Alternative Scrubber & Air Injector
 

I took down my ATS and monster skimmer...

Here's what I'm using instead

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neither exports material.

I recycle all the output back into the DT

Can you explain the process?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

All I get is a black rectangle. What have you replaced your ATS and skimmer with?

I have a blank white box.

Can anyone see the video?

Here's the word link
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bVxy1jna4S8

So instead of an ATS, I set up a shallow Rubbermaid (50 gal) oval tank to act as a settling tank with side inlets creating rotational flow guides by the oval shape and a ~central drain overflow. It's not perfect but creates a nice sediment over time that gets populated with worms and pods.

I light that tank with 600W of LED for 20 hours. That grows hair algae in long circular loops and some perpendicular sheets towards the drain. This is also very worm and pod heavy (different worms though). I harvest this and feed it to my tangs.

I had an outbreak of caulerpa that I've manually removed so I'm back to just healthy hair again.

The overflow goes into a second Rubbermaid container (100gal) with circulating flow again and a pump that feeds up into the scrubber.

This aux sump is directly connected to my DT sump via a short 2" PVC line that keeps them at the same level (over time). There's a slight delay sometimes between the two but they're in steady state. The DT sump lip is lower so this sux sump just creates more capacity.

This sump has a dedicated high pressure pump connected to two air injection penductors fed by a 1.5" hose that mates into an 8" duct and duct fan pulling outside air into the penductor mixing chambers (2" PVC Ts).

The end result is a massive volume of fresh air pumped into the water. This basically turns the sux sump into a giant skimmer cup without a catch... flows back into the water.

I extract the goop that forms around the lip, mix it in some tank water and feed it back to the tank. This is becoming a main coral food source. The PE when I do this is impressive (future vid).

So... closed loop. No skimmer. No ATS. Fish and coral food harvested and fed back.

I might say - you have replaced your ATS with a different version.
:-)

I do like the idea though. Much more natural.
With all that spray, bubbles, and drips, I would expect a ton of salt creep though.

no salt creep around the sump after a couple of months... the water level is 10" below the lip.

the scrubber itself has clear plastic (shower curtains) against the sides but no salt creep on it... There is a salt "mist" that feels "dry". I don't know how else to explain it. It looks like steam but doesn't settle (ultra-fine)?

There is a deposit salt on the sides of the tank top that is not salt-creep. I'll take a picture - it's different...

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that's the stuff on the lip.. it doesn't dissolve in water, but I haven't tried vinegar yet.

any feedback on the concept and build?

I have some ideas to improve the flow in the scrubber.

Also, I really don't like the work involved in manually moving the algae to the DT to feed or collecting the "protein gel" in the sump to feed the corals. I'm thinking of adding a spray bar that removes the protein buildup around the edge.

I use the aux sump as a water change chamber too. I stop the circulation and separate it from the main sump with a valve. Then I evacuate the water in it to a sink (using a valve on the pump return usually flowing up into the scrubber). Then I add fresh water and salt to this section (has no life) and mix for a few hours before opening everything back up.

So these tanks serve a number of different functions in this setup.

For moving algae:
You could consider some small ATS like screens set up as removable strips strips.
Roughed up screen, say 1" wide by 6" long.
Attach them near the surface in sump, then move the strip to DT for feeding,
attached to algae clip.

If those screens break the surface, they may grab the "goop" you mention on the rim,
and move that automatically as well.

Goop is in the sump. Algae is in the settling scrubber above.

I could try the strips in both locations.