Joined the ATS crowd.

[pickupman66]

I just haven't been able to keep my nitrates and phosphates where I want them. I need a larger pellet reactor I guess but don't want to spend the money so I figured I would build an Ats. I wanted something clean and neat and didn't want a lot of light spilling into the sump and garage. After researching and talking to illuisi, I decided to try and build one. Here is what I have made.

13 gallon kitchen trash can with lid
4 weatherproof sockets and 4 100 watt cfl bulbs.
18 x 8 sheet of roughed up material.
3/4" inlet with 1" pipe to hold the media
1 1/4 drain

I wanted a wider piece of material but the bulbs stick out too far and would have touched in the middle. This will just have to suffice. I have 144 square inches on each side of the material. It waterfalls across it very nicely. The spray bar pops out for easy cleaning. Screen is notched out so it locks in with the end caps.

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[iiluisii]

About time I wish more people do it. It works man you will be happy

 

[iiluisii]

You can put two pieces of acrylic in between the bulbs and the screen

 

[Djannel]

What's an ATS?

Looks clean and simple.

 

[pickupman66]

Thanks Luis. There is very minimal splatter to the bulbs. I have room to add more light if I want to later on.

Djannel, algae turf scrubber. It grows algae here to remove nitrates and phosphates. No algae grown in the tank then... I don't have a bad algae issue in the tank exception my sand and the occasional spot of cyano. But some of my corals are suffering.

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[braincandEE]

what kind of noise are you looking at getting with a setup like this? ive been wanting to build one... i dont have a room for all my equipment. my tank is in my kitchen and if it makes alot of noise i doubt my wife would be "ok" with it =/

 

[FishNFrags]

Lindsey Looks good! Hope you don't run into the problem of salt splatter covering bulbs. You might want to take Luis advise and hang a couple sheets of acrylic down to prevent that. Also if I were you I only see 1 drain? You might want to plumb another one a few inches above that for an emergency drain. In case a large piece of algae ever dropped off and plugs the drain you have. If that happened it could get ugly fast. Be prepared! :bigsmile:

 

[pickupman66]

I have another bulkhead I may put in tonight. It's a smaller one but would work. If the bulbs touch the acrylic will they melt it ya think?

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[pickupman66]

You can hear the noise of some water trickling because the screen is above he water line about an inch I've seen and read other can be dead silent. I'm not an expert by any means.

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[iiluisii]

I have another bulkhead I may put in tonight. It's a smaller one but would work. If the bulbs touch the acrylic will they melt it ya think?

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No it's shouldn't or use a piece of 1/8 glass on each side. For noise just make the water level on the trash can come up to the screen

 

[triton67]

I was in process of putting one in a 20 gal tank. But I like this way better. Less light in garage. But in a closed sys like that won't the condensation build up on the bulbs and sockets??

 

[pickupman66]

Weatherproof sockets will help with condensation. Alsobread you can make a seal with silicone. The lid is not tight fitting. Luis. Ill see how the buildup of spray does. And then see. I have some acrylic. I alsobthinknibused the wrong bulbs. I bought daylights and not the soft colored ones. They may be too white.

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[triton67]

One more question. Is it gravity fed back to your sump. Or pumped?

 

[pickupman66]

Gravity drain to sump

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[triton67]

Sweet. Thanks. Gonna try a 33 gal brute can I have.

 

[iiluisii]

Pm Gmoney he uses the cfl bulbs and ask him which one he uses I believe they are 7500k

 

[iiluisii]

This are the one you need

 

[pickupman66]

Dude... I don't see any bulbs?

Lol. I checked and I got the 5000k ones. Ill replace them with the 2700k next time

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[iiluisii]

Dude... I don't see any bulbs?

Lol. I checked and I got the 5000k ones. Ill replace them with the 2700k next time

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That's just my empty box I was just showing you the watts and the kelvins

 

[iiluisii]

And I don't think the 5000k will do any good