So i have jumped on the ATS bandwagon!

[paintman]

So after much intrigue I decide to put together an ATS. Its amazing what you can make with PVC and a dremel! ATS has been up and running for about 7 days now and is just starting to show some green and brown growth.
I just can't wait to shut off my piece of $&@# monster of a beckett skimmer.
Heres a pic of the tank, 150 gal.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/Fishtank005.jpg
heres a pic of the scrubber
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3336.jpg

[paintman]

forgot to mention... tank is on 1st floor and sump is in the basement. Scrubber is being gravity fed from my left side overflow.

[SantaMonica]

That's a nice big reflector. What's the total wattage...

[paintman]

Ok Santa Monica what did i do wrong??????????? So after running the scrubber for about 2 weeks I finaly got some greenish brown growth on the screen. Things seemed to be progressing nicely with more and more growth on the screen but not the green color desired it was more of a brown. I kept to the regiment of cleaning every week but after about 2 months I started to get die off right in the middle of the screen. Literaly the center of the screen looked like it was brand new with only brown growth around the edges. At the same time my tank started to take a turn for the worse. Corals were closing up and staying closed for days. At the same time the water clarity was terrible. Not having the time to trouble shot and being really frustrated I turned off the scrubber and turned back on the skimmer. Needless to say the skimmer went balistic!!!!!! I did a number of large water changes and kept the skimmer running. with a couple of weeks my tank looked as good as new. Thinking back maybe I should have run the skimmer at the same time, I am not sure, I don't have a heavy bio-load.

My question is.......do you think I had to much light or perhaps the lights are to close, perhaps I should have only one light instead of one on each side. It seemed like the die off was right were the most concentration of light was. Not wanting to give up I have made a new screen and set the scrubber back up, I want some critque before I turn it on again. here are some new pics. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3560.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3559.jpg
here is a pic of the lights I am using, 2700K 15watt
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3558.jpg

[SantaMonica]

Fatal error number one: You left the lights on 24 hours.

Error two: You have 15 watt bulbs, on a 150 gal tank.

Error three: You have spotlights, instead of curly-Q spirals.

Error four: You waited eight weeks before telling us.


Fix:

Throw those bulbs out the window, and replace with 42 watt 2700K CFL curly-Q spirals on each side (this is a minimum). Better would be two of these bulbs (and two reflectors) on each side, since the screen is wide.

Put the bulbs on a timer for 18 hours a day, off for 6 hours a day.

Report back every 7 days, with a pic of the screen before you clean it.

Read the FAQ: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68 (http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68)

[paintman]

OK sorry its been so long since I have gotten back, but heres what i did. I followed your advice and got the new spiral bulbs as suggested. Restarted the scrubber and ran it for 7 days 18 hours lights on and 6 lights off and developed a brownish slimy type algae. On day 7 cleaned the screen in tap water by just giving it a slight rinse and gentle scrubbing with my finger nails. That was last saturday, here is what I have now 7 days later. Still getting like a brownish slime with just a hint of green in places. I plan on giving it another cleaning today. Flow seems to be evenly spread across the screen with plenty of flow.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3606.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e319/paintman27/IMG_3605.jpg

[SantaMonica]

Good start.

What's the wattage?

[paintman]

2, 42 watt 2700k bulbs from home depot.

[SantaMonica]

Ok you are at a minimum for 150 gal. But if you are not feeding too much, it will work good.

[piratefish]

I really like your stand

[spideybry]

Looks good and on track. I like the little scrubber stand you have there. I may have to use your idea lol. Better than using rope.