Algae Reactor

[olegaz]

Sooo, when is this reactor going to available? And any idea on pricing?

I doubt SBReef will have there reactor available soon, that Corn Led light will be to powerful that will have its complications algae bleaching and cracking and leaking of inner tube unless hey go glass inner tube, but they tend to ignore my advise.
here is new video from sbreef, no need for alage to move in my opinion:

 

[olegaz]

I am trying a TLF version. Just set it up today. Using some ikea under cabinet LED lights. Attached them using masking tape. Using a small DC controllable pump to control flow rate. Right now I have it up to the max flow rate. If nothing happens I will try decreasing the flow slowly over time. We shall see what happens. I will post nitrate and phosphate results tomorrow and hopefully will remember to update this thread often. I have a 70 gallon sumpless tank with a skimmer.

from personal experience you better of going with warm white than cool white

 

[lennyd19]

I have a vertex media reactor I am going to try this on. Ordered red grow light strip from Amazon. We shall see what happens.

 

[xlzerolx]

Well this is silly. Tried measuring phosphates yesterday but the reading is showing undetectable. Using the salifert test kit, expirey 2018. i still have algae although not that bad. I guess the algae in the tank is using all the phosphates right now.
It looks like i have some filament algae growing on the chaeto unfortunately will have to take it out and rinse it off i think.

I'll keep this running and see if I have any growth in the chaeto/

I like this simple and hopefully effective. What controllable DC pump did you use? Thanks and good job.

I'm using the Coral Box A100 DC I have it on max flow right now.

 

[xlzerolx]

from personal experience you better of going with warm white than cool white

You're right. I will have to order some from online. The ones I am using now are rgb, so it's just red and blue and green. It just looks cool white to the eye whn they are all on.

I doubt SBReef will have there reactor available soon, that Corn Led light will be to powerful that will have its complications algae bleaching and cracking and leaking of inner tube unless hey go glass inner tube, but they tend to ignore my advise.

I agree that thing looks like it's going to be pricey to.

If this works out I am going to go larger by using the RO filter housing ( the 20 " ones). Much cheaper than the purpose built acrylic reactors.
so like this one here:

 

[SantaMonica]

Corn light... first time I heard that

i have some filament algae growing on the chaeto unfortunately

Yes you will often find that filament (gha) overpowers and kills chaeto. That's why you can't usually have chaeto in the same system as a regular (waterfall, river, or upflow) algae scrubber.

 

[olegaz]

t looks like i have some filament algae growing on the chaeto unfortunately will have to take it out and rinse it off i think.

i dont care whats growing in my reactor as long as it not i my display

 

[xlzerolx]

Just got the warm white Leds and attached them to the reactor. Put them on a dimmer so it wasn't too bright for the chaeto. Have it just above the lowest setting on the dimmer so it doesn't bleach the chaeto.

 

[SantaMonica]

Changing to red, and adding double or triple the amount of LEDs, would probably help.

 

[lennyd19]

I just tried this with red and blue hydroponic lights on my reactor. But it had way to much heat.

 

[xlzerolx]

Changing to red, and adding double or triple the amount of LEDs, would probably help.

That might work for hair/turf algae, but from my experience too much light kills chaeto or causes it to stop growing. which is why I put a dimmer on these lights and dimmed them way down. There isn't much distance between the chaeto and the light that warrants LEDs at full brightness in this situation. I can always turn it up slowly and experiment with brighter light later on.

 

[SantaMonica]

I just tried this with red and blue hydroponic lights on my reactor. But it had way to much heat.

Yep, that's why you need submersible lights.

too much light kills chaeto or causes it to stop growing

Yep, because chaeto is slow-growing and slow in photosynthesis (filtering), and thus it can't use as much light as attached green hair. Which of course is why green hair will grow on top of chaeto and kill it, or even out-compete it in a different part of the system.

