Chaeto issues again! Is there a better way?

[USMA36]

For the second time in 3 months my chaeto is disintegrating and clogging my skimmer and carbon reactor pumps. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t figure out why it’s happening. Grows like crazy, then dies off. The die off is a mess it gets everywhere. I am using Triton for other methods at a very low dose of 5ml per day. My light could be better, it’s a Home Depot floodlight 6500k, but I don’t think it’s the light because it grows great for awhile then stops. I have been reading that dosing iron may help. I saw a post by Randy saying to does iron tablets from a pharmacy in some Ro/Di water. I had an ATI ICP test done about a month ago and I think it showed no measurable iron and low molybdenum. Does the moly effect anything? Is there a better way to keep nitrates down? I like the chaeto for the pH balancing effects since my house is sealed up pretty tight. I’ve looked chaeto reactors, but I don’t think I have enough room for the proper sized unit plus it’s another few hundred and I’d probably still run into the same issue with the disintegration.

 

[rkpetersen]

Purely anecdotal, but I dose 5 ml of Brightwell Ferrion into my 100g DT twice a week, and while Triton/ATI tests still read 0 iron, my chaeto is now growing like crazy under a Kessil H80 (not a particularly powerful light). I suspect the iron is partially being used by the macroalgae, and partially being removed by filtration, soon after I add it to the system.

 

[Crabs McJones]

It sounds like what's happening is your chaeto absorbs all your nutrients, so without more nutrients it dies off, and releases the nutrients back into the water. The smaller amount of chaeto as a result from the die off allows your nutrients to climb again where the chaeto again absorbs it, grows, and then your nutrients deplete, and so on and so fourth. You may benefit from regular trimming of your chaeto, don't let it get so big that your nutrients dive. Make sense?

 

[TinyChocobo]

I've seen reports from others as well that without iron it will die - but I've added none to my tank and haven't seen any issues.

I do know that I was running a 24 hour lighting cycle and it grew really strong for a bit and then really slowed down. I moved back to a ~12 hour cycle and it seems to be growing well again. Also I did up the feeding of the tank a bit - which results in more nutrients for it to eat to grow.

If you're running ultra low nutrient - there just may not be very much for it to eat. If you weren't given enough food you'd wither and die too .

Speculation on my part, I'm by no means an expert.

 

[sghera64]

For the second time in 3 months my chaeto is disintegrating and clogging my skimmer and carbon reactor pumps. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t figure out why it’s happening. Grows like crazy, then dies off.

Do you feed some minimal amount of food every day?

Have you been harvesting the chaeto at all?

I feed manually (most of the time . . . Uh, usually . . . Ok sporadically). But I have an autofeeder that feeds a constant amount of fish pellets 3 times each day. It’s not a lot, but it ensures a constant amount of nutrients are going into the bio system each day.

I rarely harvest (like Triton recommends). I let what’s on top “fry” above the waterline under the heat of the light. I guess it dies and returns nutrients back into the system. I do turn the mass over every few days. I just harvested mine for the first time in 2 months. I removed about 20%

If your cheato dies off over a period of 5-10 days, then your nutrients should be rising from the decomposition products of that algae and from the reduced uptake from having less living/growing chaeto. If they are rising, then it should stabilize the remaining healthy chaeto.


I also randomly add Kent’s Fe/Mn and I add DIY iron (GFO in HCl). It might make a difference in the chaeto’s green, but I’m not at all sure.

Let us know the answers to the 2 ?’s above.

 

[USMA36]

I feed LRS once a day and nori every 2 or 3 days. As per Triton I don’t harvest the chaeto. I do try to rotate it every couple of days, less now because it makes a bigger mess. I’m going to try the iron tablets from a drug store desolved in Rodi. Does the mg of the pill matter?

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I had good luck adding this into my refugium compartment

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/iron-concentrate-250-ml-8-oz-two-little-fishies/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've seen reports from others as well that without iron it will die - but I've added none to my tank and haven't seen any issues.

I do know that I was running a 24 hour lighting cycle and it grew really strong for a bit and then really slowed down. I moved back to a ~12 hour cycle and it seems to be growing well again. Also I did up the feeding of the tank a bit - which results in more nutrients for it to eat to grow.

If you're running ultra low nutrient - there just may not be very much for it to eat. If you weren't given enough food you'd wither and die too .

Speculation on my part, I'm by no means an expert.

All foods contain iron. The only question is whether it is enough. Sometimes it may be and sometimes not.

 

[Fourstars]

I’ve had this issue also. Always wonder where all the nutrients go when it melts away? And if the cheato is being starved out what about the corals? Back in the day it was popular to starve our tanks, so I still have issues with that. I tested my tank recently for the first time after two years and the nitrate was 0! Now I’m feeding more and dosing nitrate and iron.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I’ve had this issue also. Always wonder where all the nutrients go when it melts away? And if the cheato is being staved out what about the corals? Back in the day it was popular to starve our tanks, so I still have issues with that. I tested my tank recently for the first time after two years and the nitrate was 0! Now I’m feeding more and dosing nitrate and iron.

I may be wrong, but to my understanding when the chaeto melts away all the nutrients are released back into the water. It doesn't just go away.

 

[Fourstars]

Yes, that is the assumption I came to also. Each time no bloom on my glass.

 

[USMA36]

Is there a better way of keeping nitrates at bay? I really like the pH effect but I can’t deal with Frowning great one minute making a mess the next. I’m going to try dosing the iron but if that doesn’t work I will need to find another way.

 

[Dburr1014]

Following this, this has been going on in my refuge also. Then again I also have thick black cyno that I have to pull out in there also.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are lots of ways to control nutrients, including other species of macroalgae that are more hardy/competitive (but which are also potentially invasive) and organic carbon dosing.

 

[Fourstars]

I don’t think we want the keep nitrates at bay, but in spec. Otherwise, why is it limited in a two year old tank?

 

[Dburr1014]

There are lots of ways to control nutrients, including other species of macroalgae that are more hardy/competitive (but which are also potentially invasive) and organic carbon dosing.

I do have Halimedia and taxfolia growing fine. But any other just grows and dies.
So I guess what you are saying is find a species that works and stick to that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Or organic carbon dose. It's easy and has benefits that macroalgae do not: it feeds filter feeders and even corals directly and via the bacteria grown by its dosing..

 

[USMA36]

The only downfall to removing the chaeto and carbon dosing is losing the bump in pH at night. I feel like every time I kick one problem another pops up.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

The only downfall to removing the chaeto and carbon dosing is losing the bump in pH at night. I feel like every time I kick one problem another pops up.

I prefer an ATS over a chaeto fuge myself. Never have trouble with die back or algae not growing issues.
The benifit over carbon dosing is the algae convert co2 to o2, so oxygenate the water. The bacteria population growth from carbon dosing creates co2.
The algae controls PO4; I never need GFO or anything else. From what I read most people who dose carbon still need gfo.
Algae removes NO3/4 from the water directly, it isn't converted to NO2/3.

 

[USMA36]

I prefer an ATS over a chaeto fuge myself. Never have trouble with die back or algae not growing issues.
The benifit over carbon dosing is the algae convert co2 to o2, so oxygenate the water. The bacteria population growth from carbon dosing creates co2.
The algae controls PO4; I never need GFO or anything else. From what I read most people who dose carbon still need gfo.
Algae removes NO3/4 from the water directly, it isn't converted to NO2/3.

How big a scrubber do you use and what size tank?