macro algae reactors

[arnaldolex]

hey guy just wanted to post one of my new mods i did on my tank maybe ya might like the idea and do the same thats what this sites for lol. So i hate buying media just buy carbon i made a nice algae scrubber i put a video up of it a while back i grows algae but i gotta put 2 lights on it which eventually will rust out and need replacement and my evaporation has went up like crazy from maybe 10 gallons a week to over 20 so i gotta make more water and waste my rodi quicker. I made a reactor, i made 2 reactors first one i used just stuff i had laying around the house like some red flood lights and i added blue led strips to it seems to be growing good not even up 2 weeks and cheato has grown like crazy and dragons breath grew but not so much. i put it up on several FB reef forums and got back some info from other members one even showed me his and told me to use 6000 to 6500 k led and showed me the growth in 2 weeks it was amazing i couldn't believe it. You know i had to try it so there was a member her getting rid of a sea side aquatics reactor for only 20 bucks i almost bought the same one the night before on ebay for a 100 great deal he even dropped it of a little acrylic glue and wala it was fixed. i ordered some ebay lights came out to 8.79 for a 16 foot roll i think it even had free shipping and put this together will keep taking pics and keeping ya updated. If i find this lights not growing to fast then am gonna try them red and blue plant grow led strips am still learning. tell me what ya think i put up 2 videos my first reactor and my new one.

https://youtu.be/KrSJECFpguE

https://youtu.be/gRsRPEHo5JA

 

[KathyC]

Nice job on the new reactor, given some time it should work well.
Why is that poor clown living in all of that light?? :fish:

 

[theMeat]

Great stuff, thanx for sharing.

What happened to the waterfall algae scrubber?

 

[Dre]

You could make plankton reactors with that concept as well...

 

[arnaldolex]

i feel so bad for those clowns kathy, thats a bali and a extreme picasso i bought but already had a pair of blacker ice that i loved so i put the blacker ice in my sump for like 3 weeks then missed them so i put the new clowns in the sump been there for a few month already getting fat lights on a timer either they have the white light on or the red light from the reactor females getting super fat and hosting the clown pot maybe some future babies

 

[NL146]

Nice. I got the same idea from the MarineDepot video and I am trying it as well. It's my first use of chaeto. I've had it in place for about a week and it's growing well, almost time to remove some. Time will tell if this will out compete the algae in the tank.

 

[arnaldolex]

i did a update video today its been 5 days since i started and the cheato hit the top already the dragons breath and other algae are not growing fast but cheato is.

 

[cono]

so where is the video???

 

[arnaldolex]

i did a video today uploading it now its been 4 days and the cheato already hit the top of the chamber

 

[arnaldolex]

https://youtu.be/Y92VHlx92Fo

 

[oseymour]

Just added one to my sons 10 gallon nano. Made it from an Aquamaxx reactor and lights from Marinedepot. The cheato quadrupled in size in 5 days

 

[arnaldolex]

looks very good are you doing a fast flow or slow flow am doing slow flow and for how many hours are you running the lights, mine hit the top already but gonna give it another week before i clean it out

 

[oseymour]

looks very good are you doing a fast flow or slow flow am doing slow flow and for how many hours are you running the lights, mine hit the top already but gonna give it another week before i clean it out

I'm doing slow flow. The tank is 10 gallons, the pump is running at about 50 to 60 gph with head pressure. I run the lights from 8pm to 8am. It also serves as a night light in the kids room.

Next time I'll make sure to put cheato all around the base - I basically shoved it to one side.

I'm going to leave mine for a while since it gets light from all sides I expect it to continue growing well.

 

[3450500]

Here is mine

 

[3450500]

Pic

 

[arnaldolex]

mine is working great with the regular cheato growing it fast but i notice the dragons breath still looks the same :scratch:

 

[3450500]

just cheato in mine just cleaned it

 

[arnaldolex]

am alittle upset with the dragons breath not growing maybe its just a slow grower.

 

[oh207]

When I was growing both, eventually the chaeto outcompete the Dragons Breath and the DB ended up dying.

Sent from my SM-NCC-1701C using Tapatalk

 

[oseymour]

Today I has been a month since the reactor was added to the tank. I'm absolutely blown away by the growth of the cheato.

Tank is a 10 gallon nano, with 2 clownfish, 0 nitrates and phosphates. Filtration is the reactor and a hang, on back filter with carbon and floss.

I honestly didn't even think to check it until I was doing a water change today.