Do Algae Reactors Work, And Worth It?

[SantaMonica]

I think you'll find that every tape LED is made in China. We work with China a lot, and once you know what to look for, it is easy to spot.

 

[Turbo's Aquatics Verified Sponsor]

Pretty much every LED is made in China. That doesn't mean they are all junk, there are quality manufacturers that have standard and decent bin selection, and then there are grab-bag and super cheaply produced LEDs. All the Philips Luxeon Deep Reds (and probably every other spectrum) are made in China, as are most (if not all) SemiLED chips. That doesn't mean they are junk, they are actually among the highest quality.

Anything that is really cheap is where you get into the low-end quality production facilities, or chips that don't pass quality control....they gotta sell those somewhere

 

[drawman]

I've had my DIY reactor running for a couple of weeks and I feel like I need to tweak a few things. FWIW I am using the Amazon Red/blue waterproof horticulture lights.

For those who have been successful with growing cheato well in your reactor I'm curious what you have for flow through the reactor. Mine is plumbed off of a manifold and I feel that it is pretty slow - I think this is my main problem and I will try to ramp it up.

Also are you dosing anything ie Iron or PO4? I have some hair algae in my display so I don't think I'm at all PO4 limited.

 

[JoshKReef]

I set mine up today, and the LEDs that I got run very very hot. It would not surprise me if they could damage a reactor, or themselves if wrapped in vinyl. I took a Vertex 2L and a 6 inch pvc. The PVC will act as a sleeve which the LEDs mount to. This will let them breath while reflecting off the white pvc as well. The downside is you cannot see how your algae is doing or when it needs pruned. Watching the flow should be able to determine that. I'm attaching what the sleeve looks like, and with the reactor installed. I am not done setting it up yet, so excuse the plumbing mess, there is football to watch.

 

[Forsaken77]

I set mine up today, and the LEDs that I got run very very hot. It would not surprise me if they could damage a reactor, or themselves if wrapped in vinyl. I took a Vertex 2L and a 6 inch pvc. The PVC will act as a sleeve which the LEDs mount to. This will let them breath while reflecting off the white pvc as well. The downside is you cannot see how your algae is doing or when it needs pruned. Watching the flow should be able to determine that. I'm attaching what the sleeve looks like, and with the reactor installed. I am not done setting it up yet, so excuse the plumbing mess, there is football to watch.

Good job! Is it possible to notch out a few peep holes going up the pvc sleeve between the led's on the side facing away from the sump? Like if you take the sleeve off, measure where the biggest gaps are between the led's, mark it on the outside, and then use a small drill bit and/or dremel to make holes to see the growth?

Not to mention, it would add cooling to the chamber. It's not just the reactor that you gotta protect. You have to make sure the led's don't overheat either or they'll burn out. That's why a lot of the Amazon ones say not to run the led's on the reel. That is basically a reel in there unless you have air holes or a fan blowing air around in there. Because the pvc will just insulate the heat without any cross ventilation.

But nice job. Did you order any chaeto yet? And try to keep a fine screen or cut out a circle of coarse filter pad to put in front of the exit of the reactor so the clippings don't escape after you trim it. The clippings were the worst part when I had chaeto in my fuge. They would get everywhere, including back to the display tank.

 

[Forsaken77]

Pretty much every LED is made in China. That doesn't mean they are all junk, there are quality manufacturers that have standard and decent bin selection, and then there are grab-bag and super cheaply produced LEDs. All the Philips Luxeon Deep Reds (and probably every other spectrum) are made in China, as are most (if not all) SemiLED chips. That doesn't mean they are junk, they are actually among the highest quality.

Anything that is really cheap is where you get into the low-end quality production facilities, or chips that don't pass quality control....they gotta sell those somewhere

I figured that anyway. But referring to the "cheap Chinese" ones, it's pretty much the Amazon variety we're referring to.

Cree led's don't come in led tape at all, right?

 

[JoshKReef]

Good job! Is it possible to notch out a few peep holes going up the pvc sleeve between the led's on the side facing away from the sump? Like if you take the sleeve off, measure where the biggest gaps are between the led's, mark it on the outside, and then use a small drill bit and/or dremel to make holes to see the growth?

Not to mention, it would add cooling to the chamber. It's not just the reactor that you gotta protect. You have to make sure the led's don't overheat either or they'll burn out. That's why a lot of the Amazon ones say not to run the led's on the reel. That is basically a reel in there unless you have air holes or a fan blowing air around in there. Because the pvc will just insulate the heat without any cross ventilation.

But nice job. Did you order any chaeto yet? And try to keep a fine screen or cut out a circle of coarse filter pad to put in front of the exit of the reactor so the clippings don't escape after you trim it. The clippings were the worst part when I had chaeto in my fuge. They would get everywhere, including back to the display tank.

The reactor had screens on the top and bottom already that will work nicely I think, they're in place. I had a ball of chaeto in my sump already, but didn't like how it was going, so I decided to make the reactor. I will definitely drill some holes to see growth and help with cooling. My tank isn't very established yet, so I am not expecting it to grow very much, I am in the process of recovering from a temperature swing when installing my sump that got all my fish sick, so that isn't helping.

 

[drawman]

@Josh Kraft my reactor is exactly the same with the PVC sleeve...only thing I did differently was to incorporate a fan to help with cooling.

 

[JoshKReef]

@Josh Kraft my reactor is exactly the same with the PVC sleeve...only thing I did differently was to incorporate a fan to help with cooling.

How did you add a fan? Are you blowing down from the top, or up from the bottom? Hopefully up from the bottom, but I can't think of how to accomplish that easily.

 

[drawman]

How did you add a fan? Are you blowing down from the top, or up from the bottom? Hopefully up from the bottom, but I can't think of how to accomplish that easily.

I actually cut a hole in the side and mounted the fan to the PVC. I'll post a pic. That area has less LEDs but still the light distribution throughout is good. I think if I were to build again I may just use a bigger PVC pipe without a fan for passive airflow.

 

[fishbox]

I think if you don't use the fan it would be wise to drill extra holes for passive air. Just my thinking

 

[Forsaken77]

How did you add a fan? Are you blowing down from the top, or up from the bottom? Hopefully up from the bottom, but I can't think of how to accomplish that easily.

If you don't drill extra holes for cross ventilation, you can get a cheap clip on fan and just face it down one side of the pvc and it'll blow air back up the other side. Definitely need some sort of cooling without the led's near water.

 

[jerl77]

Here is mine
This thing grows cheato like I have never seen love it

 

[drawman]

 

[JoshKReef]

Oh, you have the LEDs wrapped on the actual reactor, I used the adhesive to put them on the sleeve instead, it was actually pretty difficult.

 

[drawman]

Oh, you have the LEDs wrapped on the actual reactor, I used the adhesive to put them on the sleeve instead, it was actually pretty difficult.

Actually the LEDs are inside the PVC pipe not attached to the reactor. So I can take the reactor out of the sleeve for maintenance and not worry about getting the LEDs wet (even though they are waterproof)

 

[fishbox]

Nice! Sorry if I missed it but which LED's. Did ya go with?

 

[drawman]

Nice! Sorry if I missed it but which LED's. Did ya go with?

I went with these mostly because it came with a power supply.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LO55GVM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[JoshKReef]

Actually the LEDs are inside the PVC pipe not attached to the reactor. So I can take the reactor out of the sleeve for maintenance and not worry about getting the LEDs wet (even though they are waterproof)

Yikes, your post ran together with with someone else's, made me think you put a sleeve over solely for reflection purposes. Yours looks nice.

 

[frank@wall]

Just like everything else in this hobby. The bigger you go the better.