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Thread: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

  1. #21

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Boy! That's what I call slow and steady. Is that Thanksgiving of this year?

  2. #22

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Quote Originally Posted by sklywag
    Boy! That's what I call slow and steady. Is that Thanksgiving of this year?
    GRRR :lol:
    Yes. Well, hopefully this year...

    Here is a picture of my fish "room" in the garage.
    Upper shelves are the ATS boxes. One complete on left, one partly done, and one be usurped by storage for ventilation parts.
    Lower big box is my 125 gallon sump/refugium/crypto section.

    [attachment=0:1fjl7qkn]fishroom.jpg[/attachment:1fjl7qkn]
    Attached Images Attached Images

  3. #23

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    A new picture of the filtration for the new tank.
    Shows dual scrubbers set up and running in test mode.
    Just tap water.
    Estimate is a month or so, and I may have water in the new tank, so maybe some green by Xmas.
    Changes the plumbing a bit:
    Loop 1: Tank -> Pump -> up to top ATS -> gravity fed back to tank.
    Loop 2: Sump -> Pump -> to lower ATS -> straight back to sump.
    The second loop has a lot more flow, but technically only filters the sump.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  4. #24

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Slowly but surely getting this done....
    (Very slowly)
    But some real things to show.

    First, a picture of the ATS glowing away. Shows the cool purple from the LEDs.
    [attachment=2:62t1nwp4]ats_led.jpg[/attachment:62t1nwp4]

    Second, a picture of some growth finally. It has been running for a few weeks, and starting to work.
    The tank is almost empty of life, and it is a big screen, so I do not expect a lot at this point.
    But still good to see some real green. I think it is already better than my old horizontal one.
    [attachment=1:62t1nwp4]algae4.jpg[/attachment:62t1nwp4]

    Third, a quick pic to show how it tilts out for screen cleaning.
    It tilts over, and you rotate the small plastic pipe pieces that act as screen holders.
    Pretty easy, except that I have to get on a ladder to do it.
    [attachment=0:62t1nwp4]ats_tilt.jpg[/attachment:62t1nwp4]
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  5. #25
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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Good to see progress. How about pics of the led...

  6. #26

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Outside plate. Shows main heat sink for center deep red / blue / deep red.
    And a few scattered regular heat sinks.
    I used the LEDs from my old system, plus new ones, hence the slightly odd build.
    [attachment=2:3qw63rnz]ats2_led2.jpg[/attachment:3qw63rnz]

    This shows the LEDs on. Note the dispersion due to grating. A few bright points, but otherwise pretty even.
    Totals : 2 x deep red, 1 x blue, 4 x standard red, 6 x warm white.
    It is a bit less optimal than I would like, but really good enough.
    [attachment=1:3qw63rnz]ats2_led3.jpg[/attachment:3qw63rnz]

    This shows the LEDs themselves.
    Note the hole, and the attached heat sink from my old setup.
    [attachment=0:3qw63rnz]ats2_led4.jpg[/attachment:3qw63rnz]

    Possible future changes:
    I have 4 of those big center red/blue/red heat sinks. I think I will change it so
    that I have two sets of those per side, instead of one.
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  7. #27
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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Killer man! I'm thinking that when I set up my 120, I'm going to do a single-sided top-of-tank scrubber, and since I have the time I think I'm going to make something similar to yours. Doing DIY LED DT lighting, so why not. I thought you were going to use 2 deep red : 1 WW : 1 blue, your ratio seems to be completely different, with tons of red. Is that because the WW's hit the blue spectrum enough that you don't need so much additional blue?

  8. #28

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Quote Originally Posted by Floyd R Turbo
    Killer man! I'm thinking that when I set up my 120, I'm going to do a single-sided top-of-tank scrubber, and since I have the time I think I'm going to make something similar to yours. Doing DIY LED DT lighting, so why not. I thought you were going to use 2 deep red : 1 WW : 1 blue, your ratio seems to be completely different, with tons of red. Is that because the WW's hit the blue spectrum enough that you don't need so much additional blue?
    Honestly - the ratio was dictated by what I had lying around, complicated by needed to run both old and new
    scrubber at the same time during transition. I still might switch to more of my "ideal" ratio.
    But yes, the WW have quite a bit of blue, so I think that is pretty well covered.
    So it is really not all that different if you break down the spectrum components.

    To clarify: The reason to use red+blue instead of warm white is to further optimize power usage, not
    because it will grow algae particularly better. Basically, using more warm whites wastes a fair bit
    of power in the areas that are not critical to algae. But it does not specifically hurt growth.

    To be specific:
    I still think the "ideal" ratio is N * (2 deep red + 1 warm white + 1 blue)
    But I think "good enough" is N * (1 Warm white + 1 Red)

    There are really 3 mistakes I have seen on LED systems:
    1) Being way off on intensity. Both too high and too low.
    You need to use the new 3W LEDs, and be up around 1/3 to 1/2 the recommended T5 wattage.
    2) Not enough red in general.
    While WW are good, they are weak in the upper red, and are not good enough just by themselves.
    But that does not mean you have to super-optimize the spectrum.
    3) Spot lighting
    It is important to diffuse the light, bounce it around, and mix it.
    Bare LEDs have a rather poor lambertain pattern, which can result in a huge range of intensity,
    leaving some patches with not enough light, and others with way too much.

    -------

    Separate non-led note:
    I am not sure what "single-sided top-of-tank scrubber" really means, but I personally will never build
    anything but a 2 sided waterfall type ever again.

  9. #29
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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Oh, I couldn't see the light on the backside. All the pics I've seen of your have looked like the box was single-sided.

    As far as what I mean, I mean that my scrubber box will sit on top of the tank, and there will be no sump. The reason I was going to go single-sided is because it avoids conflicting with DT lighting. I can position a 24" wide scrubber on one edge of the tank (2'x2'x4') and put the light fixture on the outside, so that only a few inches are taken up by the scrubber over the top footprint of the tank. The screen would have to be 2x size but that's still only 20x12 (or taller) and that's a pretty good dimension for diffusing LED light across, at least it seems to be. Nothing is set in stone, of course. I could do a double-sided 12x12, and just aim the DT LEDs a little differently. It's just that I have a nice undrilled tank, which I was going to drill for a BeanAnimal 3-pipe system...

    Thanks for clarifying the ratios. I guess the real test would be to build one of each and run on parallel systems and see which one does a better job.

  10. #30

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    Re: Version 3 ATS : Vertical, LED, bigger

    Yes, the backside is a bit hard to see. You can sortof tell from the picture of it tilted out.

    Proper scientific experimentation is a pain, yes. It was not too bad on my old horizontal,
    because it was long, and in segments, and I could replace each segment, or
    put duct tape over things, and sortof get test results.

    So your scrubber is actually inside the DT? Intriguing.
    I can see how that would have to be 1 sided.
    Well, I have absolutely no idea if that will work well or not.
    I take it that this is for a different tank from your 120-reef thread.

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