Are you using any supplements to grow Chaetomorpha? Do you have some other tips for Chaeto growing?

[powers2001]

I've read several posts where reefers have had a terrible time growing Chaeto only to find adding a little Iron supplementation will do the trick. Anybody have this type of results? Any other tips for growing it?

 

[KrisReef]

Chaeto grows with light and nutrients, Phosphate, Nitrate, and Iron. If the nutrients are lacking the chaeto doesn't grow. The marine plants and phytoplankton all compete for these same building block nutrients.

I'm growing chaeto in a barrel with high phosphate live rock. I have to add nitrogen now and again. I have not tested for iron but the chaeto is growing well. I have put the same chaeto into my fish tank with high nutrients and it disappears, I am guessing the fish are consuming it faster than it can grow.

 

[madweazl]

I dose alkalinity and calcium to my tank and use magnesium levels to balance my water changes. My thought process here is that if I can keep magnesium levels at [semi] consistent levels where the salt naturally mixes up (in my case, Instant Ocean), the rest of the macro and micro elements should be within an acceptable range as well. This method works but the size of my water changes has increased to maintain those levels. I'm not sure there is really a more economical way of maintaining those levels so I continue on. Anyways, outside of the water changes, I don't add anything for the chaeto (and other macro algae that live down there), they simply plug away at an annoying rate.

Edit: it has worked well for over two years.

 

[powers2001]

What proprietary brands of Iron have Reefers found to work well? Has anyone compared brands?

 

[Hemmdog]

What proprietary brands of Iron have Reefers found to work well? Has anyone compared brands?

I use Red Sea trace elements iron, my chaeto grows like crazy. I haven’t tried anything else though.

 

[mort]

What proprietary brands of Iron have Reefers found to work well? Has anyone compared brands?

Just make your own. Randy has a guide in the chemistry section and it costs pennies rather than a manufacturer doing the same thing and putting it in a fancy bottle for you.


My one tip with growing any macro in a refugium is don't expect it to grow amazingly and out compete the algae in your main display without appropriate lighting. People spend thousands to light their corals and then chuck a light over their fuge that costs a few bucks and expect it to suck all the nutrients out of your water and clear the algae in your display. Algae grows where conditions suit it best.

 

[garbled]

One thing that is also worth noting, I purchased some Chaeto from Algaebarn, looked like good stuff, healthy and a deep green. Threw it in my sump, and it withered away and died. Got some more from a local reefer, very light green and thin, and it took off like wildfire, same tank, literally 5 days later.

I suspect the difference was that local reefer was using lower powered lights, and I hadn't ramped mine up to full power yet, so I matched his output, while Algaebarn is likely using the big heavy power stuff, and I wasn't running bigtime lighting. I think it's important to either try different chaeto from different places, or ask the source "what is your lighting?"

I don't blame the stuff from Algaebarn here, I suspect if I had thrown it under my high output LED at max power it would have grown like wildfire. I think Chaeto needs acclimation just like any expensive coral.

 

[Japtastic]

I use Red Sea trace elements iron, my

chaeto grows like crazy. I haven’t tried anything else though.

I used this before and it works well, I suspect because it also contains Manganese. My experience (confirmed by @Randy Holmes-Farley ) is that Chaeto needs MN to thrive. I'm now making Randy's DIY Iron and Manganese and dose it every couple of weeks. I know when I need to pop some in as my PH doesn't rise nearly as much when it's depleted (monitored by Apex) in the night when the Chaeto is lit by a Kessil H380.

@mort I agree, I went the Kessil route as I'm using 2x Orphek Atlantic G4's for the DT. Spending $1800 on DT lights and expecting a $10 fuge light to compete didn't make sense.

My Nitrates are still coming down while my Phosphate is undetectable. I dose PO4 daily as without that it would die.

This was just a handful around 2 months ago!

 

[glyn]

I also use the Red Sea Iron supplement for my sumped macro-algae refugium, on a 5'x2'x2' soft coral tank. It grows Caulerpa Racemosa and Chaeto. If I increase the sump turnover [I have A TMC DC pump which allows for 1-20 speed variations] then the Chaeto tends to outgrow the Caulerpa.

I add the Red Sea supplement, about 5ml, about once a week. I have no means of testing for iron, but this approach has worked for many years.

The sump lighting is just 21 LED watts of 6500K; 2 x TMC 400 tile lights, on 24/7 to inhibit the Caulerpa from going sexual.

This is low compared to my quite strong display tank lighting, and seems to fly in the face of the BRC video advice. However, the display tank has a very strongly established collection of gorgonians, GSP, toadstools, leathers and Kenya-type corals that soak up the display lighting, so my refugium doesn't have to compete with the display lighting.

My iron supplement personal experience is this; macro algae must have some iron to grow. However, it only needs teeny-weeny amounts. If, like me, you're not hot on water changes, then an iron supplement is the way to go - but go easy. Iron supplements can't compensate for [say] a lack of waste in the water for the macro-algae to feed on. This may seem blindingly obvious, but on forums over here in the UK I've lost count of the number of aquarists setting up a tank and then complaining after just a few weeks that their macro-algae isn't growing.

