ok so it's been about a month and a half, since I see up a diy algae reactor. I made it using a TLF 550 and red/blue led grow light from Amazon. I had the flow high nothing, now I dialed down the flow and still nothing. my phosphates aren't going down and still have a few tuffs of GHA on my overflow and HOB skimmer. what am I missing here ? I'm about to just get a big tub of GFO and give up on the reactor.
I believe the macro algae uses the nutrients to grow and therefore by removing the algae you have just harvested a byproduct of the nutrients. Removing the macro algae does not effect nitrates and phosphates since the plant used it to grow. Now I have heard that if the macro algae dies then nitrates and phosphates could leech back into the water. Ive never experienced it myself so I am not sure if it is true.
It will take more than a week to see your issue fixed. I am still battling a little bit of hair algae 1 year later..
You may need a better light source other than the sticky led strip light. Remember you are competing with the power of your lights on your main display. Its not fair to expect low powered leds to compete with any light source on a reef tank. If all else fails you can try the chemical route and use Phosphate Rx or dose Fluconazole to get rid of all your algae problems. (This is just a temporary fix and you will need to figure out why the algae keeps living and not dying off)
Watch these video to help you with algae and learn about the light intensity chaeto needs:
