Over Cheato... other options, help?

[Greg Depo]

I'm getting ready to upgrade to a much larger tank soon and I'm replacing the sump with a trident platinum. I'm considering other options for nutrient export. I've tried everything to get chaeto to grow but all I've ever got to is keeping it alive but never growing much. My nitrates hover around 10 and po4 sits around .05-.1. I have no idea about adding iron but I'm reluctant to add more chemicals in search for the magic potion to get this stuff to grow!

So I'm re-considering if I want to go down the same road on the new sump. What other options would you guys recommend than free floating cheato? Can I use a reactor to simulate the same process? Thanks for any info!

 

[Crabs McJones]

You could try a couple different algaes. That worked well for me. I did chaeto, ulva, and red ogo. Having different algaes that uptake nutriends at different rates kept my fuge going. Otherwise an algae scrubber isn't a bad idea.

 

[hart24601]

I will say that if chaeto is missing an element for growth, and I know that frustration, it’s very possible other Macroalgae and possibly even scrubbers will not grow well either. Of course they might, but in general most algae needs similar elements for growth and if one is already low enough to limit chaeto, just heads up it might limit others if not immediately then over time.

 

[Greg Depo]

I will say that if chaeto is missing an element for growth, and I know that frustration, it’s very possible other Macroalgae and possibly even scrubbers will not grow well either. Of course they might, but in general most algae needs similar elements for growth and if one is already low enough to limit chaeto, just heads up it might limit others if not immediately then over time.

Are there other “non macros” that synthetically do the same? The other option is I can add iron. Also i do have the skimmer in front of fuge... wonder if that is pulling nutrients.

 

[hart24601]

Carbon dosing can be an option if macro is nutrient limited. I carbon dose at low levels just for the food chain boost and not for nutrient reduction though.