plants for refugium

i have a small refugium under my 55 gallon reef. all of my chaetomorpha algae died. is there anything else that is good and will use up excess nutrients. my lfs has live seaweed clumps could i put some in my fuge?

 

You could try it, just don't know what it's light requirements are. Can you order more chaeto? You can probably get away with a couple more days without it.

 

i could but my chaeto really had no reason to die. it had a daylight fluorescent light over it and i flipped it over every few days. it just slowly turned white and turned to mush. i want to try something else in fear that chaeto wont live

 

I would figure out why the chaeto died rather than trying something else. Chaeto is one of the toughest macro algaes there is and it is also one of the best. Chaeto not making it may be a sign of something wrong with the way your refugium is set up.

How big is the fuge?
How deep?
How many watts is the light?
What kelvin rating is the bulb?
How much flow runs through your fuge?

 

it a typical fluorescent lighjt that comes with a ten gallons hood. i just put a better bulb in it. its a ten gallon and about 300 gph moves through it. however the compartment the chaeto is in is calm. if i put flow in there the chaeto will get caught up in my return pump etc.

 

It sounds like it may be the bulb to me. The best, cheapest thing to use is a conical reflector clip on light with a "grow bulb" CFL.

 

just looked its an ocean sun 10,000k 20 w.

 

I think I read you will need about 4 watts per gallon for the chaeto.

 

It would definitely make a big difference if you switch it to a 6700k bulb.

 

and i understand that chaeto does not have to tumble in current? it is ok that i flip it every few days? i will try a defferent bulb and chaeto one more time. i want the benefits of the nutrient consumption it offers. i dont want much algae in my main tank!