DIY Macro Reactor

[reefs4life]

Today's update shows that we have lift off! It has been growing extremely well

 

[Brando457]

holy crapola that is alot of cheato in a short time, great job!

 

[oh207]

Nice!

 

[rickytr23]

Wow that's awesome,r u adding iron supplement to it

 

[1UCKY]

That's a job well done!

 

[reefs4life]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. It's an easy DIY project with a spare reactor chamber. I would recommend every one who's interested in such a filter to try it out.

Wow that's awesome,r u adding iron supplement to it

I was wondering if it was necessary or not and I also would love to know how it stays confined to the reactor or if it's ok to just have it as a broadcast dose to the entire systems. I don't really dose anything so I don't know if I would want to start, unless it makes that big of a difference in growth and such.

 

[edd]

very nice work.
if you don't mind me asking, what did it cost you?

 

[reefs4life]

very nice work.
if you don't mind me asking, what did it cost you?

Well I had the reactor and fan so $0 for that

LED strip w/ power supply - $17 Amazon
48" 3/8" aluminum rod - $8 HD
Aluminum column heatsink - $15 eBay
24" Clear PVC 1" OD tube - $12 eBay
5 1" ID rubber grommets - $8 eBay
Misc items (2 3/8" quick connect fittings*, hose, PVC Glue, etc.) - $20

That totals $80

*you can use the quick disconnect fittings but I just used the quick connect because HD carries them

 

[MrsDubs]

Looks great! Is this what you needed the cheato for?

 

[lnevo]

Awesome job. I'd like to hear how ravi's attempt went with the leds on the outside.

Here's the real question though...any change in your parameters since starting it up?

 

[reefs4life]

Looks great! Is this what you needed the cheato for?

Yes that's what I need the chaeto for, that's why I said he gave me way too much lol but thank you so much, this fresh chaeto batch made a huge difference

Awesome job. I'd like to hear how ravi's attempt went with the leds on the outside.

Here's the real question though...any change in your parameters since starting it up?

The real answer is...I wish I tested that often. I guess I'm like an unofficial renegade reefer. Where's president dubs to swear me in? I know he would love to lol

But I will test today to get an idea. I know I had a small reading of nitrates about a month ago, maybe 10, I don't even know. I'll gauge it when I get home today and do today's test. Mind you I haven't had fish since the end of February so idk how accurate that's going to be

 

[edd]

Well I had the reactor and fan so $0 for that

LED strip w/ power supply - $17 Amazon
48" 3/8" aluminum rod - $8 HD
Aluminum column heatsink - $15 eBay
24" Clear PVC 1" OD tube - $12 eBay
5 1" ID rubber grommets - $8 eBay
Misc items (2 3/8" quick connect fittings*, hose, PVC Glue, etc.) - $20

That totals $80

*you can use the quick disconnect fittings but I just used the quick connect because HD carries them

thats reasonable, even if you had to buy a reactor.

 

[ravi197699]

hey guys here my diy macro reactor. Same concept but little different approach. I had this reactor and it came with my calcium reactor and I changed the plumbing and input and output is from the top and light is red SMD led water proof strip that I bought and I am adding blue as well and it is wrapped around the tube from outside. I did not want to deal with heatsink so I went this route. Here are some of the pictures and today I hard plumbed it to my system need some macro to start the reactor...

 

[tunicata]

Any updates from either of you?

 

[5thChorseman]

Very cool DIYs, both of you. I wonder how do these compare to an algae scrubber in terms of effective nutrient export?

 

[ravi197699]

I have algae scrubber as well. it is doing very well. I don't have fast growth in my reactor since I have algae scrubber going on and it is doing very well. I clean my algae scrubber very 2 weeks with plenty of green hair...

 

[vio]

My Chaeto

In my case , NO need reactor. I got 4 Basketball Size Chaeto in 90 Gal. sump. Works for me.

 

[ReefLord]

How much do Pax Bellum sell them for? I searched and didn't find anyone selling these things, do they even work?

 

[cryptics]

They are a vendor on here. I have one from Pax and it really works. I feed heavy with 3 carpet nems and my PO4 is steady at .04 according to my Hanna Checker. I run the Pax reactor light 16 hours a day and a skimmer 12 hours

 

[Exotic Reef]

So after the new batch of macro how long did it take to take over that reactor ? Not sure if u said it or not ?