Refugium: Chaeto not growing [see video]

[Anemone0524]

Hi all - Need a little help here. I've had my fuge up and running for 6 months, and i've had absolutely zero growth with Chaeto. I've never had to prune it, and in fact, I think it's shrinking a bit. My NO3 has never been zero, and is usually in the 10-20 range. Basically the chaeto is not doing it's job. There's also cyano growing in my fuge, which I constantly have to do manual removal for. Something's not right.

Here's the visual of the fuge:

[IMG]
Original Video - More videos at *******[/IMG]

Here's the stats:

Temp 79-80
SG 1.025
CA 450
ALK 8.5
MG 1650
NO3 10-20
NO2 0
NH3 0

The bulb i'm using is a 75w, 6500 Kelvin daylight bulb. I have it on for 12 hours, reverse photoperiod. I feed once a day medium to heavy, and have a medium to heavy bioload.

Please help with anything you see or think might be wrong, i.e., bulb distance, photoperiod, plumbing, etc.

Thank you!

[TS14]

You could try and make it so it would tumble in there? Also maybe try and get your NO3 down.

[Sisterlimonpot]

What’s your phosphates at? tumbling may help.

[Anemone0524]

phosphates are undetectable, although i use a hobby test kit so there's really no telling. 0 tds water going in, i run Carbon and GFO in a reactor.

TS-14 - Reducing the nitrates is the goal, but i'm trying to have the Chaeto do that for me, rather than reducing the Nitrates another way to grow the Chaeto....

This is more of a 'am i missing something' thread....

[Sisterlimonpot]

It may be the chaeto that you have. I got some from an LFS and it shrunk to nothing in about 3 months. Then I got some from a fellow reefer and it took off. I couldn't tell you why the other stuff didn't grow because I did nothing different when I got the new chaeto.

[jbird69]

Why is your magnesium so high? Are you running GFO?

[widmer]

Now might not be the most tactful time, but don't those plastic bins eventually split at the corners and fail?

[noahm]

I am a fan of a longer photoperiod. Try 14 or 16, or even 24/7. That being said, it may be a weak strain of chaeto. I had one type that totally fizzled, but the next glob I got grows quite well.

[Tang Salad]

How often do you do water changes?

You might need to supplement iron.

[ChadTheSpike]

I have a couple things to add to the good advice here...

1) How old is your tank? I went through a couple of batches of it before it really started growing like crazy. It needs stable water quality to grow well. Also, I was never able to get 'finer' species to grow for me.

2) Like others said, tumbling may help, but a med-high flow will accomplish the same thing. Although it looks from your video that you probably have enough.

3) Its hard to tell from your video, but it looks like your ball might be tightly packed... I 'pull' mine apart a couple of times a week to keep it from getting too tightly packed, the stuff that doesnt get pulled apart tends to die from the inside out.

4) You are local, if you need more PM me.

[Anemone0524]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

It may be the chaeto that you have. I got some from an LFS and it shrunk to nothing in about 3 months. Then I got some from a fellow reefer and it took off. I couldn't tell you why the other stuff didn't grow because I did nothing different when I got the new chaeto.

Interesting - I may have to check around for other chaeto.

Originally Posted by jbird69

Why is your magnesium so high? Are you running GFO?

Was battling bryopsis, and won, but am maintaining high levels for the next few weeks to fully ensure it is gone. Yes i'm running GFO. The chaeto was underperforming both before and after mag dosing.

Originally Posted by widmer

Now might not be the most tactful time, but don't those plastic bins eventually split at the corners and fail?

God i hope not. I had plans to replace it with a nice acrylic fuge...now you've made me paranoid about this again.

Originally Posted by noahm

I am a fan of a longer photoperiod. Try 14 or 16, or even 24/7. That being said, it may be a weak strain of chaeto. I had one type that totally fizzled, but the next glob I got grows quite well.

I may try this, although i have cyano in the fuge which will flare up with increase photoperiod. Then again, the strain of chaeto may be weak.

Originally Posted by Tang Salad

How often do you do water changes?

You might need to supplement iron.

About 10% every two weeks. Never considered iron before, but will consider this as last resort.

[Anemone0524]

Originally Posted by ChadTheSpike

I have a couple things to add to the good advice here...

1) How old is your tank? I went through a couple of batches of it before it really started growing like crazy. It needs stable water quality to grow well. Also, I was never able to get 'finer' species to grow for me.

2) Like others said, tumbling may help, but a med-high flow will accomplish the same thing. Although it looks from your video that you probably have enough.

3) Its hard to tell from your video, but it looks like your ball might be tightly packed... I 'pull' mine apart a couple of times a week to keep it from getting too tightly packed, the stuff that doesnt get pulled apart tends to die from the inside out.

4) You are local, if you need more PM me.

1 tank is 6 months old. what do you mean by 'finer' strains? Literally you looked for thicker chaeto?
2 Tumbling would be a miracle for my setup. I'd settle for some flow, which i think i accomplished with the K3 in there.
3 it is slightly packed - i may try to pull it apart. But again, it is breaking apart in other areas, like little 3 inch segments pulling out, almost like it's weak and dying. sigh.
4 will do.

[jbird69]

GFO binds PO4. Chaeto thrives on PO4. The combo of the two can be counterproductive. Add high Mg thrown into the equation..... My chaeto takes a dive when I raise Mg for bryopsis. In my tank, all algaes suffer when I raise the Mg. Including macro.

[PaxRoma]

things macroalgae need to survive and thrive:
-Water flow
-Nitrate+ phosphate (usually not a problem in aquarium)
-Iron&Manganese
-Iodide
- CO2 (you may want to consider closing the top of your fuge with a clear lid or you can divert your effluent Ca reactor to the fuge).

[ChadTheSpike]

Originally Posted by Anemone0524

1 tank is 6 months old. what do you mean by 'finer' strains? Literally you looked for thicker chaeto?
2 Tumbling would be a miracle for my setup. I'd settle for some flow, which i think i accomplished with the K3 in there.
3 it is slightly packed - i may try to pull it apart. But again, it is breaking apart in other areas, like little 3 inch segments pulling out, almost like it's weak and dying. sigh.
4 will do.

Chaetomorpha is a genus, there are several species, some with 'finer' and some with 'thicker' strands. I did not seek out the thicker varieties, but that is what I ended up with as growing in my fuge. That being said, I had some trouble getting it to take off when I first started my tank, it would not grow well for me right away and I was buying what I could find locally. Its probable that my tank wasnt stable enough for chaeto at all, and when it was good enough for it to grow, the thicker is just what I had when it started growing for me. In the end I prefer the thicker variety anyway because it is easier to pick up small pieces of it that have found their way to other portions of my system.