Whats wrong with my refugium?? Cheato wont grow!

[Reef_a_holiks]

So after trying several different things ive decided to come on here and ask the community. So here i have my refugium and i just cant get my cheato to grow and thrive. It will eventually turn almost clear and fall apart. Ive tried lowering the light, tried different batches of cheato and nothing. Im running a 40watt 5700k homedepot CFL bulb for lighting.Here is a pic of my refugium, please let me know what you guys think is causing this or if you see anything wrong with this picture. By the way this is a new batch of cheato so that why it looks healthy in this pic, but give it a couple days and it dies away. Please help! Thanks everyone

 

[graphicluis]

I switch from one of those bulbs to an led bulb and it seemed to work better for me. My brother had the same issue but switch to a red bulb and now it grows like crazy. I also noticed it grew a lot more once I started feeding more

 

[Lazys Coral House]

Do you have any nitrates?

 

[JOKER]

I cant grow it either, always does the same in my tank. Have better luck with caulerpa

 

[Cory]

Falling apart probably is for a lack of iron. Fwiw mine grows like a weed. When I got mine it was the size of yours! Now it's the size of my belly! I use a red/blue led plant grow bulb. There are 8 led"s and they are 3 watts each, but very bright. I also maintain potassium at 420ppm because algae and macroalgae need it to grow. After a few weeks my potassium dropped from 420ppm to 380ppm. When I first started dosing potassium it was at 350ppm (50ppm lower than nsw).

 

[Cory]

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Weird thing is ,I use this same cfl bulb on my biocubes refugium, and cheato grows great in there. One thing i see different is the light on the biocube is mounted really close to the glass so its about an inch away from the chaeto , as in my refugium the light is about 6 inches away from the actual cheato. im thinking of trying a stronger light but alot of people grow perfectly fine with these bulbs.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Ive never heard any people having to dose the refugium of anything for the macro algae to grow, its usually place the macro and some light and it grows

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Do you have any nitrates?

Zero nitrates with an api kit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What else is growing in the tank? Do you feed the fish?

Do you aggressively export nutrients in other ways?

Have you ever measured phosphate?

Without adequate nutrients, macroalgae can die. That's the purpose of these questions.

As to iron, usually macroaglae at least grows for a while before iron becomes depleted, but I do dose it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ive never heard any people having to dose the refugium of anything for the macro algae to grow, its usually place the macro and some light and it grows

I do. Iron is very often useful in that regard.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

What else is growing in the tank? Do you feed the fish?

Do you aggressively export nutrients in other ways?

Have you ever measured phosphate?

Without adequate nutrients, macroalgae can die. That's the purpose of these questions.

As to iron, usually macroaglae at least grows for a while before iron becomes depleted, but I do dose it.

All corals seem to be happy and growing, I feed fish every other day. My tank seems to be running well only issue im having is with the cheato

No agressive export of nutrients, other than bi weekly 15 gallon water changes.

Ive measured nitrates with a API kit to get a reading of zero

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

I do. Iron is very often useful in that regard.

What iron supplement do you use, i see brightwell aquatics makes a iron supplement, but can this be used in reef tanks.
Im kinda worried of dosing this to my reef, as my reef and refugium is all part of the same system .How will the corals respond to this iron

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure why your chaeto isn't growing well.

What iron supplement do you use, i see brightwell aquatics makes a iron supplement, but can this be used in reef tanks.
Im kinda worried of dosing this to my reef, as my reef and refugium is all part of the same system .How will the corals respond to this iron

Corals may benefit, but at least they do not seem to be hurt.

The only issue anyone ever raises about iron is the possibility of it supplying cyano with iron.

I use a DIY using Fergon tablets from the drug store:

This has more on iron:
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iron In A Reef Tank ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[bboyvital]

do you get any flow in that area? based on the picture i dont see how that compartment would get any flow. i have my light about 6-8 inches from cheato with a lesser wattage cfl and mine grows crazy so i dont see it being the light.

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

I'm not sure why your chaeto isn't growing well.



Corals may benefit, but at least they do not seem to be hurt.

The only issue anyone ever raises about iron is the possibility of it supplying cyano with iron.

I use a DIY using Fergon tablets from the drug store:

This has more on iron:
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iron In A Reef Tank ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

I guess il give the iron dosing a try , il pick up a bottle of the brightwell iron later on and see. There is some cyano in the refugium, will it make that break out more?

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

do you get any flow in that area? based on the picture i dont see how that compartment would get any flow. i have my light about 6-8 inches from cheato with a lesser wattage cfl and mine grows crazy so i dont see it being the light.

I thought it couldve been flow but ive seen alot of other refugiums with low flow. Im just out of options or ideas on getting this to thrive

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The Brightwell iron should work. It has two iron ingredients, only 1 of which is what I'd recommend (the gluconate part).

Ignore their directions and just add a drop or two. Never add enough to detect with a kit.

 

[bboyvital]

I thought it couldve been flow but ive seen alot of other refugiums with low flow. Im just out of options or ideas on getting this to thrive

keep in mind though, low flow and no flow are two different things.

 

[N1Husker]

I think the key to growing chaeto is lighting. I use a full spectrum light I got it at Home Depot and I use it in a clamp light that cost me about 10 bucks. I grow chaeto like a weed. I think the bulb was $12.95, so less than $25.00 I have my chaeto growing light. I have been using it for 5 years, same bulb, same fixture.