Cheato Light Cycle

[MMM33732]

whats the best light cycle to maximize cheato growth and nutrient export?

[MMM33732]

i recently read that cheato actually does better on 12hr cycles instead of 24hr. any truth?

[Demonic]

I leave mine on 24. It grows fine. Not really looking to make money harvesting chaeto....LOL

[carlso63]

I have not noticed any benefit to a 24 hr photoperiod vs an 18 hr photoperiod... I did, however, notice a big difference in 18 vs. 12 hours...

If you want maximimum growth you need pretty intense lighting, which many people lack (they just throw on the cheapest light they can buy or something they have left over to light the refugium)...

I have found this light to be excellent :

http://www.yinyanghome.com/Products/...A_outdoor.html


Home Depot has them for about $40. Make sure you get the 65w model; not the smaller 27w model.

One fixture is enough to light up to a 20 gallon refugium. Put the light as close to the waterline as possible (maybe an inch or 2 off the water)

As far as "making money off chaeto" goes...

My fuge is 'only' 10g... but this light grows my chaeto so fast I am able to sell off 5 - 6 gallon size bags of it, filled to the brim, every month on my local Reef Club site. I get $10 per bag - or I trade a bag of chaeto for a frag if the buyer would prefer.

Not too bad for something I would otherwise just "thin out" and throw away...

[carlso63]

I have not noticed any benefit to a 24 hr photoperiod vs an 18 hr photoperiod... I did, however, notice a big difference in 18 vs. 12 hours...

If you want maximimum growth you need pretty intense lighting, which many people lack (they just throw the cheapest light they can buy or something they have left over to light the refugium)...

I have found this light to be excellent :

http://www.yinyanghome.com/Products/...A_outdoor.html


Home Depot has them for about $40. Make sure you get the 65w model; not the smaller 27w model.

One fixture is enough to light up to a 20 gallon refugium. Put the light as close to the waterline as possible (maybe an inch or 2 off the water)

As far as "making money off chaeto" goes...

My fuge is 'only' 10g... but this light grows my chaeto so fast I am able to sell off 5 - 6 gallon size bags of it, filled to the brim, every month on my local Reef Club site. I get $10 per bag - or I trade for a bag for a frag if the buyer would prefer.

Not too bad for something I would otherwise just "thin out" and throw away...

[kinktao]

I use to turn on the lights only at night with my cheato, seem to work fine.

[bergzy]

Originally posted by carlso63

Home Depot has them for about $40. Make sure you get the 65w model; not the smaller 27w model.

One fixture is enough to light up to a 20 gallon refugium. Put the light as close to the waterline as possible (maybe an inch or 2 off the water)

i also use this light to light my 5g bucket fuge that spins the chaeto. and yes, like carlos said, it grows chaeto incredibly fast.

the light is about 2 inches from the water surface to maximize every photon possible.



if your local costco carries them, they are going for $8.50.

i drill holes in the ballast area to vent out heat...and now do so over the bulb area as well. this extends the life of the ballast much better.

i also illuminate 18 hours a day.

[MMM33732]

hmm. maybe my light has always been lacking then. its just a 26w spiral cf 6500k. ive always heard those work just fine. i noticed mine never really grow too good at 12hr, so i switched to 22hr. it grew maybe a tiny tiny bit better, but ended up getting completely engulfed in hair algae and cyano which further slowed growth. i have a new ball of it coming which should be here soon. i'll scrub out the fuge so all the algae is out so it hopefully wont spread again. maybe just upgrading the light was the ticket all along. so you did notice a big diff in 18hr over 12?

[ganjero]

sorry to hj, but how do you mount those flood lights. bTW I do 12hrs

[bergzy]

Originally posted by MMM33732
ended up getting completely engulfed in hair algae and cyano which further slowed growth.

the flow in your fuge might be too slow where cyano has a chance getting a foothold in there.

try increasing the flow through it..it might not only decrease cyano...but you might see an increase of chaeto growth as well!!!

[MMM33732]

ill give that a try. maybe a powerhead or something. i tried that a while back and it just constantly got clogged with clumps of cheato. maybe ill put it in a different chamber of my sump/fuge and have a hose going into the fuge section. my flow seems like its dropped over the past few weeks, but i have a hunch its all the algae making it seem slower than it really is. that'll all be cleaned up tomorrow though when the new cheato gets here.

[MMM33732]

poll results are all pretty close. closer than i thought they'd be.

