New to hobby build

[Proteus]

Welcome to the hobby!!! This forum has some great people with excellent experience

While the cheato is great to have, I would suggest find a good chunk of healthy clean live rock to get that tank seeded.

[Flemed]

I was thinking about grabbing some, but I don't want to add a lot of rock to the tank. We've got 13 lbs in there right now, though a small chunk wouldn't be too bad.

I work out of town and am home every other weekend, so the plan was for my girlfriend to keep topping up water level while I was away, and then it should, theoretically, be ready for cleanup crew when I come home again.

[Bblinks]

welcome to Canreef Calvin! Proteus is right about the live rock, it will bring you some unexpected life to the tank. Also make sure you get a light on the chaeto so it doesn't die. Take it slow and enjoy!

[Flemed]

A light is in the plans for the near future. Just can't afford it at the moment. We will be heading back for a couple more gallons of salt water from Big Al's today. I'll take a look and see if they have a small chunk of live rock there we could pickup.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Flemed

A light is in the plans for the near future. Just can't afford it at the moment. We will be heading back for a couple more gallons of salt water from Big Al's today. I'll take a look and see if they have a small chunk of live rock there we could pickup.

The rock is what will help you take care of nutrients. I always aimed for 1lb per gallon. But each to there own!

Make sure you check the sg of the water from big als. I've heard stories of it being out of walk.. Not to mention expensive

[Ryanerickson]

A normal lamp would help keep the chaeto alive for now. As is it will start breaking up into 100s of little pieces. I have had this happen down the road when I put light on tank chaeto was growing outta the rocks everywhere.

[hillegom]

I may have misunderstood, but when the water evaporates from the tank, just replace it with fresh water, preferably reverse osmosis, (RO) not the salt water from Big Als.
Evaporation will be less when you find a lid for the tank.
For now, until you buy a light, you could place a desk lamp or clip on by your tank with a cheap "daylight" compact florescent bulb from Home Depot. Maybe 25W. This should keep your cheato growing.