DIY chaeto factory

[Tracy G]

Looks familiar!

 

 

Do it, for sure. We filled a five gallon bucket completely with chaeto from the size of a baseball in two weeks, that's even with giving some away to a few different people.

 

 

Have any pictures?

will send a few tonight

 

 

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[Tracy G]

looks like a Jack'oLantern lol

 

 

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[YHSublime]

Tis' almost the season.

[Decadence]

That is awesome TracyG. Are there any improvements that you would make if you were to do it over again?

[Rob A]

Wow! Great DIY project!

[Tracy G]

That is awesome TracyG. Are there any improvements that you would make if you were to do it over again?

Nope works great. Only thing I did different is the entire overflow on this 20g long goes through it so it has 2 intakes. With that flow I did not use a powerhead in their.

 

 

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[AlanM]

I don't have a great spot for mine picked out, plus I want it to be removable for cleaning, so I'm putting a few unions on mine.  Should let me rotate the pipes around for alignment and also take it apart easily..  Also using a 3/4" hose input hose going in because I have a precious 3 feet of 1" spaflex that I don't want to use for this. 

[AlanM]

And here it is. I don't have a shop light so I may put my d120 fuge light over it instead. I also don't have any chaeto so I need to go to Laurel to steal some.

 

 

[YHSublime]

Looks clean, Alan.

 

So are folks just using a manifold off their pumps to service this? Separate pumps? What is the heat like running that 24/7?

[AlanM]

I have a return pump that is valved way down because it supplies way too much water, even going up a floor and over about 12 feet.  I put the valve past a manifold which is off a Tee on the main return line, so I have plenty of water pressure to run through my skimmer, through my GFO, through some carbon when I am in the mood, and out the end of the manifold to this chaeto factory. 

[Decadence]

Awesome AlanM.

 

Mine is run by my overflow. It is adding heat to the water of course but nothing appreciable in my case. My heaters don't come on nearly as much during the day to regulate the temperature to 77.

[ctenophore]

Hmm, running by gravity feed is a great idea. You essentially have a living filter sock that you can tear up and throw away, and never have to wash. I think I'll build one too.

[elbowdeep88]

I like this concept a lot. How is it working for everyone?

[Decadence]

Hmm, running by gravity feed is a great idea. You essentially have a living filter sock that you can tear up and throw away, and never have to wash. I think I'll build one too.

 

Awesome

 

I like this concept a lot. How is it working for everyone?

 

Mine grows chaeto like a madhouse. The only problem that I have with it is that the air bubbles from the overflow get trapped in the dense chaeto and make it float. If you let it go long enough, chaeto will come out of the water and cook under the powerful light. More turbulence in the bucket would help get these bubbles out so I plan to add a powerful pump to get more agitation.

[L8 2 RISE]

Cool plans.  What light cycle are you all running on?  reverse from tank?  12hr?

[AlanM]

Mine is spinning slowly. Looks good. Thanks for the idea!

 

[Decadence]

Cool plans.  What light cycle are you all running on?  reverse from tank?  12hr?

 

I run mine 24 hours. The Lowes bucket leaves very little light-bleed.

 

Mine is spinning slowly. Looks good. Thanks for the idea!

 

 

Looks great! After my chaeto ball got huge, I wound up sticking a powerhead in there with a screen on it to prevent it from clogging with chaeto. Now that the bucket is completely filled, I think I need an even bigger powerhead.

[AlanM]

Day 2. A bunch of growth already. Maybe it is just less dense, but you can see how foamy it is from the bubble production and how much bigger it is after a day.

 

Chaeto day 2:

[Decadence]

Awesome Alan. That's pretty consistent with what I saw in the first few days as well.

[davelin315]

Be careful of salt creep and starting fires... With the light essentially being in an enclosed environment like that you run the risk of moisture building up in the fixture and the wiring and then arcing.  The ballast for the light could also get compromised in such an environment.

[Decadence]

Be careful of salt creep and starting fires... With the light essentially being in an enclosed environment like that you run the risk of moisture building up in the fixture and the wiring and then arcing.  The ballast for the light could also get compromised in such an environment.

 

I'm running my light 24/7 and have found that it is impossible for moisture to build up in it because of the heat. I get salt at the very bottom of the reflector and on the tip of the bulb and clean it weekly but haven't noticed anything which could cause any damage.

[AlanM]

So I set mine up Monday afternoon.  Friday morning the chaeto is basically filling the bucket horizontally.  I'm going to be able to supply chaeto to Montgomery county. LOL  It has more room to grow vertically, but it isn't spinning anymore.  I'm not sure if it really needs to spin because the water spins even if the chaeto doesn't.  I have a smaller clip-on reflector on mine which makes it easy to go in there each morning and poke it, turn it manually so the same side doesn't face up. spin it a little to shake off detritus, etc.

 

Also, I'm using a lower wattage CFL than Decadence put on his, so I may upgrade to a bigger one.  I don't have my grow light on it at the moment, but I kind of don't see the point of putting that on there since this is working so well.

[SunWyrm]

Saving this thread so I can use this in my new build. This is awesome!

[20LogR]

Has any thought about using an airlift for more flow in the bucket over powerheads that will add more heat and require maintance to clean?

[AlanM]

Mine doesn't spin, but grows well.