Anyone ever used the PhytoTank Macroalgae Chaeto Reactor by Poseidon Reef Systems?

[Daniel@R2R]

Anybody ever used one of these? I'm curious about people's experiences. Was it effective? Pros? Cons? I'm considering one for my WaterBox 25g office tank.

PhytoTank Macroalgae Chaeto Reactor

Eliminate phosphate and nitrate from your reef tank using the PhytoTank Macroalgae Reactor! Growing chaeto macroalgae in a PhytoTank is a natural and effective way to remove phosphate and nitrate. Set up the PhytoTank Chaeto reactor by installing a small pump in your sump (do not exceed 250...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[revhtree]

Not me but it's interesting!

 

[juniorgomez708]

Did you end up trying it out? I want to try it myself since I don’t have room in my sump.

 

[connordv]

Anybody ever used one of these? I'm curious about people's experiences. Was it effective? Pros? Cons? I'm considering one for my WaterBox 25g office tank.

PhytoTank Macroalgae Chaeto Reactor

Eliminate phosphate and nitrate from your reef tank using the PhytoTank Macroalgae Reactor! Growing chaeto macroalgae in a PhytoTank is a natural and effective way to remove phosphate and nitrate. Set up the PhytoTank Chaeto reactor by installing a small pump in your sump (do not exceed 250...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I haven't but have had friends use it that say it's amazing!

 

[juniorgomez708]

I haven't but have had friends use it that say it's amazing!

I’m surprised there is little to no information out there on this product.

 

[kadamik]

I’m surprised there is little to no information out there on this product.

i am using one right now but it is only two weeks old. i will report back when it has been running longer

my nitrates where 34
phosphate was .3

i will let u know how the cheato is doing and what my levels are at

 

[PeterC99]

I’m using it and can recommend. Easy to setup, maintain, and harvest. Knock on wood, haven’t crash a culture in over a year! Harvest phytoplankton batch every week.

 

[juniorgomez708]

I’m using it and can recommend. Easy to setup, maintain, and harvest. Knock on wood, haven’t crash a culture in over a year! Harvest phytoplankton batch every week.

I’m using it and can recommend. Easy to setup, maintain, and harvest. Knock on wood, haven’t crash a culture in over a year! Harvest phytoplankton batch every week.

This is actually a little different product. It’s by the same company but yours cultures phytoplankton. It’s a really good product for that. But the one I have questions on is the chaeto reactor. It almost looks the same but works different.

 

[lynn.reef.nerd]

Great little tank, I have 8 right now. Some people don't like the bags but I love them. Makes it so much easier to clean and start a new culture.

 

[juniorgomez708]

After a couple weeks of research, I think I am going to go the media reactor way. This option looks okay but 1 gallon is a bit small for chaeto growth in my 210 gallon tank. My nitrates are 50ppm and phosphates are at 1ppm. I think my best option will be running gfo for my phosphates or maybe biopellets but I’m not too familiar with bio pellets

 

[Grissom92]

I have actually been running mine for about a month...
Just did the first clean out.
Been running it with a Sicce 1.0 pump.
This thing is a detritus magnet.
Doesn't really move the Cheato around. And Cheato was covered in green slime algae.
Light is meh. And taking the lid off is a fun time with the hose clamp and water back syphoning.
And unless you plan on cleaning it completely out once a month. Once you stir everything up and plug the pump back in. All of the free floating bits will go straight to your display.
So plan on doing a 1 gallon wc when you clean it out once a month or so.
Running on my Waterbox X60.2.

It works. Not a huge fan but for the price you can't exactly expect Tunze or PAX type performance/ease of use.

I have made the decision to go with the Zeovit reactor by Aquavitro for $185 and ditch the refugium

 

[juniorgomez708]

I have actually been running mine for about a month...
Just did the first clean out.
Been running it with a Sicce 1.0 pump.
This thing is a detritus magnet.
Doesn't really move the Cheato around. And Cheato was covered in green slime algae.
Light is meh. And taking the lid off is a fun time with the hose clamp and water back syphoning.
And unless you plan on cleaning it completely out once a month. Once you stir everything up and plug the pump back in. All of the free floating bits will go straight to your display.
So plan on doing a 1 gallon wc when you clean it out once a month or so.
Running on my Waterbox X60.2.

It works. Not a huge fan but for the price you can't exactly expect Tunze or PAX type performance/ease of use.

I have made the decision to go with the Zeovit reactor by Aquavitro for $185 and ditch the refugium

Thank you! My phosphates and nitrates are creeping up really fast that I ended up pulling the trigger on a Aquamaxx gfo reactor. Also going to start changing out my filter socks twice a week instead of once every 2 weeks.

 

[Grissom92]

Yeah the filter socks are probably what is causing your headache. They need to be changed 2-3 times a week.
I recently decided to go with the Klir filter roller and haven't had to touch a filter sock in almost 6 weeks now... And my Nitrates stay around 5.6-6.0 through the week. Phosphates are around .04-.06 and I feed heavily.... Because I like algae in my tank apparently

Thank you! My phosphates and nitrates are creeping up really fast that I ended up pulling the trigger on a Aquamaxx gfo reactor. Also going to start changing out my filter socks twice a week instead of once every 2 weeks.

 

[juniorgomez708]

Yeah the filter socks are probably what is causing your headache. They need to be changed 2-3 times a week.
I recently decided to go with the Klir filter roller and haven't had to touch a filter sock in almost 6 weeks now... And my Nitrates stay around 5.6-6.0 through the week. Phosphates are around .04-.06 and I feed heavily.... Because I like algae in my tank apparently

I like hair algae too! Makes the tank look more like an ocean. But I don’t like my phosphate at 1ppm… no coral growth at all.