Advice? cheato and dosing

It's my understanding that you generally want your chaeto to tumble over via the current in the tank, allowing all sides to have the best exposure to light.

Anecdotally I've had it in a setup that didn't allow for tumbling and it thrived.

I always dilute and supplements so they're not a strong concentration when introduced.

 

The reason it was green on the bottom is that it is still not super dense & light is still getting to the bottom. When it gets really dense, the stuff on bottom will turn pale green. I used to have water running through a clear tank so it could get light from the front & back and it helped alot.

As far as dosing, dilution and time are your friends. I dilute it down, and dose it as slowly as possible, usually directly in the sump.

Also timing. Alk can really raise your ph, so I dose it at night when your ph is naturally dropping.

 

I have had best growth with tumbling the cheato. Like xroads said after its dense enough it will pale.
I dose the bulk reef supply 3 part. All parts dosed 10 minutes apart 24 times daily in a high flow area in my sump. Smaller doses many times daily is best for stability.

 

I have never used the b-ionic. But the stuff I use you need to dose the calcium and alkalinity parts in equal proportions otherwise you end up with an in balance.
I just get my alkalinity where I want it and calcium stays at an acceptable level. My tank runs 8.0 dhk and 410 calcium. I dose 100 ml of each part spread out 24 doses over 24 hours with a bubble magnus doser.

Do you have room for a small power head in your fuge? I have done that before to get cheato to tumble. I got rid of cheato and have dragons breath and string of pearls macro algae and have had really good growth out of both.

 

Upgrades are always good.