Chaeto vs Green Hair Algae (GHA)

[JR55]

I have a Red Sea 250 reefer with an oversized sump and I'm trying to grow chaeto in the refugium. I'm running a pair of Kessil A160WE Tuna Blues in the DT and a Kessil H160 in the sump. I am running a drop 1.2 algae scrubber in the sump and I harvest a fair amount of GHA from it every day. My chaeto is not growing very much at all but GHA is growing on almost everything in the sump. The sump light is on 20 hours a day and the DT lights are on sunrise to sunset. Does GHA consume the same nutrients as chaeto?

 

[jpas]

It sure does, however chaeto also needs good iron and iodine levels to grow rapidly.

You should pick between the gha & chaeto

 

[JR55]

It sure does, however chaeto also needs good iron and iodine levels to grow rapidly.

You should pick between the gha & chaeto

I'd like to do go with the chaeto. What iron and iodine levels are good for the chaeto?

 

[Khoi Mai]

So we need supplements for chaeto?

 

[David Gaskins]

Following.

Sincerely,

David

 

[JDtimk]

I'd like to do go with the chaeto. What iron and iodine levels are good for the chaeto?

GHA will also benefit from iron supplements. Not sure about iodine. If you want chaeto to grow and GHA not to grow, take your drop scrubber offline and put a chaeto reactor online. Any additional light overspill in your sump will contribute to rogue GHA, so try to limit light in the sump to growing your chaeto in a reactor.
I add iron once every week or two weeks depending on how the algae in my reactor is looking. I have about 200 gals total water volume and i dose about 50mls of iron solution at a time using the red sea iron supplement. It helps the GHA in my reactor to get deep green and thick really quick. Maybe doubles the growth and speed of growth.
Depending on your set up you may also be able to throw some CUC into the sump to clean up the GHA.