Is more chaeto better?

[Steveg229]

I got a ball of chaeto about 3 months ago and it has grown about 4 times the size. It now almost fills the entire refugium. Is it beneficial to keep it as big as possible, or should it be halved?

 

[sen5241b]

The bigger the better BUT if it gets so dense that light cannot reach parts of the cheato then it may rot and die and cause a nitrate spike. Imagine you have a 50G with a 100G fuge filler with cheato. You could over stock the 50G and still have zero trates!

Remember, Cheato needs strong flow and strong light.

 

[bjohanson1234]

It is beneficial to cut back the cheato. The purpose of growing macro in a fuge is for nutrient export. Unless the cheato is removed, the nutrients are technically in your tank still. Once you cut the cheato back, then those nutrients are out of your tank for good. It also, like sen said, gives room for more cheato to grow. I cut my cheato back every few months or so.

 

[Steveg229]

Thanks for the info. I flip the chaeto over every week or so to make sure it gets enought light and both side are still green as can be. I will let it get a little larger before I trim it back. Thanks

 

[little_fish]

+1 bj