Get rid of Cheato or Not

camaroguy · 01/16/2015, 04:56 PM

I have been trying to reduce the Nitrates in my 125 gallon reef system for a few months now. I have tried a few different things and have yet to see much of a difference.

1. I did a series of large water changes -> did not see a dent in the nitrates
2. Tweaked the skimmer to the wetter side -> no dent in nitrates
3. Started dosing NOPOX -> this has shown some very slight effect so far, been doing it for 2 weeks only.

No matter how large or small my Cheatomorpha ball is, the nitrates do not seem to change. I have also read that the oxygen/ph benefit for the reverse light cycle in reality is not really that measurable due to the size of the refugium vs the size of the display. My PH fluctuates quite a bit as is day to night, and having a 6ft overflow and high turnover through the sump + protein skimmer pretty much keeps the oxygenation up.

This leaves me with the only purpose really being served here, is that there is some pod production. Is I have no fish that pray on these things exclusively, I am not sure if its worth it. I was thinking I would just remove the Cheato and cleanup the sump.

Thoughts on this? Am I missing something?

Dan_P · 01/16/2015, 06:00 PM

What is the nitrate level and how did you measure it?

camaroguy · 01/16/2015, 07:08 PM

The level is between somewhere between 32 and 40 according to the Red Sea test kit.

It was done "high range" meaning diluted with RO/DI water. I tested freshly made salt water from the same RO/DI water and got 0 on the low range test.

I also took it to a LFS who said it was off the chart on their test which means over 25.

In short, I believe the test to be accurate at this point. I have a feeling that the problem is my Tang and its eating habits. But if I do not feed him enough he will start eating coral. I think the NOPOX will eventually help this situation.

Reef Frog · 01/16/2015, 07:30 PM

I don't run a refugium like many others who have successful reefs. I can control nutrients just fine without it and have no pod dependent fish like you so I don't miss not having it. I grow SPS, LPS, Zoas & more just fine without it so if I'm missing some benefit, I'm happily oblivious.

But if your chaeto is growing, it is indeed consuming nutrients. If you take it out all of a sudden, I imagine nitrate production will still continue at the same rate & whatever contribution the chaeto made will now go into the water, possibly driving nitrate levels further. So you may need to compensate somehow. Also, some inverts may benefit from eating pods.

slief · 01/16/2015, 08:31 PM

How old is your tank? How large is your tank? How large is your sump? How much live rock have you got in your system? How many and how large of fish do you have in your tank? How much and how often do you feed? Do you have sand in the display if so, how much? Do you have a deep sand bed?

How large if your fuge and how large was your chaeto mass? How often were you pruning it and how much were you removing?

camaroguy · 01/16/2015, 10:40 PM

125 gallon display 15 months old
30 gallon sump
10 gallon refugium in sump
3 gallons of cheato at pruning
Pruned 1.5 gallons every 6-8 weeks
No sand in refugium
100 lbs of sand about an inch or so
110 pounds of pukani in display, 50 pounds of figi in sump

Fish:
1 clown 2.5"
1 yellow tail damsel 2"
4 green chromis 2"
2 neon gobies 2"
1 powder blue tang 8"

I feed one cube of food per day, half in morning, half in evening
I also feed 1-2 sheets of seaweed that's in there all day for the tang

01/16/2015, 04:56 PM	#1
camaroguy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 134	Get rid of Cheato or Not I have been trying to reduce the Nitrates in my 125 gallon reef system for a few months now. I have tried a few different things and have yet to see much of a difference. 1. I did a series of large water changes -> did not see a dent in the nitrates 2. Tweaked the skimmer to the wetter side -> no dent in nitrates 3. Started dosing NOPOX -> this has shown some very slight effect so far, been doing it for 2 weeks only. No matter how large or small my Cheatomorpha ball is, the nitrates do not seem to change. I have also read that the oxygen/ph benefit for the reverse light cycle in reality is not really that measurable due to the size of the refugium vs the size of the display. My PH fluctuates quite a bit as is day to night, and having a 6ft overflow and high turnover through the sump + protein skimmer pretty much keeps the oxygenation up. This leaves me with the only purpose really being served here, is that there is some pod production. Is I have no fish that pray on these things exclusively, I am not sure if its worth it. I was thinking I would just remove the Cheato and cleanup the sump. Thoughts on this? Am I missing something?

01/16/2015, 08:31 PM	#5
slief RC Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 14,173	How old is your tank? How large is your tank? How large is your sump? How much live rock have you got in your system? How many and how large of fish do you have in your tank? How much and how often do you feed? Do you have sand in the display if so, how much? Do you have a deep sand bed? How large if your fuge and how large was your chaeto mass? How often were you pruning it and how much were you removing? __________________ Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476

01/16/2015, 06:00 PM	#2
Dan_P Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 1,432	What is the nitrate level and how did you measure it?

01/16/2015, 07:08 PM	#3
camaroguy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 134	The level is between somewhere between 32 and 40 according to the Red Sea test kit. It was done "high range" meaning diluted with RO/DI water. I tested freshly made salt water from the same RO/DI water and got 0 on the low range test. I also took it to a LFS who said it was off the chart on their test which means over 25. In short, I believe the test to be accurate at this point. I have a feeling that the problem is my Tang and its eating habits. But if I do not feed him enough he will start eating coral. I think the NOPOX will eventually help this situation.

01/16/2015, 07:30 PM	#4
Reef Frog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,121	I don't run a refugium like many others who have successful reefs. I can control nutrients just fine without it and have no pod dependent fish like you so I don't miss not having it. I grow SPS, LPS, Zoas & more just fine without it so if I'm missing some benefit, I'm happily oblivious. But if your chaeto is growing, it is indeed consuming nutrients. If you take it out all of a sudden, I imagine nitrate production will still continue at the same rate & whatever contribution the chaeto made will now go into the water, possibly driving nitrate levels further. So you may need to compensate somehow. Also, some inverts may benefit from eating pods.

01/16/2015, 10:40 PM	#6
camaroguy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 134	125 gallon display 15 months old 30 gallon sump 10 gallon refugium in sump 3 gallons of cheato at pruning Pruned 1.5 gallons every 6-8 weeks No sand in refugium 100 lbs of sand about an inch or so 110 pounds of pukani in display, 50 pounds of figi in sump Fish: 1 clown 2.5" 1 yellow tail damsel 2" 4 green chromis 2" 2 neon gobies 2" 1 powder blue tang 8" I feed one cube of food per day, half in morning, half in evening I also feed 1-2 sheets of seaweed that's in there all day for the tang