how fast does chaeto grow?

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

i have a 300 gallo0mn aquarium with a 200 gallon refugium sump.i was wondering how fast does chaeto grow under cpr refugium pc lighting?
i bought 1/2 lb. but it seems i need more and was wondering how long it takes to grow.

 

[kimdawg]

Good question? I have a small ball that I have had for years. It has never grown at all. It is still dark green and no dead parts. My calerapa grows like crazy. I don't understand it.

 

[marvelousone]

It depends on the bio-load. sometimes I can go from baseball size to basketball size in a month. I have refugiums. one with calerpa and one with out. with calerpa the cheato grows slow. I leave my lights on 24-7. some people do reverse cycle from dt.

 

[Altezza01]

Mine never grew very fast. I groomed it maybe nice per 2 months

 

[elegance coral]

It depends on light, temp, and fertilizer. If you have a clean tank, with little fertilizer, the algae may not grow at all, or simply wither away and die. If you have a dirty tank with lots of fertilizer, it may grow like a weed.

 

[marvelousone]

what light do you usr. I use 6500k bulb.

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

what light do you usr. I use 6500k bulb.

CPR Refugium PC Light strip 24"

 

[SantaMonica]

Growth (photosynthesis) is always a function of light, plant thickness, attachment, flow, and of course nutrients.

The thinner the thickness, the less shading occurs.

 

[mt4sure]

I had a tennis ball size (slightly smaller than your standard baseball sized chaeto) clump in my refugium under my 75g DT with one of those HD 6500k CF and cheapo 8"reflector that you can get there. It didn't grow much and over the course of 2 months it slowly dwindled down while the ulva (sea lettuce) grew steadily but not rapidly. I ascertain that because of low bioload at the time the chaeto died off. I got a new clump and it has grown very little over the course of 2 months but no die off or light coloration and is most likely because I have a higher bioload now but the water is still pretty clean for the most part. With everything being fairly optimal, it should grow as long as it has nutrients to absorb (more being faster growth is the idea and less being slower growing).

 

[fireheadman]

I just bought a fist sized ball and it is starting to get an algae slime growing on it.... is this common? my tank is about 2.5 months old.

 

[SantaMonica]

Slime just means the chaeto does not have enough photosynthesis to out-compete the slime.

 

[fireheadman]

I have a wavepoint HO led on for 8hrs, maybe I will push it up to 14hrs.

 

[SantaMonica]

As much flow and tumbling as you can manage, too.

 

[fireheadman]

ah.... tumbling is something I do not have going on.... I might need a small powerhead in the refugium

 

[usmc121581]

I has a base ball size and it filled a complete 20 long in 2 weeks. It also does not tumble at all. I go in and turn it every few days. I have 3 natural daylight fluorescents over it.

 

[hillbillybjopkr]

I know u guys are gonna think i'm nuts...i used a regular 60w lightbulb on my fuge for a while.....my calerpia really didn't do anything....went to a 90w bulb....it exploded as well as my turtle grass....am trimming almost monthly