No3 to low for chaeto?

[richard.oberholzer.923]

Does chaeto need no3 to grow as my chaeto has stopped growing and is getting brittle.
My no3 was 25 when added and was growing like a weed disposing a basketball sizes every 2-3weeks,and now sitting at 0 no3.
What's going on with my chaeto?
Cheers
Richard

 

[LostInTheDark]

Cheato is like every other living thing in your tank. It needs food to survive. Mine seems to thrive on No3 and takes it down to zero but I have a good amount of fish so it gets fed constantly. It seems to grow best using Ammonia, No3 then pO4 in that order.

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

one of the main jobs of the Cheato is to export NO3 out of your water, plants love nitrates and phosphates. It is possible to have your water "to clean", sps and plants wont really thrive if you dont have a little NO3 in the tank. thats why there are tons of dosing threads out there for potassium nitrate/sodium nitrate. if your cheato used to grow but isn't anymore than you should be pleased with your water quality. If you want it to grow out a little more then you can increase feeding for a time or you can dose nitrates and remove your mechanical filters like socks.

just out of curiosity have you changed any of your lighting or have you altered your tanks mechanics in anyway?

 

[richard.oberholzer.923]

Nothing at all changed at that time just some algae from the scrubber that was getting into some parts.

Il give feeding more a shot i love watching my reef eat.

Cheers

 

[Squirrel_reefer]

just some algae from the scrubber

There you go, the algae scrubber is out competing the cheato

 

[KoiTang]

mine is pretty much the same. Nitrate 0, pHosphate .03. Chaeto is not growing. In fact I started getting red slime. Not sure if it's due to the algae dying or if its something else. It use to thrive like yours.

 

[Mel 2038]

There you go, the algae scrubber is out competing the cheato

I have to agree here. Well said.

 

[xabo]

Anyone know what causes cheato to break apart?

 

[drtrash]

Have same issue pile of chaeto shards

 

[Lasse]

Macro algae often needs more nitrogen compared with other algae. Ratios around 75 to 1 (N to P quota) is reported for some macros. If you want to grow macro algae - do not get too low in nitrogen

Sincerely Lasse