Growing Macro (Chaeto) ball in the back of AIO tank

[jneuringer]

Thinking about putting a Chaeto ball in the "sump" area of my AIO 65 Waterbox.
So far the idea is to use the area under the return (below the filter sox) with a plastic screen at the bottom (to prevent the chaeto from clogging the passage to the next chamber), then removing as square of black plastic film from the back of the tank and mounting a light facing in on the outside. (I currently have a 4 LED 8K white fuge light (4W total) ).
Thoughts? Changes to my plan?
I had tried this in my 14 AIO a few years ago and recall that it grew a lot of pink sludge kind of algae and the Chaeto melted (I was thinking it was not good enough flow?

 

[Pseudoskill]

I tried this and the chaeto itself grew really well. I also have no idea if it was the cause, but I swear my water always looked really clear. However, I could NOT keep my nitrates up. I measured using a RedSea nitrate test and a Hanna nitrate checker. Both would barely register any nitrates. I was using a 40L IM tank that was roughly 4 months old. I eventually took the chaeto out as I just couldn't keep corals. Just my experience, there may have been other factors at play but I believe the chaeto was the issue.

 

[jneuringer]

Wow. It's great that it worked. I was under the impression most people wanted very low No3 (and even lower PO4) which Chaeto definitely does. If you ever get your chaeto ball growing again, perhaps keep it well trimmed and feed the aquarium more.

 

[Subsea]

@jneuringer
Very low nitrate is an invitation for nuisance, opportunistic algaes like dinoflagellates & Cynobacteria.

Everything that grows in nature needs nitrogen. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphate in most macro algae is 30:1. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphate is constant in phytoplankton at 16:1 and is called the Redfield Ratio.