lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Ive never done an in tank refugium nor used cheato before. It was green when I first got it, and now some parts are a brown color. I use a Ecosmart Daylight compact flourescent 75 watt equivilant. Is this not enough light for the cheato to grow? Here are some pictures.. http://tinypic.com/r/dgl5xd/7 http://tinypic.com/r/29w24jn/7 btw, i have checked my ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and phosphate and everything is perfect.. Link to comment
FishStrings Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Definitely looks like it is going asexual probably from stress. If your light is shining directly on the white and yellow spots, then its too much light. Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Definitely looks like it is going asexual probably from stress. If your light is shining directly on the white and yellow spots, then its too much light. I stick the lamp pretty close to the cheato. So the bulb i have should be enough? Il try moving the lamp a little further away and see if that helps. Link to comment
Japsican Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 The light should be enough...maybe your water is just TOO clean? How old is your tank and what type of livestock? Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 My tank is a little over a month. I have fire shrimp, cleaner, two small clown fish and a torch and hammerhead coral, two turbo snails and some hermit crabs Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I think the light is melting it. Move the light farther away if you can. 75W is a lot.....tons of people grow cheato well with a lot less than that. Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 Lol I thought 75 watts wasn't enough haha. I will deff move the light farther away. Link to comment
Japsican Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Yea, I thought chaeto didnt even need that much light? I can recall someone doing and experiment where they kept chaeto under a dark sink for a while and it actually grew... Link to comment
Bamato Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I'm assuming its a 26w CFL? That is a bit much in all honesty. A 14w par cfl would be better. What kelvin rating is the "daylight" lamp you're using? 5000-6500 is what I've had the best luck with in a sump environment. I'm assuming the refugium is located in a sump/back chamber? Aside from what seems like too much light, Chaeto doesn't always do so well in young tanks. Link to comment
crailtap25 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 lucy is that you in your avatar? lol Link to comment
paneubert Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 lucy is that you in your avatar? lol Here we go...... Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 haha ya thats me, who else would it be.. btw here are some pics of my tank! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6352...mp;id=672715513 Link to comment
Japsican Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 QUICK, pretend it's not you or say it's your girlfriend... Link to comment
anemone fan Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 QUICK, pretend it's not you or say it's your girlfriend... this Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 I'm assuming its a 26w CFL? That is a bit much in all honesty. A 14w par cfl would be better. What kelvin rating is the "daylight" lamp you're using? 5000-6500 is what I've had the best luck with in a sump environment. I'm assuming the refugium is located in a sump/back chamber? Aside from what seems like too much light, Chaeto doesn't always do so well in young tanks. Okay thanks, Il head over and get a 14 watt instead. It doesnt tell me the kelvin, it just says that its 1100 light output in lumens. Link to comment
CoralWhisperer Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I got my cheato growing under a 5yr old floro reptile bulb. Its about 16 inches above the cheato. If you just put it in, its gonna take a week or more before it gets used to your light, any lighting. Once it does tho, watch out, it will explode with new growth. Mine started as about a baseball sized loose chunk of it. When I added it, it turned almost white within a day or two and stayed that way for about a week or so. Then I came home one day and it was nice dark green again. It has been growing like crazy ever since. Like any other photosynthetic thing, it needs to get used to your lighting. Ive seen it kept under some really poor lighting and grow well, so whatever you already have WILL be fine. Its strong stuff, and doesnt go sexual, and you dont need to go buy new lights to keep it. Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 broward county!! 954! haha But right now im in orlando attending UCF Link to comment
crailtap25 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 954! haha But right now im in orlando attending UCF omg no way. me too lol Link to comment
savageajc Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 If moving off the light doesnt work, maybe your tank is too clean? My chaeto doesnt grow in my 20L.. possibly because its fishless right now not enough nutrients? omg no way. me too lol creeper :obwahaha bwahaha Link to comment
crailtap25 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 If moving off the light doesnt work, maybe your tank is too clean? My chaeto doesnt grow in my 20L.. possibly because its fishless right now not enough nutrients? creeper :obwahaha bwahaha i would only be a creeper if i was making it up. coincidence doesn't count Link to comment
NoChikenStrips Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Might be a few more factors involved in my situation. I bought a tiny patch of cheato from my fish store for 5 bucks. Ridiculous...yes. Anyways, its a small patch of cheato a little less than what you have but died off a month later. I tried again with a bigger fist full of cheato and it's growing fine now even with little light. Link to comment
slasher Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I have great growth with a 6500k cfl from Lowes for about three bucks. I did have the same look as yours for awhile however I read somewhere here that it likes to "tumble" so I stick it and rotate it around anytime it starts to look like yours. I think it evens out the light exposure. Link to comment
Bishop Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Just to chime in. Has your algae always been under this light since you got it? My first cheato was very poorly lit for the first couple weeks and the color faded. It never recovered after that. I got some new cheato and put some in my HOB fuge about 12" under the 13w 6500k CFL light and it is doing ok. Some more went into the aquaclear DIY fuge about 4" under a 13w CFL and is grows like crazy. In my closet, I have a 10g cureing tank with more cheato under 4x 27w 6500k CFL lights and it is growing very well. Link to comment
lucy10203 Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Im not sure what light the cheato was under, I recieved it for free from someone I met. Im going to move it around and move the lamp a little further away so hopefully it will go back to being nice and green. Link to comment
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