[bergzy]

Originally posted by MMM33732
ill give that a try. maybe a powerhead or something. i tried that a while back and it just constantly got clogged with clumps of cheato. maybe ill put it in a different chamber of my sump/fuge and have a hose going into the fuge section. my flow seems like its dropped over the past few weeks, but i have a hunch its all the algae making it seem slower than it really is. that'll all be cleaned up tomorrow though when the new cheato gets here.

what do you guesstimate your flow to be through your fuge?

i run my fuges with 100+ times turnover per hour with excellent chaeto growth.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1264664

[MMM33732]

its roughly a 17 gal sump/fuge with about 550gph flow. only 32x turnover. (the current fuge chamber is 10x9x11) the fuge is about 2" lower than the chamber before it, so the water has a jet effect and shoots straight down along the baffle. i angeled some plexi in the corners to help create a circulating effect. it helped for a few days, then the cheato ball stopped spinning and tumbling, and is now covered in algae and always floats.

[bergzy]

how big is/was your ball of chaeto. there comes a time when they become too large and need to be trimmed.

when my chaeto balls get close to not fitting the container, off goes the excess.

small chaeto is good in that it allows good light penetration throughout the entire colony allowing for rapid growth and rapid nutrient extraction.

could it be that your chaeto mass is too big to allow it to freely spin? thus, also slowing or clogging flow to allow algae growth?

just guessing without pics!

[MMM33732]

nah. it was about the size of a softball. now between all the algae, it floating, its brittleness, and its irregular shape, theres really now way its going to tumble without waaaay more flow. its just a irregular pile of mush now. well not mush, but nothing good. hence why i bought some more to start new with. i'm just curious as to why this ball failed and got covered in algae, and more importantly, what to do to make sure the new batch thrives.

[MMM33732]

the poll results just keep getting closer and closer. i wonder if the votes are just peoples opinions and guesses or actual votes from people who have tried them all or at least 3 of them.

[carlso63]

Originally posted by MMM33732
the poll results just keep getting closer and closer. i wonder if the votes are just peoples opinions and guesses or actual votes from people who have tried them all or at least 3 of them.

I have tried all 3. I found 18 hrs the overall best; big difference in growth between 12 and 18 - but no great difference between 18 and 24.

I voted for 18 hr photoperiod myself.


P.S. - if you are having issues growing chaeto I would look at having adequately intense enough lighting first (not just how long your photoperiod is); excessive nitrate / phosphate issues second - by excessive, Ii mean nO3 or pO4 levels too high for the macro to reduce effectively on its own, so then the macro itself gets covered in hair algae, too, etc.; and then your sump / fuge flow rate last.

The flow rate through my sump & fuge is 'only' about 400 gph; which is about 12 X turnover compared to sump / fuge water volume (30g), and only 3 X turnover compared to display water volume (125g).

IMO, having a sump or fuge flow of 1000 gph (or 50 or more X turnover) is not the way to go. The water is flowing through the sump / fuge so fast that your macro has no time to absorb nutrients from it... never mind your skimmer working at max efficiency. If your display needs more flow get it via adding a CL or Korallias, not from running a monster gph return pump from the sump...

And your chaeto "ball" does not have to tumble in the fuge for it to survive. My chaeto is so thick and dense it not only can't tumble - the last time I trimmed it it was literally in a "brick" the exact shape and size of my fuge itself. I have a powerhead in my fuge for circulation, and you couldn't even tell that it was running...

[MMM33732]

does your powerhead ever get clogged up with cheato?

[carlso63]

Not "clogged up" totally (I have a strainer on the intake) but, yes, ny chaeto grows right up to the powerhead and does cut down the flow somewhat.

My chaeto has grown to the point of actually starting to push itself out of the water at times. That's when I start bagging it and selling it at my local club site.

I have cut it all the way back to the size of a tennis ball and it can grow back to a 10 gallon-sized "brick" in a month or so

It is also a 'weird' strain in that it is thinner than most I've come across (kind of like comparing spaghetti to angel hair pasta) and it is not quite as dark a green color either.

[spamreefnew]

i use ge plant and aquarium lamps from homechepo or wallmart (normal output) in under counter and shope lites and the stuff grows like mad, i think i get the most growth on a 24hr cycle when i give them a day or two per month of darkness

[Pitcom]

I leave mine on 24 hrs a day. I use13w pc bulbs and get fantastic growth. I used to have a 60w light setup and it didnt make 1 difference vs the 13w bulb. Good Luck.

[MMM33732]

was the 60w also a cf or was its an incandescent?

[carlso63]

Originally posted by MMM33732
was the 60w also a cf or was its an incandescent?

It's a 65w CF bulb... there's a pic of the fixture about 6 or 7 posts back up the thread.

[tankgeeks]

bump......more votes please!

also, a fuge with only chaeto...is it best to have it bare bottom or with sand.... LR pieces or no live rock pieces??