TX REEF's Aquaculture Mini-farm

[TX_REEF]

Hello R2R friends. For over a year now I've been mentally planning, as the title suggests, an Overcomplicated Chaeto Farm. Below are my rudimentary first sketches of my plans. I will be using a blue 30 gallon potable water barrel and cutting it in half top to bottom to form my "tank". I'll add everything I use for this build in post #2. I will also be toying around with different lights and "fertilizer" to see what allows me to grow chaeto best.

I welcome any and all comments, suggestions, questions and ridicule !

COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Q: Why?
A: I want to grow chaeto in a system free of any potential pests, parasites or other potentially harmful maladies so I can provide other hobbyists with truly "CLEAN" chaetomorpha. I also want to test various lights and additives to see what really makes chaeto grow best in practice, and see the results with my own eyes, and document my findings for others to benefit from.

Q: Do you know there are simpler ways to grow chaeto?
A. Yes, and I don't care.

 

[TX_REEF]

EQUIPMENT LIST

Purchased

• Barrel: https://amzn.to/3RjsEw0
• "White" LED light: https://amzn.to/3DZkWEf
• "Blue" LED light: https://amzn.to/41ZfZTT

Future

• Wood for stand
• Tank for "sump"
• PVC pipe and fittings, other plumbing items
• ATO

 

[Formulator]

Cool project! Looking forward to seeing how this goes

 

[TX_REEF]

Unboxed the new LED today, let’s see how it grows my chaeto in the existing “farm” while I find the time to set up the new one.

 

[TX_REEF]

I decided to simplify the design and use a gyre - the farm is up and running! I’ll share notes on how well the growth goes.

 

[TX_REEF]

I have made some DIY PVC lighting stands for my chaeto, as well as my nem farm and clowns only tank, which I'll be using to encourage BTA's to split frequently without manual cutting. The BTA farm is equipped with an oversized canister filter for filtration and flow, a kessil A160 for lighting (mounted with a DIY pendant with barn doors to prevent light spill, and a single ~5 pound mature live rock from the sump of my display tank. My wife saw a pair of baby clowns (standard ocellaris) that we "had to buy", so they will be the residents along with bubbletip anemones. They are staying in an isolation box in my frag tank until I'm confident this new tank with mature live rock can handle ammonia.

 

[TX_REEF]

The baby clowns are now enjoying their anemone in the new anemone farm tank