ChaetoGro vs. DWC

[chimbo84]

I have a sixth month old 120gal with a 40gal sump. My PO4 tends to hovers around 0.08ppm with nitrates usually between 5-10ppm. I have a massive GHA issue that I am trying to address and to that end, I am trying to get my refugium to a healthier state. I have been using Ulva but is has not done well (see my thread about it here : https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ulva-in-refugium.925805/). I just picked up some healthy looking chaeto and want to give it the best shot at growing.

I do daily waterchanges of 4.5L which amounts to a monthly water change of roughly 24% (considering a system volume of ~150gal). I use Fritz RPM Blue Box salt. My question is should this be enough to supply the necessary iron and trace elements for the chaeto or should I also expect to dose chaetogro? My understanding is that chaetogro could actually make my algae problem worse.

 

[Dan_P]

I have a sixth month old 120gal with a 40gal sump. My PO4 tends to hovers around 0.08ppm with nitrates usually between 5-10ppm. I have a massive GHA issue that I am trying to address and to that end, I am trying to get my refugium to a healthier state. I have been using Ulva but is has not done well (see my thread about it here : https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ulva-in-refugium.925805/). I just picked up some healthy looking chaeto and want to give it the best shot at growing.

I do daily waterchanges of 4.5L which amounts to a monthly water change of roughly 24% (considering a system volume of ~150gal). I use Fritz RPM Blue Box salt. My question is should this be enough to supply the necessary iron and trace elements for the chaeto or should I also expect to dose chaetogro? My understanding is that chaetogro could actually make my algae problem worse.

Growing macro algae is not going to solve your display tank green hair algae problem. That has to be done by other means.

Growing macro algae is done to remove nitrate and phosphate from the system. The macro algae might also add dissolved organic compounds to the system but that seems to be less understood.

Ulva grows faster than Chaetomorpha and might be less fussy about growing conditions. Ulva can get into the display tank but Chaetomorpha does not seem to have that capability. Both macro algae will deplete trace elements and you will need to dose these to keep the algae healthy.

Does adding trace elements help GHA to grow better, possibly.

 

[chimbo84]

Growing macro algae is not going to solve your display tank green hair algae problem. That has to be done by other means.

Growing macro algae is done to remove nitrate and phosphate from the system. The macro algae might also add dissolved organic compounds to the system but that seems to be less understood.

Ulva grows faster than Chaetomorpha and might be less fussy about growing conditions. Ulva can get into the display tank but Chaetomorpha does not seem to have that capability. Both macro algae will deplete trace elements and you will need to dose these to keep the algae healthy.

Does adding trace elements help GHA to grow better, possibly.

I understand that I need to address the algae that already exists and I am but I am trying to tackle the nutrients at the same time.

I guess to put a finer point on my question I should have asked: "Do daily automatic water changes provide all the necessary iron and trace elements needed for healthy macroalgae or is dosing something like ChaetoGro still necessary?"

 

[Dan_P]

I understand that I need to address the algae that already exists and I am but I am trying to tackle the nutrients at the same time.

I guess to put a finer point on my question I should have asked: "Do daily automatic water changes provide all the necessary iron and trace elements needed for healthy macroalgae or is dosing something like ChaetoGro still necessary?"

I would say that a large amount of rapidly growing macro algae is not going to have its trace element needs met by water changes. What I have no idea about is whether food we give to fish and coral provide much in the way of trace elements. I have 2-5 liters of Ulva growing and with a 1% daily water changes and fish food, I still needed to dose ChaetoGro to keep the Ulva healthy.