Fuge setup fail

1biguncfan · 01/01/2014, 11:38 AM

So I ordered some cheato for my fuge and got my light and everything set up. When it came, like a true dumb*#@, I didn't rinse it or anything. Just floated it and then dumped it in. Well, it turns out that it looked like the cheato had been put in a meat grinder. Little pieces of cheato went everywhere. After hrs of getting it out, I got most of it out. But I only had a piece of cheato about the size of a quarter left. I thought it would grow and I would be alright. Its still the same size probably 3 weeks later and Ive got a huge hair algae prob in the fuge due to the light being on 24/7 down there. What should I do? Im guessing drain the whole sump to clean it out?

wrott · 01/01/2014, 12:37 PM

HA is a great nutrient exporter. You can keep removing it, and it is serving a good purpose until it starts growing in the display. Cheato doesn't grow fast enough in my system, so I have Caulerpa racemosa growing well in my fuge, lights on 18hrs/day.
I've gotten a bag of cheato that was all chopped up as well--what a pain. You can probable get a nice free hand-full from a local reefer or lfs, just ask on your local forum. I would not tear down your fuge unless you have rock/sand that makes it a pain to gather the HA.

ca1ore · 01/01/2014, 12:41 PM

I have had strange experiences with chaeto. I run a waterfall ATS, and have had all sorts of problems growing cheato as well - generally it just gradually shrinks and dies off. Makes sense in a way in that nutrient levels are low and ATS is outcompeting the chaeto. However, a few weeks ago I noticed that the chaeto was starting to grow a bit, and now I have a massive ball of it. Nutrient levels are about the same, so I'm baffled.

1biguncfan · 01/01/2014, 01:24 PM

I only know a few people who are in the hobby and haven't been able to find a forum of local people close enough to meet in person. Im worried about the HA moving to the DT bc Im sure it will make its way soon enough. I have a little in the DT already. Thats why I got the move on with the cheato. I read the caulerpa can go sexual so thats why I went with cheato. I do have a couple rocks in the fuge that are now infested with HA.

wrott · 01/01/2014, 01:39 PM

I understand why you would not want to use caulerpa, at least snails will eat HA if you keep it trimmed. This is a nice place for macroalga, but they are out of cheato:
http://live-plants.com/index.htm

Palting · 01/01/2014, 01:46 PM

IMO and IME, the whole idea behind the fuge is to make the fuge more conducive than the DT for algae. You may have some algae in the DT, but the algae in the fuge will out compete them by consuming all the nutrients in the system.

With this principle, I let all kinds of algae grown in my refugium. The base macro algae is C. racemosa, but there's all other types of algae in there: GHA, red cotton candy, etc. The refugium looks like a neglected tank full of all kinds of algae pests, but the DT itself is clean. I just leave the lights on 20 hours/day in the fuge, have a high flow of about 30X refugium volume so that a lot of the system water gets processed, and aggressively harvest the algae every month or so. System has been running almost 4 years now, and it works. BTW, I've never had Caulerpa go asexual in 4 years, and I actually feed the Caulerpa harvest t the tangs in the DT.

1biguncfan · 01/01/2014, 01:58 PM

I understand how to harvest cheato (if I could ever get it to grow) but how do I "harvest" the HA that I have now? Just scrape it off the glass?

1biguncfan · 01/01/2014, 02:12 PM

Also, adding to the issue of starting with such a small piece of cheato, I can't keep it off the bottom of the fuge. Ive read that it needs to be up off the bottom and even "spinning". How am I supposed to achieve this?

wrott · 01/01/2014, 02:22 PM

You need a powerhead in the fuge, and I just pull the long clumps of HA out w/ my fingers. Palting's is a good method, as long as your tank is large enough to keep a tang to eat any caulerpa that makes it into the DT.

1biguncfan · 01/01/2014, 02:30 PM

Ok, yeah my DT is 155 and my fuge is a DIY 55 gallon tank. And I have a powerhead that was in my 55 before I upgraded to the 155 but I can't find a place to put it where it keeps the cheato up. Part of the prob may be how small the piece is. I guess Ill keep tinkering with it until I get it. May go to fantastic this weekend and get some more cheato.

STX Diver · 01/01/2014, 02:30 PM

I had the same problem. There was not enough nutrients to keep the Chaeto alive so it slowly died off creating a HA problem in the refugium that eventually moved to my DT. I removed the Chaeto and cleaned the HA out. I have not had any HA problems since. I'll start the Chaeto again once I increase my bioload.

lovetoclown · 01/01/2014, 03:37 PM

When you tumble the chaeto, how do you deal with broken bits going everywhere and not letting them clog up filters or pumps in the sump.

