Slim LED ATS

[Zapf]

I wanted a small and slim ATS for my Percula 120. I used 2mm aluminium to build a box that also functions as an passive cooler for the leds. Then I´ve put a acrylic box inside that one. Here are som pictures of my build.
The idea in Sketch Up
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Kitchen build :-)
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Voila!
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Unfinished acrylic box
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Boxes put together with leds installed
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Let there be light! 10 3watt leds 660nm and 2 3watt 440nm.
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On the aquarium without the lid
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Algae grotwth after one week
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After two weeks
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I hope this can be of inspiration for some of you.

I´m in my second week and I havent seen any diffrence in no3 yet.

Best regards. /Pelle

[Pny]

Looks nice!

I guess you soon will see less growth where you decided put the blue LEDS instead of reds...

[Zapf]

You can see the difference now already :-) Do you see the brownish area in the lower middle. Perhaps a bad call?

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Very nice. When the growth is thick, the blue might not matter.

[Zapf]

3 weeks growth. What are your experience? Is this a normal algae development?
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[SantaMonica]

The screen is very big, so it probably is not going to get thick because there are not enough nutrients. But is seems good.

[Zapf]

4 weeks growth. I'm really pleased with the result so far. No3 have started to sink as well. When should I clean the net for the first time? Are there any guidelines?
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[SantaMonica]

Looks good. Generally clean:


Every 7 to 21 days, or
When it's black, or
When it fills up, or
When algae lets go, or
When nutrients start to rise

[Zapf]

My latest DIY tweak. To get an even and smooth waterflow over the net. I put a 32mm tube over a 20mm tube, it made a snug fit :-) with the 20mm end cap and the 90 degree bend and it automatically created a small and even distance between the two tubes . But just in case I sealed it with a warm glue gun (directly translated from Swedish, don't know the english word for it) at the ends. Then I drilled some holes on the inner tube, pointing upwards. Do you get the idea? That made all the difference, I got a smooth and almost completly silent flow. By the way my ATS is driven by a aquabee 2000. Soon to be replaced by a tunze silence with variable speed. The aquabee vibrates like crazy.
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[Zapf]

Harvest 5 weeks after start. No3 have gone from 25-15 and I'm rally pleased.
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[SantaMonica]

Very nice.

[PeterFranc]

Nice progress! Thanks for posting the photos of your build. I may try to tackle something like this down the road with my LED's.

[Zapf]

Glad you liked it. I f I would have built it again I would have built it smaller and thinner. My measurements now are 15,75" x 15,75" x 5,51"

[kerry]

I have better growth with Blue led's added to my scrubbers. I bet you would have a lot more growth and more nutrient export if you cut your screen size down a lot.

[Zapf]

Interesting. I have less growth where I have the blue led 440nm. See the brownish area (lower middle) at my net. But maybe its to close so it burns the algae?
I´m superpleased with the growth I have, but i think i could have managed with a smaller box and smaller net but I´m not gonna build another ATS for a few years i think :-)

My no3 have gone from 25 - 7,5 in 7 weeks and in the same time I have doubled my feeding.

[kerry]

Its amazing what the scrubber will do, that for sure!! I have a 6x6 screen waterfall with 4 Reds and 2 blues on each side. Before I had all red but the addition of the blue to one side for a few months convinced me that the 4 red/2 blue side grew almost twice the algae as the 6 red side did.
Kerry

[dyne]

Is it dead silende

[SantaMonica]

Welcome from Denmark.

Did you build one too?

[dyne]

I dit build a honzital ats

[Zapf]

Sorry I've missed your comment.
No it is not dead silent.
My ATS is almost 40 cm high so there is some dripping sound.