Cheato Lighting....

[Tonyscoots84]

hey guys i had a question that i was wondering about....

in my case my tanks ph is 8.22 -8.24 daily.... i also have cheato in my fuge and was wondering how much light daily is needed for the cheato...

i have a 100 watt bulb over it and usually have it on when the lights are off in the main tank. just wondering how do i get the most out of the cheato....

thanks guyz

 

[crox99]

What kind of growth are you getting?

 

[loismustdie]

Dump the fuge and the cheato. You don't need it.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

crox are u talkin what kind of growth am i getting with the cheato? if thats what u mean its growing very slowely..

chris i was always under the impression that its good to have more nutrient export then less.... my skimmer does a great job even though its getting changed soon but if i only have cheato in my fuge why would dumping it be a beneficial thing for a system... just a question chris....

 

[nsiegel5]

I have a very simple light setup for my fuge and my cheato grows out of control. Basically have a clip on reflector (kind used for reptiles to bask under) light that houses a flood light bulb from home depot that has 32 par. Leave it on 16 hours and a day and man does this stuff grow!!!

 

[crox99]

crox are u talkin what kind of growth am i getting with the cheato? if thats what u mean its growing very slowely..

Hmmmm either not enough nutrients or enough light.

 

[loismustdie]

Tony, again, out of my 10 favorite tanks, only 1 uses a refugium. And that 1 tank runs 4 beckett skimmers rated to 400 gallons. His tank is 500 gallons and his fuge was a considerable size compared to his reef with good flow.

chris i was always under the impression that its good to have more nutrient export then less.... my skimmer does a great job even though its getting changed soon but if i only have cheato in my fuge why would dumping it be a beneficial thing for a system... just a question chris....

This is an assumption. Problem is, most people set up their fuges way too small and with too little flow. A fuge with low flow becomes a settling chamber for crap to accumulate at the bottom of and eventually release more nutrients than some cheato can take up. How much nutrients some cheato can pull in is way over-estimated by hobbyists. The assumption is that since I have some cheato, I must be removing nutrients. You might, but like I said, most hobbyists set up their fuges to become nutrient pools. Husbandry is a consideration. Bad husbanry overrides cheato any day. Since I have cheato, can't I feed more?
Tony, most SPS guys don't do fuges.
I was lucky enough to meet some people at the Pratt Institute while checking out Randy's new tank. They had a good way to make cheato work. I'd like to see how their project came out.
Disclaimer: Fuges properly used have shown benefits to aquariums. They should be set up correctly and appropriately sized in order to do anything for you. I am not saying fuges are bad. They are not for everyone though.

 

[ellebelle]

I have a fluorescent light over mine - same kind that comes with freshwater FO aquaria.