Having trouble growing chaeto

[mpatterson42]

40G tank, 20G sump.

Salinity: 35ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm (Hanna)
Phosphate: 0.27ppm (Hanna)

I started my first saltwater tank in December 2024. Once the cycle finished I added AlgaeBarn chaeto and copepods to my refugium. The chaeto is both a place for the copepods to live as well as for nutrient export.

My refugium has a Kessil H80 light. When I first added the chaeto I had the intensity at 25% and it ran for 4 hours at night. Every week I either added 2 hours to the total time, or increased the intensity by 25%. Once it got to 100% and 12 hours a night I stopped adjusting it.

My chaeto growth has been minimal, honestly it seems like I have less than half of what I started with. I grow more green hair algae in the refugium than chaeto but still have pretty high phosphate. Whenever I do water changes I try and get as much of the GHA out of there as I can.

3 weeks ago I started adding ChaetoGro, 3 cap fulls twice a week. However, I still haven't seen any change in my chaeto growth.

Any suggestions?

 

[BAMatter]

When I had a fuge I found chaeto didn’t care too much for phosphate but did a terrific job at nitrate control, and had to dose NO3 in order to have any detectable amount. I’d check that and start there.

 

[Koty]

You have to dose trace elements. I regularly dose Tropic Marin A & K with my three part and my Chaeto is growing like crazy ( since I started). Have the H80 on max intensity for at least 10h

 

[Lavey29]

You show nitrates at 5 and that number could actually be lower given the error range of test kits. So maybe not enough nitrates in the water to support chaeto growth. Combine that with new tank GHA phase and the GHA is out competing the chaeto also.

 

[dangles]

YMMV but I had to run my fuge light at 100% for 24 hours a day to get the chaeto going on my first tank. Along with ChaetoGrow. I was having the same issues it sounds like you are but once I started dosing the CG and running the light full intensity for 24 hours a day it took off.

If you decide try that obviously keep a closer eye on your nutrients.

 

[get-salty]

Hi there, just an fyi

Just bc you put chaeto in the sump along with a light and expect it to grow.
You need the right amount of nutrients from fish foods and fish poop.
All these comes from a "matured" system...

Do you have a small power head to help chaeto turn over?
That will help from burning/melting from your LED light.

If it keeps melting, id stop and give your tank another few months.

Good luck and happy reefing !

 

[mpatterson42]

YMMV but I had to run my fuge light at 100% for 24 hours a day to get the chaeto going on my first tank. Along with ChaetoGrow. I was having the same issues it sounds like you are but once I started dosing the CG and running the light full intensity for 24 hours a day it took off.

If you decide try that obviously keep a closer eye on your nutrients.

Did you have GHA also growing in your refugium? How did you deal with it?

 

[dangles]

Did you have GHA also growing in your refugium? How did you deal with it?

Yes I did. It’s also in my current fuge, although not as bad. I think to some degree it’s just a part of the package. Really all you can do is remove it manually, or put inverts in there that are known to eat GHA. I gave up on having a squeaky clean refugium :face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[mnreef2reef]

Related question: I bought some chaeto about 10 months ago for a very small tank, and kept the "mother plant" in a vase of salt water in sunlight, as basically a houseplant, since I only needed a small piece of it for the aquarium. No animals, no other plants, no food source, no water circulation, no airstone or source of oxygen, and sporadic partial water changes (~30ppt salinity) every couple weeks. Despite this almost total (but deliberate) neglect, the plant grew well. I did buy Chaeto Gro and sporadically added a drop. Eventually I dumped what remained of the original water from the store, which may have had any amount of trace elements and nutrients, and replaced it with pure sterile saltwater, but started to add small amounts of Chaeto Gro more regularly. But the plant isn't doing as well as it did previously.

Since it is a vase and not a functioning aquarium, I am not sure the formula on the bottle should be followed (daily dosing), as I am concerned excess nutrients would accumulate since there is no substrate or organisms or filtration to consume it -- it has nowhere to go -- and could result in bacterial or other blooms.

I see the company that makes Chaeto Gro has several other plant supplements. I am wondering if I should 1) add more Chaeto Gro or 2) change the water more regularly or 3) add additional supplements, or some combination of the above. The goal is to keep this a low-maintenance "farm" vase and not add an airstone or otherwise complicate it to the point where it is more an aquarium than a vase, if this is possible.