Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I got some chaeto a couple days ago and I put it in my AC70 mini 'fuge. I have a 9w 6500K screw-in PC sitting on top of the fuge and the cheato doesn't look so good. In fact, the top part of it is falling apart. When I had razor calurpa in there, I had the same sort of problem; that is, the top parts of it just up and died (not 'went sexual'). Too much light? To close? I mean, 6500K should be just about perfect... Link to comment
reffer9391 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 What do you have in your tank (food) they eat ammiona and things as this mabye you dont have enogh of it. Or it could be to small of light for the amount of algea you have. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 I've got two true percs, 2 astrea, 2 nessarius, 3 dwarf blue legs; all in a 5.5g AGA. Plus, I have been using tap water for my water changes. Hard to believe that it may not be enough, but I guess it could be possible... Link to comment
Nuhtty Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Whats the lighting schedule on the cheato? Mine started doing this at one point and then I did some investigation and cut my cycle from 24/7 to 14hrs/day of lighting on the fuge. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Whats the lighting schedule on the cheato? Not 24/7. The photoperiod for the light over the fuge is in the 12-14 hr range. It varies b/c I don't have a timer for that light yet... I got the bulb from Walmart. The box says 6500K light and the bulb doesn't run real hot... That it is putting out too much UV seems unlikely. The spectrum that they have on the side of the box looks like it has pleanty of red, blue, and yellow light. While red and yelow light wouldn't be good for corals, I would think that they would work quite nicely for a macroalgae. I'll get pics of the spectrum on the box if I can find it. Until then, any more ideas? Link to comment
Abysswater Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Not 24/7. The photoperiod for the light over the fuge is in the 12-14 hr range. It varies b/c I don't have a timer for that light yet... I got the bulb from Walmart. The box says 6500K light and the bulb doesn't run real hot... That it is putting out too much UV seems unlikely. The spectrum that they have on the side of the box looks like it has pleanty of red, blue, and yellow light. While red and yelow light wouldn't be good for corals, I would think that they would work quite nicely for a macroalgae. I'll get pics of the spectrum on the box if I can find it. Until then, any more ideas? It's the Chlorine in your tap water plus not to mention the synthetic chemicals in your tap water. Choking it! Your lighting it just fine. Start buying distilled water. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 It's the Chlorine in your tap water plus not to mention the synthetic chemicals in your tap water. Choking it! Your lighting it just fine. Start buying distilled water. Well, there may be ionic chlorine in the tap water, but not after I dechlorinate it with sodium thiosulphate. "Synthetic" chemicals, like...? For the sake of algae control I'm changing over to RO water when I roll my stuff into my new tank (hopefully by tomorrow). I guess I'm really not sure that tap water is my problem, since the halimeda in my display has been doing fine... Keep 'em comin'; I'm sure we'll locate the problem. Link to comment
Abysswater Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Well, there may be ionic chlorine in the tap water, but not after I dechlorinate it with sodium thiosulphate. "Synthetic" chemicals, like...? For the sake of algae control I'm changing over to RO water when I roll my stuff into my new tank (hopefully by tomorrow). I guess I'm really not sure that tap water is my problem, since the halimeda in my display has been doing fine... Keep 'em comin'; I'm sure we'll locate the problem. For drinking tap water there are to many to list, hell helf of them I can not spell right! Look up your local water supply listings under FDA approval. You will be shocked!!! Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Look up your local water supply listings under FDA approval. I did that, as well as having spoken to the water quality supervisor at our water works. Check out posts 24 & 27 on my 5.5 thread. If anything, they should be thriving. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...pic=76186&st=20 There was nothing in either the documentation or our conversation that would suggest why the halimeda and coraline algaes are doing fine while the (supposedly) more robust chaeto is not. Link to comment
steelhealr Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Is it the curly q light? SH Link to comment
StanD Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I'd lose the screw light and get a PC light with a 6700k or 7100k bulb. I would also get the timer soon and put the fuge light on a reverse cycle vs your tank lights. I have a 65W 6700k PC light over my chaeto in a 10 gallon sump - it's growing like a weed. Stan Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Curley q? I don't have the light right in front of me, but it looks a lot like this: Reverse photoperiod... I'd love to. I am going to do that when I roll my stuff over. As for a PC with 6700K or 7100K, were am I going to find something like that for really cheap? Right now I have 0 (zero) $$, so I'm stuck trying to get this working on $5 or less. Link to comment
