Chaeto Breaks apart everytime I touch it!

[Rick A B]

This chaeto is is making me crazy!

Here is the deal: I shake the chaeto about once a week to shake out the dirt caught in it. Tons of small pieces of it break off and circulate around the tank making a huge mess. It is like a chaeto bits duststorm!

Is this normal or is my chaeto unhealthy? This chaeto is very fine thread as compared to some I used to have which was a very coarse thread. The fine thread grows faster so I pruned out the coarse thread variety... much now to my dismay...

[micstarz]

It also happens when i disturb my caulerpa.

[Rick A B]

I hate it... my display gets tiny pieces of macro algae all over and it looks terrible.

[Obi-dad]

I have had that problem with chaeto when I had low flow in the chamber. I now have a small maxi-mod pump to circulate in the chaeto chamber of the sump/refugium. Grows better now, doesn't get brittle, doesn't have the nasty algae growing on it like it did with little flow. I had read about having enough flow to tumble the ball of chaeto, but didn't realize why until I actually did it.

How much flow do you have through your chaeto?

[sikpupy]

I was just about to hit the "new thread" button. My cheato is totally pi$$ing me off! It like glass then I touch it and shatters? I have two tanks it is in. One tank has it in a oval container the size of a brick with the outflow of a HOB filter flowing in it. The other was in my sump with the drain from my 90 going into it. Either or, peices everywhere. How do you get it to tumble? Mine sinks to the bottom and proceeds to break up if I even look at it?

I have seen some cheato at a LFS that looked like a big thick mat of angle hair pasta. It was stright as stright could be. I did not know there could be two types, but hey, anything is possible.

Do we just have the crap version of it and need another variaty? I too am getting WAY tired of it floating around in the DT, clinging and wrapping around everything.

^cheato^

[Obi-dad]

Originally posted by sikpupy
How do you get it to tumble?

More flow. I vastly increased my flow in the chaeto compartment with a maxi-mod on a maxi-jet 600, and this problem went away.

[Rick A B]

I have had that problem with chaeto when I had low flow in the chamber. I now have a small maxi-mod pump to circulate in the chaeto chamber of the sump/refugium. Grows better now, doesn't get brittle, doesn't have the nasty algae growing on it like it did with little flow. I had read about having enough flow to tumble the ball of chaeto, but didn't realize why until I actually did it.

How much flow do you have through your chaeto?

I have moderate flow and chaeto stumbles when it is a small piece. When it gets a little growth it is too heavy... I may drop a power head in there?

I have seen some cheato at a LFS that looked like a big thick mat of angle hair pasta. It was stright as stright could be. I did not know there could be two types, but hey, anything is possible.

Do we just have the crap version of it and need another variaty? I too am getting WAY tired of it floating around in the DT, clinging and wrapping around everything

I think it is the variety of HG we have... There was a noticeable difference in the coarse strand stuff I had. It didn't grow as fast but never came apart...

[zooty]

I had the same stuff in the sumps of 2 tanks. The larger tank with more flow through the sump had a great ball of chaeto that grew and didn't crumble.

The smaller tank constantly had to have the chaeto replaced with the overabundance from he bigger tank.

FWIW they did have different lighting as well and that may have contributed to the problem.

The constant breaking off of pieces in the smaller tank eventually clogged the return pump and snapped the impeller shaft. Make sure you have some sort of pre-filter between you pump and chaeto ball.

[sikpupy]

Hmmm, is the shattering cheato a common occurrence I wonder? Id it was/is, I wonder why it is hardly, if ever, mentioned when people talk about it? I have never read anywhere that says "use this but watch out, it can break apart". Truly no one enjoys bits and pieces of cheato floating around. Hmmmm, is that its way of reproducing? Sooo many questions, lol.

[Rick A B]

I have got to figure something out...this drives me crazy! I think the more flow is the answer I'll start with. I also have a deep sand bed where the chaeto ball is so this will not necessarily be easy.

[jbird69]

I believe there are several different types of chaeto. At least different things being sold as chaeto. The chaeto I have is super user friendly. Its coarse and kinky so its all knotted up on itself and, if anything, its hard to pull it apart. It grows in a big wad/ball so it tumbles nicely in a medium current...at least until it has growm so much it is a wall to wall brick in my fuge. It sounds like its worth shopping around to find the good stuff...i guess I got lucky.

[sikpupy]

Well, yes, thats the way it is. Grows like mad, curly, hard to pull apart, but, it is like it has lepracy, bits and peices just randomly fall off here and there.

[Rich D]

When I used cheato, i didnt really play with it much. I kept it in two overlapping cartons, the one with the cheato in it on top and one without in tho bottom. The top carton had holes drilled in the bottom part of it. This kept all the cheato in one place. Im setting up a similar system now, ill try to take a picture of it later today.

[Gwynhidwy]

Chaetomorpha is a genus of algae and there are numerous species in that genus, so there are many 'types' available and they are not all the same. Some are finer, some grow faster, some like more flow, etc.

You could try a different species, but you would have to be able to differentiate to ensure you didn't get the same one, but I agree that upping your flow is a good place to start. You may also want to look at the lighting, as I have heard this can be a problem when there is not enough light.

[Rick A B]

jbird69 - next time you prune yours would you be interested in selling some to me?

Bubbles - post a picture I want to see what you are talking about.

I will consider my light intensity Gwynhidwy - I have the Home Depot special going on right now!

[jbird69]

Rick

I just pruned it friday. I sold a basketball sized wad to my lfs for $10...He sells it for $9.99 per sandwich bag!!! I guess its better than throwing it out.

If you havnt found what you want in a month or so, pm me and I'll send you a wad for the price of shipping.

PS I grow mine under a 18w home depot light bulb.

[jbird69]

DP

[Rich D]

heres a top view of the sump, the tan boxes are where the cheato will go.
[IMG][/IMG]

[Rich D]

It gets flow through the white PVC that comes from the main tank. The white box on the left side of the cheato box is where we put filters and activated carbon. Im not sure how well the cheato will grow with the filter over it so we may have to remove the box and put it elsewhere to create more flow.