Looking for advice for a 30g long external refugium/phyto station

[kdx7214]

A few months ago a friend gave me a 30g long tank (36" width x 12.25" front to back x 16" height). It already has a hole drilled for a bulkhead near the top of one side of the tank. I'm trying to think of a layout that would allow me to have both a refugium and a phyto continuous grow setup in the tank but am drawing a complete blank on how to setup the dividers and compartments. Is this even a good idea? I was worried about the lighting requirement since I normally run my phtyo on a 24 hour light (although it might be okay to run it at a shorter photo period).

Anybody have any thoughts for layout or if this is even a good idea?

 

[yury88]

Chaetomorpha is also ok to run 24 hours.

Main cosern that is usually phyto fed by mix feltirizers to achieve fast growth.

So it's a bad idea to put a phytoreactor with a tank inline

 

[kdx7214]

Chaetomorpha is also ok to run 24 hours.

Main cosern that is usually phyto fed by mix feltirizers to achieve fast growth.

So it's a bad idea to put a phytoreactor with a tank inline

For some reason Chaeto never seems to grow in my tank. It very slowly just dies off. I want to do a continuous culture of phyto to help feed the inverts. I've got one remaining bivalve that I'd like to not lose. I've read posts from @sixty_reefer about keeping it in the sump, but my sump isn't very big and wouldn't work too well.

 

[yury88]

For some reason Chaeto never seems to grow in my tank. It very slowly just dies off. I want to do a continuous culture of phyto to help feed the inverts. I've got one remaining bivalve that I'd like to not lose. I've read posts from @sixty_reefer about keeping it in the sump, but my sump isn't very big and wouldn't work too well.

Its because you have to dose complex traces for Chaeto.
BW ChaetoGrow or Marinium Reef Iron for example.
My Chaeto occupying 10"x8"x5" section in SUMP and I'm dumping 200g Chaeto weekly.

 

[kdx7214]

Its because you have to dose complex traces for Chaeto.
BW ChaetoGrow or Marinium Reef Iron for example.
My Chaeto occupying 10"x8"x5" section in SUMP and I'm dumping 200g Chaeto weekly.

I was actually using ChaetoGrow at the time and the stuff still seemed to die off. I've read that this happens in some cases and that the red variant usually grows well in those tanks. I know that with the exception of valonia, my tank grows red macroalgae like a champ.

 

[Doctorgori]

I was actually using ChaetoGrow at the time and the stuff still seemed to die off. I've read that this happens in some cases and that the red v

I own a bottle, I’m uncertain about its benefits …or at least I can’t document a measurable one

…I had a setup using upside down 2L bottles illuminated from behind with a cheap LED …the bottle caps had one of those cheap green plastic air valves on continuous drip into the tank sump
Phyto always crashed tho….no doubt from being in proximity to the sump and tank contaminants