So I have had a clump of Cheato for almost a year and I swear nothing has grown or changed about it. So does it actually grow and what am I doing wrong?

My refuge has been setup since Dec and I placed some Calurpa in it and well it kind of disintegrated and died on me. The Chaeto is fine but not growing.

I had some Coralife Nano bulbs on it for 18 hours, then I switched to some "grow light". Nothing has changed. I have high Nitrates but it looks like it is because my top off is not RO/DI water but tap. (That should be fixed soon if UNDIY ever ships their ATO system almost 15 day after they removed my money. Sorry if they are a vendor but 15 days and the bank already took my money... please.)

So what am I doing wrong?

Thanks