Does anyone else feel bad about splitting chaeto?

[Kris 2020]

So every 3-6 weeks I have to harvest a crap ton of chaeto so more can grow. I shake it out well and pull out any bristleworms and pods I can see, but I know I’m likely throwing away some of my good microfauna. I feel bad, like those guys are valuable to me. As I’m picking through it pods will be crawling up my hands to safety. Does anyone else feel bad about this? And i don’t want to sell it really because people want “clean” chaeto and everyones definition of clean could be different. I love mini brittle stars and bristle worms and pods and sometimes there are other algaes in their too, but others don’t consider that “clean”.

 

[Peace River]

If you swish it vigorously in a bucket of water then will the pods and other critters come off and be able to be added back to the tank/refugium/chaeto?

 

[Greybeard]

I spread the freshly harvested macro algae on a bit of eggcrate over my sump. Let it sit overnight. Most of the living critters will bail out and end up back in the sump.

 

[Kris 2020]

I spread the freshly harvested macro algae on a bit of eggcrate over my sump. Let it sit overnight. Most of the living critters will bail out and end up back in the sump.

Thank you, this is a great tip!

 

[ectoaesthetics]

I have a nano so my chaeto split is nano sized... but I always pick through the stuff Abe put amphipods, stars, and these really cool segmented worms back in the tank... (side note on the worms they are similar to bristle worms but are super tiny and free swimming at night never seen anything like them in all my hears of reefing!)... just because I feel bad. I know I dump hundreds of tiny pods and would rescue them if I could...

Personal note I think clean chaeto is fad. I think what people want is pest free chaeto. I don’t get wanting sterile chaeto. It would be just as easy to produce pest free pod filled chaeto as it is clean chaeto. I would rather buy chaeto off of a reefer like you and put it in a spare 5 gallon with a heater for two weeks to inspect it than buy sterile chaeto.

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

I try to pick out as many as possible Also. Except bristle worms. I have enough of those.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

YES!!

 

[Kris 2020]

I try to pick out as many as possible Also. Except bristle worms. I have enough of those.

I have a ton of babies lately. Why can't the micro brittle stars reproduce this fast? In my 2nd tank I had sooo many but now I rarely see them.