Chaeto turning white on the outside

[jeffberens]

My tank is only a few months old and my chaeto was doing fine and tumbling and growing with a small daylight led light. I then switched to a Kessil H380 grow light and this thing is growing like crazy, but I have noticed it is turning white or translucent on some of the outside of the ball.

Could this be getting scorched by too much light? I have the Kessil in bloom mode which is full output. I can't raise the light because it is under my stand, but I can run it in grow mode which is less intense.

Or could this be something else?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

probably bleaching yes.

 

[CoralNerd]

I had the same problem with the light it burned the chaeto in the middle white. I moved it to 10" no problem but it really gets warm causing a lot of evaporation. I just moved it to 12" last night and I think it's not heating the water up like it was. It does grow it like crazy though.

 

[jeffberens]

probably bleaching yes.

will this always be too much light or do you think I can gradually work up to full output? I could start with a short photoperiod and gradually raise it or I could run it in the lower output setting for a while and then cut back on photoperiod and switch to the higher output mode and then gradually adjust up again.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

or do you think I can gradually work up to full output?

why would you really ? more is not always better.

it really gets warm causing a lot of evaporation

and makes the led wear out faster and uses more power.

So....Id settle for the finding the sweet spot.

 

[CoralNerd]

will this always be too much light or do you think I can gradually work up to full output? I could start with a short photoperiod and gradually raise it or I could run it in the lower output setting for a while and then cut back on photoperiod and switch to the higher output mode and then gradually adjust up again.

If you can't get the light higher, I would sell the light off and go with this instead as it can be closer to the water.

 

[lion king]

Less is better, I had the same thing happen; chaeto dying and gracillaria growing out of control. Changed my light from a kessil to a simple 18w par 38, chaeto doing awesome and gracillaria still doing good just slowed growth. On a funny note, I was throwing harvested chaeto into an empty qt tank with no light just ambient room light. i was saving it for an algae reactor I was setting up. When I took down the qt 2 months later, chaeto was still healthy thick and green; i was putting a few drops of ammonia in the tank to keep it cycled.

 

[jeffberens]

why would you really ? more is not always better.


and makes the led wear out faster and uses more power.

So....Id settle for the finding the sweet spot.

Makes sense. I just wasn't sure if the sweet spot is the lower setting or if the chaeto will adjust to the lighting. The fast growth is at the higher setting and I would like to export as efficiently as possible because I tend to overfeed.

 

[peterj66]

When my chaeto started losing color I fixed it by dosing iron. Ive heard iodine deficiency can also be a cause of bleached chaeto.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

When my chaeto started losing color I fixed it by dosing iron. Ive heard iodine deficiency can also be a cause of bleached chaeto.

one difficulty with many lights is knowing the PAR available. a kessil 350 at 12in will give you around 550 par.
I do wish kessil would publish even a guess.

 

[CoralNerd]

one difficulty with many lights is knowing the PAR available. a kessil 350 at 12in will give you around 550 par.
I do wish kessil would publish even a guess.

I know the owners manual indicated the light should be 12" to 24" above the water.

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Turn the light down to the grow setting that's the recommended setting for a refuge or cheato and that will help with heat a lot. Bloom is for growing plants.