Mirror Box For ATS

Ingtar, I've always thought the same thing! Whatever little bits of food that don't get eaten by the CUC or pulled out by the skimmer just rots in the rock or wherever, and the ATS will then pick up that slack! It's why I've thought that combo would work great together! And so far the cheaply thrown together ATS I've got now does great for me! I used to have to clean the glass every few days, but since the ATS has gotten some good buildup, it's about every other week I have to.

And thank you Matt! I'm rather proud of this build! It turned out a lot better than I thought it would! I hope it works good for me! The only thing that I didn't do myself, was cut the glass. I did every thing else myself

 

Here's a picture of the finished product on my sump

 

And here's one with both lights on and kinda shows how my sump sits next to the DT. The PVC pipe running up is the return pipe

 

When I set up my 75 I ran with just an ATS for close to 6 months. When a cheap skimmer popped up on CL I bought it just to give it a try. After a couple days of break is I definitely noticed a big difference in water quality and clarity. So I kept both running and have since even updated to a better skimmer. So I would say they compliment each other a whole not more than replace each other. I have since however added carbon and a biopellet reactor which have started to choke out my ATS. I gave the screen a super scrub last time and keep it installed with flow, but very little light now so its there just incase I want it or need it in the future,

 

Khowst, I always wondered how well an ATS would work with bio pellets. I was always curious if they would compete with each other for nutrients, an basically kill the other one off, but sounds like they work fine together! And I'm definitely going to keep my skimmer running with it. Like you said, I think they work great together! And plus, I think the wife would kill me for spending all that money for a nice new skimmer, just to take it offline a few months later! Lol

Thanks for sharing!!

 

I won't say it choked it out like it died, but there was definitely a slowing of growth to where it just didnt seem like it was growing just existing. I started slow though with 1/2 cup of BP and ramped it up in 1/4 cup incriments weekly to 1 1/2 where i am now. BRS pellets btw. So when I seen it wasnt really producing steady growth I kinda made the call of is the work in ATS maintenance worth it for minimal output. I have some things going on with work so tank time is limited and I just cleaned it off and I'm watching to see how its goes with jsut pellets. I may either go another 1/4 cup or put the ATS back up, thats why I left it all in place even water on the screen with a couple hours of light a day.

 

you did a really nice job on your ATS and box! I wish I had talents to do something like all the DIY'ers on here! I'm glad to hear Matt said no issue with the mirrors because I was thinking they could flake off but evidently not. Nice job!

 

Thank you OldFishKeeper! When I was drilling the holes in the mirrors, I noticed the only time it actually started to chip is when the glass chips. Seems to be pretty solid. And btw... I am terrible at DIY! I actually had to cut the slot in the PVC 3 times before I got it right, and even then it's not perfect. This was actually really easy to build, outside of the line in the PVC the screen sits into. That's by far the hardest part. Lowes cut the glass to the dimensions I wanted, and I drilled the holes with a bit I bought there. I'm not a handy man by any means lol. But I appreciate the compliment!

And Khowst, keep me updated on the progress of the ATS and BP!