Protein skimmer and Chaeto simultaneously?

[jgvergo]

I have both Chaeto and a Protein skimmer running on an 85 gallon DT (115 gallons total w/ sump). I am having trouble maintaining the Chaeto (It's is "melting", i.e. turning grey around the edges. I'm wondering if my skimmer is pulling out too many nutrients, starving the Chaeto. My ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are zero. My bioload is:
1 Powder Blue Tang
1 Coral Beauty
2 Clowns
2 Fire Gobies
2 Kaudern Cardinals
2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Blood Red shrimp
5 Hermit crabs
5 Mexican Turbo snails
~ 12 coral frags of varying kinds (softies, LPS and SPS)

What are people's experience with something link this? I could turn off my skimmer and see what happens to the Chaeto. Thoughts?

 

[R_C]

In my experience if you have a low nutrient system your chaeto will not do as well. The same thing happened to me, bought a pound Ziploc bag of chaeto and melted away within a couple of weeks.

 

[Joey waid]

I just took mine out now because of your question. I'm letting my tank go fallow because of velvet. I have been getting a lot of white stuff in my
tank. I was chaulking it off as dead or dying eggs and such. But looking at my chato, it turning grey. I pulled it all out and now my tank is really white. Long story short is, yes it will turn grey without nutrition.

 

[mcarroll]

It's a fast growing algae so favors high-nutrients. Something in the tank is outcompeting it for dissolved nutrients. (Or a dissolved nutrient.)

You might have better luck with a slow-grower like Codium...they will tolerate the competition and low-nutrient situation.

There's also no rule that you have to keep macro algae or a skimmer.

If you have zero nitrates with all that nutrient export going on, it seems like you are currently out of balance.

Lots of things in the tank like nitrates, BTW....so having some is nothing to worry about.

How is your tank's phosphate level?