Macro Nutrient Uptake

[zieg9479]

Thanks Randy. Maybe just time to reboot the algae reactor with some fresh chaeto. I did notice a little calerpa growth while the chaeto has declined; maybe a caulerpa chunk in one of the chambers, to see what happens?

In my experience, caulerpa species outcompete chaeto.

 

[bh750]

First of all, I LOVE this thread. Ive pondered the same question for years and never been able to get a clear answer or even debate until now. so thanks.

I was going to start a new thread on this but thinking it might be better here since its essentially the same topic...

So I added some new refugium space to my system. Instead of purchasing a bunch of new chaeto I thought, hey, maybe I can "farm" some quickly from some existing chaeto. Since all it needs is, N, P and light figured it would be easy. But it really work, so I mustve done something wrong. This is what I did:

1) Clean 5 gallon bucket filled almost to the top with water from my current system.
2) Threw in a clump of chaeto from my fuge
3) Sat one of these LED grow lights directly on top of the bucket, a few inches from the surface - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WG6G9SI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
4) Added some P in the form of Seachem Flourish (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002APIJQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) Didnt measure, just dumped some in.
5) Did not add a heater, so temps in the 70-75 F degree range

Let it go for about 3 weeks, occasionally adding P and also some food pellets to feed the plankton in there.

In the end I didnt get what I expected to be a bunch of growth. If any it was small. Also it seemed like some of the chaeto started to die.

My thoughts are:
- Could've been too much light?
- I didnt add any N
- Lack of circulation
- Water temp

Probably all of the above. Thoughts? Dumb idea?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My thoughts are:
- Could've been too much light?
- I didnt add any N
- Lack of circulation
- Water temp

Probably all of the above. Thoughts? Dumb idea?

Probably limited by one of more of the nutrients it needed (N, trace elements, etc.).

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

Enjoying this thread - so much great information and discussion! Thanks all for your contributions

 

[bh750]

Probably limited by one of more of the nutrients it needed (N, trace elements, etc.).

Darn! Maybe I'll try again. In theory, Randy, should this work? If so next step will be to decide if its more cost effective and safer to culture my own rather than purchase.

 

[madweazl]

Just wanted to post an update. About a week ago I noticed a considerable amount of die off at the bottom of the refugium. The upper area had grown so thick it was almost solid (you could set weight on top of it) and sufficient light wasn't able to penetrate to the lower depths. The prolifera that had been dominant most of the past year was nowhere to be found and about a week ago, a ball of chaeto had started to take off and has begun over growing the now dominant paspaloides. In regard to volume, it looks like I've lost about 30% when viewed from top to bottom but some of that is likely offset with the density near the top of the refugium.

At this point, the Kessil H80 isn't strong enough to provide requisite intensity to the lower depths of the refugium so I removed two good sized handfuls to promote some new growth (had some serious weight to 'em). I also noticed two small patches of hair algae in the display where none has ever grown since the tank was stood up about 18 months ago. It looks to be receding already but it sure popped up fast. Based on my results, I believe the H80 is capable of penetrating depths to about six inches when the macro becomes this dense. Chaeto likely lets a little more light pass through it than the paspaloides so that might allow for slightly better penetration. It will certainly be interesting to see if it (the chaeto) completely overgrows the other macros in the tank. Oh, with the die off and removal of some algae, I did find some prolifera down there so it is still alive as well.

Always awesome to see what goes on in the refugium, it's a whole other world down there with all kinds of different life.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the update.

 

[dragonfish]

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