lighting for cheato

[salt01]

I was wondering if i could get some opinions on color temp for growing cheato. right now i have a 4700k bulb t8 is this ok? seems as tho its not doing so well turning redish and little white. I have a 100 watt hps and 100 watt MH but cant put it in where my sump is.

 

[BL1]

That color temp should be ok, usually 5500-6500k is prefered. If you're using T-8s there's a good chance the light just isn't strong enough. Most people use cheap CFL bulbs and reflectors for their chaeto.

 

[Smitty]

Brian has you covered...i use a clip on light with the low wattage cfl bulb.

 

[wontonflip]

+2 Brian.... I use a CFL that's 26w (100w equivalent) and 6500K for a white light. My chaeto loves it.

I use this bulb from Walmart:

Walmart.com: GE Energy Smart CFL Daylight Light Bulb: 26 Watt (100W Equivalent): Decor

 

[salt01]

so i purchased a 26 watt cfl=100watt and my cheato is mostly white and floating. anything i can do to save what little i have?

 

[wontonflip]

If your water is already low in nutrients, that might be part of your problem. When I had a 45g w/ fuge, my chaeto grew really fast....my nitrates were always 0 even though i rarely did water changes on the tank. One day, the chaeto just would not grow...and it slowly died off. I had low bioload in my tank and only fed once a day. I think the chaeto just starved.

 

[salt01]

sounds like whats happening to me. been fighting phosphates for a while now got em down to .02 and cheato not doing so well plus only have 2 clowns in my 110 tall left

 

[wontonflip]

Hm...well, if the chaeto were growing, it should've taken care of the phosphates. Try switching to a light that's 6500k like the bulb I posted above. Also trim away the dead parts. Is it tumbling around? Chaeto likes to tumble a little bit (not super fast, but just rolling around). When I put a powerhead in my sump and tumbled the chaeto, it really started growing more (in my 125g).