What is a good Chaeto growth rate?

pompeyjohn · Mar 7, 2018

The efficacy of Chaeto is linked to its growth rate right? So, what would be a good increase in volume over the course of a month?

10% increase in size over a month
50% increase in size over a month

If Chaeto is the primary nutrient export method, at what growth rate would an alternative approach be better?

Dan I · Mar 7, 2018

It all depends on your flow, lighting, and nutrients. If you have light and flow for chaeto, it all depends on your nutrients. If you have none, your chaeto might starve out. If you have some, your chaeto will grow pretty quickly. There are videos and post of people's chaeto doubling in 2 weeks.

Tautog · Mar 7, 2018

It’s not your #1 export, just another

Fourstars · Mar 7, 2018

Mine doubles is about two weeks. But I've been running my skimmer very dry so it is the main export, except for the corals of course.

pompeyjohn · Mar 7, 2018

The question is not "what causes the growth rates to differ". It is "what would be a healthy growth rate?"

I'll put it another way:

Say you want to grow a tree in your yard. When you plant the tree you'll have an expected growth rate. Your yard may provide the perfect environment for the tree and it may meet that growth rate. However, the yard may be lacking, and the growth rate is less than expected.

The yard environment is not what I am interested in. I am interested in what is the expected growth rate of the tree.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 7, 2018

pompeyjohn said:
The efficacy of Chaeto is linked to its growth rate right? So, what would be a good increase in volume over the course of a month?

10% increase in size over a month
50% increase in size over a month

If Chaeto is the primary nutrient export method, at what growth rate would an alternative approach be better?

Percentage growth is not a very good gauge for a couple of reasons.

1. A big ball growing 10% in mass might add far more total material and reduce nutrients more than a small ball growing 50% in mass in the same time frame.

2. A 10% increase in diameter in a bigger ball is more total growth than a 50% increase in a ball with a diameter half as much.

As long as it is increasing and keeping nutrients in check, it is enough. If it is not keeping nutrients in check, then it is not enough.

pompeyjohn · Mar 7, 2018

Thanks Randy - that is good to know.

ZaneTer · Mar 7, 2018

John
I think in good conditions you can expect around 40% in a week. Just my experience.

pompeyjohn · Mar 7, 2018

Thanks Zane - much appreciated.

ZaneTer · Mar 7, 2018

You are welcome.

bigkamp · Jan 26, 2021

I’m putting it in my display I don’t run a sumo they were out of the blue macro I forget how to spell it... anyone else grow it in the display? (I have mandarins so I’m feeding the pods in the tank) while tryn to filter more as well any thoughts?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 27, 2021

This has more on the OP question:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

Nitrate is an ion that has long dogged aquarists. It is typically formed in aquaria through the digestion of foods, and in many aquaria it builds up and can be difficult to keep at natural levels. In the past, many aquarists performed water changes with nitrate reduction as one of the primary...

www.reefedition.com

For those interested in knowing how much nitrate is being exported by macroalgae, this free PDF article in the journal Marine Biology has some useful information. It gives the phosphorus and nitrogen content for nine different species of macroalgae, including many that reefkeepers typically maintain. For example, Caulerpa racemosa collected off Hawaii contains about 5.6% nitrogen and 0.08 % phosphorus by dry weight. Harvesting 10 grams (dry weight) of this macroalgae from an aquarium would be the equivalent of reducing the nitrate content by 2.5 grams, or 10 ppm in a 67-gallon aquarium. All of the other species tested gave similar results (plus or minus a factor of two). Interestingly, using the same paper’s phosphate data, this export would also be the equivalent of removing 24 mg of phosphate from the water column. That amount would reduce the phosphate concentration from 0.2 ppm to 0.1 ppm in a 67-gallon aquarium.

Bryknicks · Jan 27, 2021

Mine typically grows 50% per week. I pull chaeto out bi weekly and its typically double the size from my last trim. Randy mad a good point above in regards to the size of the chaeto you are starting with. If you seed with a small ball of chaeto, expect it to grow slower than a larger piece. Once it does get larger it will grow exponentially quicker. YMMV depending on nutrients, lack of trace elements, lighting, and flow like others mentioned.

reeftivo · Jan 27, 2021

i feed 2 cubes daily on a light to moderately stocked 60 gal display (82 total gallons w/sump). I harvest 2/3 of my reactor twice a month. Growth on basically the same system was slow when i first got the reactor, but once it bedded in my growth has been great.

bigkamp · Jan 27, 2021

reeftivo said:
i feed 2 cubes daily on a light to moderately stocked 60 gal display (82 total gallons w/sump). I harvest 2/3 of my reactor twice a month. Growth on basically the same system was slow when i first got the reactor, but once it bedded in my growth has been great.

Wonder if I could add it to my can filters in a similar way to get that kinda much density and put something that looks better in the display anyone ever try that? I think I might...

Crustaceon · Jan 27, 2021

It really depends on the starting size clump of chaeto. When I started with a baseball-sized clump, it took two weeks for it to become softball sized. Now I have a volley ball-sized clump that becomes a basket ball-sized clump every two weeks. I don’t run a skimmer and keep nitrates and phosphates pretty low, but I feed my corals like crazy and dose ChaetoGro weekly.

Fourstars · Jan 29, 2021

I use dragons breath for export, grows a bit slower but once you have enough of it works great at export, plus it has more value to people. You can see in the back corner of my frag tank I have a small refugium that gets all the flow from my return pump and tumbles the dragon breath. Grows much faster this way. Plus it’s a simple solution.