Chaeto care fact sheet:

[widmer]

Hey-

I have a couple quick questions about providing the best environment to encourage chaeto to grow faster so it can export nutrients quicker. I was thinking maybe this thread could turn into a general "fact sheet" if anyone has further input.

But my questions are:

1. Is it true that chaeto wants to be like tumbleweed, unhindered by live rock in the fuge per se?

2. I would feel inclined to direct all of the flow into my sump straight through the chaeto section, this is maybe 250 gph, and through a section thats about the size of a milk jug. And I could even angle it so that it flows straight through the chaeto ball. But does it prefer a lower water flow than that?

Thanks for any replies.

[Zoophile]

It really doesn't need to be blasted so it rolls around like mad. You can direct a small powerhead at it, but it tends to grow so fast that it won't roll very much. I just turn mine over every couple of days to make sure all of it is receiving light and separate some out for removal when it gets too large.

[Davidl919]

I had less luck with high flow running through my cheato and when it was being hit directly it spread all over the tank as far as little pieces and it would get into unwanted places once even clogging my overflow.
I now let the water flow through it indirectly in a part of the sump and it is close to some rock.

[Logzor]

I have chaeto in my main display in full light towards the top of the tank under 4x54 T5.

I have no sump, 55 gallon tank, running 2900 GPH, so it gets decent flow.

Grows like crazy.

I have it wedged between the glass and live rock. In my opinion it is pretty tough stuff, but, in order to get maximum growth you need nutrients in your tank and high flow. As far as lighting goes, I do not think it is necessary to have intense light.

It does not get any tumbleweed effect and grows super fast. So long that there is not stagnation I do not see why "rolling chaeto" is necessary.

[alve]

Someone here on RC did a test and started off with two pieces of chaeto of the same size. One piece was tumbling, the other one not.
He had pictures of his setup and the one that did NOT tumble grew way faster.

Mine is not tumbling, I just turn it over once a week and it grows very fast. All you need for lighting is a cheap 6500k bulb like they sell at Home Depot and a clamp on fixture, together less than $20.

[widmer]

Thanks for all the replies guys. When I was cruizing threads the other day, someone mentioned that chaeto doesn't like to be hindered by live rock, and that comment has stuck on my mind (probably because it doesn't make sense). So more than anything else, I wanted to put that question to rest.

But keep the general care information coming, ie whatever people found that anything works or doesnt work so well...

[alve]

Sounds good Widmer. Here is what works for me, pictures taken almost 4 weeks apart flow going through from the return is slow so there is more contact time with the chaeto but I do have a Maxijet 1200 in there to get more movement. Again, this works for me and I am not saying this is the only way to go. There are many people who have great success with a complete different setup. Just to give one idea and I am sure a lot of other ideas will come up in this thread.





Light bulb from Home Depot:


Clamp on fixture from Home Depot:

[Zoophile]

I wouldn't want to agitate the stuff too much, to be honest. Stray pieces are like getting 10 lb.-test fishing line in your pumps. I've got mine "gently" wedged between some rocks so I don't get fragments of it floating around.

As far as having to have high nutrients to make it grow, that's true. However, my goal is to have it mop up stray nutrients my system isn't using so the micro-algae can't get it. I certainly am not going to add excess stuff to make the chaeto grow any more than it already does!

[jdieck]

Answer:
1. No
2. No

I tested both conditions. Medium to low flow and not tumbling tripled the growth rate. Flip the chaeto over once a week. Sames as Lighting, the more the better, I am now using 175 10K MH 8 inches above the chaeto. When harvesting quick rinse the bunch you will keep in a water change.

Here you can see the difference. In this particular picture the test as at the stage of tumbling / high flow / PC lighting versus not tumbling / low flow / high lighting.
Both were sharing the same water in my 55 refugium.
You can see the difference in growth, both matts started the same size

[widmer]

alve Hey thanks for the addition of pics to this thread. Your sump setup looks great, and I like the separate 10 gallon fuge you have pre-chaeto.

jdieck WOW that's more than ten times the light that most of these other guys have over their chaeto. Even alve, with his 55 gallon sump only has 16 watts. You've got a pretty unique take on the chaeto situation, but it makes sense to me.

