Chaetomorpha growth

[fergo]

Hello all,

Well i have changed my tank around to add a large fugi to my setup, its about 50L. Now i added some Chaetomorpha and was wondering how fast do these things typically grow?

The tank is lit 24 hours a day with a enegy saving baynet bulb.

It has alot of flow in the tank and the Chaetomorpha is tumbeling around constantly.

How long do you guys think it will be before i see some changes in water chemistry? Nitrates and Phosphates which are lower but not ideal by any means NO3 10 PO4 1.

any other advice on what i have? any suggestions on other things to add to this tank?

Thanks

[kevinpo]

Hello,
Chaetomorpha should have a dark period of 6-8 hours or so. It is not a Caulerpa type algae that can be lit all the time. Also a stronger light will speed up the consumption of NO3. I'm unsure what watt bulb you are using but generally speaking a 18-20W power compact bulb works well (a 400W halide works better but we need to be reasonable ) Depending of the bio load 7-14 days is usually enough to reduce the nitrate level to a couple ppm.

Cheers,
Kevin

[fergo]

wow thanks i did not know that about the lighting routine.

I will get a timer and add it, so what do we suggest for timing of this? reverse cycle? same time?

[kevinpo]

A reverse photo period will help to prevent day and night swings of the PH.

Cheers,
Kevin