Chaeto and controlling nitrates and phosphate

[Hilltopreef90]

How long does it take for chaeto to start making a difference in your nitrate and phosphate levels?
Is it safe for the chaeto to use chempure in the sump to reduce phosphate or will it kill or hurt the chaeto?

 

[afrokobe]

How long does it take for chaeto to start making a difference in your nitrate and phosphate levels?
Is it safe for the chaeto to use chempure in the sump to reduce phosphate or will it kill or hurt the chaeto?

Not exactly sure on the first. Yes on the second question. I ran chemipure blue in the over flow area of my fuge.

 

[czoolander]

Great question ! I will be following along as I am picking up some chaeto this weekend to put in my sump to address this exact problem. I cant keep nitrates under 20 with dosing some sort of product . Vibrant or NoPox .

Going to be picking up some corals this weekend too which I am assuming will also be eating some phosphate and nitrates .

 

[mrlavalamp]

"how long to make a difference" is a matter of proportions.

If I were to dump 50lbs of chaeto into my sump it would make a difference much more quickly, even on a very large tank.

If I were to put in a single chaeto strand into the fuge on a 5 gallon tank then it would take forever even with the small total volume.

The only answer one can provide given the context here is: instantly, the chaeto starts growing and consuming nutrients immediately once you place it into a fuge and provide it light, as the tiny clump grows larger, it consumes nutrients faster and faster.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

"how long to make a difference" is a matter of proportions.

If I were to dump 50lbs of chaeto into my sump it would make a difference much more quickly, even on a very large tank.

If I were to put in a single chaeto strand into the fuge on a 5 gallon tank then it would take forever even with the small total volume.

The only answer one can provide given the context here is: instantly, the chaeto starts growing and consuming nutrients immediately once you place it into a fuge and provide it light, as the tiny clump grows larger, it consumes nutrients faster and faster.

My nitrates are in the mid 30’s my phosphate 0.23, what other ways can I reduce them. I know water changes and reduce feeding are needed but what else can I do?

 

[mrlavalamp]

Depending what you are keeping those numbers aren't terrible.

I run 50's Nitrate and Phosphate @ 0.4 ppm and my LPS/softies are doing well, I don't have any sps though.

I wouldn't chase numbers but if you are seeing problems in your corals then some other ways to reduce them are:

Nitrate: biopellets, carbon dosing, sulfur reactor

phosphate: GFO or products like chemipure, lanthanum chloride

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Depending what you are keeping those numbers aren't terrible.

I run 50's Nitrate and Phosphate @ 0.4 ppm and my LPS/softies are doing well, I don't have any sps though.

I wouldn't chase numbers but if you are seeing problems in your corals then some other ways to reduce them are:

Nitrate: biopellets, carbon dosing, sulfur reactor

phosphate: GFO or products like chemipure, lanthanum chloride

I have some chempure elite that I can use but I was concerned it might cause issues with the chaeto that I recently put in the refugium.
I

 

[Coxey81]

I have some chempure elite that I can use but I was concerned it might cause issues with the chaeto that I recently put in the refugium.
I

I think the chaeto will solve your issues as long as it grows.

But I did read from algaebarn it doesn't always do well starting off in high nitrates. Someone was having issues with it and there's was around 40ppm. So you may want to do a large water change to try and cut yours in half so that the chateo can catch up and manage it

 

[Tchung23]

Depending what you are keeping those numbers aren't terrible.

I run 50's Nitrate and Phosphate @ 0.4 ppm and my LPS/softies are doing well, I don't have any sps though.

I wouldn't chase numbers but if you are seeing problems in your corals then some other ways to reduce them are:

Nitrate: biopellets, carbon dosing, sulfur reactor

phosphate: GFO or products like chemipure, lanthanum chloride

This post is great to see.
I have .35 phosphates and 23 nitrates. But my corals seem to be doing fine. Not sure I want to chase numbers at this time??

 

[BiggestE22]

How long does it take for chaeto to start making a difference in your nitrate and phosphate levels?
Is it safe for the chaeto to use chempure in the sump to reduce phosphate or will it kill or hurt the chaeto?

