Cheato reactor up and running

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Finally got all my parts yesterday. Came out pretty good.

 

[zachxlutz]

What is your reasoning behind running a chaeto reactor and a refugium?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Plans to get rid off the fuge turn into a frag tank later on.

 

[shiftline]

That's exactly what I did! Hehe

 

[creas]

Is there a recommended flow rate for a chaeto reactor? Does it matter?

 

[Water Dog]

Any issues with heat transfer?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

The led really don't get hot and with the 120 gph flow temp didn't fluctuate all day so should be good.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Is there a recommended flow rate for a chaeto reactor? Does it matter?

Usually 100 to 150 gph

 

[Forsaken77]

Finally got all my parts yesterday. Came out pretty good.

NICE!! Glad to see people going this route for nutrient export. Just as a helpful tip, you may want to stick a piece of cardboard between the reactor and sump so you don't have to worry about other algae growing in your return section.

What lights did you end up going with?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

NICE!! Glad to see people going this route for nutrient export. Just as a helpful tip, you may want to stick a piece of cardboard between the reactor and sump so you don't have to worry about other algae growing in your return section.

What lights did you end up going with?

Bright white led off eBay 16.4ft for 6 bucks

 

[mitchell01]

Bright white led off eBay 16.4ft for 6 bucks

Is there a stickie or a thread where I can find how to make this?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

I had a diy thread cost 6 bucks to make the tube and the lights were 6 dollars on ebay. Check my post or diy chaeto reactor

 

[shiftline]

Is there a stickie or a thread where I can find how to make this?

 

[Reefster]

Darn...why didn't I think of that??? I'm tired of buying GFO and my media reactor always burping bubbles! I can never get it dialed in, not to mention the mess when changing out Media. I was just going to buy some more GFO, going to by me some lights and do a Chaeto Reactor instead! Thanks for the Idea guys!

 

[shiftline]

Happy to help!

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Seem the chaeto is already stretching for the top.

 

[pettoe90]

I'd like to see if anyone noticed a drop in nitrates, I'm just running a fuge with chaeto in it and I'm still having trouble
Keeping nitrate down, got my reactor running for a week now with matrix, but haven't noticed anything yet

 

[Forsaken77]

Is there a stickie or a thread where I can find how to make this?

You can also check out THIS thread from a week ago on the same subject. A lot of people posted pictures of their algae reactors and links for what lights to buy.

This is the first time I've seen one with white lights. Usually people use waterproof plant growing led's that are red & blue, no white. I'm curious to see what works better.

 

[DH-Reef]

What is your reasoning behind running a chaeto reactor and a refugium?

I started chaeto in my refugium, thinking that it would be short term, until I got a reactor up and running. I found that the refugium works so well, I don't think the reactor is necessary. If I decided to do a DSB or something in the refugium, then I'd probably start looking at a reactor again.

 

[DH-Reef]

My

I'd like to see if anyone noticed a drop in nitrates, I'm just running a fuge with chaeto in it and I'm still having trouble
Keeping nitrate down, got my reactor running for a week now with matrix, but haven't noticed anything yet

My nitrates stay between 5-10ppm, but I feed a lot. I pull out a gallon or so of chaeto per week. My tank is still young (3 months), so maybe it'll get to zero eventually. Everything is happy and growing, so I'm not reacting to it as a "problem", yet.