Chaeto leaking out of refugium

[benmed]

So I just submitted myself to highway robbery by buying a small chunk of Chaeto for like 30 dollars from algae barn.
I put it into my refugium and was pleased to see it spinning nicely. I came back a couple hours later and thought, man, that ball looks a lot smaller than what I put in there.
I realized that small spaghetti strands were falling off and exiting the refugium over the wall. I saw little hair strands all throughout the sump and even to my incredible dismay, one made it inside my skimmer.
Anyway, am I screwed? Anything to prevent this? Just flush my fish down the toilet now?

video attached:

September 14, 2022

youtube.com

 

[davidcalgary29]

So I just submitted myself to highway robbery by buying a small chunk of Chaeto for like 30 dollars from algae barn.
I put it into my refugium and was pleased to see it spinning nicely. I came back a couple hours later and thought, man, that ball looks a lot smaller than what I put in there.
I realized that small spaghetti strands were falling off and exiting the refugium over the wall. I saw little hair strands all throughout the sump and even to my incredible dismay, one made it inside my skimmer.
Anyway, am I screwed? Anything to prevent this? Just flush my fish down the toilet now?

video attached:

September 14, 2022

youtube.com

What? Why? It's just algae. Stinky, gross algae, but it's not the indestructible supervillain of the aquarium with horrifying superpowers! That would be the Kenya Tree.

Just pluck it out of your display if you see it. And then get some nice macroalgae, like halymenia or pencillus, and put it in your display. If you don't have voracious herbivores, that is.

 

[Slocke]

Though Cheeto grows like a weed and 30$ is indeed a robbery, it won’t take over a tank.
I drop my weekly softballs of Cheeto in my tanks and let my herbivores shred it. It goes everywhere but disappears pretty quick.

 

[benmed]

1. It doesn’t look as cool as other peoples videos with neat, tidy balls of chaeto
2. I don’t want it to clog my pumps

 

[Slocke]

Reduce flow or keep it in place somehow. I keep mine in a mesh planted box but a net could do while you get it established and growing. An algae clip may work too.

 

[sixty_reefer]

For a business the price is right, you not just paying for chaeto, you paying for a pest free piece of algae that is good enough to seed the refugium it will grow to a decent amount in a couple weeks. Most growers have the chaeto in a separate thank without fish, with flow and strong lighting to achieve the clean product, all that adds up to the overhead that we can easily overlook.
if you wanted cheaper you could of got it from a fellow reefer and deal with the possible pests that often come with chaeto.
Regarding the algae being al over the sump you only got yourself to blame as the refugium is not build properly, you need a clip on weir on the baffle instead of some filter wool.

 

[yanetterer]

You can use a piece of aquamesh or something similar: https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/black-1.html

Just cut it so it puts a little bit of pressure on the walls to hold itself up and have it come up just above the waterline to prevent any chaeto from flowing over the baffle. I used it in my sump that didn't have a refugium section and it has been working well.

 

[Dom]

Just flush my fish down the toilet now?

Really?

 

[Reefer Matt]

For a business the price is right, you not just paying for chaeto, you paying for a pest free piece of algae that is good enough to seed the refugium it will grow to a decent amount in a couple weeks. Most growers have the chaeto in a separate thank without fish, with flow and strong lighting to achieve the clean product, all that adds up to the overhead that we can easily overlook.
if you wanted cheaper you could of got it from a fellow reefer and deal with the possible pests that often come with chaeto.
Regarding the algae being al over the sump you only got yourself to blame as the refugium is not build properly, you need a clip on weir on the baffle instead of some filter wool.

While I agree that Algae Barn may take extra steps to insure a pest free product, they have this disclaimer on their website. Nothing is guaranteed. You can manually remove pests such as bristle worms and stars from chaeto, so long as it isn't packed with aiptasia too.

