Chaeto in display?

[charlypooh]

Anyone have thoughts on putting chaeto in the display? I've got a 46 gallon euro, and have been floating a ball of algae for about a month hoping to get nitrates completely under control...I tie a bit of fishing line around the ball (softball size after today's trim) and give it about 6 inches of line to "tumble". The ball is tethered at the front of the tank and isn't able to reach anything that it can get sucked up against or into. I also have a ball a bit smaller than baseball size in my 2 gallon hob refugium, but the flow in there isn't enough to cause the ball to tumble.

I've seen comments on other boards where people, like myself, who have no room for a sizeable sump either hide chaeto behind rock, or float it. Several threads I've found elsewhere show beautiful tanks with nearly the entire area behind their rock crammed full and only mention a small amount of growth in unwanted areas. I've also seen many posts saying that chaeto absolutely has to tumble so that it gets good light to all parts of the ball for optimum growth and no die-off. Anyone have advice on either method?

 

[Slate]

Not sure about any problems with it in the display personally. But, one thing I do know for a fact is that the ball does not have to tumble to grow. On my old tank I used a HOB filter as a refugium with a chaeto ball packed it. It wasn't able to move at all and grew like crazy and very thick with only ever getting light from the top down. Just needs enough flow for it to get plenty of water passing through to pick up the nutrients it needs and decent overhead lighting.