my homemade ATS acrylic box

[SantaMonica]

A few weeks, or a few months, depending on how strong the light is, and how much you feed. Stronger light, and less feeding, will speed it up.

[dota]

i think my light is strong enough. well, i guess i need to diet my fishes then

[dota]

i've been using ATS bout 2 month n no3 still very high...
the last 2 weeks ive been cleanning it twice a week due to high no3..
n now, i just realize my LR getting brown..

when i used to use PS + little (screen)ATS, the LR was good ( no brown), but the no3 about the same.

... dont know what happen, but it is true, my LR is not white n purple, but its brown n lil purple :cry: :cry: :cry:

[SantaMonica]

Your scrubber is just not strong enough to get the nutrients down quickly. It is working... they are not getting higher.

It's probably the lights. Remember they have to be replaced every 3 months. What K are they? Get 2700 or 3000K and replace them.

[dota]

Your scrubber is just not strong enough to get the nutrients down quickly. It is working... they are not getting higher.

It's probably the lights. Remember they have to be replaced every 3 months. What K are they? Get 2700 or 3000K and replace them.

i think the light is strong enough, which is 14W x4 FL buld ( each side) n it just been use bout 2month.
My Screen : 27 " x 8"
do u think my spec not strong enough?
(let say, not the whole screen is doing well.. let just say 25 " x 7 ")

i know its working, but i doesnt show it best as its told...
if in 3 months there is no even 1 - 5mg NO3 coming down, why would i spend more moeny to buy light..?

[SantaMonica]

Because once the green starts, it filters much more than the brown does, then you can remove the extra lights.

You are using the minimum light, which is 0.5 watts per square inch.

1.0 watts per square inch is for high filtering.

[dota]

[color=#FF0000]1.0 square inches of screen per gallon, with bulbs on BOTH sides (10 x 10 = 100 square inches = 100 gal)
[1.64 square cm per liter][/color]

my aquarium = 125 gallon
my ATS Light 14Wx 4 (each side), so total = 112 W

if i calculate correctly, its about 0.89 watts per square inch.
almost 1.0 watts per square inch. (HIGH filtering)

is it right..?

i think there is nothing wrong with my ATS, i really made 1 look like SM100, but it just a bit bigger.

if i leave the screen till 1 week, it will grow dark green, as u said, because of high nitrate. then i cleaned it every 3 days (which is all still brown).
if my tank Have 0 nitrate, will it grow green in 3 days time..?

n also, im thinking to put back on my PS on sunday. to help filtering...

[SantaMonica]

Your number were right.

If it gets green in 7 days, leave it for 7 days.

[dota]

ok, again.. so i'll leave it for 7 days, see if my nitrate could go down..
Thx bos

[dota]

i've been start running my skimmer again since 17 Dec 2010 ( 2 weeks ago), .... at last, my ATS now greener (i will post a photo), n also all the dust that stay on the bottom of my sump is now almost all gone...
i will test my no3 2 weeks later, see how it goes.

its amazing for those of u that can only run an ATS to take care of the filtration system..(i wish i can do that too).. but it failed me