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Thread: ATS on large tanks?

  1. #11

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    27

    Re: ATS on large tanks?

    watching this thread now as I just purchase a 400g tank myself. Came with a skimmer but using an ats on my current 75g. and no way no how I'm skimming on big guy lol

    But like you I'm debating one or two atses(plural??)

    Hey SM. Wondering if you could point me to info on how 35 gph per inch minimum was established??

    My thinking is lights too strong. more flow fixes it. and if flow is too low. less light fixes that. is 35 gph per inch the break point of effciency or algae growth?

    Idea!! what if I used a long pipe with only say 15 gph flow per inch. wouldn't the water still fall at the same rate being a vertical drop?? thereby velocity stay the same and boundary layer would too.
    more cost effective is my thinking. less number of pumps and pumping electricity. I guess kinda sacrificing(sp?) space savings for cost saving by spreading the flow, light, and algae over a larger area kinda. Just brain storming other day and this was one question I been meaning to ask. obviously I'll be trying it. but if the info on what happens in that situation is already out there it would save me some trouble.

    And I wanted to say thanks to santamontica for sticking it out and keeping this kind of filtration info alive. Tried discussion this some on a local forum and got a small taste of the crap you must of caught for going against the "norm". thanks again man.

  2. #12
    Administrator
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
    Posts
    10,566

    Re: ATS on large tanks?

    35 gph was just done through experimenting. "Less" is not really a savings, because it also slows filtering. Filtering is proportional to wattage, flow, area, and screen roughness. Plus, slow flow blocks more easily, which stops filtering completely.

    It's not a good idea to put a 300 or 400 gal tank under the care of a single pump ($100 savings?), or single light, single fuse, etc. Unlike a skimmer, if your only scrubber goes out, you will immediately get a build up of nutrients, and start seeing green coatings on everything in the tank, especially if you have learned to feed heavy (skimmers don't remove nutrients, so when they go out, nothing happens). If you don't want 2 pumps, you can put one of the scrubbers under the overflow.

    It's just a matter of time before you'll realize why it was a good to go with 2 separate units.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    27

    Re: ATS on large tanks?

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica
    35 gph was just done through experimenting. "Less" is not really a savings, because it also slows filtering. Filtering is proportional to wattage, flow, area, and screen roughness. Plus, slow flow blocks more easily, which stops filtering completely.

    It's not a good idea to put a 300 or 400 gal tank under the care of a single pump ($100 savings?), or single light, single fuse, etc. Unlike a skimmer, if your only scrubber goes out, you will immediately get a build up of nutrients, and start seeing green coatings on everything in the tank, especially if you have learned to feed heavy (skimmers don't remove nutrients, so when they go out, nothing happens). If you don't want 2 pumps, you can put one of the scrubbers under the overflow.

    It's just a matter of time before you'll realize why it was a good to go with 2 separate units.
    Ahh. Ok. guess it's worth a shot for me to play around then. Thanks SM.

    As for two pumps/units I agree. Not worth the saving to use just one pump. But my thinking was more being able to use smaller pumps. Plus I have to admit I'm a lil spoiled from smaller tanks too. pump goes out I usually had something to get me by for a bit. and then it's just run to the store. few hours max that I had to use the "backup" one. Larger tank comes a whole new world to me. Guess it's time to put more thinking in redundancy(sp?) then I used too huh? lol

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    12

    Re: ATS on large tanks?

    Quote Originally Posted by SantaMonica
    35 gph was just done through experimenting. "Less" is not really a savings, because it also slows filtering. Filtering is proportional to wattage, flow, area, and screen roughness. Plus, slow flow blocks more easily, which stops filtering completely.

    It's not a good idea to put a 300 or 400 gal tank under the care of a single pump ($100 savings?), or single light, single fuse, etc. Unlike a skimmer, if your only scrubber goes out, you will immediately get a build up of nutrients, and start seeing green coatings on everything in the tank, especially if you have learned to feed heavy (skimmers don't remove nutrients, so when they go out, nothing happens). If you don't want 2 pumps, you can put one of the scrubbers under the overflow.

    It's just a matter of time before you'll realize why it was a good to go with 2 separate units.
    alright makes since. funny you say "Unlike a skimmer, if your only scrubber goes out, you will immediately get a build up of nutrients, and start seeing green coatings on everything in the tank" i dont have a timer on my scrubber on my 75, turned it off at midnight and woke up at noon so it was odd for 12 hours, cleaned the glass last night and just cleaned it when i woke up. i couldnt see in!!! i feed like 5 times a day lol.

    so if i go with a scrubber on a large tank i think ill modify the SM100 but have multiple scrubbers boxed next to each other with T5s inbetween. saw something like that in the 'design' forum, looks like itll work good.

    Thanks!

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