Diagonal 1-sided ATS

[Kamikolopopo]

Hello,

My name is Robert and this is my first post on this forum.
After reading an article in the dutch marine magazine my interest was drawn to the ATS filter and i think this would be a great addition to my current system.

After alot more of reading and measuring i've desided i can fit a scrren that's about 40 x 20 cm in my filter cabinet. My only issue is that the ATS can't make any sound, because my aquarium is positioned in my bedroom and the ATS is mainly active when the display lighting is off. (so when i am sleeping)
In my mind a diagonal screen makes less sound then a vertical screen, the downside to diagonal is that i can only run it lighted from 1 side.

I want to light it with a self made led with solderless leds and in the color defined in the faq.

My question to you guys/galls is: Are my thoughts correct? Is there an other build that is silent and 2-sided lighted or isn't diagonal that silent at all?

[kotlec]

Diagonal is silent if end of screen is submerged. Only subtle gurgling can be heard that isnt distracting at all.
Mine is almost vertical.

[Floyd R Turbo]

You can make make the screen so that the roughed-up area (which will grow the algae) has an additional area of smooth screen (not roughed up) above and below it. So you would have (in order from top to bottom) slot pipe, smooth screen (perhaps 2-5cm), then the roughed-up area, then more smooth screen (enough to extend 2cm below the sump's water surface).

Then, you can drape the entire screen in thin plastic (like Saran wrap, or something similar) and this will keep the water flow on the screen and silent.

What I would do is try a very quick mock-up using a plain screen (not roughed up), slot pipe, and plastic wrap so you can verify it works to your satisfaction. Remember that a bare screen will not have the same flow across it - the water flow will 'stream' together instead of flowing across it in an even sheet. It takes at least a few days for a 'slime' coating to build up on the screen and make the flow even out - so this will just be a very rough test.

[SantaMonica]

In a waterfall, the water pump will probably be the loudest, but of course the scrubber needs to go on top. If you want to try an floating surface scrubber, you can put the air pump in another room; then you adjust the bubble flow for silence.

[Kamikolopopo]

@kotlec @Floyd R Turbo

Thanks for the fast responses.

@SantaMonica
I've been checking your site SantaMonica and i like the simplicity of the surface scrubbers. Which type would you recommend for a 500 liter tank with mainly sps and moderate amount of fish. (feed 1-2 blocks artemia and some green stuff for the tangs) I don't have much algea problems and want it mainly for bio stabilisation and the small animals that thrive inside it.
The unit also seems very passive as i can see it, i get the air bubbles make the water move, but is there also another pump that pushes water trough the device?

[SantaMonica]

The bubbles move the water through it. It very violently turbulent inside the box, as far as the air-water interface goes, which is what matters. Moving more water through it does not help.

You can do a 4 X 6" box with strings and textures. The light will need to be dense, and a good fit, to keep it silent.

[Kamikolopopo]

After some thought I decided to not half-ass this and make myself a good waterfall scrubber.

I've made this design i have included in this post and would really appreciate it if you can provide me with some feedback on the design.
I'm unsure about the amount of LED's need for a screen that's 350x300mm.
I was thinking about this LED http://www.rapidled.com/solderless-p...-deep-red-led/


Thanks in advance

[SantaMonica]

Nice work. Since you built it already, let's go with it. (If you had not built it, I'd say keep the inside growth width 40 mm, for a 20 mm per side).

For average nutrients, filtering and flow, I'd put one LED every 11 mm center-to-center; for higher nutrients and filtering, every 7 mm.

[Kamikolopopo]

Thanks for the fast response. I haven't build it yet so everything is possible now. The inside compartment I designed now is 70mm

Isn't 11mm center-center not a bit close? that's 30 leds a row right? or am doing it wrong?

I am also wondering what the preferred diameter of the pvc piping containing the canvas would be, i calculated a ø32mm for the moment.

[Floyd R Turbo]

I think that is a typo (11mm)

Regardless, your LED quantity should be based on your screen dimensions.

For "normal" lighting (what I would consider the minimum quantity) you want one 660nm on each side of every 8 sq in (50 sq cm) of screen. For "high" lighting, every 4 sq in (25 sq cm).

So for your 1050 sq cm screen that's: 1050 / 50 = 21 per side (42 total) or 1050/25 = 42 per side (84 total).

You will need diffusers in front of the array, especially if the LEDs are 2" away, which is looks like they will be. You can likely take those off after you get a base of growth.

In looking at those number I now see that your screen is huge - 13" x 11" - that's enough for 12 cubes/day of feeding are you really feeding that much?? If not, how much are you feeding?