 

[rui.manuel.gaspar]

Hello all,

Looking at the biggest Algae Reactor from ClearTides.
I am planning to put it above the aquarium and I am wondering if anyone using this reactor type saw a copepod/amphipod population grow inside the reactor.

All the best,
Rui

 

[olegaz]

Hello all,

Looking at the biggest Algae Reactor from ClearTides.
I am planning to put it above the aquarium and I am wondering if anyone using this reactor type saw a copepod/amphipod population grow inside the reactor.

All the best,
Rui

Hi, no pods population in my reactor.

 

[Mr tap water]

Can you tell me how do you compare these type of reactors compare to reactors that run a Phos media,
Would you say they reduce The phos in your tank better /quicker or no difference.

 

[SantaMonica]

"Reactors" have less photosynthesis than scrubbers, for a given size, and scrubbers and reactors both have more photosynthesis than macros in a fuge, for a given size, but all green-growing filters such as these compare to phosphate media similarly:

Scrubbers compared to GFO (granular ferric oxide):


GFO:

Absorbs phosphate.
Absorbs silicates.
Does not absorb ammonia/ammonium.
Does not absorb nitrate.
Does not absorb nitrite.
Does not absorb CO2.
Does not produce oxygen.
Does not produce pods.
Does not produce amino acids, vitamin C, or carbs.
Is a non-living chemical (iron).
Is expensive, and must continue to be replaced.
Needs some place to go (bag, reactor, etc).
Is dark brown.
If spilled into water is very hard to remove.
Animals cannot eat it.
Can lower phosphate too low, resulting in coral bleaching.
Have been reports of GFO causing HLLE disase in fish.
Capacity is reduce from first day, and continues dropping.
Does not provide any useful end product.
Heavy iron particles can clog your drain.
The iron can fuel nuisance algae growth.
Does not need light/electricity.

Algae Scrubbers:

Absorbs phosphate.
Does not absorbs silicates.
Absorbs ammonia/ammonium.
Absorbs nitrate.
Absorbs nitrite.
Absorbs CO2.
Produces oxygen.
Produces pods.
Produces amino acids, vitamin C, and carbs.
Is living, and growing.
Is free, and replaces itself.
Needs some place to go.
Is green or brown.
If spilled into water is easy to remove.
Animals eat it.
Cannot lower phosphate too low.
No reports of causing HLLE disase in fish.
Capacity increases from first day, as growth develops.
Provides useful end product (algae).
Very light particles go down drain easily, and dissolve.
Consumes iron.
Needs light/electricity (pennies per month).

 

[Windy]

How is this different than an algae scrubber?

 

[SantaMonica]

The way most people make "reactors", there is no air/water turbulent interface. An interface removes the boundary layer around the algae (see below), which increases filtering. Upflow, river, and waterfall scrubbers do it differently but still do it.

Lack of the interface with air also causes the water to pull alk (carbon) out, to give carbon to the algae. With the interface, alk is kept in the water and carbon is pulled from the air instead.

Also, a reactor allows the algae to get too thick, which blocks light and flow and further reduces filtering.

This is why if you have a reactor and a scrubber on the same tank, the scrubber will kill (out compete) it.

 

[OhMatic Jr]

Olegaz,
Could you please explain the reason/s you went back to white lights after trying red/blue grow lights?
And the issues you had with them?
I also have the same reactor, I've made a few modifications as well.
I was getting algae growth on the inside quartz tube which reduced the light from getting into the reactor. Also I was not happy with the amount of water flow I was getting through the little reactor

 

[olegaz]

Olegaz,
Could you please explain the reason/s you went back to white lights after trying red/blue grow lights?
And the issues you had with them?
I also have the same reactor, I've made a few modifications as well.
I was getting algae growth on the inside quartz tube which reduced the light from getting into the reactor. Also I was not happy with the amount of water flow I was getting through the little reactor

Hi, I tried few lights and warm white leds had best results, some algae growing on glass but nothing major.