Chaeto Algae, why?

[jdog1989]

I have a chunk in my sump fugue it is not growing just stays same size .... Hair algae is growing in the fuge ... Why

Did you check phosphates, are you running a reactor?

 

[Jorden Watkins]

I strongly recommend a 3000k par38 LED bulb. I know people typically use 5-6000k spectrum but I Promise you the results between the 2 don't even compare. I have 2 setups that chaeto is my primary source of nutrient export and I will never use any other spectrum. I feed very heavily, dose phyto and fuel regularly as well as feed reef roids regularly and I never have a lick of nitrates. Once you try it you'll be saying man I can believe I didn't try this sooner. It makes bio pellets, vodka dosing and those spendy algae turf scrubbers seem like a big waiste of money. The last picture is what I harvested after 2 weeks of growth in my sump refugium which holds roughly 8 gallons

 

[Catchemall]

I'm probably going to buy this. I'm at 7" wide and this is 6". Some reviewers said it grew chaeto well.

I have the bigger one but it didn't live up to my expectations compared to the one rev posted up. Took it offline and added scrubber but there's more to it than light so I can't fully blame the light because my tank was fairly new as well.

 

[jdog1989]

I have a chunk in my sump fugue it is not growing just stays same size .... Hair algae is growing in the fuge ... Why

Also possible the Hair is stealing away from the Chaeto eating the nutrients, any Hair in DT?

 

[Anthony Novello]

Also possible the Hair is stealing away from the Chaeto eating the nutrients, any Hair in DT?

Yes I run gfo /carbon mix in mini reactor. Pho 0.05 nitrate 20 There. Is very small amount of hair in display

 

[Arron209]

Idk the price on that but was planning to find an < $20 solution :p

It's $110ish if you look on Amazon or eBay.

 

[sonubhai]

@Jorden Watkins nice bush :)
I was using a grow light bought from eBay, its was working fine for me. Chaeto growth is not explosive like @Jorden Watkins. I might have to try the bulb he is talking about I have a small refugium area in the sump so i will go with a smaller bulb.
With a 5000k spiral bulb I had chaeto died on me twice.
My phosphates stay around .05 and nitrates at 20

Spectrum-E27-Led-Grow-Light-Growing-Lamp-Light-Bulb-For-Flower-Plant-1p-/291818362967?hash=item43f1bad857:g:CXIAAOSw2x1XKWKR

 

[peterj66]

I run 18w red+20w warm white. They are on for 16h and off 8h during the day. Chaeto grows very well. The rest period is important if you want maximum growth.
I also dose chelated iron since this was limiting growth a couple of months back.

 

[jonas helsted]

you don't need blues for refugium you need something in the 5k to 6k range somewhere in that kelvin, Do you know what this one is? if it is in that range it's ok

No. u just need the red colors more or less. the one i have also has 2 blues but just for the looks i guess u Cant really See it.

 

[Jorden Watkins]

I promise you won't be disappointed. I hardly even test nitrates anymore because it's always 0 on salifert

@Jorden Watkins nice bush :)
I was using a grow light bought from eBay, its was working fine for me. Chaeto growth is not explosive like @Jorden Watkins. I might have to try the bulb he is talking about I have a small refugium area in the sump so i will go with a smaller bulb.
With a 5000k spiral bulb I had chaeto died on me twice.
My phosphates stay around .05 and nitrates at 20

Spectrum-E27-Led-Grow-Light-Growing-Lamp-Light-Bulb-For-Flower-Plant-1p-/291818362967?hash=item43f1bad857:g:CXIAAOSw2x1XKWKR

 

[Jorden Watkins]

The second picture is right before I changed to this light, and the 3rd picture is 2 weeks later.

 

[36boo]

The second picture is right before I changed to this light, and the 3rd picture is 2 weeks later.

Whats corals are the orange one

 

[McolonReefAddict]

I just removed all of my chaeto from the sump just this past weekend and installed filter sockes and some phosban. Just got tired of trimming the chaeto and I want to see how much of a benefit it is over the phosban and filter socks. Time will tell so I'll update in a month or two.

 

[Mark_D]

I just removed all of my chaeto from the sump just this past weekend and installed filter sockes and some phosban. Just got tired of trimming the chaeto and I want to see how much of a benefit it is over the phosban and filter socks. Time will tell so I'll update in a month or two.

Having to clean/change those socks will be more work then trimming cheato.....

 

[McolonReefAddict]

Having to clean/change those socks will be more work then trimming cheato.....

For me its easier to swap out a sock than it is to cut/trim chaeto. My setup is just easier for sock use, but if i see a negative affect from removing the chaeto then its very simple to add it back in.

 

[Mark_D]

For me its easier to swap out a sock than it is to cut/trim chaeto. My setup is just easier for sock use, but if i see a negative affect from removing the chaeto then its very simple to add it back in.

Oh ok! Make sure you don't keep the phosban media in too long or else it will start leaching all the bad stuff back in the tank

 

[McolonReefAddict]

I usually keep it in for a week then i run without for a week before i add fresh phosban.

 

[Jorden Watkins]

Whats corals are the orange one

I have a few orange ones lol..what side of the tank?

 

[dougdog]

I used the cheap clip hang fixture found on any big hardware store with a CFL bulb. Chaeto was groing but I decided to use this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CLPVIF2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chaeto started to grow way much faster.

 

[E_Aquatics]

For anyone thinking of getting a light for growing chaeto do yourself a favor and get a Mars Hydro 300. You will thank me later. This thing grows chaeto like there's no tomorrow.