Triton core 7 with chaeto dying

[CMO]

I had great chaeto growth when I first introduced it to my new tank but after about 3 weeks it all died. I've replaced it once already but it died again quickly. My question is, while I sort out the chaeto issue, can I still continue to dosing core 7 normally or should this only be dosed with algae present?

Thanks

 

[LittleMaui]

Sounds like there's no nutrients for the cheato to feed on. Or, your lighting on the cheato is too low.

 

[CMO]

I'm actually still working to get nitrates down from my cycle so they're running about 15-20ppm at present. Running an Arid reactor and dosing the pax iron supplement as well. My phosphate is zero so my next thought was to dose phosphate with neophos to get maybe .01-.02 ppm in the system until my bioload gets large enough to keep it up without dosing.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I'm actually still working to get nitrates down from my cycle so they're running about 15-20ppm at present. Running an Arid reactor and dosing the pax iron supplement as well. My phosphate is zero so my next thought was to dose phosphate with neophos to get maybe .01-.02 ppm in the system until my bioload gets large enough to keep it up without dosing.

How much food do feed your tank daily ?

 

[landlubber]

same problem here.
my chaeto went from a 6" ball to filling my entire 15"x15"x15" refugium in a matter of a few weeks. I harvested 3/4 of it out and from that point forward what remained got limp, dark and slimy feeling and for the next week I was pulling dying chunks of it off the combed weir in my sump and out of my return pump.
a month and 2 water changes, later it has stopped receding but it sure isn't growing so the next step is to pick up an iron test.

 

[CMO]

How much food do feed your tank daily ?

About 1 cube of mysis soaked in selcon and a few pellets and flakes / day. Spread over 2 feeding per day. I also feed nori a few days a week and reef chili once a week. Thanks

 

[CMO]

same problem here.
my chaeto went from a 6" ball to filling my entire 15"x15"x15" refugium in a matter of a few weeks. I harvested 3/4 of it out and from that point forward what remained got limp, dark and slimy feeling and for the next week I was pulling dying chunks of it off the combed weir in my sump and out of my return pump.
a month and 2 water changes, later it has stopped receding but it sure isn't growing so the next step is to pick up an iron test.

Same. My was growing so fast I harvested about 3/4 from which point it melted completely.

 

[Whipples]

What light are you using, how far off the water is it, and how long is your photoperiod?

 

[Tim2@Triton Verified Sponsor]

@Chadmowens you're using Core7 Reef Supplements or Core7 Base Elements? have you run an ICP test recently?

 

[CMO]

What light are you using, how far off the water is it, and how long is your photoperiod?

I'm running a Pax Bellum Arid algae reactor. With this last batch of Chaeto I started at 6 hours with the anticipation of raising it 1 hour per week to about 14 hours max. With the first batch that grew initially well I was running at about 10 hours but started to rethink things once it died. Most guidance on chaeto that I've read says to slowly increase the lighting up to 12-16 hours but to start around 6.

@Chadmowens you're using Core7 Reef Supplements or Core7 Base Elements? have you run an ICP test recently?

I'm using core 7 base elements for full triton. But my system is only needing 6 ml per day right now to maintain 8 dkh. Any chance my zero phosphates could be killing the chaeto?

My initial batch of chaeto which I put in near then end of my cycle (no fish at the time) grew like crazy (photo in build thread of 1 weeks growth from a small handful).

I currently have 5 small / medium fish and a handful of soft corals in the tank (all doing well)

Thank you all

 

[Whipples]

I'm running a Pax Bellum algea reactor. With this last batch of Chaeto I started at 6 hours with the anticipation of raising it 1 hour per week to about 14 hours max.

Hmm. I would lower the photoperiod first and see if you have any improvements. Are you running any GFO or carbon? You may have bottomed out a nutrient somewhere and are paying the price.

 

[CMO]

Hmm. I would lower the photoperiod first and see if you have any improvements. Are you running any GFO or carbon? You may have bottomed out a nutrient somewhere and are paying the price.

Yeah something got completely used up that the algae needs other than nitrate. No GFO but I am running carbon. Initially i was dosing Nopox daily until i realized this could be hurting my chaeto and have since stopped dosing that (last dose was about 3 weeks ago).

 

[Tim2@Triton Verified Sponsor]

I looked over your build thread, great work. The volume of a Pax Bellum N24 is somewhere around 1.3 gallons so I would strongly suggest you use C7 Reef Supplements. Zero phosphates will kill off cheato as they have too much light in proportion to the amount of light received. When nutrients are very very low, reduce the photoperiod.

 

[CMO]

Thanks Tim. I've done a little reading on the two supplements but not sure i fully understand the reason why I would want the supplements vs base elements. Is it simply due to the size of my algae reactor not being large enough even though Pax claims this reactor should be able to support enough algae for a tank of my size? Do the Core 7 supplements still provide for no water changes or is it expected that I'd do water changes with the core 7 supplements? Give that I already purchased a ton of core 7 base elements, how detrimental might it be to use these before switching?

 

[Whipples]

The reef supplements include extra stuff to basically turbocharge a refugium, which can get out of hand if you don't have enough volume of macroalgae to help consume those boosters and are meant to help sustain the macroalgae when nutrients get low. The Pax by design may be more efficient than a standard refugium, but there is a reason they (triton) recommend a certain volume of refugium. Now, that isn't to say you can't prove that the Pax will work nicely in the Triton method via experimentation

 

[CMO]

The reef supplements include extra stuff to basically turbocharge a refugium, which can get out of hand if you don't have enough volume of macroalgae to help consume those boosters and are meant to help sustain the macroalgae when nutrients get low. The Pax by design may be more efficient than a standard refugium, but there is a reason they (triton) recommend a certain volume of refugium. Now, that isn't to say you can't prove that the Pax will work nicely in the Triton method via experimentation

Gotcha. That's really what I was getting at in my original post - potentially dosing more than is being used right now (or maybe permanently given my setup). However, I do have a decent size chamber in my sump completely open and could add more macro algea there if the pax is ever insufficient once the tank is established. I guess I'll be the Guinea pig on this .

More chaeto is on its way. I'm hopeful that complete Phosphate depletion is my current issue.