Chaeto not growing? Dying?

[convict2161]

I have a BC 29 with a inTank media basket, the chaeto is in the bottom tray and i have the jbj LED light on the outside, I scraped more of the paint away to allow the light to get in there,when changing my filter media, purigen etc I inspect my chaeto, It's still green in color but hasn't grown at all, one part of it was brown and mushy and kinda smelled awful!! I took that piece out and tossed it. I'm still left with about a baseball sized piece but I haven't seen much growth, is it the light? Is something wrong? Is it dying?

 

 

Thanks!!

[Neophyte]

Not sure about the light, the only time I've had trouble with chaeto was when it was immediately downstream of a heater.

[drunkenmonk21]

Have you rotated the cheato at all, if its only getting light on one side then the other will die off. I turn mine every couple days to allow it all to get light.

[convict2161]

Have you rotated the cheato at all, if its only getting light on one side then the other will die off. I turn mine every couple days to allow it all to get light.

 

Thanks! No I haven't done that but will do it from now on. It makes sense.

[M@!]

You might not have any extra nutrients? Could just mean your tank is running clean!

[convict2161]

You might not have any extra nutrients? Could just mean your tank is running clean!

 

 

Forgive me I'm still a newbie in the saltwater world. Would this be a bad thing? I'm hoping I'm doing all the right things here.

[do_0b]

Forgive me I'm still a newbie in the saltwater world. Would this be a bad thing? I'm hoping I'm doing all the right things here.

 

not necessarily a bad ting

[convict2161]

Haha Ok... Well as a newbie that makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

[grmoore]

If you're using purigen and carbon, you're probably pulling the bulk of the nutrients out chemically that the chaeto would be sapping up otherwise. Rotating the algae will help to ensure somewhat even lighting. Note that balls of Chaeto are detritus magnets, so you should have some pre-filter material before it in the water column.

[convict2161]

So right now I have 1 filter floss,2 purigen and then 3 chaeto. So would you reccomed switching the purigen and chaeto?

[grmoore]

So right now I have 1 filter floss,2 purigen and then 3 chaeto. So would you reccomed switching the purigen and chaeto?

 

Not at all. If the purpose of your Chaeto is to keep nitrates at zero, you're likely achieving that and I wouldn't make a change. If your purpose is to grow the Chaeto, then removing the purigen would help achieve that, but also increase the possibility of nuisence algae growth.

 

If you have dead/dying Chaeto, you should clip out the bad parts and throw them away, then start rotating the clump every couple of days to even out the lighting. Chaeto likes to be free floating, tumbling and not constrained so that it can grow outward and not into a tight clump that light can't penetrate.

 

If you have other macro algae in the display tank, you likely don't even need the Chaeto - unless you have a huge bioload that you need to deal with.

[convict2161]

Ok thank you. That is my purpose is to keep nitrates down which is workingnot to just grow the chaeto. So I'll just trim it and rotate every water change which is every Saturday. Now I just have to figure out how to keep my phosphatYes under control. That's the only problem I'm having. It's good for a few days and then shoots up. I've been using that phosphate removal filter it's green but doesn't seem to keep consistently down or at acceptable levels.

[grmoore]

I presume you're not using tap water for top offs and water changes. Perhaps your rocks are leaching Phosphates back into the water? Test your top off and water change water for Phosphates first to rule that out.

[convict2161]

Ok I will. I use distilled water and NEVER use tap water for top offs. And my water is premixed from my buddy's dish store. I just heat it to match tank temp and check salinity before adding.

[FishSticks]

I have Cheato, Caulerpa, and Halymenia all in the back fuge of my BC 29. I run a 7w bulb 24/7, I haven't noticed any cheato growth either for the past 2 months but my Caulerpa is taking over.

This is basically my first salt water tank can't really help you but you're not the only one.

[convict2161]

Makes me feel alittle better but sorry your having issues also.

[grmoore]

In FishSticks case, I don't know that it is an issue at all. Caulerpa will easily out perform Chaetomorpha. The thing with Chaeto is it's not invasive like Caulerpa is. Caulerpa will sap up the nutrients faster than other macros, and, at least some species will even practice their own form of alleopathy by releasing caulerpenyne into the water.

[travisman1994]

Also something that might help you that I think I have noticed. I don't know if its correct. But the more coarse and thick your chaeto is, the more nutrients it is holding. If you chaeto is really stringy and puffed out than its not holding as much. Color can also indicate this. Lighter the green the less amount of nutrients.

[Captain Hook]

I noticed my chaeto take off when I increased feeding volume and frequency. And it obviously makes sense, you need to have enough food for the chaeto too, its like grass on your lawn, if negleted it turns to crap. If you increase light, flow, and nutrients (feeding), it can only make it better. I use alot of phytoplankon supplements and I think this is probably the main contributor to the growth of the chaeto as well as nice coloration of my corals.