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View Full Version : CTS. Chaeto turf scrubber


spamreefnew
04/09/2015, 09:48 PM
Has anyone ever tried to use chaeto as an ATS? In my sump I Put a large chunk of chaeto, under it I put some airline and above it it I put some strong LED lights,mostly 660nm red and420nm blue. It's only been 2 days and my algae went from 9x9 inches to 12x 12 inches. My thinking is the bubbles will break up the boundary layer and the strong lights will enhance growth.

ca1ore
04/10/2015, 12:40 AM
Cheato isn't a 'turf' algae per se; but any refugium with macro will help to reduce nutrient levels along the lines of an ATS. You can certainly enhance growth by using 660 red LED and 'tumbling' the algae; though the latter requires a good sized tank volume.

Floyd R Turbo
04/10/2015, 06:34 PM
I know someone that took an old Santa Monica SM100, took out the mesh screen, modified the slot pipe to be a spray bar (holes), and rolled up a piece of mesh and stuck it in the drain to act as a strainer and then filled it up with chaeto. It worked great, grew chaeto multiple times faster than when it was submerged.

The problem, IMO, with a ball of chaeto is that your flow is not random enough right at the surface, all the time throughout the entire mass.

Heck you could probably rig up a wet/dry trickle filter, all the way out of the water, and provide it a ton of flow and light from 4 sides and get better growth than a submerged ball of chaeto

many ways to skin the cat

d2mini
04/10/2015, 09:28 PM
Here's my 22"x22"x24" "chaeto algae scrubber". :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyc9fdCe244

spamreefnew
04/11/2015, 09:15 PM
D2mni, wow! How did you do that? That looks just like my sump I would love some tips!

d2mini
04/11/2015, 09:20 PM
Water enters the fuge through a spray bar at the top right pointing across the water surface which is what's keeping it rolling counterclockwise.
And the secret to the growth is the 150w HPS grow light.
It goes from softball size to that monster in just a few weeks. ;)
System has immeasurable nitrates. Due to the cheato? Couldn't tell ya for sure.

ca1ore
04/11/2015, 09:22 PM
That video is just creepy ...... :lol:

d2mini
04/12/2015, 06:34 AM
that video is just creepy ...... :lol:

lol :D

CStrickland
04/12/2015, 10:39 AM
It's true. I expected the sun to rise from behind it like the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey
:D

BigCountry74
04/12/2015, 08:52 PM
that video is totally killer man. :D

spamreefnew
04/12/2015, 09:40 PM
Cool. I have got to try this!