Chaeto looks like garbage...

[campfireevan]

My buddy has a 175 gallon (I think) with a homemade 40 gallon sump. The tank has been running for about 2 years, but the sump has only been going for about 8 months. Amphipod and bristle worm population looking decent. Cyanobacteria is present. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate looking stable and low, but phosphates are at .11ppm. The refugium light has been on since we set up. Yes the grow light has been on for 8 months straight. I’m not sure of the actual wattage or model but I do know that it has red/white LEDs. He had some good growth for a few months, the chaeto took grew the entire surface at about 1.5 inches thick. However, as of about 2 months ago the charto has died back significantly.

Enjoy these pics of a slime carpet of a refugium haha

 

[cracker]

agreed Is it possible to try & separate the green & toss the rest?

 

[sfin52]

Cheato has to roll or be flipped I also believe that I needs a rest period as well.

 

[jda]

Do you change water? It needs iron to grow. You can get that from a water change, or you need to supplement it. Not all salts have a ton of iron, so you YMMV depending on the salt. In any case, some will help.

Chaeto can flourish for a while as it is stripping the water of all of the iron. Then, it wastes away. Trimming, pulling it apart and dosing iron are all required for healthy chaeto.

 

[mitch91175]

I'd definitely say trim it back to only green, put a small circulation pump in there if possible to get a little more water movement and maybe shorten the light period to a reverse light cycle. For the algae in the tank, he can start carbon dosing if not already doing so (will help grow bacteria to decrease nitrates/phosphates that can then be skimmed out of the system).

That isn't an extreme case of an algae outbreak so should be able to be dealt with soon. I'd also say to maybe run a bag of GFO temporarily to get the levels down. I'd avoid doing large water changes at this point and do maybe 10-15% weekly.

Does he know where the increase in nutrients is coming from?

 

[Katrina71]

Looks like too much light on one side. Try turning it to expose different sides to light.

 

[sfin52]

@Katrina71 I learned from the best

 

[campfireevan]

I'd definitely say trim it back to only green, put a small circulation pump in there if possible to get a little more water movement and maybe shorten the light period to a reverse light cycle. For the algae in the tank, he can start carbon dosing if not already doing so (will help grow bacteria to decrease nitrates/phosphates that can then be skimmed out of the system).

That isn't an extreme case of an algae outbreak so should be able to be dealt with soon. I'd also say to maybe run a bag of GFO temporarily to get the levels down. I'd avoid doing large water changes at this point and do maybe 10-15% weekly.

Does he know where the increase in nutrients is coming from?

Thank you for the help. I am not sure where the nutrients are coming from. I think he feeds flake food, not sure what brand or diet though. He makes his own RO/DI. However, I do not think it is deionized since his filtration system is only 3 stages. Not sure if the make or model. He is pretty strict on TDS, from what is sounds like. Thanks again.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Pull most of it out and save a small amount of healthy chaeto. Ru. The lightingbin reverse tomthe display light.

 

[Forsaken77]

The nutrients may be coming from the dead chaeto releasing everything it had absorbed back into the water column, or just the dead chaeto itself.

Tell your friend that part of the photosynthetic process requires a period of darkness. That's why people usually put the chaeto light on a timer to go on when the main tanks lights go off.

 

[boxed_reef]

You said the refugium light has been on for 8 straight months? Are you meaning 24/7? Cut photo period to like 6 hours on a reverse schedule to the display. I had issues with my cheato dying off until I cut back on light. Dying cheato just releases nutrients back into the water