How to grow Chaeto?

[Shnabbles]

I just bought a couple big clumps for my fuge. I also went out to lowes and grabbed a 250watt heat lamp and bulb... will the chaeto grow under this?

[Shnabbles]

*bump* man there are alot of people on today lol 2nd page already

[Satori]

That bulb will definitely grow it. Why a heat lamp though? A regular light bulb or a mini compact "power saving" bulb will work just as well but without the heat.

[virginiadiver69]

Look for somthing that is 6500k like your typical grow light.
Check this out: http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html

[Roland Jacques]

Heat lamp, incandescent, grow plants ????? I don't think so. Not 100% positive. It would do a VERY poor job at it, IF it could.

I would think the PAR would be on par with a 60watt standard incandescent bulb.

But it would give some more heat in your tank and that's always good, JK. no don't use it. Get some sort of florescent lamp

[Shnabbles]

Wow a pretty mixed amount of responces some say sure it will work, some say no.

I figured the chaeto would need more then a 100watt standard bulb so i picked up a nice reflector that said up to 300 watt bulbs.. so i grabbed a 250 watt bulb thinking this thing is going to be super bright and the little extra heat i would actually mind cause the tank only seems to be getting up to about 76 now

[kmmcgra]

I grow it under a two 9 watt aqualight fixture on a hang-on fuge

[Radicaljbr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9389848#post9389848 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by virginiadiver69
Look for somthing that is 6500k like your typical grow light.
Check this out: http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html

I took this suggestion about a year ago and this light works great. You do have to replace it every 6 months or so though.

[Roland Jacques]

the key is not to get a incandescent bulb. florescent is what you want. you don't need a bunch of watts you need the right spectrum http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html are good cheap Flo bulbs with the right spectrum.

[MinibowMatt]

got to lowes or HD, buy 3 or four of the curly "soft white" or "daylight" CFL bulbs and install them over your fuge.. that cheato will grow like crazy..

Before anyone jumps on me daying "soft white" wont work, well your wrong. It does work. The sun is anywhere from 2300k to 6700k. Softwhite, is about 3600k . I have been using them for over 2 years, and have explosive cheato growth. I cant give it away fast enough.

[illal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9397181#post9397181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MinibowMatt
got to lowes or HD, buy 3 or four of the curly "soft white" or "daylight" CFL bulbs and install them over your fuge.. that cheato will grow like crazy..

Before anyone jumps on me daying "soft white" wont work, well your wrong. It does work. The sun is anywhere from 2300k to 6700k. Softwhite, is about 3600k . I have been using them for over 2 years, and have explosive cheato growth. I cant give it away fast enough.
ah of course its guna grow under 4 bulbs :eek2: but all you need is one of these :
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/5100k_bulb.jpg

[mnestroy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9397248#post9397248 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by illal
ah of course its guna grow under 4 bulbs :eek2: but all you need is one of these :
[

I did not get any noticable growth until I added a 2nd bulb in my tank I have one bulb melve suggested, and some 100w 'white' compact Flurencant bulb from Home Depot...

Once I added that 2nd bublb it started to grow like crazy.

[CrackerFish]

I also use the 6500K Daylight CF bulb (from Walmart). My growth had slowed and I replaced it with another one, bam my Chaeto is growing furiously now. I also recommend the daylight CF bulbs. I'm not using the one that is like the flood light (can't find them here locally), I have one of those funnel shaped reflectors.

[MinibowMatt]

ah of course its guna grow under 4 bulbs :eek2: but all you need is one of these :
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/5100k_bulb.jpg

I never said how many I am using ;)
... BUT, three or four of the CF softwhite bulbs will cost a few dollars, compared to 2 of those 75W...

[Shnabbles]

i just bought a bulb that look exactly like the pictures above.. its a curly bulb in a big reflector bulb.. its 75watts, but only uses 18 watts of light... I dont know the par on it but it says its 950 lumens... will this work?

[Roland Jacques]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9399141#post9399141 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shnabbles
i just bought a bulb that look exactly like the pictures above.. its a curly bulb in a big reflector bulb.. its 75watts, but only uses 18 watts of light... I dont know the par on it but it says its 950 lumens... will this work?
Yes, that is a florescent bulb. id use 2 or more also

[sterbrock1]

if I had 5 foot in length by 15 inches in width on a fuge, how often would you mount one of these lights?

[MinibowMatt]

I would put one every 10-12 inches. Those built in reflectors dont give much of a light spread.

[sterbrock1]

Thanks Matt,

What is the cost on these lights, in your opinion would they be less than (4) - 4 foot 40 watt flourescent ($35 each) every 6-12 months.

[Shnabbles]

these bulbs are like $14 for 2... and on really only using 18 watts

[Frick-n-Frags]

Right now I have 2 4' VHO's for my 50gal chaeto tank.

I take my weak bulbs from the DT and when I don't have any of those, the 2 for $3 shoplights work just fine too.

It is not picky about light.

I do find it grows better when it is kept from getting dead spots as it grows thicker by stirring it around once a day to knock out the dust. I have also always run an old RIO1700 in the chaeto tank/fuge/sump to keep the water swirling like a stuck toilet to keep lots of water contact to the entire wad.

I also have found that if I let too much chaeto accumulate, it starts limiting out and dieing, so I have to keep it down to only a certain amount to keep it healthy.

the bottom line is that I throw out a lot on a regular basis this way. this chaeto wad is quite a few years old already too.

I also throw a shot of kent iron in if the wad is looking particularly yellowish, but I haven't had to do this as much since I have been keeping the wad much smaller. Seems like the water changes do well enough.

[MinibowMatt]

yeah, if your lighting a 4 foot chaeto tank, I would go pick up a 2x4 NO flourescent shop light. I know HD had one for 12$. You can strip the ballast and endcaps out of the fixture and mount them anyway you want. I would prefer 2 40W 4' flourescent over a couple of the others any day. Dont worry about changing the bulbs ever 6-8 months, The spectrum change in these bulbs is not an issue for chaeto.