T-Man's ARID N-18 UPDATE

Mark Teitelman · Oct 9, 2017

Hello all...did a build thread on this 50 gallon Artisan Drop Off and I also installed one of the new Pax Bellum ARID N-18 algae reactors on it, since I am not very good at DIY and didn't trust myself to build one on my own...anyway, I thought I would post some pics and tell you about my first month with it in case anyone is curious about the whole algae reactor thing.

I've only been running it for 4 weeks, so this is hardly a scientific white paper...but today I cleaned out the reactor and as you can see it is performing beautifully:

I did as instructed when I set it up...put a Maxi-Jet 1200 pump in my sump and added a valve to control the water flow. Put two small clumps around the cylinder, ran the light all night on a reverse cycle...and VOILA.

My phosphate levels have remained very steady, 0.05 to maybe 0.08. Nitrates are also consistently low, but not ULNS. I use the MarinePure block and some Siporax so that might be helping too.

Anyway, fish load is still very small but I do broadcast feed the tank twice a week with a pretty heavy feeding, so it's not like there is nothing going on here:

I still have quite a bit of work to do as far as adding more coral...mostly it is an LPS and softie tank, but I did add my first SPS last week...a tiny frag of Scripps Acropora. So far so good...

Anyway, just thought I'd post this in case anyone was curious about these reactors. Again, your mileage may vary and who knows what the long term results will be...but I'm pretty impressed thus far. Peace out!

ciscomania · Oct 9, 2017

Can you take a pic of the whole setup when it's in use? Thanks

Mark Teitelman · Oct 10, 2017

Sure here it is just now...the pump is in the left chamber, and you can see the hose running to the valve on the bottom and then to the reactor. The other hose with the "clean" water goes to my 3rd chamber in the sump, with the return pump. The light is bright right now since i just cleaned it. When it gets packed with chaeto it is much dimmer in the room. My skimmer is currently off since I did a water change today and put some bacteria in.

Mike810 · Nov 13, 2017

How many hours are you running your reactor for?

reefluvrr · Nov 13, 2017

I am waiting for mine. Can you share with us what your PO4 and NO3 was prior to using your Arid N18?

Thanks

Mark Teitelman · Nov 13, 2017

Run it about 12 hours on a reverse light cycle...my LED turns off at 8 PM, Reactor goes on. Added the reactor pretty early in the tank setup process so PO4 and NO3 wasn't a huge factor yet--but what I can tell you is that they continue to be in very small amounts, not ULNS, but enough to keep LPS and SPS happy. I also use a MarinePure block and some Siporax which may be helping with the nitrate. Every month I clean out the reactor and it is FULL of chaeto. So I would say so far I'm a very satisfied customer.