Andreww Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Wondering if this is a wise thing to do. Never really had great chaeto growth in my system no matter what I tried. Different bulbs, various intensities, high nutrients etc. I tried CFL, LED, 5000k, 6500k, TaoTronics full spectrum bulb etc Chaeto eventually dies on me. I was thinking of pulling out the macro and install a bigger skimmer in my sump. As a last resort, I got another bulb from Amazon with 660nm led’s as well as blue and 630nm red. If this fails to grow a fresh batch of chaeto, I’m done for real... Planning to go with ATB nano one skimmer(nothing nano about the size) if the last experiment fails ..this skimmer fits perfectly in my refugium . I love the fat and short profile of this skimmer and works well with my cabinet and people rave about the performance and quality of it. My current skimmer is an Aquamaxx WS-1. Good skimmer but I can see the ATB working way better at pulling stuff out.... Opinions ? Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I've always had trouble keeping chaeto alive and growing. Have had much better success with C. prolifera and find it easy to control. No idea about the skimmer as I've never used one, just wanted to chime in that you're not alone in chaeto trouble! 1 Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Thanks for chiming in. Are these “other than chaeto” macros as good at pulling nutrients out? Meaning how fast do they grow etc Maybe I’ll try other macros before I quit on trying... Quote Link to comment
jbb Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Along with @Lula_Mae , I have always had better growth from C. prolifera . It will pull nutrients, but like any macro will require pruning as it grows. 1 Quote Link to comment
Sjadet Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Bricks or sand works better than macro imo. No skimmer has ever come close to handling the levels of nutrients my dsb sump does. Prolifera doesn’t need much light, but grows faster in strong light. If you buy it, just make sure you get Prolifera since some other species of caulerpa are known to be easily stressed, causing it to go holocarpy which can kill everything in your tank. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 34 minutes ago, Andreww said: Thanks for chiming in. Are these “other than chaeto” macros as good at pulling nutrients out? Meaning how fast do they grow etc Maybe I’ll try other macros before I quit on trying... Caulerpa prolifera is a common choice for refugiums, it grows well and I believe is one species a little less likely to go sexual. It's very easy to prune, just pull out what you need! It's also readily available. I'd avoid C. racemosa (grape caulerpa) as it can be invasive and goes sexual more easily. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Thanks everyone for your input. Found some “fern caleurpa” at my LFS. Is this the one to get or not? I’ll try it along chaeto ... Quote Link to comment
jbb Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 15 minutes ago, Andreww said: Thanks everyone for your input. Found some “fern caleurpa” at my LFS. Is this the one to get or not? I’ll try it along chaeto ... "Fern" is most likely C. Mexicana https://www.live-plants.com/fern.htm C. Prolifera https://www.live-plants.com/prolifera.htm Quote Link to comment
John L Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 What intensity of lights have u used in yr refugium? I found around 90 Watts makes mine grow v fast, ( as in I cut 1/3 each week at the moment). I just use 1 x basic cheap 60watt plant grow led and a 30 watt unit. Its not just the K rating, too little power won’t do much, the right intensity will kick it into gear Ime. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 51 minutes ago, jbb_00 said: "Fern" is most likely C. Mexicana https://www.live-plants.com/fern.htm C. Prolifera https://www.live-plants.com/prolifera.htm Interesting. Looks like either will work right? Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 51 minutes ago, John L said: What intensity of lights have u used in yr refugium? I found around 90 Watts makes mine grow v fast, ( as in I cut 1/3 each week at the moment). I just use 1 x basic cheap 60watt plant grow led and a 30 watt unit. Its not just the K rating, too little power won’t do much, the right intensity will kick it into gear Ime. 90 watt LED? How far off the water line? My 36w LED grow light turned almost all my chaeto white in 48 hours from 12-16 inch away, which indicates too much light. I do believe it has to do with how that particular chaeto has been grown up til the point of purchase. If it’s been grown in a system with low light, it’ll obviously get shocked from too much light too soon. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 They had some red gracilaria as well. Hopefully one of these new macros will do well for me... Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 More chaeto, fern caleurpa and red gracilaria. It better grow lol New light bulb as well. We’ll see how this goes. Put a piece of gracilaria in the display as well... Quote Link to comment
