chaeto problem

[becon776]

ok... so help me out guys. i purchased clean chaeto. this is a new build. cycle totally complete since a bit before christmas. i am trying to go triton.

i have a kessil h380 running over a sump specifically designed for triton.

the chaeto just doesnt seem to be growing however i remove clumps of randon nuisance algae. (any help with id? its been a LONG time since i had a new build with nuisance algae). i am waiting for the chaeto to kick in before i ramp up the dt lighing enough for corals.

oh running reverse photoperiod.

Keep in mind the h380 is insanely purple.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Are you running the high return rate of triton ?

There honestly may not be enough food in the system for the chato.

 

[becon776]

hmmm maybe not, i think that flow is acceptable.
nuisance filamentous algae is growing though. as in op i am keeping dt lights to a minimum but would like to get fuge up and running before adding corals and bringing lights up to acclimation levels

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

hmmm maybe not, i think that flow is acceptable.
nuisance filamentous algae is growing though. as in op i am keeping dt lights to a minimum but would like to get fuge up and running before adding corals and bringing lights up to acclimation levels

Gha needs less food.

 

[lapin]

I would try some snails as a solution. If you help them, they might help keep it at bay until the chaeto takes hold. Or like said above (not enough nutrients for chaeto)

 

[becon776]

help them? lol

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

help them? lol

They don’t usually eat long strands. If you toothbrush it they will keep it mowed.

 

[rkpetersen]

Do you have fish in the DT to provide nutrients, and are your nitrate and phosphate levels detectable? If so and your chaeto still won't grow, try adding an iron supplement.

 

[becon776]

yup all fish are in. its nuts cant understand why. i will check po4 with the hanna. feed a cube of mysis and some pellets each day. thinking i might run some carbon jist in case something weird in the water. but other than that i dont know

 

[Thelazyreefer]

I have the same issue except my chaeto has been in for a year and no growth but it is still alive. My phosphates are low but still existent.

 

[becon776]

im gonna try a wc, clean out sump fuge section run carbon.

i am toying with the idea of doing caulerpa. my past fuges were FULL of caulerpa.

 

[lapin]

I cant grow chaeto. Dont know why but it just sits there. Rather than trying to out wait the stuff and die first, I use ulva in my fuge. Just tossed a heads worth into the mulch bin today.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

im gonna try a wc, clean out sump fuge section run carbon.

i am toying with the idea of doing caulerpa. my past fuges were FULL of caulerpa.

How many fish do you have? What are your nitrates and phosphate levels? What brand of salt are you using?


If the chaeto doesnt work for you, I would really recommend sea lettuce/ulva. It never really gets the nuisance algae growing on it (there is some very cool chemistry here), grows like crazy, pods eat it, tangs eat it. When people have issues with chaeto, we point them straight to sea lettuce. In our 136 gallon, we put a handful in the refugium, we just harvested about a half bucket (we don't sell this product as the 136 gallon has fish in it)

https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/macroalgae/clean-sea-lettuce/

 

[becon776]

ok did some testing. nitrates ~2 po4 -0
Ca 480 KH 6 raised to 8.

this tank was supposed to be all triton but decicded to add my media reactor with high quality carbon so now the fuge has a little extra flow moving around. emptied the sump got rid of most of the nuisance algae. refilled. raisef salinity from 1.024 to 1.025

other fun fact: there is a slight cloudiness in water. does not disappear with floss filtration. ?heterotrophic bacteria bloom?
i will keep posting on this thread.

fish:
medium foxface
pair ocellaris
coris wrasse
royal gramma
watchman gobie
2 cleaner shrimp
15 snails

 

[becon776]

nope. melting.

 

[lapin]

Float your ulva. It grows best on the surface.
I know you are trying to go Triton however I see a new tank with nothing growing on the rock work.
I dont think you have enough nutrients to grow macro algae right now.
Are you dosing what they call Base Elements?
Like saltyfilmfolks said low nutrients favor things like hair algae.
I have read of massive hair outbreaks with Triton.
If thats the only thing that will grow in your sump then you might have to go with it for now.
You might post something in a Triton Thread and ask how people overcame the same issue

 

[becon776]

i am thinking of it. yeah brand new tank, brand new rock. i am almost toying with the idea of doing ENORMOUS wc like almost 100%. nix the fuge for now. get rid of all hair algae, all macro. turn lights off get my GFO and carbon going and just run as a normal reef tank for 4-6 months.
but then theres a little voice in my head saying stay the course just leave it alone. let it be it will all be ok.

i am itching to get DT going and get some frags in there. right now its running blackout except for a few hours a day under 5% actinic led.

yeah PO4 and NO3 reading constant 0. i do have the tritin additive kit. i think the 4th part is trace elements.

Also toying with the idea of sending in an icp just to see what base parameters are. but that is $$ for not having any coral yet.

 

[Ronny Bello]

Feed your cheato iron trace elements and magnesium I think. Iron for sure. Cheato is alive and need stuff to live to help your aquarium.

 

[becon776]

OP hereJust for the record it's been over a year now and the situation has not changed.

 

[dkevink]

I had the same issue. First I burned mine by not reverse light cycling with lights in display. I ran lights on refugium 24/7. After I fixed that I grew a little and stopped.

I ran an Icp test and it came back low magnesium, no iodine and low potassium. I started to dose those 3 to bring levels up to normal and now I have gallons of cheato. I read somewhere cheato can be up to 10% iodine by dry weight. You can overdose iodine, you have to be careful. Low potassium can cause what looks like STN another reefer told me on a different post. I had that problem and almost gave up on SPS. Since dosing, my sps is growing again.