Beefing up macro growing

[cyberwollf]

Ok i have all the stuff laying around so I was thinking about build a tower out of 3 emtpy salt buckets and grow chaeto in each on. plan to feed it with a mag5 and have it all gravity fed back to the sump.

I know currently, once it starts to fill my refuge chamber it slows down growth.
Do you think this would actually make the growth rate really increase alot, hence more nutrient export?

5-star image   :

[jd]

Wes,

I knew you posted this as soon as I say the name

If you are going to do all of this, have you considered putting a 30/40 gallon tank in the laundry room on that table where your 20L is(was?) and pumping water too in and having it drain back? That would give you a ton of space to grow it and not look nearly as dangerous as your drawing does 

[cyberwollf]

I thought about that but i wanted to have decent flow to get it to tumble (something i dont have now) i figured i'd have to add baffels to 20L otherwise it would just end up as a giant ball of chaeto.  I really wanted to have several fist size peices tumbleing at once. and then harvest it when they approach basketball size...

just looking for more nutrient export... and i have all the equipment on hand.

[Rayman]

and i thought i was "OCD" lol jk i am going to just put this out there, this may be the best drawing ever! I think this falls under the you will never know untill you try it, i say go for it .

[rayviv]

And you are talking about just 1 pump? I dont see it working past the first bucket.

[Reefd Up]

Unless you're planning to harvest macroalgae to sell to LFS or something, I don't see the need for this?   If you are regularly trimming back the algae in your sump, it should continue to export well.  If you have 3 buckets of it, it'll probably be growth-limited by nutrients in your tank.  You would probably have to supplement your tank to get any good growth out of 3 buckets worth. 

As far as the concept itself, that leaning tower of buckets just scares me.  I mean, saltwater and electricity are bad enough...but a giant tower of buckets full of saltwater?  Yikes!  I'm hoping you're planning to put them on shelves or something...not just rig them all together.  Also, buckets aren't the easiest to put bulkheads into (not saying it isn't impossible...just more difficult than flat glass.) 

[cyberwollf]

As far as the concept itself, that leaning tower of buckets just scares me.  I mean, saltwater and electricity are bad enough...but a giant tower of buckets full of saltwater?  Yikes!  I'm hoping you're planning to put them on shelves or something...not just rig them all together. 

Gah... I was planning on using plenty of duct tape...Geez 

Ok, other than the actual physical implementation, does the idea work? I have always had diatoms and crap, GFO exhausts really quick In my tank

If you are regularly trimming back the algae in your sump, it should continue to export well.  If you have 3 buckets of it, it'll probably be growth-limited by nutrients in your tank. 

Thats the goal. If i dont have enough to even grow macro, i shouldn't have any algae problems.

[chromiumlux]

Why not try different types of macro algae? I am sure they all export different nutrients at different levels.

[Reefd Up]

It's very hard to get different types of macroalgae to coexist for long lengths of time.  Usually one will out-compete the other.  The only two types that will usually co-exist for a while are Caulerpa and Chaetomorpha (although I'm sure you could get bubble algae to grow too!!  LOL.)

I'm a bit concerned if you think you have enough nutrients to feed 3 x 5g buckets of chaeto.  What are you feeding?  How big is your algae compartment in comparison with your tank currently?