cheato. newbie

M

mustang_gt_350

Member
I just added chaeto to my 10gallon. I built a small crate out of egg crate and put it in the back bottom corner of the tank. How much light does it need? Meaning will a normal LED hood be enough or should i put a clamp on light beside the tank and run it? I'm just worried about the hood not being enough and it dying.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I think it depends on the LED. I have a crappy marineland reef capable LED I was using on my fudge and it grew nothing. I now use a 23watt compact fluorescent from Home Depot and it works great. I remove about half the chaeto every 3 to 4 weeks. I have a couple cheap Chinese LED fixtures that grow chaeto really well. It depends on the wave length of the light. You can try with the light you have and if it doesn't grow you might need a different light.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
mustang_gt_350 said:
Ok, i'll see what it does with this light. If not i'll just add a light on the side for it.
Click to expand...
I had to add direct lighting on my in tank refugium to get the macros to take off and for nitrates to drop. Basically I added an eggcrate at the back of the tank and at first just had the overhead lighting. nitrates stayed high even though the macros grew. Adding lights behind the tank point forward got nitrates to drop down in about 3 weeks..

If you can even just get a clip on spot light with a spiral pig tail type light pointing directly at the macros, it should help.

Still just my .02
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I have it in 2 tanks. On gets indirect light from the window. The cheato grows well. My other tank its much slower
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Clip-on lamps appear to be quite popular in this era of modern technology... lol! I also have a clip-on reflector lamp with a 23W spiral fluorescent bulb over my refugium. If you get the "natural daylight" bulb, it will give your chaeto the best growth. Since your chaeto is in a corner, you'll need to mount it so it shines through the side of the tank so you'll get as much light contact with the chaeto as possible. Chaeto works best if it's in the middle of the tank where it can get the most flow through it, as well as the best lighting. Tumbling it would be ideal. It will work in the corner, but it will be less effective that way. Just my 2c...
 
M

mustang_gt_350

Member
I was afraid of putting it in the middle since i have a HOB filter. I was affraid it would leave the cage and go into the intake and give the pump problems? I can see the strands twitching a little so it is getting flow, It may not be enough. I think the next shopping trip i make i'll look to see what bulbs i can find in the daylight spectrum and pick one up just to experiment a little.
 
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