with this growth ?

[Fishuntbike]

Just trying to see options to get me 14 days before cleaning without losing effectiveness of UAS.

[Fishuntbike]

Any input?

[SantaMonica]

Looks good.

[kerry]

I would just clean it more often.