Cheato In My Show Tank

[suntzu]

Hey Guys,

I don't have a refuge since my 20G tank is not drilled. I was thinking of ways to add cheatos to work around this and then it occured to me that maybe I can just add a plastic container (similar to the ones taht fish stores use to catch fish for sale) and just put it in my tank. That way, I won't even have to get lights for it since my main light should be adequate. What do you guys think? Do you think this will work?

Thanks,

Kai

 

[inkblue]

Hey Kai... long time no see :spin:

Check this out...

http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=864

 

[suntzu]

Hey,

It's been a while. It's good hearing from you!

After my 75G tank crashed, I ran just my 20G for over a year. Now I am refreshed and back at it. We will have to catch up.

The in-tank refugium looks cool. It should work right? I think I will give it a try.

 

[bigbris1]

Adding a fuge to my 40 gallon tank os what caused me to sell it & start over. I would vote no on the fuge addition, because it probably would be too small to make a difference.

 

[suntzu]

Bristol, thanks for sharing your personal experience, however painful it may be. I am only now starting my 75G back up after it crashed a year and a half ago.

See you tonight!

 

[al0ha]

if ur gonna do that, make sure u put the chaeto near a powerhead or good flow area! :Hydrogen:

 

[tosiek]

plastic strawberry container =0) just weigh it down with a rock.

 

[rookie07]

how about a hang on fuge? CPR makes them well...you could even getone with a skimmer. check out marine depot

I think they help, b/c it adds 2 more gls to a 20 gl tank...thats 10% more volume. Also, it gives you a lot of room to fill with cheato or more LR/LS....just my opinion.


I am new to the hobby

 

[meagheavz]

i so run mine old school. i got 3 MJ 1200 power heads, and a remora skimmer, i hav a aquaclear20( for 20gal tank) i have a 55. i run carbon in it and thats it. i dont got a sump or fuge. i had a wet dry but it got messy couldnt take it

 

[suntzu]

Thanks for the advise guys. The funny thing is my current 20G setup is almost exactly like meagheavz's. I have a AquaClear 20 with Eheim Substrat Pro and two sponges (I am thinking of removing one so I can add carbon). And a Remora Skimmer with a MJ1200. Lastly, I have about 15lb of LR. This has been a very stable setup. I guess I am looking to improve it. Maybe I should mess with a good thing. :biggrin:

I will post pix tonight.

 

[suntzu]

Here's a picture of my 20G tank that I was thinking of adding cheatos to:

 

[tunicata]

Hm, I have a peice of eggcrate in my main display. When I changed sumps and no longer had a decent light for it, I decided to move the cheato underneath the egg crate.

So, its like this:
4 medium sized rocks holding up the egg crate. The space betw. the rocks have my chaeto. So they are getting light and I have a powerhead blasting into the area. There are also some frags hanging out on the egg create and everyone is doing fine. It's been like this since last swap and growth has been good for the chaeto and no one seems negatively affected (the egg crate is now covered in pink coralline so it's not that bad looking btw)

 

[fritz]

I had cheato in a display, it looked like pockets of green pubic hair. I opted for other algaes instead in my display and it looked much more natural. Go with a mix, some red, some halimemda etc.

 

[autoponicz]

kai...what size aquaclear is that?
you can turn the HOB filter into a fuge...just add a small clip in light....throw a few pieces of LR and some chaeto and your set...
but honestly...all i see is 1 fish and 2? anemome....so not that much of a bioload
have you considered a phosban reactor?...that will be more efficient than a small fuge

 

[autoponicz]

I had cheato in a display, it looked like pockets of green pubic hair. I opted for other algaes instead in my display and it looked much more natural. Go with a mix, some red, some halimemda etc.

haha...fritz...im not sure which one is funnier....your comment or your avatar....but i think both kinda goes together...lol

 

[suntzu]

Hahaha...Fritz. That's too funny. I definitely don't want to give people the wrong impression.

Tunicata, do you have a picture of your setup. I would love to see how it works. Thx.

My bioload is rather light. Currently, I have a clown, royal gramma, lawnmeower blenny and a seaserpent in my 20G.

I want to use this tank to learn to grow softies. I tried doing so on my 75G a year and a half ago and ended up having a big algea boom that killed almost everything (all corals and fish except for the seaserpent and clown). After that, I was so disheartened that I almost quite all together. That's why I am so concerned. I just upgrade my lighting (150W Power Compact) and I am afriend of another outbreak.

I heard cheatos are a cheap and easy solution. I am not sure if I have a Aquaclear HOB 20 or 30. Inside it though I have the Eheim substrat a sponge and a bag of carbon. I also have a Remora with MJ1200 and about 12lb of live rock.

The Phosban Reactor looks interesting. How does it work? And does it work well?

Thanks again guys!

 

[tunicata]

Hm, I've since lost my camera-pc cable but here is the best I can do with the pics that I took a bit ago:

Here is

The rocks are holding up the corners and so that big clear area now has chaeto it in. The only bad thing about it in the display for me is that, when I rescape and tinker with that section little peices of chaeto get a chance to free float and when they get trapped in a cave or such, they start growing there too! So eventually I have to find the clumps and tuck them pack in, which isn't hard at all.

Here is how it was set up.

That's just a few days after I tried out the egg crate. It sits a lot higher now that it has the greenery. And the entire tank layout has changed. But you get the idea. It looks a lot better once it has coralline on it, my inverts treat it just like any other substrate in the tank (cleaning etc). Gets more of a natural look.

 

[suntzu]

Tunicata, thanks for the pictures. That's not a bad solution.

 

[aaron23]

i would never remove my fuge, i have these different types of coepod species and rotifers all in the hang on back fuge. i'd never remove it, the pod population also feeds the wrasses in the tank so win win and chaeto helps export.

 

[suntzu]

I was thinking. Would put it in the fish net breeder next to a pumping work? :smash: