Has anyone made a successful centrally-lit Algae Reactor?

[OhMatic Jr]

No "build thread"
I'm not sure what you mean... Please explain.
I guess it could be made bigger but I wanted it to fit in my tank cabinet.
This reactor's inside chamber is 14in tall x 6in wide (most 6in reactors have a 5.75in inside diameter) the overall height is 22.5in(with fan) and 11in wide but fits in a 10x10 area.
I thought of using an 8in wide tube but it would not have fit under my tank.

 

[Drakonis]

Just a stab in the dark here but lighting aside is lack of movement an issue in this design? in a fuge ideally you get current to tuble it so all surfaces get light. lets assume for a minute the light is exactly whats needed if movement was introduced would you see a performance difference? if so would current light options bennefit from movement to improove performance regardless of light source?

 

[dorky]

No "build thread"
I'm not sure what you mean... Please explain.
I guess it could be made bigger but I wanted it to fit in my tank cabinet.
This reactor's inside chamber is 14in tall x 6in wide (most 6in reactors have a 5.75in inside diameter) the overall height is 22.5in(with fan) and 11in wide but fits in a 10x10 area.
I thought of using an 8in wide tube but it would not have fit under my tank.

I didn't realize it was tht big lol sorry! Reason I want to go bigger or taller so there enough flow/movement tht will force the cheato to grow at a fast pace

 

[OhMatic Jr]

"Movement"....... Interesting thought but I really doubt it.
ARID, ClearTides, Skimz, and UltraReef all have designs that do not have algae movement. SBreefLights released a video with algae movement but I doubt it ever hits the market successfully.
There are lots of examples of massive chaeto growth in sumps with no algae movement.
That said:
My reactor does have algae movement. The water can swirl in the chamber. There are three inputs with valves and two outputs. The cylinder is 1/4in thick and there are slits where the water enters the cylinder. The slits are cut at an angle and this causes the water to swirl. There are valves on all three inputs so I can adjust where the water enters the reactor.
Sorry the pics don't really show this.

 

[OhMatic Jr]

dorky,
The acrylic sheet used for the key hole is 1/2 in. thick and the piece next to it is 3/8 in. thick. That probable is throwing off the perspective, in the picture the reactor looks smaller If your reference is 1/4 in acrylic.

Hard to see here but the valves are locline valves. There are three valves in the picture below.

 

[OhMatic Jr]

Output: Two 3/4 in. Loc-Line on top, Input: three 1/2 in. Loc-Line below with valves

 

[dorky]

I seem to have better growth when the cheato is tumbling. I threw a nickel size cheato in to the sump n it grew fast with the help of the light and the flow. About ur reactor wat purpose do the valve n locline on the side serve?

 

[OhMatic Jr]

The valves adjust the flow of water. When the chaeto gets stuck and stops spinning I can change the amount of flow and direct it to get the chaeto moving again.
I have a ClearTides algae reactor I modified with this idea but the flow was not spread out like this and it would blow the algae apart into small pieces. This design works a lot better.

 

[dorky]

did you have a ball/gate valve at the pump to regulate the flow comings into the reactors? that should prevent blowing algae into bunch of little piece

 

[OhMatic Jr]

Yes, same idea, it had three valves.
Problem was the inflow was not spread out. The concentrated flow swirled but to get enough flow it was too turbulent and if it was turned down algae would stop moving.

 

[dorky]

Hmm it hard to say if I can't get my hand on it.

 

[OhMatic Jr]

??? What is "hard to say"
Looked like a pretty clear picture to me.
Two Inputs on the side of a cylinder
One input on the center bottom.
Two outputs on the top.

 

[dorky]

Any reason for having so many inputs? Normally one input create the flow n push the water out thru the output. N what I mean it hard for me to come up wit something without getting my hand on.

 

[dorky]

I've made one out of a bucket two years ago was successful for short term

 

[OhMatic Jr]

Movement.
It was discussed prior in this thread

 

[ReeferBob]

Seems awfully complex. I'd be afraid that once you started growing algae, it would quickly cover that inner wall and block the light. Algae "reactors" are good I think if you don't have the room for an ATS but long term, I think an ATS (traditional screen) will yield better results. I get great growth using a simple 100 watt equivalent CFL in a cheap shop light fixture in the daylight spectrum.

 

[OhMatic Jr]

I agree, After using both algae scrubbers and algae reactors.
Srubbers win hands down for soo many reasons...

 

[OhMatic Jr]

ReeferBob
"Great growth" with a daylight CFL...
I wish there was a way to quantify great growth.... Maybe dry and weigh algae and divide weight by total watts used....
I don't believe daylight lights give optimum results. Maybe they have better cost to algae ratios...
I have had much better results with a combination of 630-660nm & 465-470nm

 

[OhMatic Jr]

Bump
John should be easier to find now