More questions

[Mykawl]

Nano Tank is done cycling nitrate is super high maybe towards 40 ppm,

Really wanting a DIY Chaeto Reactor, any suggestions? I could use the 2nd chamber in the back of the all in one but I like to change the direction of the flow in my tank a lot and think that has caused some pH issues so I’m thinking a skimmer would stabilize that?

But I was also reading that purigen could be more than enough to keep nitrate low?

14g tank 2 damsals tiny yellow watchman and 1 test coral (gsp) hasn’t opened yet.

Also any suggestions for phosphate test kits? Or should I even be worried about that yet

Will not be getting into cal/all/mag issues anytime soon, trying to understand and get these more basic things under control.

 

[Mykawl]

The reason I’m wanting a Chaeto reactor over a mini refugium is just efficiency but I’d be open to doing something like a HoB refugium. Most important thing with macro algae is correct spectrum though right? So will need to find an appropriate light if I did a HoB refugium

 

[Mykawl]

More info, have had diatoms for over a week and some green algae on rocks, it was getting somehwat thick but i guess damsals like it because it looks mowed, the rocks also have a good bit of bubbles on them, and in the beginning the brown algae stuff was getting long and “waving” in the water like a brown fuzz, only using R/O water atm so idk if that’s silicate related I’ll checks tds later just got a meter for it.

 

[muzikalmatt]

What is the tank volume? A series of significant water changes could bring your nitrates down. I was struggling with high nitrates in my Nuvo Fusion 40 for a month or so. I added some marine pure bio balls and a chaeto refugium in the second chamber and in a few weeks they were back down to ~5ppm or less. I'm using the IM ChaetoMax light and running it for 12 hours at night when the tank lights are off, so it seems to be doing the trick. I'm also running the IM ghost skimmer, so I'm sure that's helping some, but it wasn't cutting it on its own which is why I added the refugium. I was debating going the chaeto reactor route myself as I was skeptical whether the small sized refugium would have any significant impact, but it really seems to work well for me. One caveat is that due to the cramped chamber and low flow it does collect detritus so I periodically shake the fuge basket to stir up and release some of the detritus.

I was running purigen myself for a while but didn't find that it kept nitrates down for me. Now I just run a bag of chemipure blue that I change out once a month or so.

For phosphate testing, I'd recommend the Hannah ULR checker. I used the Salifert test kit for a while and just couldn't read the subtle color differences. The digital checker takes the guesswork out of it.

 

[Mykawl]

Wow this was a perfect response it’s like your me from the future thanks really. I know all the info is out there I’ve definitely been pouring over everything but it’s nice to have a tailored response agin super helpful very thankful!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Wow this was a perfect response it’s like your me from the future thanks really. I know all the info is out there I’ve definitely been pouring over everything but it’s nice to have a tailored response agin super helpful very thankful!

No problem at all! I was in the same boat myself several months ago doing tons of research and finding contradicting information. In the end all of our experiences are going to be different, but getting feedback from people with similar setups makes sense I think. Best of luck to you!

 

[Mykawl]

I’ll probably buy that exact light and just add some Chaeto in the 2nd chamber but it is only a 14 gallon so it’s a choice between skimmer or refugium for that chamber since it’s the only empty spot I have. Hope it’s not too big but not too worried about that, did you have any temperature issues adding a light directly on the glass like that?

 

[muzikalmatt]

I’ll probably buy that exact light and just add some Chaeto in the 2nd chamber but it is only a 14 gallon so it’s a choice between skimmer or refugium for that chamber since it’s the only empty spot I have. Hope it’s not too big but not too worried about that, did you have any temperature issues adding a light directly on the glass like that?

Definitely no heat issues with that light. It's fairly low wattage but the spectrum is tailored for algae growth. You'll probably want an outlet timer so you can set the on-off cycle for the light as it doesn't come with the timer. I'd also recommend the inTank refugium basket. You certainly don't have to have one and I started without one but it makes it convenient for stirring up the fuge to remove detritus or removing the chaeto entirely for pruning and rinsing.