DIY Chaeto Reactor - IM10

[SaltyBuddha]

I created this DIY Chaeto reactor after seeing how well my 20 gallon macro tank balanced nitrates and phosphates.

 

 

This is probably overkill, but I like a good DIY fish tank project. 

 

Two Little Fishies 150 reactor - $53

Sicce .5 pump - $43

Vinyl Tubing - $10

Aluminum 36 gauge - $11

LED strips - $10

LED power supply - $10

LED  dimmer - $7

Fans - $15

4" PVC + Caps - $35

 

Total - $194 (~$210 with tax)

 

My research came up with two main problems.

 

Problem 1: DIY Chaeto reactors cracking at points of LED contact

Reason 1: LED physical contact and no heat dissipation (older and more inefficient LEDs)

Solution 1: Create a closed system with a PVC pipe. Add two fans to create air circulation and an aluminum sleeve for LED "heatsink" with LED dimmer. 

Results 1: The LEDs do not touch the acrylic and they do not get hot at all. I wouldn't even call them warm actually.

 

 

 

 

 

Problem 2: Chaeto starts to grow and then dissolves with microalgae growth

Reason 2: The Chaeto strips micro nutrients that aren't replenished fast enough with water changes

Solution 2: Supplementing with ChaetoGro and Ferrion

Result 2:  The ChaetoGro has been working great in my macro tank to help with my Caulerpa species, so I don't see any reason for it to stop working for this Chaeto.

 

After 6 days, the chaeto has more than tripled in size.

 

 

 

 

Obviously we still need to give this thing some time, but I believe this will work well.

 

 

 

[ef4life]

Looks good, You put a lot of thought into it and hopefully will work well for a long time. 

[SaltyBuddha]

17 minutes ago, ef4life said:

Looks good, You put a lot of thought into it and hopefully will work well for a long time. 

Thanks. I'm hoping it does too. Just stocked it with some pods too so let's see what happens 

[fishbbq]

Are there issues with rust developing on the fan part?

[SaltyBuddha]

On 5/27/2019 at 10:52 AM, fishbbq said:

Are there issues with rust developing on the fan part?

I don't foresee any issues with that. The fan is not in contact with any water and will not have salt creep anywhere close to it. 

[SaltyBuddha]

Update:

 

Reactor is working great. Chaeto so dense I can't even get a good picture of it. Cheatgro is the only thing I am dosing for it. Keeping nitrates and phosphates way under control.

 

 

 

[Clown79]

Very nice! 

 

I was actually thinking of making a fuge light for my IM with these types of led strips, how are they working out?