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| Update on the new configuration. This is what the sump/fuge/ats setup ended up being. The light is normally over the screen, but I moved it over to light the whole thing better for the shot. 
The ats screen and fuge area. I have not scraped the screen yet but I think I will scrape half sometime in the next couple of days. Some sections are better than an inch thick with algae. It was started on June 18. There is also a large ball of chaeto floating at the bottom of the screen, and you can see the rubble at the bottom. The bag on the right holds carbon, which is changed about every 3 weeks when I do the water change. I am due this weekend but think I will extend it a few nore days, as the water is clear and everything looks good. 
Closeup of the fuge and rubble bed. The rubble is also behind the submerged section of the screen. 
--Randy
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Looking great, you did a good job of hooking up the ATS. Glad to hear that you have seen more pods as a result! 
-Brady
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Pretty amazing, isn't it, how the turf grows only where you want it and there isn't a stitch of turf even on the rubble and the water is clear. Enjoy the scrape!
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Eric Borneman
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| An update and a question. The ATS is still working well and the system shows no sign of missing the skimmer. No increase in cyno or algae in the main display. Water is clear, corals and fish seem happy. I had to trim the chaeto a couple of weeks ago while I was scraping the screen. The chaeto had grown to huge proportions and was covering the entire surface of the fuge area. I hated doing it simply because of all the critters that were living in it. Is there a way to salvage some of them? I was considering giving it a good shake in the display before discarding it -- should I do that in the future?
--Randy
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Same thing happens with my refugium - it grows into a huge mass that mats and burns as it reaches the water surface, and yes I do shake out the polychaetes and amphipods. I wear gloves from the polychates, siphon out a bucket of water, rinse the algae from critters, pour that and the detritus back in the sump and use the algae as mulch.
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Eric Borneman
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| An update and some observations. The ATS has been running for a bit over 4 months. There are pods in the fuge/ATS area, not that many more evident in the display than before. There has been no increase in algae in the display, there are still a couple of very small areas of hair algae on the return pipe at the surface, around the border edges of the anemone and certain corals where nothing can grow or graze, etc. (they were there when the skimmer was used as well). These areas are small and easily controlled by manual removal. There has been no cyno bloom. The main concern is nitrates, which tested 15-20 ppm yesterday. I had expected this to drop with the ATS. To be fair, the nitrates have always run around 10 in this tank, and I haven't even tested for them for several years, since they always hovered around 10. I did not test nitrates right before removing the skimmer so I don't know what they were then. I do feed the tank frequently, and always have. I have continued my regular water change routine of 15-18 gallons every 3 weeks - I did one last week. The only visible negative I can see -- and this may not be totally due to nitrate levels-- is the 3 sun corals are definitely receding and not opening as much, and the large hammer colony is not happy and not opening fully. The other things may be affecting the corals mentioned is that the flow has changed due to changing powerheads, and the MH bulb is 2 years or more old, but not visibly different. All other corals seem fine. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated, thanks.
--Randy
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I'd probably go ahead and double check the nitrate again (fresh test kit, do two tests to assure consistency of results0, then do a water change to bring it down, and then start some regular testing for at least a couple months so we can see the dynamic change over time. This will make it easier to assess what the problem might be, to more questions to narrow it down, and to a possible solution if there is accumulation over time rather than decline.
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Eric Borneman
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I tested last night and then this AM before posting with a brand new Salifert kit, just opened it last night. I'll do another WC in a day or so and check before and after the WC to see how much of a difference there is. After that I'll test weekly to see what is going on, ok?
--Randy
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Before I do the WC later today I wanted to run this past you and the group. The sandbed in the front of the display is approx 1/2 to 1 inch deep. I used to vacuum it during WC's but have stopped so as not to disturb the life (if any) present there. Back when I did vacuum it the water was literally solid grey. I am tempted to do that now -- I had noted in my log that the corals looked much better when I was regularly vaccuming the sand in the front of the tank. Just looking for some pros and cons to this approach. thanks
--Randy
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I think you are lucky things didn't die when you vacuumed the sand. That grey was likely some hydrogen sulfide and contained bacteria that like to be in the hypoxic sand and not in the oxic water water column. You were likely disrupting the sand bed function dramatically, as well. Personally, I would definitely not do that.
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Eric Borneman
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