My scrubber is oversized according to Santa Monica's thread. It is 18"x16" and double sided. My skimmer is undersized. I also have had an auto water changer for my tank for the last year and that has really made everything come to life. Every night it changes out 3 gallons which is probably around 3% of the actual water. I also use that as a doser since all I have to do is put my additives in the new water that will be pumped in. I think my ATS is great and it has done a phenomenal job of drastically lowering my nutriant levels but I just can't see getting rid of a skimmer in a moderate to heavy SPS and fish bioload environment and using it as the sole (or majority) method of nutrient export.
New Algae Turf Scrubber
- Thread starter ieGlenn_2316
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My scrubber is oversized according to Santa Monica's thread. It is 18"x16" and double sided. My skimmer is undersized. I also have had an auto water changer for my tank for the last year and that has really made everything come to life. Every night it changes out 3 gallons which is probably around 3% of the actual water. I also use that as a doser since all I have to do is put my additives in the new water that will be pumped in. I think my ATS is great and it has done a phenomenal job of drastically lowering my nutriant levels but I just can't see getting rid of a skimmer in a moderate to heavy SPS and fish bioload environment and using it as the sole (or majority) method of nutrient export.
No it was a DIY deal. It's pretty simple really. It's just done with storage tanks, 2 pumps (not counting the ATO pump), 3 timers, a couple solenoids and a float switch. The float switch is jumped to 2 solenoids. There is one solenoid for the water change pump and one for the ATO. The ATO and WC pumps are on two separate timers. From 12:20AM until 11:45PM the ATO is on. At 12:00am, a pump in the sump turns on for 2 minutes and pumps what turned out to be pretty **** close to 3 gallons (give or take a few ounces) into a drain (in my condo I used my washing machine drain). At 12:10AM, the WC solenoid timer turns on which turns on the pump which pumps the new water and additives in. At 12:15 the WC timer turns off and then at 12:20 the ATO turns back on. As far as making the water, I have float valves on my 32 gallon Brute trash cans that I set at 25 gallons. There is one trash can on a stand above the other. The RODI is plumbed into the top trash can. I mix in the top one. From there it drains into the lower trash can either by a T valve on a bulkhead in the bottom of the top trash can or by a 1/4" water line that is plumbed from the top tank to the bottom tank with a float valve on the bottom tank. When both tanks are topped off it is good for 15 days. Set it and forget it. Easy breezy and for around $150 minus my RODI. I've been running it for over a year and haven't had a single mishap.
Sounds legit. To quote other trolls on this site pics or it never happened.
The timers you use are the old
School dial ones? I have the space in a closet behind my tank to do this. I have a little vent that leads outside to dump the waste water. Man I like the sound of this. Almost wanna be weird and check it in person.
If it's not too much trouble the solenoids and equipment you used and pics would make this a great thread. Or even better in the DIY open a new "auto water change" thread. Pics please
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The timers you use are the old
School dial ones? I have the space in a closet behind my tank to do this. I have a little vent that leads outside to dump the waste water. Man I like the sound of this. Almost wanna be weird and check it in person.
If it's not too much trouble the solenoids and equipment you used and pics would make this a great thread. Or even better in the DIY open a new "auto water change" thread. Pics please
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The timers are just Home Depot digital timers. Every 4 months or so I have to readjust a couple of them to all read the same time (reason for the big time space between the different operations). I can't remember the solenoid numbers but if you go to an electronics store they can help. I used an old 7V cell phone charger for the float switch/solenoid trigger power. You need to make sure that the solenoid is rated appropriately for the trigger (7V float switch) and 110V for the pumps. The pumps I used were just some 92gph Jebos I got on ebay for $10 shipped. Unfortunately I really don't have enough time right now to do a whole thread (new house, new baby, STILL setting up my tank and equipment 45 days into our move, and a wife that would love to fill my tank with gasoline at this point) but if there is enough interest I can do one in a couple weeks. One thing to make note of though is that doing multiple small water changes is not nearly as effective as doing single large ones when it comes to nutrient export. I have found my nutrient export to be almost sufficient (now that I've backed off on the feeding) so I am happy with the stability and dosing that this provides
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Ha! If my tank didn't work as the best "liquid babysitter" on earth I don't know if I would still (be allowed) have it. I can set my 6mo old son in front of it for HOURS which is pretty much the last leg I have to stand on when it comes to the tank. She is a VERY patient woman (you should see my garage) when it comes to my interests and hobbies (of which there are WAY to many)
