trevorhiller
Reefing Nurse
Not sure if anyone has done this, but I bought an AIO tank and am sump-envious even though right now I don't really need one (Nitrates/Phosphates low). However, I am constantly brain storming ways I can optimize my gear since I am a gear junky.
I was thinking about a way to have a separate area to grow some chaeto and make a home for pods for smaller AIO tanks. I've seen the algae reactors, but they are huge and wouldn't work on a small AIO tank since you need another pump in the rear chambers that are typically already crowded.
I was thinking you could take a RO canister filter housing and stick some chaeto (or media or whatever you want) inside, perhaps even some small coral rubble in the bottom and connect some 1/4" tubing to a continuous duty pump and then wrap one of those flexible LED strips around it.
This would allow you to have a sealed algae reactor/fuge below your all in one tank to grow chaeto and house pods and all you would need space in your rear chambers for are two 1/4" lines in one of the rear chambers. There shouldn't be any concern for overflow because one would pull water out and one would gravity feed it back into the same chamber. Seems like you could accomplish this for around $100, maybe less if you find some deals.
My only ? is, I'm not sure how much flow you would need through it to be effective. I can't imagine it would need a ton and some of the continuous duty dosing pumps can really push the flow rates. Ideally, it would be something affordable like the BRS continuous dosing pump since its cheap and simple, but that's only going to give you 66 mL/min flow rate. Although, I honestly think that might be enough for smaller tanks.
Just an idea... I like DIY
I was thinking about a way to have a separate area to grow some chaeto and make a home for pods for smaller AIO tanks. I've seen the algae reactors, but they are huge and wouldn't work on a small AIO tank since you need another pump in the rear chambers that are typically already crowded.
I was thinking you could take a RO canister filter housing and stick some chaeto (or media or whatever you want) inside, perhaps even some small coral rubble in the bottom and connect some 1/4" tubing to a continuous duty pump and then wrap one of those flexible LED strips around it.
This would allow you to have a sealed algae reactor/fuge below your all in one tank to grow chaeto and house pods and all you would need space in your rear chambers for are two 1/4" lines in one of the rear chambers. There shouldn't be any concern for overflow because one would pull water out and one would gravity feed it back into the same chamber. Seems like you could accomplish this for around $100, maybe less if you find some deals.
My only ? is, I'm not sure how much flow you would need through it to be effective. I can't imagine it would need a ton and some of the continuous duty dosing pumps can really push the flow rates. Ideally, it would be something affordable like the BRS continuous dosing pump since its cheap and simple, but that's only going to give you 66 mL/min flow rate. Although, I honestly think that might be enough for smaller tanks.
Just an idea... I like DIY
