Chaeto egg crate sandwich idea.

[Chaos1783]

Can you message me some more info on it or some links for the stuff your talking about. Don't want to high jack his post.

 

[Rjramos]

A canister filter might be too much flow and not enough light penetration through it. However, it works great in a refugium basket lit through the back glass. Although in this application, I don't use the eggcrate, it turns into a "chaetobrick" lol! This is in the back of my biocube 29. Like suggested, it would work with an HOB refugium too.

 

[Ginu]

Really like this idea, wonder if I can fit one in my RSM S500 and definitely will put one in my frag tank to get rid of some nutrients.

 

[CoralNerd]

I started my sandwich today and will provide pics soon. I'm going to make two sandwiches and possibly grow dragons breath below it.

I found if I dose phytoplankton I can grow chaeto and if I don't, I have a hard time growing it even though I feed the fish heavy. I have a batch of 3,000 pods and phyto coming via mail next week.
[emoji16]

 

[CoralNerd]

Building process, I also used a dremil to shave down the parts

One done one more to make

 

[Rjramos]

Wire snips make some pretty clean cuts on the plastic. If also used the dremel, just takes more time.

 

[CoralNerd]

I put some acrylic support bars in by dremiling them to fit perfectly in between the sump walls. This way the chaeto sandwiches have the support and it's easy to take them out. I made two chaeto sandwiches and by the time i finished I was a pro.

Now to get some growth. Thanks for the great idea!
[emoji106]

 

[CoralNerd]

I noticed that the water level in the next chamber was higher. I corrected my auto top off. I guess with the chaeto sandwich (CS) is creating a water displacement. The water appears to be moving quicker across the top. From the top of the CS to the water it's at 1.5", should I lower the CS?

 

[CoralNerd]

I stand corrected as I realized two things could of skewed my findings and raised the next chamber in my sump. My closed loop pump turns down at night and I put loose rock rubble at the bottom of the chaeto chamber. [emoji5]

 

[Rjramos]

I stand corrected as I realized two things could of skewed my findings and raised the next chamber in my sump. My closed loop pump turns down at night and I put loose rock rubble at the bottom of the chaeto chamber. [emoji5]

Looks great! Nice job, I like the acrylic tabs on the sump walls. The 1.5" of water between the top of the CS and the surface should be adequate to grow 1.5" worth of chaeto on both sides of the CS. I like some way of being able to adjust the height, cause sometimes if it's full and I don't have the time to harvest it, I just push the CS down a bit. If your refugium skims the surface at the out end and the CS is up against it, the chaeto could cause a blockage and keep water from exiting the refugium, so be careful! I tried growing out 2 CS at one point covering the entire area of the refugium and leaving about a 2" gap between the CS's, almost a complete forcing of water up through the CS's for water to leave the refugium I thought. For some unknown reason, both CS's started too grow red slime,and red bubble algae on the surface and obviously the chaeto didn't grow as fast. What I have been doing, is covering the 2nd half of the refugium with the CS, and growing rooting type caulerpas and edible algaes in the first half. This has worked best for me. Hope it works nice for you! What light are you using above? I got 2 65 watt PC daylight spectrum.

 

[ejazzle]

Awesome!

 

[Josh King]

I am going to build one this weekend. I keep flipping my chaeto ball, but it flakes off and ends up on my return. This should help with that. Thanks for the info!

 

[ejazzle]

how do you connect it to some suction cups?

 

[Josh King]

how do you connect it to some suction cups?

I am going to try to drill small holes on the "post" part of the suction cup and use small zip ties. Also drill small holes in the egg crate to attach it to.

 

[CoralNerd]

My refugium is 19" x 9" and I have one led light growing the chaeto.

Each CS I made is about 9" x 7". I noticed most of my growth is coming from just the one CS that's directly under the light. I wonder if I should eliminate one CS, debating. I like how my calcium and alkalinity seems to be mixing better, I have reduced my dose significantly. The water must be moving quicker creating less precipitation.

Here's a picture of my complete sump. The water comes in on the left side where I dose and the return pump is on the right.

 

[omykiss001]

I have hated how my chaeto ended up at the weir and didn't seem to circulate well and had scuzzy water backing up on the surface behind it then found this thread with such a good idea so had a bunch of eggcrate laying around threw one together now we'll see if it improves water quality and growth. Love the forums for sharing of ideas like this.

 

[CoralNerd]

Sweet, it looks like you have the full sandwich. lol. What light are you running? Your protein skimmer looks green.

 

[omykiss001]

Sweet, it looks like you have the full sandwich. lol. What light are you running? Your protein skimmer looks green.

It's a trigger systems emerald sump. The dividers between the sections is green acrylic. Supposed to help reduce algae growth in the other chambers it does well where the light filters through the acrylic. The light is a fugeray from finnex, I think. Got it from Aquacave. When I bought the sump.

 

[Rjramos]

This is how I have it going right now. Getting ready to flip it once it gets tighter on the surface. This CS is 15"x12". The first half of the refugium, I am starting some rooting caulerpas. Are any of you using substate in your refugium? I am using Miracle Mud with good results.

 

[CoralNerd]

My nitrates are so minimum I didn't want to add the mud however it sounds cool.
You grow the chaeto with two pc bulbs 24/7 right, also do you think I have enough light?