chaeto wont grow

i have a 6500k floresent light, moderate water movement as in its a direct flow to my return pump, there are small amounts of trates in the water and its been in there for about 3-4 weeks does it always grow this slow, or is it dying off i have a pic inclosed, or is it doing fine idk first time using chaeto and from what i read ppl said it grew fast.

 

How long do you keep the light on for?

 

its a 12 hour cycle, 12 hour main tank, then 12 sump/refug so 10am-10pm for main and 10pm-10am for sump/refug

 

Well I can't really help then, as I am in the same boat. Yours looks just like mine. I have had mine in my sump with a 5000K CFL for 2 months on a 12 hour cycle and it still looks about the same as when I bought it. My nitrates are all 0 for some extra info.

 

I think is to far from the light and loose. I have mine on my display tank(no sump) on a breedr floting thingy(LOL) and I already gave half of it to a friend because it was 2x the size from when I got it.

what light you have there?

also it should be a lil "packed" but loose(does it make sense?) you need to have it loose enough for water to go thru and pods to grow on but not to fall apart I actually squsse mine a bit with my fingers to "pack it" with out braking it (kind of brittle).

BTW, if I was you i'll remove anything that is loose before it gets out of that "cage", it may clog your pump

 

well what if i put a air stone under it to keep it floating on the surface would that hurt it. and as for clogging im not concerened i have a spong filter on the return pump to help on that

 

My chaeto hardly grew for months, now it grows decently but far from fast. I wouldn't stress too much about it.

 

so just let it be and let it sit on the bottom of the refug or should i try moving it?

 

I'd prob try to get it up off the sand if ya can, let it tumble and water flow through it better

 

Just a quick reminder... Macroalgaes require nutrients in the water to grow and if you have low nutrient levels your Chaeto won't grow much.

I'd be more worried about a system that grows Chaeto uncontrollably.