What went wrong???

[Hilltopreef90]

I made a basket to keep in my sump to hold chaeto, over the past few weeks it’s broken apart and a lot got into the return pump area.
I’m trying to figure out if I had too much flow and that’s why it started breaking apart and basically is 1/4 the size it was.
I’ve seen others use the same type basket as a refugium so I know it can work.
any advice or suggestions on how to keep it healthy or why it broke apart?

 

[kamehameha]

I made a basket to keep in my sump to hold chaeto, over the past few weeks it’s broken apart and a lot got into the return pump area.
I’m trying to figure out if I had too much flow and that’s why it started breaking apart and basically is 1/4 the size it was.
I’ve seen others use the same type basket as a refugium so I know it can work.
any advice or suggestions on how to keep it healthy or why it broke apart?

What materials did you use to make the basket?

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Plastic and plastic ties basic egg crate pieces

 

[AlgaeBarn]

What are you water parameters and how close was the basket to your light?

 

[Hilltopreef90]

Nitrate 40.6 and phosphates0.24 alkalinity 7.7 salinity normal light is where the recommended distance is advised.

 

[afrokobe]

Your nitrates and phosphates look high enough to grow chaeto, but sometimes they need additional iron. have you tried chaetogro? If the chaeto is dense and growing, I can't imagine you are putting too much flow to cause it to completely break apart.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I recently ordered some so hopefully it’ll help

 

[afrokobe]

Then again, if you dont have any luck with chaeto, I would suggest trying a different macro. Chaeto from my experience reading on the forums seems pretty finnicky. People either grow it like crazy or can't grow it all.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I recently ordered some so hopefully it’ll help

I’ll still probably need to order more since it’s 1/4 of what it was. Should I just keep Chaeto or can I combine algae’s and which would be good to grow

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I’ll still probably need to order more since it’s 1/4 of what it was. Should I just keep Chaeto or can I combine algae’s and which would be good to grow

How far away are most lights from the chaeto?
heres pictures and video of the chaeto that’s left to show the chaeto and how much flow it’s getting light is 7-8 inches above the chaeto

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I’ll still probably need to order more since it’s 1/4 of what it was. Should I just keep Chaeto or can I combine algae’s and which would be good to grow

I wouldn't recommend mixing unless you have a way to separate them in your refugium at other macros like sea lettuce can over take the chaeto and block it from getting light and eventually kill it.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I wouldn't recommend mixing unless you have a way to separate them in your refugium at other macros like sea lettuce can over take the chaeto and block it from getting light and eventually kill it.

I decided not to use it, I’ll wait and get more from algae barn

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I decided not to use it, I’ll wait and get more from algae barn

We should have more this Friday when we do our website update around 2-3 pm MST