chaeto not growing....

lighting could be an issue also, I used a similar bulb that you are using and I had to be sure that the bulb was very close to the surface of the water. I had my light about 12" of the water and it wasn't growing, I moved it diwn to about 4" of the water and now it's growing great.

 

how can i tell if the chaeto is dying?

 

if u run a sock on the skimmer compartment, wouldnt you essentially be doing the same thing. That is precenting the necessary nutrients to enter the skimmer ?

 

Filter socks must be cleaned weekly. Adding a sock to your skimmer section is just adding another form of mechanical filtration. Your skimmer may not produce as much, but there is no real negative effects IMO. Also I think chaeto gets whitish and starts to wither when it dies.

 

So if you take out the filter sock what is your mechanical filteration?

 

IMO the chaeto has better growth if it's tumbling with the current and it has to have around 6500 kelvin light or little higher. I have mine under that kelvin reading.

The filter sock in the skimmer compartment is a good idea, but not in the fuge's intake. The chaeto needs the nitrate to grow, so give it to it unfiltered.

 

Skimmer.

 

Cheato turns whitish when it is dying. If there are white parts, just remove them.

I have filter pads before my fuge that i change out every 1-2 days and my cheato still grows great. I don't think mechanical filtration is going to remove nitrates or phosphates dissolved in the water that the cheato feeds on.

I would try to get the light closer to the cheato and try to get the ball tumbling.

 

That is not mechanical that is filteration but mechanical is your filter media. I have a huge skimmer on my 220 rated for more then 2 times my water volume but still have media removing the crud. You cant lean on your skimmer to be your filter.

 

So i see mixed reviews on this. If chaeto's main nutrient is nitrate, then why would a filter sock on that compartment be an issue? The nitrates are still present in the water column, right?


After attaching a filter sock to the skimmer section, i've gotten no gunk coming from my skimmer. Its purely white clear foam. Initially, my guess was that no filter sock to the skimmer section was a good idea so the skimmer can ACTUALLY remove it by placing it in a cup thats not part of the water column. Although a filter sock traps debris, it's still in the entire system, so until the sock has been removed/rinsed, you should not see any benefits.