HELP WITH CHEATO.

[loweryphil]

I'm in need of advice regarding growing cheato, it just seems to turn white and die back. I bought a brand new ball of it at the weekend and already bits are turning white. I have changed my light to a 3 bulb plant grow light, and my nitrates sit at about 2.5. I was thinking maybe my display lights were too powefull so I have lowered the intensity to 75%. I am also dosing iron to try and help it along. Can anyone help with this? I have a power head in my refugeum section to help with flow.

I added today some codium intricatum algae also which appears more firm than cheato.

Thanks for your help.

 

[loweryphil]

Picture

 

[schuby]

I started running chaeto last year in a new tank. It died after a few months because I was unaware that it consumes iron.

My belief is that chaeto requires phosphate, nitrate, and iron. Your nitrate is already very low. I suspect that your chaeto is starving to death, from a lack of one of the three required food sources.

I keep my phosphate around 0.10 ppm and my nitrate around 15-20 ppm. I dose 1-2mL of an iron supplement every 1-2 weeks when my PH drops too much at night (my PH usually drops about .1 then levels out until my DT lights come back on). My refugium lights are currently on the entire time the DT lights are off. I adjust the amount of chaeto if it consumes too much phosphate or nitrate.

 

[Super Fly]

for whatever reason some people (including myself) can't grow chaeto while I have no trouble growing Caulerpa in my sump...

 

[schuby]

FWIW, I run a Kessil H160 Tuna Flora full blast, on the Grow setting (middle of dial), with a chaeto-ball that is larger than a basketball. I don't know how this compares to your three-light setup. When my chaeto was small, I had the intensity at half.

 

[Dom]

Chaetomorpha in a refugium is there to remove nutrients. If it isn't growing, then I would think there aren't sufficient nutrients to sustain it.

So why would someone add back to the tank, nutrients your're trying to rid the tank of for the sole purpose of getting Chaeto to grow?

Aren't you defeating the purpose of the Cheat in the first place?

 

[loweryphil]

I have a bit of hair algae in the chamber as well, but algae does grow in the main display, especially on the back wall, which is why I thought my lights at 100% were too intense. Will see how the new lower intensity main display and flow in the chamber get on.

 

[schuby]

@Dom, the two of us dose iron to keep the chaeto growing. We grow the chaeto to export phosphate and nitrate. Neither of us has stated that we dose phosphate or nitrate in our systems.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Mine grows like a weed since I feed 3-5 times a day, add live phyto live rotifers 1-2/day, Red Sea corals colors, and roids every few days so it has tons of nutrients to uptake and it keeps my nitrates at 2 phosphate at 0.08 with cheap lights from amazon have two ge lights over the fuge and strip lights on the reactor I also dose trace elements

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Chaetomorpha in a refugium is there to remove nutrients. If it isn't growing, then I would think there aren't sufficient nutrients to sustain it.

So why would someone add back to the tank, nutrients your're trying to rid the tank of for the sole purpose of getting Chaeto to grow
Aren't you defeating the purpose of the Cheat in the first place?

I add nutrients to the tank so my fish corals and sponges and fat and health which my cheto then removes what has not been eaten and therefore keep the water clean

 

[Dom]

@Dom, the two of us dose iron to keep the chaeto growing. We grow the chaeto to export phosphate and nitrate. Neither of us has stated that we dose phosphate or nitrate in our systems.

Easy counselor... Just extending the conversation with a rhetorical question.

 

[loweryphil]

So, A. Feed more as not enough nutrients.
Or B. Display light out competing it/ as algae grows in the disolay
C. burnt from light being too close.
D. HAIR algae is taking up what the cheato needs.