And to the op, the chaeto ball doesn't have to spin. You can float it in a basket and it will be fine.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

So I just submitted myself to highway robbery by buying a small chunk of Chaeto for like 30 dollars from algae barn.
I put it into my refugium and was pleased to see it spinning nicely. I came back a couple hours later and thought, man, that ball looks a lot smaller than what I put in there.
I realized that small spaghetti strands were falling off and exiting the refugium over the wall. I saw little hair strands all throughout the sump and even to my incredible dismay, one made it inside my skimmer.
Anyway, am I screwed? Anything to prevent this? Just flush my fish down the toilet now?

video attached:

September 14, 2022

youtube.com

Also, for experienced reefers that $30 ball of "highway robbery" is actually a nice item because Algae Barn ensure's you're getting exactly a ball of chaeto. When you start to really get involved you want to ensure you know exactly what macro algae you're growing. Buying some cheap ball of chaeto from an LFS for $10 means you're getting unwanted junk and pests with it.

You get what you pay for in this hobby (unless of course you paid for ecotech lights running morbius).

 

[exnisstech]

I just made a divider out of egg crate and put plastic mesh over it. Or I guess you could just flush your fish down the toilet, it's probably what I would do. It would make life so much simpler

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I just made a divider out of egg crate and put plastic mesh over it. Or I guess you could just flush your fish down the toilet, it's probably what I would do. It would make life so much simpler

I flushed this month's mortgage bill down the toilet. Will report back next month to let you guys know how it went.

 

[Pistondog]

So I just submitted myself to highway robbery by buying a small chunk of Chaeto for like 30 dollars from algae barn.
I put it into my refugium and was pleased to see it spinning nicely. I came back a couple hours later and thought, man, that ball looks a lot smaller than what I put in there.
I realized that small spaghetti strands were falling off and exiting the refugium over the wall. I saw little hair strands all throughout the sump and even to my incredible dismay, one made it inside my skimmer.
Anyway, am I screwed? Anything to prevent this? Just flush my fish down the toilet now?

video attached:

September 14, 2022

youtube.com

Slow down the flow, it does not have to tumble.
Besides, tumbling makes any critters in the chaeto dizzy.

 

[Lavey29]

You can get one of those little net fish fry boxes and put it in there. That's what I did for awhile.

 

[benmed]

Really?

not really

 

[benmed]

For a business the price is right, you not just paying for chaeto, you paying for a pest free piece of algae that is good enough to seed the refugium it will grow to a decent amount in a couple weeks. Most growers have the chaeto in a separate thank without fish, with flow and strong lighting to achieve the clean product, all that adds up to the overhead that we can easily overlook.
if you wanted cheaper you could of got it from a fellow reefer and deal with the possible pests that often come with chaeto.
Regarding the algae being al over the sump you only got yourself to blame as the refugium is not build properly, you need a clip on weir on the baffle instead of some filter wool.

I put that filter sock on there to save some of the strands of Chaeto from making a Nemo-style escape into the sumps where it would clog my pump. And it did block about 4 pieces of that green money spaghetti from escaping, so that’s almost half a Bitcoin. My kids can go to collage now. But now I know the name of the thing, clip on weir. So, thanks!

 

[sixty_reefer]

I put that filter sock on there to save some of the strands of Chaeto from making a Nemo-style escape into the sumps where it would clog my pump. And it did block about 4 pieces of that green money spaghetti from escaping, so that’s almost half a Bitcoin. My kids can go to collage now. But now I know the name of the thing, clip on weir. So, thanks!

Interesting to look at this thread in a few weeks once you become a bitcoin whale and have to trow billions worth in the bin on weekly basis
Have you found the clip on weir? I can post a link or a pic if it helps? It’s a neat way to convert the baffle and it works well.

 

[benmed]

Interesting to look at this thread in a few weeks once you become a bitcoin whale and have to trow billions worth in the bin on weekly basis
Have you found the clip on weir? I can post a link or a pic if it helps? It’s a neat way to convert the baffle and it works well.

I didn’t find an aquarium one. But I just bought a comb which I think will work?

 

[benmed]

Here’s the refugium redo… hopefully it works. I adjusted the plumbing with a pvc tube with holes drilled in it pushing water across the top of the refugium away from the exit site (which has a WEIR). It’s got a pretty good tumble so hopefully this works.

 

[benmed]

Sorry. Forgot the video:

Chaeto tumble

youtube.com