Chaetos n Mangroves?

[Mavjoy]

Did i spell those right? What are the benefits of these two plants? Are they good in a refuge? Lights on? off? I have LR rubble in my refuge and wondering if these two are better and can be combine with my LR rubble.

[Varga]

Chaeto is the plant of choice for most refugiums. it does well under 24/7 lighting. they just eat nutrients that other wise would lead to algae issues. also offer a home for tiny creatures like pods and mysis shrimp

Mangroves Do not like 24/7 lighting, they need night time. they do very little for your tank but are fun to grow

[Mavjoy]

i see....mangroves are just for show? chaetos are better then but need lighting.
thanks for the info.

[Mavjoy]

I decided to put a Mini mite light above my fuge and took out my filter pad so the light can go through. Total of 18 watts(1 actinic and 1 daylight), i have LR rubble and planning to add some chaeto, is this too much light? Planning to leave the light on overnight(7-8 hours).

[Varga]

that should work, some people even have halides!!!!!!! I got mine under shop lights from lowe's

[BigAl07]

Chaeto is a GREAT refugium Macro-Algae and normally is VERY hardy. Give it just about any light and don't forget to tumble/roll/turn it so that the bottom of the roll gets light too. It's a MUST have item for any refugium.

[Mavjoy]

Thanks for all the feedback BigAl and Co. (the location of pumps too) I really appreciate it. I'm stopping by my LFS to get some chaetos today and hopefully they have some.

[sambrinar]

I believe mangroves can turn sexual and put the nitrates etc they pull out back into the tank. they are neat looking though

[Varga]

mangroves go sexual????!!! never heard that before....

turn chaeto? how often should I be doing that?

[BigAl07]

Brenda are you sure about that/ I've never heard that about Mangroves but I've NOT heard everything yet...

[sambrinar]

It was in one of my thread, hang on I will find it, that is what scared me away from it. hang on I'll be back.......

[BigJay]

man what a bunch of conflicting information on mangroves. I thought mangroves were one of the best filter mediums available. Only that they take a little more care and more space then most people are willing to dedicate to them.
Don't have time to pull a bunch of links but this is from reefcleaners.org .

ReefCleaners.org - Natural Nitrate Reduction

[sambrinar]

What is the advantage of having mangroves in a reef tank?

Mangroves take the nutrients necessary for their growth from the aquarium water. This means that we have a means of exporting phosphates and nitrates. Macro algae do the same, but they easily set those nutrients free when they are eaten by fish or die and dissolve. With mangroves this is different, at least if the aquarist succeeds in preventing the mangrove leaves from falling into the water and dissolving there. While many mangrove species export excess salt by depositing it on the surface of their leaves for the rain to wash away, some mangrove species deposit excess salt inside of their oldest leaves, which then will turn yellow and drop down. This is a natural process, but in the reef tank we just have to make sure that the leaves will not dissolve in the aquarium water and release nutrients back into the aquarium water.

Mangroves in the Reef Aquarium

OK, I was wrong, anyway I can't find it. I think what I was thinking was the leaves droping in the tank. they DON'T go sexual. anyway the link above is great info on it. I was having such a hard time with algae, I think that I though I didn't need anything to make it worse so I stayed away.

Sorry about the confusion , it's just the leaves you have to was off and removed. I sware I saw that somewhere. If I find it eventually I'll post it, but considering how hard I searched the web, it must be wrong info.

[Mavjoy]

I finally got some chaetos today for $5 a handful! Found a new LFS by my place and they had tons of it. Do you have to rinse it before you put in the refuge? Anyways, its too late, i already put it. Hehe.

[Varga]

no need to rinse, you are good to go

it probobly came with some baby mysis shrimp and a bunch of pods