phosphates

[jose hernandez]

so i changed my refuguim lighting to a phillips 150 watt par 38 br40 flood bulb but my phosphates seem to be goin up not down i only feed once a day light runs 24hrs a day as well as my skimmer do i need to change the bulb to something else or do i give it some time

 

[CCauthers]

What are your phosphates and nitrates at?

 

[jose hernandez]

nitrates 25
phosphate .30
using salifert for nitrates
hanna 736 ulr for phosphates

 

[jose hernandez]

they keep goin up havent noticed growth in the cheato as i bought a bunch of it do i need to put more cheato or do i need to dose iron?

 

[CCauthers]

Is the chaeto dying?

 

[jose hernandez]

no

 

[jose hernandez]

Here a pic looks good 2 me

 

[Afterburner]

Try carbon dosing on a dosing pump till they drop, then turn it off. I did this with NoPoX a couple of times over the past year and I only needed to dose for a couple of weeks, then it stayed low for a very long time due to the increased bacteria and coral growth. I dosed exactly what was on the NoPoX label recommendation and it worked really well for me. Good luck.

 

[jose hernandez]

wont carbon dosing kill the cheato?

 

[Afterburner]

It would if you remove all of the nutrients, but isn't that what you are trying to do with the cheto anyway? As your nutrients (NO3, PO4) drop, the cheto will grow less because there is less for it to consume. I use a algae scrubber and when my nutrients are low, it does not grow as much. The Nutrients will be consumed by the bacteria in your system and removed by your skimmer. Most people's goal is to get lower NO3 and PO4 for SPS, but if your goal is to grow cheto to sell/trade, then don't do carbon dosing and add a rusty nail to your fuge.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

wont carbon dosing kill the cheato?

I grew macroalgae and dosed organic carbon at the same time.

 

[jose hernandez]

im not looking to sell cheato i wanna have a refuguim as i was told it would be beneficial to the system

 

[jose hernandez]

would adding iron help with growth?

 

[blasterman]

Never added iron and always been able to grow cheato like a weed. As long as there's a trace of nitrate and phosphate, good light and water flow cheato is good.

With those params it should be growing over the top of your fuge and devouring house pets.

I dose a couple drop lugols iodine to my tanks once a week because I don't like water changes, and *that* makes cheato grow fast and much thicker than normal.

 

[jose hernandez]

As far as light I have the Philips 150watt par38 bulb as far as flow I have a lot in the main display but as far as the sump it’s very slow nutrients are there do I need to change the bulb? Or just let it be bulb has been on for about a week run it 24hrs along with the skimmer

 

[vetteguy53081]

Adding iron will help

 

[anthonygf]

I think a red spectrum light is best for cheato and does not have to be 150 watts. also only run fuge light when DT lights are off.

 

[jose hernandez]

im actually running the light for 24hrs to keep ph up i tried the tunze refugium dont think it was strong enough

 

[Afterburner]

I never tried 24 hour grow lights.... I remember somewhere reading something about a dark cycle being needed for at least a few hours a day. If you want to keep your PH up, just build a CO2 scrubber and hook it up to the air hose of your skimmer.... works wonders.

 

[jose hernandez]

my ph gets very low tried a co2 scrubber but media depletes to fast so ran a hose out side ph gets to around 8 but with the refugium and skimmer together im at 8.3