Chaeto & fuge questions

[drfu]

So i have decided to start two fuges on both of my reef tanks, one is a IM Nuvo 8, the other is a 15g column. On the Nuvo 8 i have installed InTank's fuge basket & 10 watt submersible light in my back heater column (where it was designed for) & in my 15g i have installed a InTank basket for an extra Aquaclear 20 w/same 10w light (this basket also has a spot for filter floss to polish the water) Each one has a nice size ball of algae in it, they both have got a lot of light & flow to grow(at least i think so). I have also bought a live mixture that my lfs breeds of phyto,rotifiers&copepods that i have seeded in each fuge.

 

My idea was this, to help with nutrient export in conjunction with my standard weekly water changes & to feed corals. I have read up a bit on chaeto & fuges but still have a few questions on them.

 

My questions are as follows:

1) what to look for in growth with the algae, ie color, amount of it, how will i know its doing its job?

2) cultivating of it, how/when, if i get some good growth from it that is?

3) do i clean the algae out in the main tank to shake some pods out, clean what has caught up in it & the fuge or should i just rinse it out with recycled tank water in a bucket?

4) exporting the pods/phyto/rot from the fuge or do they just get dumped into the tank from the filter all the time.

 

Any other tips, useful info on chaeto, fuges would be awesome like best practices, etc. thanks in advance for all of your responses.

[Subsea]

A emerald green color is healthy. If iron deficient it will turn somewhat yellow. As it grows, it expands unless in a confined space. Depending on nutrients, determines rate of growth. I would thin it out every two weeks. Some shake it out in the display tank. I find that the return pump transfers them when they are thick.

With respect to most of your questions, the answer is what works best for you. The options that you outlined would all work.

Patrick

[drfu]

A emerald green color is healthy. If iron deficient it will turn somewhat yellow. As it grows, it expands unless in a confined space. Depending on nutrients, determines rate of growth. I would thin it out every two weeks. Some shake it out in the display tank. I find that the return pump transfers them when they are thick.

With respect to most of your questions, the answer is what works best for you. The options that you outlined would all work.

Patrick

 

Thks for the reply, that helps

[Carnival]

I always knew my chaeto was doing it's job because it was always growing. That and the algae growth in the display slowed down. You'll definitely know when it's time to trim, you'll see it growing and get too big for where it's at