Refugium/Chaeto question

[Xsjadolateralus]

I have a HOB refugium/skimmer and I decided to put my clump of Chaeto right above my bubble trap baffles. A good deal of bubbles escape the trap and end up floating up to my Chaeto and remaining there.

Simple question, is this okay? Will the bubbles have an ill effect? It also seems as if the bubbles are making the Chaeto more boyant (obviously) and it comes out of the water at the top a little. Is this also a problem?

If you're wondering why I decided to place my Cheato in that specific spot of my fuge.... I put it in the larger area of the fuge, but it just sank to the bottom and I figured it would get much more light if it were towards the top. The little area above my bubble trap kind of keeps it in place and near the surface of the water.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[thebanker]

That should be fine. My chaeto is in a chamber that is directly connected to my skimmer, so the whole thing acts as bubble trap and keeps the little micros out of my water.

Not looking at your setup, does the chaeto have any room to grow? Because otherwise it will do no good.

 

[Xsjadolateralus]

It has room below it, yes. It's suspended with about 8" of room below it and it's surrounded with acrylic on four sides. Maybe not enough room to grow? Will it grow downwards?

I would take all kinds of awesome pictures for you, but my camera battery is completely dead, I'll have to wait till I get a new one. Maybe a whole new camera!

 

[thebanker]

So if I were you, I would put the chaeto in both spots. Rip off a little piece, and put in in the spot you think is "less favorable." Then see how it goes.

 

[Xsjadolateralus]

Found what I needed to upload the pic.

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Mine does the same thing without any issues

 

[Xsjadolateralus]

What would you consider the average growth (given the conditions are optimal) of Chaeto?

Roughly speak, of course. Inch a week, more, less?

 

[ruprecht]

Looks like a great way to remove micro-bubbles.

 

[thebanker]

What would you consider the average growth (given the conditions are optimal) of Chaeto?

Roughly speak, of course. Inch a week, more, less?

It's really hard to judge, since it's so curly and whatnot. It grows FAST though, faster than any terrestrial plant I've seen, except maybe bamboo.

I wonder if you could use bamboo to export nutrients in a FW system... hmm

 

[Xsjadolateralus]

I've been reading and saw that another member grows it at a rate of about one tennis ball per day. Crazy stuff. I was asking because I think mine has grown in the three days I've had it. It definitely has.