Cheato messing with Nutrients

[IE Reefer]

Hey everyone,
Just recently, I've noticed that every day I come home from school that my glass walls are covered in algae, and I have to spend 1-3 mins scraping down the wall; it's not that big of a deal, and I don't mind doing it, but what I am concerned about is what's causing it to happen. After some thought, I came down to the conclusion that my cheato has been eating away at my nitrates and phosphates, which have been increasing the film algae growth and cyanobacteria son the sand bed (might be a different cause). I've been having the cheato in my sump for 11 months and haven't trimmed it at all. Do you guys think that this is the probable cause? If so, how much of the cheato should I remove to stabilize my tank?

 

[Pistondog]

Hey everyone,
Just recently, I've noticed that every day I come home from school that my glass walls are covered in algae, and I have to spend 1-3 mins scraping down the wall; it's not that big of a deal, and I don't mind doing it, but what I am concerned about is whats causing it to happen. After some thought, I came down to the conclusion that my cheato has been eating away at my nitrates and phosphates, which have been increasing algae growth and cyanobacteria (might be a different cause). I've been having the cheato in my sump for 11 months and haven't trimmed it at all. Do you guys think that this is the probable cause? If so, how much of the cheato should I remove to stabilize my tank?

We can only guess unless you measure your nutrients.
You should harvest about half from your pics.

 

[mfinn]

When I let my chaeto grow until it fills my refugium it turns into a detritus trap.

 

[IE Reefer]

We can only guess unless you measure your nutrients.
You should harvest about half from your pics.

I don't have a Phosphate checker, but about less than a month ago, my LRS checked them, and it showed as 0.1ppm. Nitrates were showing as inconclusive (final watercolor before letting Hannah check it, was clear) on my Hannah checker, so I'm assuming zero.

 

[IE Reefer]

When I let my chaeto grow until it fills my refugium it turns into a detritus trap.

Yeah, there is a full-blown detritus sand-bed in my refuge, lol

 

[Pistondog]

Sometimes the algae, macro and nuisance use the nutrients before they are measured. Try reducing your dt light period. Is the tank getting any sunlight? That can cause aigae.

 

[IE Reefer]

Sometimes the algae, macro and nuisance use the nutrients before they are measured. Try reducing your dt light period. Is the tank getting any sunlight? That can cause aigae.

I'll try that. There is only a small portion that gets natural sunlight, and it doesn't grow a lot of algae because of it.

 

[Pistondog]

I'll try that. There is only a small portion that gets natural sunlight, and it doesn't grow a lot of algae because of it.

This time of year, I get sun on one tank in the morning. Cardboard covers it until 11am.