My Experience with IM Chaetomax Refugium Lights

JeepinReefer · Aug 25, 2018

Just a quick post to share my experience with the IM Chaetomax refugium lights. I have an eight month old IM Fusion 25 Lagoon nano and so far it is overkill on all fronts equipment wise. I am using two of the five rear chambers as a chaeto fuge with some Seachem pond matrix (or regular matrix, I don't remember which I bought) in the bottom. The rest of the chambers are filled with chaeto and lit by three IM Chaetomax lights. Yeah...overkill? I've never detected nitrates with the Red Sea Nitrate Pro kit, and my phosphates are consistently between 0.0-0.04 ppm with the Hanna ULR checker. I have five fish and I think I feed pretty heavily, including dosing 3 ml each of Red Sea Reef Energy A&B per day. While the tank is still maturing, the chaeto is thriving. I pruned the smaller of the two chambers today. These lights are working so well for me that I think the aquarium might be in nutrient export overkill mode. Pictures to tell the story:

mta_morrow · Aug 25, 2018

Very nice! I would call that a huge success!

Obviously well thought our and sized appropriately.

Blue Spot Octopus · Aug 25, 2018

Funny it looks like a brick.

JeepinReefer · Aug 25, 2018

Yeah it is definitely a success. Thanks! And definitely a brick too! I noticed on Thursday when I was replacing the filter floss that goes above the chaeto, that the chaeto had become so dense that it was pushing up on the floss and moving it out of place!

Elsa Vasquez · Jan 8, 2019

That’s awesome!! Do you have a media basket to hold the chaeto? Or do you just put them in the chambers alone?

._Z_. · Jan 8, 2019

Awesome thanks for sharing! I’ve had one of these lights in the closet that I’m finally going to stick on my jbj 45 this weekend.

What do you use to keep the chaeto in place?

JeepinReefer · Jan 8, 2019

Thanks! I didn't use a media basket or anything to keep it in place. Just tossed it in the chambers. After a trimming, a few loose pieces would flow out, but not much and what small pieces did escape would get caught by my filter floss when it flowed back into the rear chambers.

Elsa Vasquez · Jan 8, 2019

JeepinReefer said:
Thanks! I didn't use a media basket or anything to keep it in place. Just tossed it in the chambers. After a trimming, a few loose pieces would flow out, but not much and what small pieces did escape would get caught by my filter floss when it flowed back into the rear chambers.

Perfect!! Saves me money on the fuge basket I was looking to get lol!! Do you have an Instagram page for your tank?

JeepinReefer · Jan 8, 2019

Elsa Vasquez said:
Perfect!! Saves me money on the fuge basket I was looking to get lol!! Do you have an Instagram page for your tank?

No Instagram page but I do have a build thread here. It has turned into a frag quarantine tank though. Lots more chaeto pictures lol

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jrs-im-25-fusion-lagoon-build.347462/

Elsa Vasquez · Jan 8, 2019

JeepinReefer said:
No Instagram page but I do have a build thread here. It has turned into a frag quarantine tank though. Lots more chaeto pictures lol

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/jrs-im-25-fusion-lagoon-build.347462/

Nice definitely gonna follow!

Calpoly2103 · Mar 10, 2019

Hey Quick question...so you put your chaeto directly into the first overflow, do you have filterfloss under the chaeto?

When you said it got caught by your filter media when it flowed back in the the rear chambers, you mean the other side, right?

I'm just curious if it makes sense to throw in the chaeto in the first chamber, then put a piece of filter floss under it....not sure.

JeepinReefer · Mar 17, 2019

Calpoly2103 said:
Hey Quick question...so you put your chaeto directly into the first overflow, do you have filterfloss under the chaeto?

When you said it got caught by your filter media when it flowed back in the the rear chambers, you mean the other side, right?

I'm just curious if it makes sense to throw in the chaeto in the first chamber, then put a piece of filter floss under it....not sure.

I did not have filter floss under or after the chaeto. When I was using chaeto, I actually had it in the first and second chambers. My water went over the overflow, through floss, then through chaeto. I meant that if chaeto escaped the chaeto section, it would go to the return pump, then the display, then get caught by the floss after it went back over the overflow. Honestly though, the chaeto grew so well that none really escaped except for tiny lose pieces after a pruning. Hope that helped!

Calpoly2103 · Mar 17, 2019

JeepinReefer said:
I did not have filter floss under or after the chaeto. When I was using chaeto, I actually had it in the first and second chambers. My water went over the overflow, through floss, then through chaeto. I meant that if chaeto escaped the chaeto section, it would go to the return pump, then the display, then get caught by the floss after it went back over the overflow. Honestly though, the chaeto grew so well that none really escaped except for tiny lose pieces after a pruning. Hope that helped!

Thank you, that's very helpful