01/01/2014, 11:38 AM	#1
1biguncfan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 186	Fuge setup fail So I ordered some cheato for my fuge and got my light and everything set up. When it came, like a true dumb*#@, I didn't rinse it or anything. Just floated it and then dumped it in. Well, it turns out that it looked like the cheato had been put in a meat grinder. Little pieces of cheato went everywhere. After hrs of getting it out, I got most of it out. But I only had a piece of cheato about the size of a quarter left. I thought it would grow and I would be alright. Its still the same size probably 3 weeks later and Ive got a huge hair algae prob in the fuge due to the light being on 24/7 down there. What should I do? Im guessing drain the whole sump to clean it out?

01/01/2014, 12:37 PM	#2
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	HA is a great nutrient exporter. You can keep removing it, and it is serving a good purpose until it starts growing in the display. Cheato doesn't grow fast enough in my system, so I have Caulerpa racemosa growing well in my fuge, lights on 18hrs/day. I've gotten a bag of cheato that was all chopped up as well--what a pain. You can probable get a nice free hand-full from a local reefer or lfs, just ask on your local forum. I would not tear down your fuge unless you have rock/sand that makes it a pain to gather the HA. __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

01/01/2014, 12:41 PM	#3
ca1ore Grizzled & Cynical Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Stamford, CT Posts: 17,319	I have had strange experiences with chaeto. I run a waterfall ATS, and have had all sorts of problems growing cheato as well - generally it just gradually shrinks and dies off. Makes sense in a way in that nutrient levels are low and ATS is outcompeting the chaeto. However, a few weeks ago I noticed that the chaeto was starting to grow a bit, and now I have a massive ball of it. Nutrient levels are about the same, so I'm baffled. __________________ Simon Got back into the hobby ..... planned to keep it simple ..... yeah, right ..... clearly I need a new plan! Pet peeve: anemones host clowns; clowns do not host anemones! Current Tank Info: 450 Reef; 120 refugium; 60 Frag Tank, 30 Introduction tank; multiple QTs

01/01/2014, 01:39 PM	#5
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	I understand why you would not want to use caulerpa, at least snails will eat HA if you keep it trimmed. This is a nice place for macroalga, but they are out of cheato: http://live-plants.com/index.htm __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

01/01/2014, 01:46 PM	#6
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	IMO and IME, the whole idea behind the fuge is to make the fuge more conducive than the DT for algae. You may have some algae in the DT, but the algae in the fuge will out compete them by consuming all the nutrients in the system. With this principle, I let all kinds of algae grown in my refugium. The base macro algae is C. racemosa, but there's all other types of algae in there: GHA, red cotton candy, etc. The refugium looks like a neglected tank full of all kinds of algae pests, but the DT itself is clean. I just leave the lights on 20 hours/day in the fuge, have a high flow of about 30X refugium volume so that a lot of the system water gets processed, and aggressively harvest the algae every month or so. System has been running almost 4 years now, and it works. BTW, I've never had Caulerpa go asexual in 4 years, and I actually feed the Caulerpa harvest t the tangs in the DT. __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam

01/01/2014, 01:24 PM	#4
1biguncfan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 186	I only know a few people who are in the hobby and haven't been able to find a forum of local people close enough to meet in person. Im worried about the HA moving to the DT bc Im sure it will make its way soon enough. I have a little in the DT already. Thats why I got the move on with the cheato. I read the caulerpa can go sexual so thats why I went with cheato. I do have a couple rocks in the fuge that are now infested with HA.

01/01/2014, 01:58 PM	#7
1biguncfan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 186	I understand how to harvest cheato (if I could ever get it to grow) but how do I "harvest" the HA that I have now? Just scrape it off the glass?

01/01/2014, 02:12 PM	#8
1biguncfan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 186	Also, adding to the issue of starting with such a small piece of cheato, I can't keep it off the bottom of the fuge. Ive read that it needs to be up off the bottom and even "spinning". How am I supposed to achieve this?

01/01/2014, 02:22 PM	#9
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	You need a powerhead in the fuge, and I just pull the long clumps of HA out w/ my fingers. Palting's is a good method, as long as your tank is large enough to keep a tang to eat any caulerpa that makes it into the DT. __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

01/01/2014, 02:30 PM	#10
1biguncfan Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 186	Ok, yeah my DT is 155 and my fuge is a DIY 55 gallon tank. And I have a powerhead that was in my 55 before I upgraded to the 155 but I can't find a place to put it where it keeps the cheato up. Part of the prob may be how small the piece is. I guess Ill keep tinkering with it until I get it. May go to fantastic this weekend and get some more cheato.

01/01/2014, 02:30 PM	#11
STX Diver Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Paducah, KY Posts: 44	I had the same problem. There was not enough nutrients to keep the Chaeto alive so it slowly died off creating a HA problem in the refugium that eventually moved to my DT. I removed the Chaeto and cleaned the HA out. I have not had any HA problems since. I'll start the Chaeto again once I increase my bioload. __________________ Matthew Current Tank Info: 120G Reef Tank

01/01/2014, 03:37 PM	#12
lovetoclown Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 134	When you tumble the chaeto, how do you deal with broken bits going everywhere and not letting them clog up filters or pumps in the sump.