[Mehmet]

Hey everyone,Here are some pictures of the components of an ATS that I am trying on my BioCube. I drilled extra holes on the original BioCube cap and covered it with the window screen. I also installed the light, which is 20W, on the hood and dropped a cheato in the second chamber. The light is on non-stop and I am hoping to cultivate some algae on the screen, and with the help of cheato I am hoping to get rid of the hair algae covering the rocks and green dust algae on the glass.Any ideas? Should I build a SUMP and try to incorporate ATS there? Thanks...

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This post has been edited by Mehmet: 07 March 2010 - 11:15 PM

[Hilary]

Moved to Do It Yourself forum out of Hobby News

[Coral Hind]

Does the water flow over or through the screen?

Do you have any pics of it installed?

[Mehmet]

Coral Hind, on 08 March 2010 - 07:56 AM, said:

Does the water flow over or through the screen?

Do you have any pics of it installed?

The water flow is tru the screen. And the light fixture rests right on top. Here are some pictures... I am not sure if this will work, or should I try to install everything in a SUMP?

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[Coral Hind]

As the algae covers the screen the water will not be able to flow through it. ATS screens should have the water flow over and not through them. I think you would be fine without the screen and just place some macro algae in the that area.

[Mehmet]

Coral Hind, on 08 March 2010 - 09:15 AM, said:

As the algae covers the screen the water will not be able to flow through it. ATS screens should have the water flow over and not through them. I think you would be fine without the screen and just place some macro algae in the that area.

I tried the macro algae way for some time but honestly the algae on the rocks and on the sand feeds from something I can't figure out. I am not overfeeding, and I am doing regular water changes. What do you think could be the reason? Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!!

[Coral Hind]

Do you have any phosphate removing media in the filter? If not you may want to add some.
What types of natural algae eaters do you have?
What type of water do you use?
How long has the tank been setup?
Post a picture of the tank when you can.

[Mehmet]

Coral Hind, on 09 March 2010 - 06:45 AM, said:

Do you have any phosphate removing media in the filter? If not you may want to add some.
What types of natural algae eaters do you have?
What type of water do you use?
How long has the tank been setup?
Post a picture of the tank when you can.

I have Chemi-Pure Elite in the second chanber right below the chetao. As for the algae eaters I have a yellow tang but he doesn't even touch the algae on the rocks. He nibbles on the snails and hermit crabs, sometimes the sand...

The water that I use is premixed water that I get from Pristine Aquarium. I never had problem before, but for a couple of weeks the algae bloomed everywhere.

The tank is up and running for about 9 months now.

And here are some pics...

Thanks for your help btw, I am gonna go crazy with this algae problem soon. It is covering the whole place and there must be a solution to this...

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[Coral Hind]

I would manually remove as much as you can. Just reach in and pull it off the rocks. This makes it easier for the crabs and the tang. You will also be removing from your system the nutrients that are stored inside the hair algae. The long hair algae can trap detritus creating a mini fertilizer source for itself.

The chemi-pure is a good product that has a mix of several products but it doesn't have a lot of the ferric oxide in it. So adding a seperate product just to remove the phosphate would help until you get the hair algae out of the system.

I would add some additional crabs like hermits and emeralds. I would also check your magnesium level.

These things don't always go away over night so have patience.

[sen5241b]

I have the biocube 29.

I filled chamber 2 with cheato then I scraped the black paint off the back of chamber 2 and put 2 strong lights on it. I also replaced the stock pump with a Rio 6hf and have two nozzles blasting the rock. I propped much of my LR up on PVC pipe (ensuring it was stable) and have a Koralia 1 blasting water under the rock. These measures more than anything brought my nitrates and phosphates down to zero and got rid of algae problems.

By the way, my tank has no skimmer.

This post has been edited by sen5241b: 09 March 2010 - 02:27 PM

[Mehmet]

sen5241b, on 09 March 2010 - 02:26 PM, said:

I have the biocube 29.

I filled chamber 2 with cheato then I scraped the black paint off the back of chamber 2 and put 2 strong lights on it. I also replaced the stock pump with a Rio 6hf and have two nozzles blasting the rock. I propped much of my LR up on PVC pipe (ensuring it was stable) and have a Koralia 1 blasting water under the rock. These measures more than anything brought my nitrates and phosphates down to zero and got rid of algae problems.

By the way, my tank has no skimmer.

can you post some pictures of your tank so I can see what you have done? I am desperately trying to get rid of the algae. So the rocks are not even on the sand?

[Mehmet]

Concerning phosphate removers, what do you think is the most effective? Brightwell Aquatics Phosphat R or D-D RowAphros Phosphate Removal Media ? I am also considering putting the rocks up on pipes and redesigning the flow in the tank like sen5241b. I think I am gonna give it a go and buy some more cheato for the second compartment. I have that 20W light fixture that I am hoping to be enough for the cheatos...


What do you think?

[Coral Hind]

I have some Chaetomorpha you can have, no need to buy it.

Just to let you know that once you disturb the sand bed to rearrange the rock work you could make the issue temporarily worse. Disturbing sand beds can release trapped nutrients into the water.

[Mehmet]

Coral Hind, on 10 March 2010 - 06:49 AM, said:

I have some Chaetomorpha you can have, no need to buy it.

Just to let you know that once you disturb the sand bed to rearrange the rock work you could make the issue temporarily worse. Disturbing sand beds can release trapped nutrients into the water.

Thanks for the Chateo offer. I would love to come pick it up sometime...

I have couple more questions: (I know I am bugging you guys with all these questions, yet there is so much information out there, and everybody is saying something different )



How much elevated should the rocks be? Also, if I point a water pump like Koralia nano under the rocks, wouldn't that move the sand as well? What do you think? i was thinking of buying an egg crate and setting the rocks on top of it. This way they could be fully supported, unlike the pipes, and water can flow without disturbing the sand...

Also, does anybody have any suggestions for a suitable light fixture for the chateo? How many watts do you think is enough??

This post has been edited by Mehmet: 10 March 2010 - 04:26 PM

[Mehmet]

 Some test results after I rearranged the rocks, cleaned out hair algae, and put Kent Phosphate Sponge... 




PH 8.0 (I dunno why it is this low)


Nitrate 0 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Calcium 340 ppm

KH (Carbonate) 125.3 ppm (I dunno how to bring it up, I just did a huge water change)

Phosphate 0.25 ppm (Finally after being at 0.5 for a while)




Any further suggestions?