trrouble shooting - algae came back

[natureAddict]

hi all, its great to be posting here, after spending so many hours reading n doing what u guys do best - ATS. A big thanks to SM for sharing.

I started my ats in march 2012 n it was doing well but now the algae n slime has come back.

I will try to post some pics n brief u guys on my feeding,

Daily total feeding would add up to approx 1/2 (half) of a Hikari mysis srimp cube. This includes tuna meat, garlic, spirulina, shrimps, pellets etc.

My ats is 10 x 12 inch including 1inch that is below water level that has no algae on it. Its one-sided cus i use sun power to grow the ats. at this time of the year I get about 3 hrs of full sun direct on the ats n main tank. main tank n sump (wh i use for frags n fishes as well) is about 70 gallons.
Cleaning is weekly , just a gentle scrub n spray to get the top layer off. I leave abit of green n maroonish algae on so that it will kick start faster.

Hope to get the pic in

[natureAddict]

this is the ats 7days old, just before washing,10 x 12 inch , that flows into the refugium thats full with chaeto n lettuce algae.

[natureAddict]

pics of the main tank


quite alot of brown slime algae on sand n some rock.

Any suggestions will be welcome

[SantaMonica]

If that is macro below the screen, you'll want to remove it. It's blocking a lot of light on it's dark side and causing die off.

[Smitty]

I'm very new into ATS having only started this month, but think you are going to have trouble on a couple fronts. First, the macro is going to be competing with the ATS. While you have macro growing, it may take the nutrients that the ATS would need to really do well. Second is that you aren't lighting the ATS from both sides, it will not have as much growth and without the close lighting, isn't getting the intensity it is needing. Finally you have your tank in direct light as well? That is going to make keeping it clear of algae very hard.

[RkyRickstr]

Screen looks a bit too big as well.

[SantaMonica]

Main problem is the dark side of the macros are dying.

[Floyd R Turbo]

Plus, you're only lighting it with the sun, on one side, for only 3 hours/day. You need 60+ CFL watts of light on that screen for 18 hours/day

[natureAddict]

thanks for your replies, that has helped me to put more thoughts into my ats. i will try to tackle each reply from top down.

SM, thanks i will clear the macro algae to the minimum so that the bottom inch of the ats (ie the part under water) will get some green. currently that part of the screen is white , both front n back. but still i dont think that will help much in clearing the algae in the main tank n sump.
The most sun shines on the ats cus it is facing the front.

Smitty n Rky, thanks. half the macro is cleared weekly. but its a good idea to minimise my macro so that the ats would grow faster, as the macro competes for the nutrients, i get ur point.
so, SM, the dark side of the macro is actually quite bright, bright enough for everything to grow (i hope thats what u meant). the refugium measures 12inch x 6 inch so the sunlight penetrates to the furthest back of the refugium.
Floyd, thanks, i m actually toying with the idea of adding light on the back of the screen to make the ats more powerful. but my rationale is , if the main tank n ats n macro algae can grow so well then there is sufficient light. even with indirect sun light ie, balcony sunlight, it's sufficient for caulerpa, marine lettuce, gha etc to grow wild, thats the effectiveness of direct n indirect sunlight. so the light is 7am to 7pm of light.

so, to sum up, i think there is enough light, question is should i increase on my ats? i would make the ats more efficient by clearing another half of the macro.


cheers

[SantaMonica]

Filtering = Photosynthesis = Light X Flow X Roughness

Your light at the bottom of the macros is weak. So filtering is weak. Actually, it is dying, and putting nutrients back.

Macros should not be able to survive with a scrubber.