Chaeto Growth and Observation

[BfishLpond78]

I’ve always loved marine plants and the idea of a display refugium when it comes to reef tanks. On my previous system, I was able to setup a 50 gallon refugium filled with various macros, chaeto, halimedia, dragons breath and calupera prolifera. Unfortunately on my current system I am only able to accommodate a small section in my sump for just chaeto growth. I’m trying to keep my sump area clean of built up detritus. Its solely dedicated to chaeto and a few bunches of dragons breath.


I’ve noticed a lot of similar threads in this forum as it relates to Chaeto growth and the inability to keep it alive. My tank is only 6 months old but it is heavily populated with fish. 150 gallon display, 30-40 gallon’s in the sump. I feed heavily, about 3 times a day (spectrum pellets, new era flake and LRS herbivore frenzy).


What I have found works for chaeto is intense lighting, it’s pretty resilient and can take a lot of light and really benefits from it. My current light is the Nova S2 90w LED, it has a red LED dominant, with some whites and blues mixed in. My tank currently yields about 5-6 gallons of chaeto grown a month when starting from a softball sized piece. Now, I have found that when removing that amount of chaeto has a negative impact on my tank. So going forward will only remove enough to let the chaeto to continue to grow.


I’ve added pictures to show a 30 day span between harvests, unfortunately I deleted the first picture which showed the small clump I started with, so you’ll have to take my word, lol.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Please note the time/date stamp on the bottom of the pictures that show when the photo was taken.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Does anyone know if growth of Chaeto depletes the tank of any elements that are essential to coral growth?

 

[skyesfire]

That is great. Wish mine would grow like that.

 

[hit_the_gap]

Bfish... i cannot get any kind of macro to grow in my refug. i have a coralife fixture that hangs above the refuge. any reason why i cant get it to grow? better questions, is what am i doing wrong?

 

[NanaReefer]

I get the same kind of growth. Usually if it's not growing it is due to low nutrient, improper lighting spectrum, low iron. Any one of which can stunt it or a combination of all three.

 

[hit_the_gap]

but generally speaking, not getting growth from macro isnt necessarily a bad thing, correct? this isnt a sign that there is something wrong with my system.

 

[NanaReefer]

Not a bad sign at all. Just helps to keep nitrates/phosphates down. Many other ways of doing this.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Agree with Nana, nothing is wrong with your system, but when I look at a few of my friends systems. One in particular that has quadruple my bio-load, higher nutrient content but can't grow chaeto. I begin to wonder what factors can inhibit chaeto growth...lighting spectrum is a big one, source of nutrients...etc.

In my tank, I feed heavily, 3 times a day, 2x spectrum pellets and new era marine flakes and at night i feed 3 cubes of LRS herbivore (I cut up to PE mysis size cubes). My PO4 and NO3 are undetectable by RedSea test kits and I have no visible algae growth on my rocks, just the standard glass build up. I do not use any sort of GFO or phosphate remover either

 

[hit_the_gap]

Sounds good. thanks for the replies. I feed about once a day. the only signs of algae growth is in my overflows. i have to scrape the glass about 2 times a week due to the algae buildup, but thats about it. i run GFO (in bags, not a reactor/canister).

 

[BfishLpond78]

Sounds good. thanks for the replies. I feed about once a day. the only signs of algae growth is in my overflows. i have to scrape the glass about 2 times a week due to the algae buildup, but thats about it. i run GFO (in bags, not a reactor/canister).

Just a tip with GFO, it really needs to be run in a reactor (needs to tumble). If not you run the risk of having it clump together and turn pretty solid. Plus passively running GFO is not very effective.

 

[hit_the_gap]

i have two bags in my sump: GFO and carbon. both are right by the main drain into the sump. there is a lot of water flowing into the sump. the gfo is usally clumpy / solid by the time i change it out. i will eventually get a reactor, but its been 3 or 4 years now and it seems to be working. the sad thing is, i actually have a canister i could use, but i havent hooked it up.

 

[BfishLpond78]

i have two bags in my sump: GFO and carbon. both are right by the main drain into the sump. there is a lot of water flowing into the sump. the gfo is usally clumpy / solid by the time i change it out. i will eventually get a reactor, but its been 3 or 4 years now and it seems to be working. the sad thing is, i actually have a canister i could use, but i havent hooked it up.

LRS....Lazy Reefer Syndrome....happens to the best of us!