Chaeto egg crate sandwich idea.

[rppvt]

I'm gonna patent a Chaeto lawnmower!

 

[FLipp]

should of made some money w your invetion.

 

[Damon]

Wonderful idea! I had considered something like this in order to keep the cheato contained and also to section off the fuge.. And as you mentioned, it working as a bubble trap and filter mechanism is just a plus! I'm off to build one!

Thanks for the great idea (innovation)!

 

[Rjramos]

I am running miracle mud under it, and replace half of it about every 1.5 years. No roots to deal with when changing out too! Lots of critters on the surface of the mud and around/within the chaeto. Somebody suggested making money on the idea before, but it's just an eggcrate basket, "chaeto scrubber" if you wanna call it that. I'm sure it could be made better and prettier, as for me, I enjoy cheap DIY projects in this expensive hobby. It has worked great for me, and a great way to measure nutrient export based on the chaetos growth. I enjoy sharing this DIY idea, and I hope it works for anyone trying it. I haven't heard feedback yet. Pros/cons from anyone yet?

 

[Rjramos]

I did this quick diy on Sunday night. Took me maybe an hour to go to home Depot for more egg crate, and cut and build this sandwich Idea. So far so good! Unfortunately, the magnets I bought to hold the sandwich in place in the sump weren't thick enough, so it's like an inch from the water line. I'll fix it this weekend and take photos. Thanks again for the idea!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Your welcome. I tried the magnets and it didn't work too well. I've been using 4 suction cups at each corner to hold it in place about 2" from water surface. Another one I made, I cut the egg crate precise to fit snug between the sump sides. Use wire snips to cut the egg crate without breaking, you may have to leave stubs on one side for a snug fit.

 

[Adam Baggett]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to do this. What about an airstone under it also. I wonder if that will increase growth. I know algea scrubbers use air.

 

[Rjramos]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to do this. What about an airstone under it also. I wonder if that will increase growth. I know algea scrubbers use air.

I haven't tried an airstone in the refugium, although I know the water has to go through the chaeto sandwich to exit the Refugium. In my refugium,water enters mid water into the refugium and exits through surface overflow on the other end. I've experimented with 1 sandwich covering half the refugium up against the overflow side with good growth. If you put 2 chaeto sandwiches with a small gap between them(like in my pic), most of the water flow has to go through the chaeto.

 

[Adam Baggett]

Cool thank you

 

[wowkingjames]

Thanks for the Info

 

[hawkinsrgk]

Thank you for sharing

 

[dorky]

wow im def trying this when i get home

 

[Letsmod]

Perfect!! I am going to try this

 

[nitro'sreef]

Thanks for the Info

 

[pickupman66]

Very Innovative. I may have to try a small version of this for my Solana.

 

[Saybng]

I thought of this first!!jk..awesome idea..I'm stealing it..and thanks a bunch..

 

[hig789]

I really want to do this on my nano. The problem is that there aren't any baffles in the rear chamber to hold anything in place. The only thing I have that might possibly work is there are shelves that are built under the overflow that where made to hold media baskets, but since I removed the "custom" skimmer and there isn't a way right now to make it flow down and through the shelves.

Would this work if I just made a egg crate sandwich and had the water from the overflow cascade over it? I don't run my water level high enough to cover the back shelf completely though. So it would be partially exposed to the air but would be wet all the time though. Would cheato grow like this? Kinda like a algae scrubber I guess.

Or I could just make a sandwich and just throw it in the chamber. All the water wouldn't pass over it but at least it would be in contact with some of it. I'm know it would be ideal to put some chambers of some sort in the back but I really don't want to do anything permanent and since its acrylic I'd have to weld it in most likely. I just want to keep my options open for the future.

Either way I would add a light to the back to run at night for the cheato to grow.

Here's a old pic for reference. Only thing in there now is my heater, return pump and a few small pieces of live rock

 

[s2nhle]

Great. Thank you for sharing.

 

[alan.lee3]

Awesome idea! I was looking for a solution when building my sump on what to do with my refugium. This made it so much easier. Decided to do a 10x10 egg create. It sits perfectly on live rocks and 2 inches below the water.

 

[luxauterna]

awesome idea!

 

[Borchers]

With my small sump space on my new Cadlights tank this will work perfectly. I'm going to run a wider gap in between the eggcrate. Like a 1 1/2" to 2" gap.