Abysswater Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I did that, as well as having spoken to the water quality supervisor at our water works. Check out posts 24 & 27 on my 5.5 thread. If anything, they should be thriving.http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...pic=76186&st=20 There was nothing in either the documentation or our conversation that would suggest why the halimeda and coraline algaes are doing fine while the (supposedly) more robust chaeto is not. Ok! Well maybe it could be the light, maybe it's a bad one. By the way when cheato goes bad or dies what does it look like?? is it clear looking?? Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Not clear, more like dull green then brown. What is a better indicator is the consistancy of the filaments: they become very weak and brittle. They basically turn brown and fall apart. This has happened to about 1/4 of the cheato and I really don't want to see it happen to the rest. I pushed it down further fuge last night, just in case the intensity was too much... Link to comment
StanD Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Cheap fuge light? I just bought one for my 10 gallon seahorse tank. The tank has a built in wet/dry on the back that I filed with LR and chaeto. Jali makes a 18W 7100k 11" PC that cost $18. It's a full hood with reflector and bulb. Finnex and CoralLife also make similar setups but they measure 12". Stan Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 I know that $18 is cheap, but I literally have about $5 to use. Link to comment
StanD Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 $5? Unless you're the MacGyver type, I'd take the bulb back to WalMart and ask to swap it out for free. Stan Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 MacGyver? I wish... What would I swap it out for? I don't mean to be difficult, I just really want to get it working... Link to comment
StanD Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Another bulb. Maybe that one is bad. If I recall, someone posted an article where they outlined how to make a good cheap fuge light with a special spotlight from HomeDepot. You might want to check that out too. Link to comment
reffer9391 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I again bring up water stuff is in there that doesnt make the report I brought my tap water into my LFS (just for kicks) and I had trace amounts of hard metals and the hardness of the water was off the charts not to mention some other stuff. If not that its the light. What are you doing with 2 percs in a 5.5g? Thats a little small even if water is fine. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 What are you doing with 2 percs in a 5.5g? Thats a little small even if water is fine. I have heard this question about 100 times so far... They are still young (under 1.25") and I wll move them into a bigger tank or to an LFS when they outgrow the 5.5g. About the water stuff... I would love to believe that it is a water problem, but its hard to believe when you take the halimeda into account. I might just ditch the bulb and try a different light... At this point, a plain old warm/cool white incandecent might be better than what I have. Link to comment
ReefDreams Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Hey Mr.Fosi, I dont have much experience, but I read something interesting about cheato (wrote by Antony Calfo) -Basically Cheato is an algae that grows in about the same condition of the soft corals they are found at about the same depth than your corals... that being said, it requires a good lightning. 9 W is not enough IMO, you could go with a cheap bulb (high W) at wal mart and pull off a good growth easy ... Link to comment
rickjg Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 One other thing to keep in mind is that some corals release toxins/terpinoids that are specifically to combat algae growth, just like some corals release toxins/terpinoids to slow or stop the growth of other corals. In our pico & nano reefs we could easily run into chemical war fair not just between corals, but also between corals & algae Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 ... some corals release toxins/terpinoids that are specifically to combat algae growth... Allelopathy would be something that I would consider if I had any corals in the tank, but I don't. Just LR, snails, hermits, fish, and aragonite sand. ... Basically Cheato is an algae that grows in about the same condition of the soft corals they are found at about the same depth than your corals...that being said, it requires a good lightning. 9 W is not enough IMO, you could go with a cheap bulb (high W) at wal mart and pull off a good growth easy ... That sounds like it makes sense. Most people that I have seen around here that grow cheato seem to have higher watt lights over it... I think I'll throw another bulb on top of it and see what happens. Good stuff guys! Link to comment
ReefDreams Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 oh yeah one more thing I saw on melev's page This time its about the kelvin rating, the higher the better, on regular bulbs its about 2.7k, he compared 2 bulb one with 2.7k and another with 5,1k and the growth is awesome, I'd take a bulb like he has there, pretty cheap IMO ! http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html They compare it to 75W .. but it really draws 16 or 19W , still 2x more than your 9W bulb I hope this helps Link to comment
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