Cheato

Allanira

New member
I bought some cheatomorpha for my fuge. I got a good amount of it but it seems to be dying off. I now have only 1 ball left and its starting to unravel. The other ball started to unravel then turned brown. The first ball is green and is starting to get red on it. What should I do to get my cheato back to where it needs to be? Please help. Thank you in advnace.
 
The water goes from the skimmer area to the fuge then to the return pump, I have a 65w actinic on the fuge area. I have all three areas built into one container. Lots of creativity on that one. And me becoming apartial contortionist. The light is bright enough to blind me when I move it off or flip it up if I dont turn it off first. Its worse than the other lights in the house lol. I also have some sunlight that gets in the window near where to tank is.
 
A 6700 K spiral compact from home depot will work very well otherwise switch your bulb to white instead of blue somewhere between 6500K and 10000K .
Lee
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12873047#post12873047 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Allanira
The water goes from the skimmer area to the fuge then to the return pump, I have a 65w actinic on the fuge area. I have all three areas built into one container. Lots of creativity on that one. And me becoming apartial contortionist. The light is bright enough to blind me when I move it off or flip it up if I dont turn it off first. Its worse than the other lights in the house lol. I also have some sunlight that gets in the window near where to tank is.

Ideally, you want to supply the fuge with unfiltered water. If the water is being skimmed first, you may want to change that.

I think your problem, however, is your lighting. An actinic light is not going to support macroalgae. You need a daylight bulb in the 6,500K-10,000K range.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12873477#post12873477 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by abulgin
Ideally, you want to supply the fuge with unfiltered water. If the water is being skimmed first, you may want to change that.

I've seen this design several times, and it always perplexes me. Sending raw overflow water into a fuge will cause detritus buildup that can clog up the algae and provides no benefit. Sending overflow water to the skimmer first will maximize its efficiency as that will cause the highest concentration of proteinaceous material for removal.

These two subsystems have different purposes. The skimmer removes, primarily, the pre-nitrate material while the chaeto in a fuge removes, primarily, nitrates and phosphates. It seems to me that all overflow water should pass through the skimmer section first, to maximize its efficiency, then divert some of the return water to the fuge for nitrate/phosphate removal.

If there is a different purpose for a chaeto containing fuge that will maximize its functionality by supplying it with overflow water, then that may be a valid choice. Otherwise, sending skimmed water should be a better design.

Jeff
 
by jriechel
Sending overflow water to the skimmer first will maximize its efficiency as that will cause the highest concentration of proteinaceous material for removal.


Assuming the skimmer is even efficient. Last I heard, you were not running a skimmer Allanira. Is this true?? How big is the "container" that houses the fuge, skimmer and return?? My cheato is turning a pale green ans shriveling. Probably due to the Phosban reactor I have and the skimmer too. Suck the nutrients our of the water column and you can't feed your cheato.
 
Right now I dont have a skimmer that is working. I have to get a pump for the one I have. I finally found out where I can get it. I cant remember the dimentions. Look at my gallery and you can see what I am talking about. Not all the water is going to be going to the skimmer that comes in there. Some of it will just be floating around until it gets past the baffles and into the fuge. I didnt want any bubbles going over to the fuge then pump area. From what I have seen and heard that can screw up your pump.
 
Micro bubbles don't hurt the pump. They are a nuisence and could possibly affect corals. How do you plan to prevent the micro bubbles going into the fuge??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12873755#post12873755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jriechel
I've seen this design several times, and it always perplexes me. Sending raw overflow water into a fuge will cause detritus buildup that can clog up the algae and provides no benefit. Sending overflow water to the skimmer first will maximize its efficiency as that will cause the highest concentration of proteinaceous material for removal.

These two subsystems have different purposes. The skimmer removes, primarily, the pre-nitrate material while the chaeto in a fuge removes, primarily, nitrates and phosphates. It seems to me that all overflow water should pass through the skimmer section first, to maximize its efficiency, then divert some of the return water to the fuge for nitrate/phosphate removal.

If there is a different purpose for a chaeto containing fuge that will maximize its functionality by supplying it with overflow water, then that may be a valid choice. Otherwise, sending skimmed water should be a better design.

Jeff

First, one could easily run the water from the overflow through foam or a filter sock, which would eliminate detritus. You wouldn't want detritus in the skimmer either, as that would reduce its effectiveness. Second, I was suggesting that the OP could feed the fuge from the same sump compartment in which the skimmer sits/is fed. Everything I have read suggests that the best setup allows "raw" water to feed the fuge.
 
I have 3 baffles set up between the fige and skimmer areas. The bubbles cant get in to the DT. The water lvl in the fuge area is close to the top of the baffle on that side so I'm not getting any bubbles in there and then its a short trip over to the pump area.I am in the process of getting my return valve in the right place right now even though I dont have any corals I am getting air bubbles in there from the return pipe lol. I had it set then it decided it didnt like me for a bit lol.
 
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