Growing Chaeto
 

I have some Chaeto in my refugium, but it is not doing too well, not dying, just not growing. I have some Caulerpa Prolifera in the same tank, and it is growing, although a little stringy and small leaves.

Not sure if it is my lighting, or lack of nutrients. I have two T12's, one daylight, and the other 50/50 daylight/actinic, so looks pretty bright to me. The nitrates and phosphates are near zero, with my tests. I have a big skimmer in my sump, and also use phosphate remover chips in a canister.

The Chaeto is on the bottom, though, in a corner. Should it be higher, closer to the light? Water flow is lower in that corner, too.

it could be the phosphate remover and lack of nutrients.
Plants, including algae, need phosphates and nitrates to grow. sooo if its not growing maybe your water is just too clean,
darn! hahaha im pretty sure thats correct anyway. correct me if im wrong people!

cheato grows well if it is tumbling, so it needs more flow than you have I think.
What is your alk? My cheato was not doing well for a while and I raised the alk from 5 to 8.5 dKH and bingo! Back to normal growth. This is in a 10 gal holding tank for some of my LR

My alk is usually around 7, CA around 400 -420. Have to add both every 2 or 3 days, as my display tank is very overgrown with soft and hard corals.

Could be right about water flow, as that corner of the refugium gets the least, which is why the Chaeto ends up there. Not sure how I can make it tumble.

not sure of the theory behind cheato having to tumble? maybe others can chime in here and let us know?
my cheato grows like crazy and it doesnt tumble. its packed tight in a 7g tank. once it starts to grow out of the tank i chop it in half and then it grows to fill the tank again. very, very low flow system for me.

I found this on the net, which is better said than I can.

The tumbling allows all parts of the chaeto equal access to the light, allowing you to have a larger ball of chaeto before any of it starts to get shaded enough that it doesn't grow anymore.

If the chaeto is stationary, then the stuff on top always gets all the light, but the stuff on the bottom gets shaded out.

In my case, the stuff on top of the clump isn't growing either, so not sure if tumbling would help then. It is not close to the surface though, but in the bottom corner of the tank.

Water temp is 80F. Does that matter?

+1 for toss it in and let it do it's thing.

I have a low flow 10G fuge and it grows top to bottom full in 2 weeks from a softball sized ball. I run a 23w daylight home depot compact florescent.

That's amazing. Have had mine for over a month, and it just won't grow. And I have 2 X 20W Florescent bulbs 13 hours per day.

I would imagine it has everything to do with nutrients. Nitrogen and phosphorous are needed in plant growth. If water and light are met, and your cheato isn't growing, consider it a good thing.

Yeah, but I do have some algae in my display tank. Not a lot, but enough to keep my Lawnmower Blenny, Yellow Tang, and Foxface grazing on the rocks.

So would have thought that means there would have been enough nutrients for the Chaeto. As I mentioned initially, I do have some Caulerpa P. also in the refugium, and it is growing, although maybe not as much as it should either. It is stringy with small leaves, but is definitely growing.

But not my Chaeto.

You should be happy that it's not growin. I had some that wouldn't grow but my calurpa is growing like crazy. My nitrates etc are all testing zero so I'm happy. Did I make my point I think I lost it some where lol :redface:

Hum my cheato isn't growing aswell. Assuming it does its natural thing and absorbs phosphates and nitrates should it all be removed before it leaches them back out? Or can it do that?

If it dies. The decomposition process will wind up putting it all back in your water. While it is alive, it is growing. A plant needs to carry out it's growing process to stay alive. So as long as it is green, (not dead) it is taking up nitrates and phosphates.

Hum well thats good news for me! I guess I will leave mine in place for now :)

I just noticed that some of my Chaeto is turning a bit white. I assume it is dying.

My nitrate testing continues to show bright yellow, or near zero. Yet I do have some Caulerpa Prolifera growing in the same refugium.

From searching through other posts, I noticed some contain their Chaeto in an elevated eggcrate shelf. I might try that. It would then be closer to the surface where there is more light and water circulation.

I have Chaetomorpha and Caulerpa in high flow, this part of my sump has 34x's turnover via powerheads. It's not growing overly fast, then again my NO3 and PO4 read zero on the test kits.

Here is a thread on RC where Anthony Calfo speaks on, in his opinion, the proper way to set up the refugium with the amount of flow and light.

Thanks, lots of great reading with that link.

Looks like I am not the only one struggling with growing Chaeto. Seems that lighting does indeed have an effect.

I may try repositioning it on a shelf closer to the surface, and then maybe try changing bulbs, too.

Very good info on why chaeto should tumble