How do you trim Chaeto??

I am getting my chaeto today, how do I know if it made it alive in shipping and how do I trim it when it starts growing??

 

If it's green, it's aliiiiiiiive!! (sorry, could not resist)
Just check out for white colored filaments and pull them out, since chaeto gets white when dead... and it is very possible that some filaments will be dead on shipping.

As far as trimming, I just grab the bunch I need to trim and pull. It should break very easily.

Spread it out the best you can too and give it space to grow. Most people leave the chaeto ball in there but I've experience better/faster growth when I spread it. Must be a combination of more room to grow and bigger area surface to get light.

Congrats!! Chaeto is awesome at eating nitrates!.

 

I agree, spreading it out will give you much more growth and nutrient export potential. I pull all my chaeto out of the fuge when it's time to trim and only put back enough to put a light layer of it on the entire surface area of the fuge. The key to using chaeto is to give it as much surface area to light as possible and plenty of room to grow beneath that.
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I use my hand and remove the parts I don't like. I then fluff it up some to get some flow and light through it.

 

Ahh pretty easy just pull some out or just cut some..you should be fine..