PS: It's a subjective view - I've no hard evidence - but my impression is that my green leather corals colour up better with the iron supplement.

 

[Scurvy]

When I used a chaeto reactor in the past it always died off midway through the 3rd cycle. Meaning two harvests and death before a 3rd.

Ive since transitioned to running triton however I havent needed to start dosing yet due to lack of corals in the two month old tank so Im dosing Pax Bellums additives of Iron/Magnesium and Nitrate/Molybdenum plus some Brightwell Neophos. Chaeto growth has been good with no die off and next to no nutrients. Ive cut my light cycle to run every 3rd night until bioload/nutrient levels increase.

Admittedly this is a small sample size but Im seeing better results than past chaeto attempts.

 

[NS Mike D]

Let's take a step back to the beginning. Why are you trying to grow cheato?

The reason I ask is that it's possible that your skimmer, coral nutrient uptake, water changes etc are doing a good job (even too good?) of keeping NO3 and PO4 numbers down making it difficult for cheato to grow. We have this desire to mimic other aquarists' set up without really knowing why they have set it up that way.


NO3 & PO4 numbers?


Keep in mind that some nuisance algae and bacteria, like cyano, can use other forms of N that NO3 and thus we inadvertently over filter the water creating tanks where cyano can thrive and corals and desired macro algae struggle.


fwiw, I have a cheato growing like mad on cheap black box LEDS, and another sump on a cheap DIY 6 LEDs so I am not convinced one needs expensive lights to grow cheato. Also, I have dosed iron based on no rational logic other than an impulse buy thinking super charged cheato would be good for my tank. ;Facepalm I never tested for iron (I run gfo, so why would I have an iron deficiency?) I saw no difference, cheato grew aggressively before after dosing. I presume that my fish do a good job feeding the cheato and my NO3 and PO4 numbers suggest.

IMO, don't dose anything without first testing to confirm a deficiency.

 

[powers2001]

Anyone ever test their PAR shining on their macro-algae?

 

[hart24601]

Anyone ever test their PAR shining on their macro-algae?

Using kessil h380 the top center of the chaeto is around 1500 PAR dropping to around 300-500 par on the edges of my 10g fuge.

 

[andrewkw]

While I have grown countless garbage bags full of cheato in the past, the only system I have some in currently is my skimmerless frag system. When I used to use a fuge on my display I used a desk lamp to grow it. If you have to put any kind of serious effort into growing cheato I would speculate that your system does not need it. Unless it's for display purposes there are a lot of easier ways to accomplish the same results, ie skimming, gfo, carbon dosing ect.

 

[madweazl]

Using kessil h380 the top center of the chaeto is around 1500 PAR dropping to around 300-500 par on the edges of my 10g fuge.

What did you use to measure that and at what depth? An A360WE cant produce 500 PAR 5" off the water with an Apogee MQ500/Full spectrum sensor just under the water. No way 1500 is getting measured under the water or 500 more than a millimeter under the water surface.

 

[powers2001]

What did you use to measure that and at what depth? An A360WE cant produce 500 PAR 5" off the water with an Apogee MQ500/Full spectrum sensor just under the water. No way 1500 is getting measured under the water or 500 more than a millimeter under the water surface.

Are you saying sensor 5" above water or light 5" above water??

 

[madweazl]

Are you saying sensor 5" above water or light 5" above water??

Light 5" above the water, sensor just under the surface of the water.

 

[hart24601]

What did you use to measure that and at what depth? An A360WE cant produce 500 PAR 5" off the water with an Apogee MQ500/Full spectrum sensor just under the water. No way 1500 is getting measured under the water or 500 more than a millimeter under the water surface.

Have used a senseye and clubs apogee but don't know the model. Readings are just under surface where the ball sits and light it around 10-12" away. 1500 is consistent with what BRS tested and a few other growers too. I didn't test various depths because I didn't really care that much. Was just for fun. The h380 has narrow optics like the 360N so the spot intensity is much higher than 360we but less coverage.

 

[madweazl]

That is in open air.

Edit: I've only used the Seneye once but it had to be submerged to get a reading so something seems wonky here.

 

[jhoop]

I have been trying to grow chaeto in three different sumps. It would just slowly disappear. I tried all kind of lights cfl's, leds with no luck. I was at a frag show and ran into another member told him I was looking for some chaeto.... He said he was throwing away a bunch each month. I told him my issue. " You need these lights from E-Bay. I got three of them for each sump. It is growing so fast now I am thinning it out. Grows like crazy.

I just thought I would share.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/120W-UFO-L...4bfb9d1c:m:m4xfeZLwP15i-GB9tndw2BA:rk:10f:0

https://www.ebay.com/itm/150W-UFO-L...h=item1a2118bb36:g:y~AAAOSwo4pYQnbZ:rk:7f:0

jhoop