Lighting required for Cheato?
 

I am going to have a small sump with a small compartment, about 12"x14" for Cheato. What kind of lighting will give me good growth and be energy efficient? (If my Mom found a light UNDER the tank she would have a bird... If it is low-electricity usage it might even stay there after she finds it.)

I think just plain clip on lights like for reptiles would be fine for a sump.....Could use a CF bulb for low energy use......IIRC algae likes plain yellow light......I have a little halogen over mine and it hasn't had any issues

Cheato grows well under lower spectrums (around 6700k or natural sunlight). I have an upstream fuge that gets natural light only and the stuff has tripled in growth since swapping from my stock bulb in sump. If you can get a clip on fixture with a regular incandescent spot light you should see some great growth.
Levi

Melev reviews a few different types of bulbs and bulb spectrum's here. http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html I've been using some 6500K CF bulbs as well but Canadian Tire now carries 4100K with the built on reflector so I might try them.

I have to change my CF bulb. I got some new ones, and they are considerably blue'r than the last bulbs. They say 6500K, so my other ones must be 5000k? And, I noticed my CHeato has almost disappeared :( Started to decline about the time swapped bulbs. Coincidence?

I got 6500k CF Phillips from Home Depot and cheato does not grow at all.
Incandescent "Grow Light" is very hot so i don't want it.

I also tried that super bright one with reflector recommended on mevlevs reef page and cheato or any other algae did not grow ether.

I wonder is there anything else?

Its been nearly 3 months since I switched from 23W 6500K CF bulbs to 20W 4100K CF with built on reflectors and I've noticed a positive change in growth of my chaeto ball. Has anyone else tried 4100K vs 6500K and seen an increase in growth?

Another thing I've done differently is to maintain the ball a bit smaller and tear off chunks more frequently. ATM my ball is large/small enough to fill a 1 gal bucket if I remove it from the water.

bulb I'm using now is a PAR38 (integral reflector) 23W, 5000K and is over a 20g, lit 24/7.

Flow through the fuge is about 200gph with a PH for an additional 300gph.

Chaeto goes from about a grapefruit to a basketball in ~3 weeks.

My chaeto compartment is 12" x 4" x 4" brick. It has a single 15w 6700k CFL and in eight days it turns a pinch of chaeto into a brick. See my build thread for my DIY fuge.

I am surprised this thread is still active. But the answers are very informative - Thank You!
It seems the lower wattage (within reason), and more white/yellow spectrum seem to work best (with notable exceptions).
I have read in other threads that the basic fluorescent household bulbs (usually <6500 Kelvin) have had great success.
I picked up a used 10w 5500K aquarium light cheap from another hobbyist. We will see how it goes when I get my tank set up.