Quote:
Originally Posted by karimwassef
It's important to have facts before asserting opinions:I added an ATS many many months after I had used UV and been dino-free and clear.
|
Just going off of what you told me. "
First UV,
then wet skimming + carbon + new chaeto + new live rock + blackout + thousands of pods + phyto.
Then I cranked up my feeding and installed an ATS..."
At the time you got rid of the dinos did you have any algae in your display tank?
Quote:
|
Then I tried UV and it was a C change. It won the battle for me.
|
What do you mean by this?
Quote:
|
As far as phyto, enough of it stays alive long enough and competes with any "pathogenic" elements... Then it becomes food. That's the plan.
|
If it's dying it's not competing with dinos it's just providing N & P for the bottom of the food chain. Dinos would eat this up if something else wasn't gobbling up these nutrients first.
Quote:
|
As far as export: ATS is, by far, the best mechanism for export and nutrient control. It kicks in after a powerful skimmer and a healthy open surface sandbed. They are not in opposition... They're allies. Each can deliver a unique export capability.
|
I'm aware that they have different export capabilities. We need to focus on the things a skimmer can't touch, N & P. So even though a skimmer can help maintain low nutrients it can not physically lower either N or P.
Quote:
|
I have almost no rocks on my 3' x 8' x 3" sandbed. That's my bacteria and detritus cleanup zone.
|
Bacteria grows everywhere.
Quote:
The monster skimmer removes organics
The scrubber and chaeto removes inorganics.
|
Organics are food but not the kind of food dinos are using to grow... inorganics (N & P) are.