Chaeto lighting

[lastduke]

I am using the following light/bulb for my chaeto with 24/7 schedule. but all my chaeto died last week.
The lighting made by Atasuki, have no idea the watts and temperature. Could you please take a look the following picture and let me knwo I need to change the light or not?

 

[lastduke]

It is a U shape fluocent bulb. If my lighting is not a reason, I may need to create more strong flow for chaeto next time.

 

[jjoos99]

I dont know alot about this but from what I have read alot of people are using a ordinary compact floucent bulb like you would put into a table lamp. I went to lowes and got a cheap metal reflector that has a clamp on it tor under 10 bucks.
Jeff

 

[zeblisik]

i use cheap spiral cfs, as do many, many others. but i dont think a U shape one would make any difference. for these CF lights just look at colour temp and watts, dosnt really matter how they are shaped.

ive never seen a complete chaeto die off before, do you have any pictures? how big was your culture? did you make any recent changes or dose anything out of the ordinary? maybe drop an AAA battery in by accident?

chaeto is pretty stable. i use a photo period opposite my main tank. leaving it on 24/7 is helpful w/ calaupera i believe but not the best for chaetos growth rate, it does better with periods of darkness.

 

[lastduke]

I dont' have the pic for the dead Cheato, they turned to white and fell apart.
Do I need to change the CF bulb for Cheato every year? This bulb have been used about 1 and half year but looks still bright, changing the bulb will help Cheato growth?

 

[gandhii]

I'm just starting to experiment with saltwater macro... coming from a few years experience with freshwater planted tanks, so I'm not an expert on this by any stretch. But, if you were describing a freshwater tank, I'd say you probably ran out of some key nutrient in your system. Might be the case here too. Probably not something as simple as nitrates or phosphates if you have a decently stocked tank though. Maybe you ran out of a mineral like iron or something? Might be worth testing for.

 

[gandhii]

On further thought... maybe not that either. I read recently that temperature swings could cause this to happen. Has there been any temp swings in your tank recently?

 

[lastduke]

how do you guys measure the temperature swing? normally, I monitor the temperature every day after get off work, almost at the same time everyday, do I need to get up at night? also, the temperature should depends the outside temperature, the air condictioning, even get the sun shine or not........
BTW, I am using a 100W heater for my 30G tank with 20G sump, maybe it is a little small for this system.