Cheato Care

[earman88]

Quick question. I bought some cheato last week and stuffed it in my HOB filter, replacing any filter media back there.

The cheato has definitely been filtering stuff, but I'm worried it is "dirty" and needs to be cleaned out. Can I expect it to just grow itself into a perpetual clean state?

 

[Bifferwine]

What do you mean dirty? Like, it's collecting detritus and gunk? If so, take it out and give it a quick rinse.

 

[earman88]

Yeah basically Biff. I've had some pretty dirty water recently so it has been collecting a lot of it. I will rinse it out.. what a genius idea.

 

[chichimom79]

Ya, I rinse mine occasionally in the water I take out during a WC.

 

[FishyReef]

I have to rinse mine out too. The ball in my sump doesn't get as dirty, but the tiny clump in the HOB on my 10g gets pretty nasty on a regular basis. I usually just give it a quick shake it in the bucket of salt water I remove from the tank when I do a water change.

 

[sen5241b]

Without strong light and strong flow cheato will tend to rot.