Chaeto lighting?

[bradlyallen1]

My chaeto does not appear to be growing under the screw in 18 watt pc bulb (5000 K) that it is under. Does the absence of growth indicate that the chaeto is making little contribution to overall filtration? Should I use different lighting?

[Hopeful Reefer]

Go to Melev's web site...he did a bunch of lighting tests on Chaeto and he lists the best bulbs to buy for the best growth...

I would imagine that if the light isn't right for the plant, it won't grow as well...less growth, as with any plant, equals less nutrient demand...which would equal less nutrient export...

[surfnvb7]

IMO and IME.......if it is growing very slowly to the point where the chaeto is brittle to the touch, and breaks apart easily and/or a very dark green.....instead of long spaghetti like strands that are light green, than that is due to your system already having a low amount of nutrients........such as things like nitrates.

I've never had much luck with growing chaeto in my main tank under the recommended screw in bulb everyone says to get (ordered from lowes i think). but the chaeto in my 10g mantis tank grows like mad under a 18w PC light.

so i took out the screw in bulb in the fuge on my larger reef tank, and put in a cheap ~$35 coralife T5 light (24" i think). and now the chaeto grows faster, but still not as fast my other tank most likely do to lower nutrients.

also, IMO a good amount of steady flow also seems to help.

basically.....its just trial and error until you find something that works for your tank, since everybody's tanks are different in the ways of water chemistry.

[phurst]

I use the screw in PC bulbs too, but I use 2 of the 23w versions instead of 18w. 2 pack at sLowe's was like $12. They're working great so far.

[REEFY1]

does chaeto grow with fuge light on 24/7 or on a reverse cycle ?

[J. Montgomery]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11232680#post11232680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REEFY1
does chaeto grow with fuge light on 24/7 or on a reverse cycle ?
Either one will work.

[918ReefCpl]

We've got a CPR Med Aquafuge and put a Coralife 50/50 (28w bulb) 20" fixture ontop (fits pretty darn close too :) ) put in about a handfull of Chaeto about 2 months ago and last week harvested a grocery bag full (about 4+ handfulls) full of pods and all to get it back down to the original 2 handfull size again...we've been growing it on a reverse cycle of 8hrs & a Rio800 pump provides the flow thru the Fuge system w/ about 1 1/2" of large grain coral sand and some LR rubble ontop of that w/ a nice cluster of mini-feather duster worms making their home ontop of the rubble.