Diy chaeto reactor?

[justinkdenny]

I have been contemplating building a chaeto reactor to help with nitrates and phosphates and to add diversity to my IM Nuvo 10. I've seen ideas on the web about how to make these and I wondered if anyone had any first hand knowledge with these and could give me some insight. Would these products work?

I would like to put pump in rear chamber and maybe hide the reactor in the stand on the top shelf.

Thanks in advance,

Justin

 

[Webslinger]

IMO...they are a PITA and not worth the effort. but your on the right track.

 

[Amstar]

I am in the process of building a cheato reactor myself. One thing I’ve done is bought a pvc pipe that fits over the reactor. Two reasons, 1) IT will put the led lights on the inside of the pvc pipe and not on the reactor- help with heat 2) the reactor will sit in the pvc pipe which will then reduce the light spill into the tank/room

im curious about the led lights you have shown above. I haven’t bought mine yet

 

[Amstar]

Can I ask why they are a pain?

 

[justinkdenny]

I am in the process of building a cheato reactor myself. One thing I’ve done is bought a pvc pipe that fits over the reactor. Two reasons, 1) IT will put the led lights on the inside of the pvc pipe and not on the reactor- help with heat 2) the reactor will sit in the pvc pipe which will then reduce the light spill into the tank/room

im curious about the led lights you have shown above. I haven’t bought mine yet

I've seen people wrap the reactor with lights like these, I'm not sure if they are exactly the same, they said amazon lights, and they looked kinda like these and had success.

 

[Webslinger]

cheato grows fast and reactors with cheato are a pain to clean. The cylinder needs to be kept clean also as it gets light blocking deposits. I think I ran mine for about 4 months before it went into the DIY recycle bin.

 

[Webslinger]

I've seen people wrap the reactor with lights like these, I'm not sure if they are exactly the same, they said amazon lights, and they looked kinda like these and had success.

The lights will work but there is an issue with the lights getting hot and fogging the reactor cylinder after a while.

 

[Tathamet]

I actually just built something very similar to this for my 10g last night. But instead of chaeto I’m going for hair algae.

I ordered a red and blue led like you linked over a month ago but still haven’t gotten it yet. So currently using a white led strip that I had on hand.

used the Phosban 150 reactor and an 80gph pump. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[Webslinger]

I actually just built something very similar to this for my 10g last night. But instead of chaeto I’m going for hair algae.

I ordered a red and blue led like you linked over a month ago but still haven’t gotten it yet. So currently using a white led strip that I had on hand.

used the Phosban 150 reactor and an 80gph pump. We’ll see how it goes.

the memories

 

[Magnus042]

Ive had one running for over a year with amazing results. I used those same LEDs and wrapped them around the tube directly with no problems.
it packs with chaeto in a few weeks. Cleaning is fast and easy, just crack it open, harvest, scrub inside with a magic eraser and its like new.

 

[Tathamet]

the memories

lol I have noticed the heat going up slowly. The cooling fans have turned on for the first time in a while. Hopefully it’s not a huge waste. At least I can turn it back into a gfo reactor if it doesn’t work out.

 

[Tathamet]

The lights will work but there is an issue with the lights getting hot and fogging the reactor cylinder after a while.

the fog is what I’ve been worried about happening in the future. To prevent this I think I’m going to try building a housing around the reactor to keep the light from leaking out but also to attach the lights to instead of having them directly touch the plastic.

 

[justinkdenny]

I actually just built something very similar to this for my 10g last night. But instead of chaeto I’m going for hair algae.

I ordered a red and blue led like you linked over a month ago but still haven’t gotten it yet. So currently using a white led strip that I had on hand.

used the Phosban 150 reactor and an 80gph pump. We’ll see how it goes.

Let us know how it turns out

 

[Michael Gray]

I made one with my aquamaxx reactor. Same lights. But instead of chaeto. I ripped out GHA and put it in. Just a tiny tiny little piece. In 1 full week. My po5 bottomed out. I just shut it down because I can't keep po4 lol. Plus I don't want Dino's to flourish again.

The idea giving to me by a local hobbyist.

Giving GHA a place to grow instead of the display. My gha hasn't grown in display. I think my cuc is slowly working. But holy my nutrients are sucked.out with the reactor so I just turned off the lights to see if my po4 is bottomed out after dosing phosphates. If Its not bottomed out by tomorrow morning. It is clearly the reactor eating it up

 

[justinkdenny]

Ive had one running for over a year with amazing results. I used those same LEDs and wrapped them around the tube directly with no problems.
it packs with chaeto in a few weeks. Cleaning is fast and easy, just crack it open, harvest, scrub inside with a magic eraser and its like new.

I'm glad to hear it is working for you. Which pump did you use and did you mount it under the tank or level with it. I'm worried about head pressure and pump selection. Does chaeto require quite a bit of flow.

 

[Tathamet]

I'm glad to hear it is working for you. Which pump did you use and did you mount it under the tank or level with it. I'm worried about head pressure and pump selection. Does chaeto require quite a bit of flow.

btw the reactor comes with a ball valve so if you have too much flow you can just dial it back a bit.

 

[Michael Gray]

I just used my varios 2 that I use with my uv and carbon. Ball valve controls it. But again I used GHA. Not chaeto. But worked to good I turned off the light today can't keep phosphates in water with it

 

[Amstar]

I am going to use a maxi-jet on my reactor. I went with a bigger aquamaxx reactor though

 

[Webslinger]

Ive had one running for over a year with amazing results. I used those same LEDs and wrapped them around the tube directly with no problems.
it packs with chaeto in a few weeks. Cleaning is fast and easy, just crack it open, harvest, scrub inside with a magic eraser and its like new.

they don't just crack open...well the connects will crack all the time

 

[Amstar]

So for the reactor return. Do you suggest the return go back into the sump/back area of my AIO tank or have the return go back into the Main tank