Cheato information

inflames

inflames

Joined
29 Oct 2008
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Location
Randparkridge (Johannesburg)
Hi Guys,

I got what i am lead to believe is cheato from my LFS. I was told to put it in the sump and have added a light (energy saver 11 watt 4000k downlight) which I have on in reverse to my main tank lights. This is apparently to stabilise my PH. The main reason for adding the cheato is to bring my algie growth in my tank under control...hopefully the cheato will do this...my question is this...How long will it take to make a difference to the algie growth in my main tank? I have had the cheato in for 4 days now.
 
depends on several things, some being: how big is tank? how much cheato have u got? how much livestock? how much feeding? what are your water perameters? what light period and what lights have u got? what circulation u got? are u topping up with ro?

also bear in mind that. the cheato must remove the nutrients your algae have access to. you could have heaps of cheato and still have algae prob in main tank if circulation is not high enough.the reason being the algae will grow right ontop of the detritis that feeds it. if the detritis is blown or lifted into water column and circulated into sump, only then can the cheato use it up.
 
tank is 230ltr, sump is 90ltr. have about a fist size ball of cheato. 1 clown and 1 rockskipper. feed oce a day (tiny bit) topping up with RO water. 4 x 39 watt T5 (2 blue, 2 white) they are run from 9am till 9pm. sump light on from 9pm till 9am. got sump pump of 3200ltr/h. running 2 x 2000ltr/h powerheads in main tank. I heave heard that the cheato will grow and grow and will have to harvest it out from time to time?!?!
 
inflames said:
tank is 230ltr, sump is 90ltr. have about a fist size ball of cheato. 1 clown and 1 rockskipper. feed oce a day (tiny bit) topping up with RO water. 4 x 39 watt T5 (2 blue, 2 white) they are run from 9am till 9pm. sump light on from 9pm till 9am. got sump pump of 3200ltr/h. running 2 x 2000ltr/h powerheads in main tank. I heave heard that the cheato will grow and grow and will have to harvest it out from time to time?!?!
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Yes, as the chaeto takes up nutrients and grow you need to harvest it say on a monthly basis - depending on how fast it is growing - some guys harvest weekly

It is called nutrient export ;)
 
if possible i would increase water flow in tank. do you have any liverock and/or corals in tank?
 
inflames said:
No Coral at the moment..tank has only been running 5 months now...got 35kg of live rock. I am looking at investing in a seio pump or 2?!?!?
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Yes, a good idea. Just remember you want fast chaotic flow inside the tank and a slow turnover from sump to tank and back. Turnover from sump and back must be roughly 3-5 times you total system turnover and the flow inside will depend on what you wanna keep. You can add two Seio M1100 for now if you can - they can also work with the contoller. They are rated 4400lph each, so if you take that your return pump roughly gets about 2000lph at the top, then you'll have 4400 + 4400 + 2000 = 10800. 10800 devided by your volume inside tank (230) = 47x flow inside ;)
 
think that just getting circulation up and reducing the light time on tank would help initially. note that your algae, as it dies off may contaminate water. what i did was to get thin filter matting and used an elastic to tie it like a bag on the overflow tube as it entered my sump then i scraped or brushed any surface that had algae on it and let the tank circulation push it into my filter bag , i left it till tank cleared and took filter off and bombed it( nutrient export ala desparate for results) do this a once a week if necessary
 
Hi Guys...

HERE WE GO...;) AND :razz: AND :yeahdude:!!!

Thanks for the heads up on the flow and all...will monitor the algie (or lack thereof!!!)...hopefully wont put any of my water parimeters out of wak?!?!

Will let you guys know how it goes.. was also thinking getting a fish that likes to eat algie that is reek safe...pretty...can get along and is compatible with most other fish any suggestions?
 
would be hard to find a fish that will get ahead on a serious bout of algae. suggestion is to starve the algae by reducing it's nutrients and its light. you could cut your lighting by three hours a day quite safely until algae situation improves. if funds justify it you could get a phosphate remover, i use phosguard and chemipure elite but those are just some of the brands available. do you vacuum when you do waterchanges? it also helps to remove detritis.
 
I dont vacuum..will try and see if it helps...I thought of getting the chemi pure...thought would try the long term solution and cheaper option 1st. I will cut my lights down now for now too. Hopefully will get better as the tank matures! Will try post some photo's for you!

Cheers
 
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