Skimmer or Algae Scrubber?

I do, chaeto. I believe in checks and balances though.
I like multiple means of nutrient export. If they compete, I am fine with that. Just increases the likleyhood that nutrients are being removed.

I don't think I would do a full blown ATS. Just one that's 6" tall that hangs over the baffle. There is a steady cascade of water down the baffle wall. Could be a perfect and easy option.

 

That makes sense, unless the ATS starves out your cheato, which then dies, which then results in you having nutrients dumped into your system. Competition isn't always good. Just something to watch out for.

 

There is ATS looking algae on my strainer goeing to my intank overflow.
I also have that ATS looking algae where my skimmer chamber overflows to my chaeto chamber.
I also have it now growing some on the walls of my chaeto area of my sump.

So I think I also have an ATS- by adcident, and on a smaller scale.

When the small air line goes into the venturi on a skimmer gets clogged some - it really cuts the performance down. Have you cheked/cleaned that?

 

There's nothing wrong with running both. If you really want to save energy, use your drain as the means of channeling water over your screen.

 

But it does matter that they compete. Growing macro in a refugium is nutrient export. You already have it. Growing other algea someplace else, will only take away from the cheato and reduce it's growth. There isn't anything a "ATS" is going to do for you that you are not already doing.

Cheato can grow well in high flow. Some say it prefers it. They come up with ways to tumble it with directed flows. They say it grows faster. An ATS specifically grows algae that likes high flow, and provides large surface area for light. You put flow across it, it receives more nutrients, has high rates of exchange, recieves more light, and grows. But growing an algae cell in macro or turf is the same.

It you go to a full ATS and provide a optimized growth situation, then it will most certainly kill the cheato. But at the end of the day, a skimmer will strip nutrients that the ATS will use. Yes you can use both.... ATS mops up what its left behind... but they are competing strategies.

Attempting to "see" what an "ATS" will do for you with a skimmer and macro in a fuge, is not going to show you what a ATS can do for you. A quality skimmer is the easiest way to achieve consistent water quality.

 

I just recently removed my skimmer and I'm only running an ATS. My N & P have gone from off the chart to unmeasurable and I now have a ton of pods running around my tank. 120gal softy tank with 10 chromis, 1 bristle tooth tang, coral beauty angle, 2 seaba clowns. Feed 2 cubes a day

 

For what it's worth, I use an oversized skimmer WITH chaeto... but I run two drains, then both sections run into the return section. The chaeto seems to be doing ok, but slower growth than I got with the Biocube without a skimmer.

 

I'm a bio major. I'm very familiar with plant physiology. I understand they compete.

 

If anything it's just a project. It'll probably be better than the seaclone.

 

simply yes, both. people over think stuff way to much. ive been reefin for years housing sps dominated tanks and wouldnt have it any other way. both are exceptional at what they do.