If you have good light and flow and photo period. typically 3-5 days

 

[Ben1982]

You might want to keep in mind that cheato also consumes a bit of iron I dose a small amount a week with mine. I'm a complete noob but my cheato is growing

 

[Tchung23]

I’m a noob too! Tank up since March 2021.

 

[jda]

Chaeto needs to be part of a long-term plan. If N and P are too high, it will not grow every well, if at all, so you have to find some other way to get them down. A second skimmer can help, if you have the room. So can water changes or more real live rock... or just time for dead/dry rock and dry sand to get some anoxic areas to turn no3 into nitrogen gas.

Chaeto takes work, but not much. It needs pruned or else it will slow down. It can use up all of the iron and some other traces and also quit growing - you need to still change water and/or even dose iron if you want to grow chaeto.

For my tank, real live rock, 3 inches of sand, three skimmers and fuge full of chaeto keeps my N around .1 and P around 1-3 ppb. I change some water too. I feed a LOT and also export a LOT. Corals grow like crazy. It is kind of a self fulfilling prophecy where the lower residual levels allow the chaeto to grow faster.

I get this much out of my 10g fuge ever few weeks. If I wait too long, it will slow down growing...

 

[muzikalmatt]

You can use chemipure elite or blue with chaeto. I've done both and seen no ill effects. In my experience, chaeto has been pretty good at maintaining steady nitrates, but I've occasionally had to employ GFO to address phosphates. As others have pointed out, it's recommended that you monitor trace elements (especially iron) as it can be a limiting factor in chaeto growth.

 

[Ben1982]

Is there a thread about the recommended method to trimming cheato?

 

[shakacuz]

Is there a thread about the recommended method to trimming cheato?

just take a good chunk out. no real science to trimming, although, you may have to use your own discretion on how much to take out. every tank is different.

what i do is when my chaeto starts restricting flow in my fuge/sump, i take everything out and leave a BASEBALL sized chunk in the fuge and either give out or throw the rest out.

 

[jda]

I usually pull apart half or a bit more. Then I thin out what is left to fill the space by just pulling on it a bit. I don't know if you can do this wrong. If you live in a warm climate, you need the freeze the stuff so that it does not become invasive, or something like that, before you throw it away - I am not a pro on this.

 

[PatW]

Chaeto can be tricky. You need a good light if you have a high intensity light in your display for SPS photosynthetic coral (And I do). I have found the small aquaillumination chaeto (a prime variant) to work great for a 300 gallon display In the sump. I have found that I need to run measurable nitrates and phosphates (can be really low but need to be detectable at least part of the day). The corals do fine on just fish poop. I also add some chaeto gro daily.

My chaeto is going pretty well now. I can add sodium nitrate to my system today to about measuring 1.5 ppm and have it at just above zero the next day. My mass of chaeto is larger than a square foot but I think less than 2.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

How long does it take for chaeto to start making a difference in your nitrate and phosphate levels?
Is it safe for the chaeto to use chempure in the sump to reduce phosphate or will it kill or hurt the chaeto?

I can't keep my nitrates above 1 with my set up no matter what I do. But I think this question relys solely on how powerful of a light you have. I have a very powerful yet affordable grow light from Amazon and the nitrates don't stand a chance.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Chaeto needs to be part of a long-term plan. If N and P are too high, it will not grow every well, if at all, so you have to find some other way to get them down. A second skimmer can help, if you have the room. So can water changes or more real live rock... or just time for dead/dry rock and dry sand to get some anoxic areas to turn no3 into nitrogen gas.

Chaeto takes work, but not much. It needs pruned or else it will slow down. It can use up all of the iron and some other traces and also quit growing - you need to still change water and/or even dose iron if you want to grow chaeto.

For my tank, real live rock, 3 inches of sand, three skimmers and fuge full of chaeto keeps my N around .1 and P around 1-3 ppb. I change some water too. I feed a LOT and also export a LOT. Corals grow like crazy. It is kind of a self fulfilling prophecy where the lower residual levels allow the chaeto to grow faster.

I get this much out of my 10g fuge ever few weeks. If I wait too long, it will slow down growing...

My god