Question about Cheato...need help

uscstaylor · Oct 18, 2014

Do I need to keep some type of Cheato in my refugeium. I have some in there but it seems to be breaking down. I had stuff in there before for almost a year and it did the same thing. I'll post pics of it later. Thanks in advance for any help.

DFW · Oct 18, 2014

It needs light, and water movement, and a little nutrient in the water.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 18, 2014

Are you otherwise exporting nutrients somehow?

Reefing Madness · Oct 18, 2014

I had a powerhead in my sump to keep the flow high for it, and you need only a 6500k compact flourescent on it.

uscstaylor · Oct 18, 2014

Yeah I do have light but my water movement could be better. Like I said I'll post a few pics later, so you guys can give me some pointers. Should I leave the lid off so it gets more light?

uscstaylor · Oct 18, 2014

Hey Guys,
heres a few pics of my sump. Please let me know what you think, should I leave my lid off? and do you think my cheato looks OK?

Sorry the pics aren't the greatest but I tried. Should I try to scrap the red alga off the back glass and clean up the sump or should I leave it alone....again any feedback is appreciated.

Reefing Madness · Oct 19, 2014

More flow, no lid. Its should tumble, or at least you should see some movement out of it.

tigerdragon · Oct 19, 2014

I have very little flow on my chaeto and it grows like mad but i am running a ats too along with red/blue leds

masterkaw · Oct 19, 2014

I use red and blue leds also with good flow thru it and it grows crazy. Mine doesnt tumble. It might not be enough flow thru yours. Try installing a small pump to kind of recirculate to see if it makes a difference. I use leds now but I used to run a cfl bulb with good results as well.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 19, 2014

The reason I asked about other nutrient export methods is if you have lowered nutrients too far with something like GFO or organic carbon dosing, or even another type of macroalgae, is that the chaetomorpha may not grow well for that reason.

ReeferEric · Oct 19, 2014

Randy is correct, if you have other forms of nutrient removal such as bio pallets then it can starve your macroalgae. I would also go with a 5500K rating bowl that you can pick up at Home Depot. Add a small powerhead in that sump and you should be good to go, although I don't think you need to. The spiral lightbulbs should be more than enough, I've got the 9w version which is equivalent to 100w. As with advice from anyone it's also a hit or miss but I've seen others who have taken my recommendation and their Cheato has taken off.

Diesel · Oct 19, 2014

Like Randy said, Chaeto is a macro algae and it will act the same as any other algae.
With low nutrients the Chaeto isn't going to do well for you, even with a good light source or flow for that matter.
Check your PO4 in your water and let us know.
If you run Bio-pellets or GFO or doing a LNS like ZEO you will have always a problem with chaeto.

uscstaylor · Oct 19, 2014

Yes I do run bio pellets and Phosban in reactors. I did take out half the cheato and left tennis ball size in there it's tumbling around and I left the lid off as well. In the next week or so I'll watch it and report back to you guys, thanks so much for all the feedback guys, it means a lot.