John L Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 7 hours ago, Andreww said: 90 watt LED? How far off the water line? My 36w LED grow light turned almost all my chaeto white in 48 hours from 12-16 inch away, which indicates too much light. I do believe it has to do with how that particular chaeto has been grown up til the point of purchase. If it’s been grown in a system with low light, it’ll obviously get shocked from too much light too soon. Yes maybe Your chaeto didn’t have time to adjust to yr light. My leds 3 x spots are only 5-6 inches from my chaeto. They are the same two light fixtures ( eBay £30 each), 30 Watts per spot, each light has 2 spots on a flexible gooseneck, so I just switched off one half, to make 90 Watts output. The original clump is dark green, while the section I cut back is v light green and is in active growth. I just cut it back this wkend. I only use my protein skimmer 1 day a wk now,and as back up, as my nitrates are less than 2 phosphates 0.03, To try and raise my nutrients a little. My corals look bettter for it ( touchwood)! When yr macro algae is all sorted out and growing well, itl be worth it. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Nice , those SPS look good ?? The new bulb I got is very focused and only lights up half the refugium well, the fallout is pretty bad outside of about 7 inches...refugium is only 14” or so in length. I’m planning to get another bulb as soon as I see good growth from this one. If at least one macro out of these 3 is growing then I’m happy. I’m dosing Iron as well, use a skimmer 24/7 (I have to, I have 2 clowns that are pigs and 3 Ignitus Anthias That eat all day every day so taking the skimmer offline is not even an option... I did take offline the carbon reactor. Might be plugging it in just for a day or so to clear up the water of the fishy smell , maybe once a week. Quote Link to comment
John L Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 54 minutes ago, Andreww said: Nice , those SPS look good ?? The new bulb I got is very focused and only lights up half the refugium well, the fallout is pretty bad outside of about 7 inches...refugium is only 14” or so in length. I’m planning to get another bulb as soon as I see good growth from this one. If at least one macro out of these 3 is growing then I’m happy. I’m dosing Iron as well, use a skimmer 24/7 (I have to, I have 2 clowns that are pigs and 3 Ignitus Anthias That eat all day every day so taking the skimmer offline is not even an option... I did take offline the carbon reactor. Might be plugging it in just for a day or so to clear up the water of the fishy smell , maybe once a week. Thanks Andrew, definitely when u add yr second bulb, it will give it a boost. I watched the brs videos on refugium lighting. I too had minimal growth, Then added extra light to increase Watts to their recommendations and everything took off well. I dose iron too which is As you know is meant to help, and it brings out the greens in my corals. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 10 hours ago, Andreww said: Interesting. Looks like either will work right? C. Mexicana can be a bit more likely to go sexual, I believe. It'll work, but will need a close eye kept on it. C. prolifera can likely be found on ebay or from local reefers. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 5 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: C. Mexicana can be a bit more likely to go sexual, I believe. It'll work, but will need a close eye kept on it. C. prolifera can likely be found on ebay or from local reefers. What would be a good prevention plan with caleurpa? I read some people light their fuge 24/7? Is that needed? Keep NO3 up, prune often?.... I really want them to do well. Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 Well took the caleurpa out. I didn’t want to risk it , I’m left with gracilaria and chaeto... Quote Link to comment
Andreww Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 Happy to report the new bulb is growing this stuff very well. Chaeto and gracilaria developed new growth and didn’t melt at all. I did notice the new chaeto I got was a lighter green and pretty loose growth whereas the old melting ball was dark green and very brittle with a dense growth. That might have something to do with it since I read loose growth in a lighter green shade indicates it’s been growing in a higher light environment. Cant tell you how happy I am that this stuff is growing. Iron dosing might have something to do with it as well although I gotta take it easy cuz I kinda went overboard last time with it and it encouraged some type of clear filamentous algae to grow . It was like next day, boom, clear algae. So far so good though, thanks everyone for their advice. Quote Link to comment
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