Is my chaeto dying?

[sanzz18]

Got this chaeto from @AlgaeBarn on December 1st. Might be hard to see in the pic, but I am not sure if it is dying or not. Might be detritus attached to it but not sure. I am using the Neptune GRO light as you can see in the picture, so it shouldn't be too much light. I am running it for 8 hours a day. What do you think?

 

[Benpastw]

I’d recommend draining some saltwater in a bucket and shaking it out really well in that then putting it back in your tank, it does look like detritus on the chaeto but hard to tell from the pic

 

[AlgaeBarn]

@Benpastw mentioned a great way to clean it and it does look like just detritus build up. Do you have a picture with just white lights or maybe if you turn the gro light off and use the flash on your phone?

 

[sanzz18]

I’d recommend draining some saltwater in a bucket and shaking it out really well in that then putting it back in your tank, it does look like detritus on the chaeto but hard to tell from the pic

Thanks. I will definitely do this.

@Benpastw mentioned a great way to clean it and it does look like just detritus build up. Do you have a picture with just white lights or maybe if you turn the gro light off and use the flash on your phone?

Yeah, I just took a pic of the chaeto without gro light on. I will also post my nutrient levels when I get home tonight.

 

[sanzz18]

Is the chaeto growing strands upwards and almost reaching for the light a good thing?

 

[sanzz18]

Nitrates are a bit higher then 25 in the Nyos test and phosphate is 0.5 on the Hannah Checker.

 

[jaxcarnage]

The build up looks exactly as mine, detritus build up, as @sanzz18 mentioned clean it up. Give it 1 QTR and it should more than double in size. (take a picture before and after)

Correct me if I'm wrong but Chaeto grows out from what I can see in my fuge.