Question about Chaeto use.

Hi guys, I just had a few questions about Chaeto. I've seen the DIY refugium's made out of Aquaclear filters, but would it work if I just added some chaeto into my current Aquaclear 30? I'm currently running it with foam and 2 carbon inserts. Could I just remove 1 carbon bag and add the chaeto, or should i just remove all of the carbon and just run it with the sponge and chaeto inside? Also, how does the night time lighting work for the chaeto. Could I just go to home depot and get one of those clamp on light fixtures and just use a regular florescent bulb? Do I only light it at night? Thanks everyone.

 

i might be wrong, but arent aquaclears mostly freshwater filters? if so you ight want to change it... anyway i wouldnt remove both the carbon inserts, but if you have chaeto then one insert is fine IMO. and yeah a regular fluorescent is fine, and its best to have it on a reverse cycle

 

it will need light so you cant just toss it in like carbon but it could work.this is also usually done with an AC70 or 110 on a nano tank. how big is yours?

 

Oh yes, i forgot to add that info. My tank is a 20 gallon. I was originally running 2 Aquaclear 30's, and planned to do the refugium mod to one of them. But I ended up getting an octopus BH100. So now I run one of the Aquaclear 30 filters and the octopus. So I do not plan on converting the remaining Aquaclear 30 into a refugium. i would just like to add some chaeto to assist with removing nitrates.

 

you can always just put it behind the rocks in an acrylic box with holes in it or just have it floatin around. as long as its in the water with flow and light it will help remove nitrates.

 

Cool. Thanks for the info. Thank you guys for the info!

 

Ive turned couple aquaclears into fuges. Work great for producing live pods for the system. The volume of the 30 wont really remove nitrates effectively but will be great for live food production.

As far as lighting, I've used clamp on lamps with screw-in pc's (coralife makes a pink screwin pc thats pefrect). Keep it on the same cycle as your main lights though, othersisem you will get light on the main system at night.

 

Thanks for the input. My scooter seems to really like mysis and brine shrimp, but i'm sure he'd appreciate the extra pods running around. I'll give it a shot. Thanks!