Chaeto turning to mush

[Steve Rudas Jr]

My experiences with the same light in my fuge. A few suggestions, but they are that, suggestions based on my personal research and experience.

I have an established system with Chaeto, Ulva and Gracelleria in my fuge with the same Kessil H380 and it grows like mad. I have a high bioload and feed heavily so it gets lots of nutrient to grow. My fuge is really copepod heavy and I feed Phytoplankton into the sump at least one a week.

I run the light from 8PM to 10AM, perhaps reduce your photo period while nutrient is not abundant.

Your tank is young, like others say I would feed the tank to get the fish pooping, that's the best good fertilizer. I don't like a lot of wasted food breakdown but I do love to see some fish poop! If you had to you could add some Nitrate and, if needed phosphate. I keep Brightwells nitrate and phosphate and dose if numbers go way down, but I have reached a balance and have not had to do that once I got my feeding right. I would only do that after extensive research if you couldn't get it going with increased feeding of the tank.

Does you skimmer remove a lot and do you use any other nutrient reduction method? Carbon dosing, NoPox etc? You could leave the skimmer off and see if that improves the growth, let the chaeto use the organic waste. My fuge is before my skimmer so it gets first pick of the yummy fish poop.

Also, someone else said the Kessil needed to be 2' away, Kessil recommends 1 - 2 feet. Thats a big difference. Mine is 12" at most. My system has 60g water volume. Its a Red Sea Reefer 250 with a custom sump. I run a full Triton method system as well.I have 11 fish of varying size and eating habits. Photo-bomber is Meep the tuxedo kitten, that is no more than 2 months growth with this light. I upgraded from the H80 Tuna Flora as I got the new sump and it is much deeper and I wasn't getting good light penetration.

Yummy fish poop lol!!!! That's awesome info thanks a lot I'm wondering if I should remove the filter socks which are 225micron from red sea, my skimmer is after the refugium everything I've been told is exactly what you said there no bioload or not enough I think I'll also wait a month or 2 on water changes. Thanks again!!

 

[Forsaken77]

Don't know if this was posted, but BRS said the H380 is overpowered for a fuge and melts the chaeto unless you run it for 4 hours a day. There is no way to turn down the intensity.

They recommended the freshwater AI Prime instead because you can turn it up or down and customize the spectrum.

 

[rcpalmer1]

I keep Brightwells nitrate and phosphate and dose if numbers go way down, but I have reached a balance and have not had to do that once I got my feeding right.

What are your phosphate level? What do you consider way down?

 

[Monkeynaut]

Don't know if this was posted, but BRS said the H380 is overpowered for a fuge and melts the chaeto unless you run it for 4 hours a day. There is no way to turn down the intensity.

They recommended the freshwater AI Prime instead because you can turn it up or down and customize the spectrum.

I have watch almost every video they have made and never heard that.
Can you post a link?

I run my H380 18 hours a day and growth is fine. I do feed heavy though.

 

[Robink]

I have the same problem. 108 gallon dt, 10 fish, tank over a year old. Chaeto looks great for a few weeks and then gets clumpy, and mushy. Nitrates between 5-15, I feed 3 X daily. This is the 3rd time I've added chaeto. Using a grow lamp that was recommended on here by another reefer.
There is other nuisance algae that grows in the sump just not the chaeto.

 

[rcpalmer1]

I have watch almost every video they have made and never heard that.
Can you post a link?

I run my H380 18 hours a day and growth is fine. I do feed heavy though.

It was in the ULM series. What was said was in a small area you may need to acclimate the cheato by turning on the light for 4 hours and adding a hour every week. He said you could use the other light but he preferred the kessil.

 

[Steve Rudas Jr]

Just food for thought my local fish guy told me to keep the chaeto in a smaller ball in case there's not enough nutrients. Once the cheato gets too large of a mass there may not be enough nutrients to feed it so I should keep it small by trimming it.

 

[Forsaken77]

I have watch almost every video they have made and never heard that.
Can you post a link?

I run my H380 18 hours a day and growth is fine. I do feed heavy though.

Watch from 2:00 to 3:10. It wasn't the AI Prime Freshwater, it was the Radion xr15 freshwater. My bad, but the Prime should produce the same effects a Radion freshwater.

 

[40B Knasty]

Here is a few things.
1)You may have a strong light as stated. Which could be the cause, but if your chaeto ball is being turned over constantly. It should not be to bad on it, because the ball is not being baked on one side only.
2)Now if you are growing one side and the other side is dark/not getting sufficient lighting. This is causing the chaeto to die off on the dark side. Just like if you had a big ball of it and it is being turned over. Well the middle of the ball is not being well lit for photosynthesis and that too will also cause it to die off.
Basically try to have the right size ball that suits your tanks needs. So it all has a chance to get photosynthesis on all sides and the middle to prevent die off from those two reasons, because your bioload is very small, and the chaeto needs to feed from your lights mainly to stay healthy, not baked on one side only, or lacking light in the middle.
Other things to think about. Give your chaeto a rest period. Yes it grows from photosynthesis, but it also grows during a rest period. Reason being. Less energy being used/burnt off from the chaeto itself during it's rest period.
Side note, I have read an article that mentiomed chaeto can turn asexual if it is lit 24/7. When it turns asexual. It can turn from an oxygen producing plant and releasing that into your tank. Which is great to raise pH. To a CO² producing plant and pumping that into the water column. You don't want to deplete O² and have CO² increased. This can drop the pH.

 

[rosshamsandwich]

too strong..try looking directly at the light and you will see how bright it is

 

[vetteguy53081]

They require a small amount of iron

 

[Dragon52]

I had the same issues with cheato not growing & bought one of these recommended on this site. Just got it Monday.

https://www.amazon.com/ACKE-Spectru...8-1-spons&keywords=acke+led+grow+lights&psc=1