Lingering bacteria bloom makes me wanna start over! (Unresolved)

Why would ceramic make your water cloudy?

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Yes some macros can go sexual and mess your tank up, but I'm only running chateo in this tank and it doesn't do that.

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Alright, looks like I need to get a magnum250 and some de.

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Am I correct in understanding that this tank is skimmerless?

 

Correct. Although I just added a skimmer 4 days ago and it's been pulling some dark green wet skimmate. The ATS is starting to mature I think. It's growing better, but still needs to go along way. The growth is green so that is good.

 

What made you go with an ATS over a skimmer originally?

 

I basically have no room for a skimmer in my sump. Originally I was staying away from skimmers because when I was getting into the hobby, all of the ridiculous debates over skimmers basically soured me on even trying to settle on one to buy. Also I read that you dont really want one during the cycling process so I wasnt in a rush anyhow. Then I saw several successful tanks running skimmer-less, and also have had great success with my 29 gallon running without one.

I'm not one of those believers that you HAVE to have a skimmer. They are a nice way to reduce the load on your bio filter and help keep nitrates lower, but I dont think its a requirement. If you run a light bio load, don't over feed, and have a decent fuge, then IMO you should be fine without one.

The ATS route is better IMO for several reasons:

1. They are cheap to build, especially if you can fit them in your sump.

2. No risk of skimmer cup overflows

3. Doing things to the tank won't cause them to go haywire like skimmers.

4. ATS removes NITRATES. Skimmers remove FOOD. A skimmer removes food/waste out of the water before it can be broken down into nitrates. ATS removes nitrates/phosphates as a result of food/waste being broken down by the bio filter. Both give the same end result of lowering nitrates. But the ATS leaves all of that food in the water for coral and filter feeders to feed on.

This is just my 2cents. I've got a cheap Odyssea ps75 running right now and it is still breaking in. It's my first and only experience with a skimmer, and I know it's cheap but it seems to work okay. I may try to shoe-horn it into my sump and run it along side the ATS for awhile. It's been filling the cup with dark green watery skimmate.

 

So has the tank started to clear up?

 

No not yet. It has pretty much been the same for weeks. I am going to order a Magnum 250 and some diatomaceous earth powder and see if I can get it to clear up that way. I've read people having great results with it. The DE powder traps stuff as small as 1 micron, which I'm understanding the bacteria will be bigger than 1 micron so it will actually trap the bacteria.

 

After all that, do you think it might have just been as easy and costly to just buy a high quality skimmer. I just wouldn't consider setting up a tank with the plan not to have a skimmer. I'm not saying that going skimmerless can't be done. I just don't recommend that hobbyists choose the skimmerless route unless they are willing to be very patient or just can't afford or fit a skimmer into the design.