nim6us
Well-Known Member
I'm using an Aquamaxx reactor wrapped in LED lights plumbed through my manifold as a macroalgae reactor. But I've got some questions.
How much cheato to add initially?
I got a large amount of cheato from my LFS but I only put in some of what they gave me. My thought process was I didn't want to cram it full because then there would be no room for new cheato to grow. The problem I'm having is with the water flowing it push all the cheato together to the top meaning only 1/4 of my reactor looks like it has cheato in it and the other 3/4 is just empty area filled with water.
How do I prune the cheato when the reactor is full?
So when it's full do I just remove a hand full from the top, or do I need to pull the whole core out and use scissors to trim around the edges like a kebab on a spit?
I know my tank is new (couple months old), but I've got phosphates and nitrates present but the cheato doesn't look like it's growing. It's gone from a deep green when I got it to a lighter green and it doesn't appear to be getting bigger. I'm trying to figure out if it's because there's too little in there and it being all bunched up isn't enough surface area for the light, or if my lights aren't strong enough? I'm currently running it at 8 hours a night when my display lights are off.
I just find it typical, in my display that I try to keep pristine, algae grows no problem. But in this perfect well lit home with a ton of alage added already and it looks like it's dying! LOL!
How much cheato to add initially?
I got a large amount of cheato from my LFS but I only put in some of what they gave me. My thought process was I didn't want to cram it full because then there would be no room for new cheato to grow. The problem I'm having is with the water flowing it push all the cheato together to the top meaning only 1/4 of my reactor looks like it has cheato in it and the other 3/4 is just empty area filled with water.
How do I prune the cheato when the reactor is full?
So when it's full do I just remove a hand full from the top, or do I need to pull the whole core out and use scissors to trim around the edges like a kebab on a spit?
I know my tank is new (couple months old), but I've got phosphates and nitrates present but the cheato doesn't look like it's growing. It's gone from a deep green when I got it to a lighter green and it doesn't appear to be getting bigger. I'm trying to figure out if it's because there's too little in there and it being all bunched up isn't enough surface area for the light, or if my lights aren't strong enough? I'm currently running it at 8 hours a night when my display lights are off.
I just find it typical, in my display that I try to keep pristine, algae grows no problem. But in this perfect well lit home with a ton of alage added already and it looks like it's dying! LOL!
