Foursquare Aquatics
introduces A new evolution in
algae Turf Scrubbers

After many different attempts to reduce the nutrient levels in my personal reef aquarium, I decided that I wanted to try utilizing an algae turf scrubber. I talked with fellow hobbyists that were already using ATS units on their marine aquarium systems and decided that the waterfall design was the design I wanted to use. There was just one problem; the design.

The most important criteria for any piece of equipment that I use on my marine aquarium systems is that it must fit inside the stand. The conventional design of the waterfall designed ATS unit is that the screen and feed pipe must be lifted out of the top of the unit to harvest the algae. When the ATS unit is in place on the sump, I didn’t have the clearance above to remove the screen and feed pipe. I would need to disconnect and remove the entire ATS unit each time I harvested algae. There had to be another way to remove the screen to harvest the algae. The only other way to remove the screen from the ATS unit would be from the side; but how would that work?

After a series of designs and test projects, I ended up falling back on my over twenty years of being a cabinetmaker. The solution to my issue was found in the form of building the ATS unit with a drawer. The screen would be placed inside a “drawer box” that could be pulled out when it was time to harvest the algae. With having addressed the main issue, it took a few re-designs to get the perfect solution to building an ATS unit that could be operated in a confined space and in a more efficient manner.

The new design not only implemented a drawer that could be removed from the end of the ATS unit, I also designed the unit to limit the light spill that is very common among algae turf scrubbers. The ATS unit is constructed from black polycarbonate and is designed so that the light fixtures are placed inside the main unit. There is a window in the partition that allows the light from the fixtures to be directed only into the filtration chamber. When the LED grow lights are on, the only light visible is through the vents of the fixture and the small opening on the spill shelf. So when the ATS unit is running, you just see this mysterious black box.