Hey all, long time lurker, first time poster!
Hoping for some assistance.. I've searched and read a bunch but still can't quite get my chaeto to thrive.
Summary:
- 160g peninsula tank, 40g sump that's about 6mo old. 2 little clown fish, a small tang, and a blenny currently inhabit the DT along with a cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp + some snails. It's pretty baren right now but we're going real slow and are still waiting for our peninsula to be enclosed in a top cabinet section before I install lights and eventually add corals.
- Sump picture attached - 3 filter socks, 2x 24W green-killing-machine UVs (only 1 is on right now), nyos 160 skimmer, fuge with live rock, rubble, sand, a peppermint, and some snails. Temps at 77-79F.
About 2 months ago I put in a ball of chaeto from my LFS, and within about a month it fell apart, turned soft and white and I chucked it so it stopped decomposing. At the time, I had about 10-20ppm nitrate and went between a 2700K cree 9W LED to a 5000K 12W Phillips white LED (both household potlights since I read chaeto didn't need any fancy lights). Okay I thought, probably iron/trace elements issue, maybe flow, maybe light.
About a month after that (2 weeks ago from today), I added a second ball of chaeto, this time with the following improvements:
- got a Kessil H80 light
- Nitrates at 40ppm
- Got ChaetoGro
I added it, dosed the ChaetoGrow and MicroBacter7 along with it as recommended, put the Kessil on Grow at 50% - 12hr period opposite from daytime (since no light in the DT) (6pm-6am). Light is 12" above the fuge and the chaeto is 6" under the water - not tumbling but it does wave/move a little. Over the next week I increased lighting to 100% intensity and kept dosing the 2 supplements. I also turned off skimming.
2 weeks later (today), it's still slowly falling apart (I keep picking out pieces of chaeto everywhere) and continuing to turn pale. I do notice the pieces that break off are not as mushy or white as before but they're still falling apart (1-2" pieces). I thought maybe it was PO4 phosphate limited so I got the red sea test kit and checked today - 0.05ppm - seems fine.
It's definitely healthier than the 1st round of chaeto which fell apart more quickly and got more mushy than this time, but regardless it's not growing and thus not reducing nitrates (actually increasing them since it's basically a nitrate battery that is depleting right now). I also noticed brown algae on the glass walls develop in the fuge since adding the H80 - snails must be happy.
I'm going to try to reduce photo period to 8hrs, reduce light intensity to 50%, and go on the daily dosing schedule of ChaetoGro rather than the twice weekly.
Anyone had a similar experience or can recommend what to try next as I'm out of ideas.
Hoping for some assistance.. I've searched and read a bunch but still can't quite get my chaeto to thrive.
Summary:
- 160g peninsula tank, 40g sump that's about 6mo old. 2 little clown fish, a small tang, and a blenny currently inhabit the DT along with a cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp + some snails. It's pretty baren right now but we're going real slow and are still waiting for our peninsula to be enclosed in a top cabinet section before I install lights and eventually add corals.
- Sump picture attached - 3 filter socks, 2x 24W green-killing-machine UVs (only 1 is on right now), nyos 160 skimmer, fuge with live rock, rubble, sand, a peppermint, and some snails. Temps at 77-79F.
About 2 months ago I put in a ball of chaeto from my LFS, and within about a month it fell apart, turned soft and white and I chucked it so it stopped decomposing. At the time, I had about 10-20ppm nitrate and went between a 2700K cree 9W LED to a 5000K 12W Phillips white LED (both household potlights since I read chaeto didn't need any fancy lights). Okay I thought, probably iron/trace elements issue, maybe flow, maybe light.
About a month after that (2 weeks ago from today), I added a second ball of chaeto, this time with the following improvements:
- got a Kessil H80 light
- Nitrates at 40ppm
- Got ChaetoGro
I added it, dosed the ChaetoGrow and MicroBacter7 along with it as recommended, put the Kessil on Grow at 50% - 12hr period opposite from daytime (since no light in the DT) (6pm-6am). Light is 12" above the fuge and the chaeto is 6" under the water - not tumbling but it does wave/move a little. Over the next week I increased lighting to 100% intensity and kept dosing the 2 supplements. I also turned off skimming.
2 weeks later (today), it's still slowly falling apart (I keep picking out pieces of chaeto everywhere) and continuing to turn pale. I do notice the pieces that break off are not as mushy or white as before but they're still falling apart (1-2" pieces). I thought maybe it was PO4 phosphate limited so I got the red sea test kit and checked today - 0.05ppm - seems fine.
It's definitely healthier than the 1st round of chaeto which fell apart more quickly and got more mushy than this time, but regardless it's not growing and thus not reducing nitrates (actually increasing them since it's basically a nitrate battery that is depleting right now). I also noticed brown algae on the glass walls develop in the fuge since adding the H80 - snails must be happy.
I'm going to try to reduce photo period to 8hrs, reduce light intensity to 50%, and go on the daily dosing schedule of ChaetoGro rather than the twice weekly.
Anyone had a similar experience or can recommend what to try next as I'm out of ideas.