When to add cheato?

matgilbert · 12/06/2007, 09:47 PM

Hi everybody I was wondering when I should be adding cheato to my sump?

A week or so ago I put in my 65g RR tank 60 lbs of sand, this past Monday I put 60lbs of rock and tonight I added another 15lbs of rock and a couple hermit crabs. The rock is cured and cycled, I bought it from my local LFS and it's got lots of purple coraline algae on it. The skimmer is starting to pull some interesting crud out of the water. It's not as dark and nasty as I've seen others have, though I figure it's because the tank is less than 2 weeks old.

This picture is the first two days of skimming with the rock in the tank

I really want to have a mandarin fish, so one of the first things on my to do list with my new tank is to get a healthy pod population going. I have a 29g sump with baffles where my skimmer and heater live, and I have a nice little refugium area built to eventually accomodate some sand and rock rubble with the cheato.

FTS With 75lbs of rock & hermits

Right now I'm watching the propigated & tank raised board for people selling bags of cheato loaded with pods and getting a light & timer set up to feed the algae ball. Anybody wanna cut out the middleman and hook me up? I have paypal

Also, on a last note I am working on the hood for this tank. I built the stand and now I have to build the hood too. Can anybody post pics of hoods they built? I'm using a kit from marinedepot with waterproof T5 endcaps, 4 bulbs and an icecap 660 ballast.

SaltyDr · 12/06/2007, 09:59 PM

Add the chaeto now. Use a CF bulb 6500K with a cheap clip on parabolic reflector light from HD ($10).

drparker · 12/06/2007, 10:05 PM

With live rock and nothing to eat them you should start to see plenty of pod life when your cycle is getting close to over. I'm not sure of the best answer but I've always added it after the nitrate spikes and starts to drop.

Don't rush the mandarin, I'd wait 6 months to a year.

12/06/2007, 09:47 PM	#1
matgilbert Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 57	When to add cheato? Hi everybody I was wondering when I should be adding cheato to my sump? A week or so ago I put in my 65g RR tank 60 lbs of sand, this past Monday I put 60lbs of rock and tonight I added another 15lbs of rock and a couple hermit crabs. The rock is cured and cycled, I bought it from my local LFS and it's got lots of purple coraline algae on it. The skimmer is starting to pull some interesting crud out of the water. It's not as dark and nasty as I've seen others have, though I figure it's because the tank is less than 2 weeks old. This picture is the first two days of skimming with the rock in the tank I really want to have a mandarin fish, so one of the first things on my to do list with my new tank is to get a healthy pod population going. I have a 29g sump with baffles where my skimmer and heater live, and I have a nice little refugium area built to eventually accomodate some sand and rock rubble with the cheato. FTS With 75lbs of rock & hermits Right now I'm watching the propigated & tank raised board for people selling bags of cheato loaded with pods and getting a light & timer set up to feed the algae ball. Anybody wanna cut out the middleman and hook me up? I have paypal Also, on a last note I am working on the hood for this tank. I built the stand and now I have to build the hood too. Can anybody post pics of hoods they built? I'm using a kit from marinedepot with waterproof T5 endcaps, 4 bulbs and an icecap 660 ballast.

12/06/2007, 09:59 PM	#2
SaltyDr Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Southwest Florida Posts: 1,191	Add the chaeto now. Use a CF bulb 6500K with a cheap clip on parabolic reflector light from HD ($10).

12/06/2007, 10:05 PM	#3
drparker Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Palatine, IL Posts: 2,652	With live rock and nothing to eat them you should start to see plenty of pod life when your cycle is getting close to over. I'm not sure of the best answer but I've always added it after the nitrate spikes and starts to drop. Don't rush the mandarin, I'd wait 6 months to a year.