[jdieck]

What you see in the pic is three weeks of growth, the tank is 48" long (55 gal) Both pieces started about 3/4 the size of the ball on the left.

[alve]

jdieck, glad you joined this thread! I mentioned you earlier because I remembered your thread and pictures about your experiment with chaeto but didn't know anymore who exactly had done this test.

[widmer]

That's pretty handy. I have just a 20 Long (college=transient lifestyle=in old apartment w/ questionable floors) with a 10 gallon sump that I'm deciding how to best configure. I was previously going to just go with a 9 watt CF over the chaeto, but now I'm thinking I'll go with the higher wattage one that melev recommends, similar to alve's but 23 watts 5100 k if I remember correctly. I'm sure I can expect quite a bit greater chaeto growth due to the fact that I'm in the crowd who doesn't believe in skimmers.

[lancer99]

My chaeto growth tips:

1) Put Chaeto in water.
2) Add light.
3) Trim.

-R

[Hal]

Just curious, will chaeto grow if most of the water hitting it is from the output of my protein skimmer?

I've got very low flow in my refugium right now, and was thinking of diverting the skimmer output into the refuge to add some flow. What do you think?

[jdieck]

Originally posted by Hal
Just curious, will chaeto grow if most of the water hitting it is from the output of my protein skimmer?

I've got very low flow in my refugium right now, and was thinking of diverting the skimmer output into the refuge to add some flow. What do you think?

I think it will work. Skimmers do not remove nitrates or phosphates that the algae takes up.

[discotu]

I am running chaeto in three parts of my system...here are my thoughts:

1 - Tumbled (was 12hr PP, just switch to 24hr PP a week ago)
Measure of growth should be based on density, not just on size of the mass. My tumbled chaeto is about the size of the volleyball and it is WAY more dense than the stuff "floating" in my HOB fuge or my reactor. Another factor here is that my chaeto ball is allowed to bump the walls and bottom...which probably packs it in tighter.

Less maintenance. I do not have to rotate since it essentially "cleans" itself.



2 - HOB fuge (12 hr PP, really it's a HOSide fuge)
i run this primarly as a POD factory. I was initially going to set it up as a cryptic fuge but it seems the chaeto provides alot of real estate for the critters so I might just leave it. Growth appears to be good.



3 - chaeto reactor (12 hr PP)
why? i don't know...just cuz I am a tinkerer and had a spare reactor sitting around. I figured by using a reactor I could gain efficiencies in dwell time and surface area contact...as a reactor is intended to do with it's media (chaeto in my case). I've been using a maxijet 600 as the feed pump then the effluent from the chaeto reactor goes to another reactor with carbon and phosphar. I plan to split both reactors and run more flow through the chaeto side to see if it makes a difference in growth.



Final thoughts? There are so many variables, I don't know which is better. IMO, these are the biggest factors (assuming you have nutrients to absorb) lighting and photoperiod, flow, and keeping the chaeto itself free from nuisance algae.

I guess all things being equal, one could argue that the rate of growth and color is a good indicator...but remember, you can't just eyeball the size of the chaeto mass. The easiest method would be to remove it, let it drain a bit then weigh it. I'm too lazy to do that so I'll stick with eyeballing it

Is one better than the other? Probably. Is the difference significant? Probably not...Ultimately, I think most people will use the most convenient method their system will allow.

[jdieck]

Originally posted by discotu
I am running chaeto in three parts of my system...here are my thoughts:

1 - Tumbled (was 12hr PP, just switch to 24hr PP a week ago)
Measure of growth should be based on density, not just on size of the mass. My tumbled chaeto is about the size of the volleyball and it is WAY more dense than the stuff "floating" in my HOB fuge or my reactor. Another factor here is that my chaeto ball is allowed to bump the walls and bottom...which probably packs it in tighter.

Yes a tumbling ball gets more compact than a spread mass. That is why all the measurements have to be by weight.

BTW that same compaction is also IMO is part of the explanation of why tumbling grow slower.
More compacted may mean less light received and less water flow thru it so less nutrients.