New on forum with questions regarding the starting of a microreef ATS only......

[Jason]

Hi all...

I've been reading through this forum for the last couple of days, and currently have a 200 liter FW tank (same setup as an RSM) but added a very big Eheim canister....

And since a couple of years I want to move to a reef tank, for the beauty of what can bee seen .

So, basically, can I start straight with an ATS only w/o having a skimmer, mainly for noise (tank is in the living room) and my GF is very "sensible" to noise

As for all the other technical stuff I have time to think about it .......


Tnx all....

And congrats for this excellent forum !!!!

[USPC45]

Jason,

Greetings, my Biocube 29 is almost two months old. I modified the tank for an under the tank sump. As far as filtration, I use the supplied filter pad which contains carbon, more so to quiet the over flow than actual filtration. Next is the ATS. After the ATS, I use floss to stop micro-bubbles. The floss and filter pad are definitely detritus traps. In most tanks without an ATS they would cause nitrate and phosphate problems. My ATS screen is 4 x 6 inches and is oversized per the feeding guidelines. The screen started growing HA ~ week 3. My ATS is not nearly as efficient based on HA growth; however, my ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate test zero using Salifert test kits. I have not had any HA in my display nor have I had a diatom bloom.
My Tank cycled within the first week using relatively clean live rock. After the cycle, I added 5 hermits, 2 turbo snails, 5 cerith snails, and 5 nassarius snails. A week later, I added a cleaner shrimp. A week after the shrimp, I added a bicolor blenny, Green star polyps, and a rather large zoanthid colony of a 100+. All non-corals were added to take care of any algae while the ATS was maturing. Approximately 5 days ago, I added two clownfish and increased my feeding to an equivalent of 1 cube per day. I feed several times a day to the equivalent of 1 cube. The feeding consists of flakes, pellets, and frozen food. Again with the increased bioload and feeding, my ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, and phosphates are 0. I do not plan on adding anymore livestock at this point, but will later. I have had 3 snails die off, which I suspect maybe from lack of algae for them or they were killed by the hermits.
As far as lighting I have a 150 watt HQI metal halide for the display running 9 hours a day. My ATS runs for 9 hours a day as well using 18 watt CF approximately 2 inches from the screen.
As far as my experience, I believe that you can start a reef with an ATS only and no skimmer. YMMV, as all tanks are different. Good Luck!

[kerry]

My last three and now my new 150G build are skimmer-less!! I just started to cycle my 150G yesterday and I will have my scrubber for it built this weekend.

[Jason]

Tnx guys, it comforts me to know it can be done w/o any doubts

The tank has a 150w MH already fitted in the hood + 8 blue LEDs.

Not planning to use a sump, but I am going to drill a 50mm (~2" for the NMM people ) in the bottom center with a drain valve, and as the LR will be rised it will help pulling out the deposits I hope during the water changes.....or put a pump to supply the over tank scrubber... or even do both
The tank has an integrated sump in the back with a fairly sizer over flow, that will be for sucking the oily surface scum and using baskets for activated carbon or what ever needed in the future + hiding the level sensors ......
The ATO will be provided directly from the RO unit with an electrovalve (already in place)

For the moment i need to find some1 in the area willing to adopt some FW fish and plants so i can break it down to start the SW convertion



EDIT: I just saw some1 replaced my "FR" with France, and most of the time I am reluctant to put FRANCE on US based forums, some kind of bias does happen some times

[kerry]

You can put you are from Jupiter and no one here would care. There is no bias here! We are here to share our experiences with scrubbers and the ideas and knowledge we have learned and gained from them. We also love to learn about other peoples tanks and projects they have going on as well. There are a number of different places to post non-scrubber posts as well. Welcome to the forum!!! We are glad to see you interest in the scrubber. It sounds like you are well on your way to having a nice tank with a scrubber, we would love to see pics when you have them.

[Jason]

So, this place is more "open minded" as it seems

Very good !!!

And i'll post pics on the way as well.....but for the moment I'm in Austria for work, and actually when I think about it, the scrubber is the best solution for me.
I have been lurking over reef tanks for the last 10 years, but with my job I travel a lot and most of the times like 2-3 weeks away, and my Gf is not too keen on doing anything on a tank...maybe she will handle the scrubber cleaning every 1-2 weeks....

And I'll put an IP Cam on it so I can tell her when to clean it

As for the other stuff like the ATO etc...i'm fond of microcontrollers and I have 3 peristaltic pumps (5ml/mn) for feeding/dosing what ever is needed.

[kerry]

The scrubber is right up your alley then. All you probably need to do is dose Alk and maybe Ca. while you are gone. The scrubber also makes it so you do not need to clean your display glass as often.