Chaeto growth help???

[jfeva0049]

hi, i have had some Chaeto in my tank for a couple of weeks and have not seen any real growth. i have 2 90 watt sprial compact for lighting.i dont have any corals yet just some chromies and clean up crew. do i need something else???? any help would be great thanks alot..

[imtheonlylp]

i would be interested to see an answer to this topic...i have a 20g fuge with 3 bags of chaeto in it and have seen no growth at all; i ordered the bulb melev suggested...before that i used the spiral halogen light that was much brighter...yesterday i began using the new "melev" bulb fulltime (i always keep the fuge light on 24-7) and still, my chaeto continues to turn a yellowish color....i put a small maxijet600 ph in there for some flow...i guess we're in the same boat eh?

[outy]

you need nutrients in the water for it to grow. iron supplimantation will help also.

chaeto is so hardy i changed water two weeks ago my chaeto i pruned is in a trash can in the basement in the cold and dark in the old water and its still alive and green after all this time. go figure

[imtheonlylp]

i am using Kent Marine Iron doses each week

[graveyardworm]

jfeva0049, have you tested any of your water parameters? How much nitrates and PO4? Also how long has the tank been setup?

imtheonlylp, I would try cutting the lighting backs bit, plants tend to do better with a dark period. Cut the light back to 14 or 16 on time and give it a couple weeks.

[jfeva0049]

jfeva0049, have you tested any of your water parameters? How much nitrates and PO4? Also how long has the tank been setup?

I TESTED MY WATER AND MY NITRATES WERE CRAZY HIGH, ALL ELSE WAS JUST FINE. MY TANK IS AFEW YEARS OLD BUT THE FUGE IS ONLY 3 WEEKS OLD.

[JeffersonReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8571131#post8571131 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by imtheonlylp
i would be interested to see an answer to this topic...i have a 20g fuge with 3 bags of chaeto in it and have seen no growth at all; i ordered the bulb melev suggested...before that i used the spiral halogen light that was much brighter...yesterday i began using the new "melev" bulb fulltime (i always keep the fuge light on 24-7) and still, my chaeto continues to turn a yellowish color....i put a small maxijet600 ph in there for some flow...i guess we're in the same boat eh?
chaeto needs a dark period. There is no reason to light chaeto 24-7. Caulerpa is often lit nonstop to prevent it from going sexual and releasing crapola into the water column. If you give your chaeto 6-8 hrs of rest at some point, it will explode. Also, on a 20g tank, maybe use 2 of the bulbs that Marc suggested. Lastly, some people say that chaeto needs low water flow. I have found the opposite to be true. I used to have about 15-20g running through my fuge, then when I upped it to about 300gph, my chaeto EXPLODED. Also, dose iron. GL, HTH!!
-Tony

PS - You can also rotate your chaeto every few days to be sure that the entire chaeto-ball gets enough light. Optimally, if you can get your water flow to "tumble" the chaeto-ball, this works great. Otherwise, just turn it over every other day or so. :)

[sipos624]

What is the temperature of the bulbs 2700k? 3000k? 5000K? I bought $16 of chaeto and it all rotted out becuase i used the wromg temp bulbs. I did some research and found out the 6500k spectrum bulb is a good bulb to grow plants on. I just bought 1 yesterday and i am trying it out. I also found out that home depot dosent have them only Lowes. Ill let you know if it works for me .

[graveyardworm]

What is the temperature of the bulbs 2700k? 3000k? 5000K?

That is the temp of the bulbs, its shown as Kelvin, and indicates where on the color chart the spectrum of the bulb is. Thats a really bad description but hopefully it helps.

[graveyardworm]

Here's an article.

What is Light (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/sj/index.php)

and a bunch more.

RK mag lighting articles (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/subject/lighting.php)

[jfeva0049]

i have 2 90 watt sprial compact lights at 5000k with round cone deflectors on them. should i get something else???

[sipos624]

I been reading up on that stuff a lot and i found the 6500k spectrum is used in most grow lights in general. Is the chaeto like rotting or just growing slowly because when i had a 5000k buld on my chaeto it got covered and aleage and became to decompose. Im useing the 6500k bulb for a week and it seems to be better. like i said i am pretty new a this but maybe you would wana try 1 bulb and give it a shot i got it a lowes for like $8. thats what some other guy told me on this forum. search google for plant grow lights and u'll see what the florecents they use for growing plants

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8592703#post8592703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfeva0049
i have 2 90 watt sprial compact lights at 5000k with round cone deflectors on them. should i get something else???

I would look for something with a higher color temperature, at least the 6500K. The best growth I've gotten has been under a 10000K XM halide. If your chaetomorpha is getting mushy, overgrown with algae slime etc, give it a brief wash in a bucket of fresh water of the same temp as the tank, and don't worry about dechlorinating it. This will remove some of the epiphytic growths on the chaet and give it a better chance of recovery ;)

[rcole33856]

nice thread

[jfeva0049]

ok guys i bit the bullet and just bought a 1x65 watt PC with a 6700k rating. i was tired of trying to search for the right bulb here and there. i hope this will give me better grow. thanks for the help everyone.

[jfeva0049]

is 6700k the best for alage growth??????i hope so cause like i said i just bought one.

[graveyardworm]

6700k is perfect.

[jfeva0049]

thanks for the reply, graveyardworm

[jfeva0049]

hey grave, do u think that 1 watt from a sprial compact bulb from like home depot is equal to 1 watt of a power compact bulb??? i just dont want to fry my alage. i had 2 19watt sc bulbs equal to 180 normal bulb light. im wondering if the 65 watt pc is to much for my fuge??

[ray22]

i have been having the same problem ,but i will go one step further . i also have an algae problem in my fuge . i tried a power head in ther e and still the macro algae keeps dieing and there is a gross slime algae on everything . my lights are on for 24hrs. i think i am going to try and run the light for 13hrs and off for the rest and see what happens.. do you think this will help with the algae problem?

[RedSonja]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8691428#post8691428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ray22
i have been having the same problem ,but i will go one step further . i also have an algae problem in my fuge . i tried a power head in ther e and still the macro algae keeps dieing and there is a gross slime algae on everything . my lights are on for 24hrs. i think i am going to try and run the light for 13hrs and off for the rest and see what happens.. do you think this will help with the algae problem?

I would try reducing the light period, definitely. From my freshwater tank experience, I know that microalgae cannot maintain the reserves through a dark period as well as higher-order plants. (i.e., putting my planted FW tank lights on an "afternoon siesta" schedule helped immensely to eliminate a hair algae explosion). The chaeto will probably grow better with a dark period as well. Sounds like the microalgae is outcompeting the macroalgae if all your other conditions are correct and stable.

HTH

-Sonja