jap783
Community Member
It took me a while to prove that Red Sea's NOPOX fuels the growth of my chaetomorpha but I have been tracking the progress of my refugium photographically for several months. The basis of filtration on my reef aquarium is based around a Chaeto based CPR hang-on refugium. My goal was to have a high fish bio-load while the refugium would be a nutrient sink. However, like many others have experienced, once the chaeto grows in the exponential phase, it is only a matter of time before the culture crashes. For me it would take 3-6 weeks before the culture eventually crashed. During this time, I tried the using Brightwell's Chaetogro but would still have the same crashes. After a few months, I switched to the Red Sea Trace Colors dosing system because the potassium (salifert potassium test kit) was off the chart.
Back in June 2022, I started dosing Red Sea's NOPOX in order to reduce the nitrate spike that would naturally occur when the chaeto would inevitably crash. That was the last time I have had to purchase chaeto for my reef tank and I couldn't be happier with the results. I could harvest the algae every two weeks but I wanted to see if the culture would crash once it reached a certain density. I found that the algae will grow until it is pushing itself out of the top and drying out (pictured below!). I did however, run into some problems once the algae was growing consistently.
The biggest issue I ran into was the undetectable nitrates but phosphates were consistently around 0.15ppm. I assumed that using Red Sea's Reef Energy AB+ would provide the necessary nitrogen for coral growth but some corals grew while others did not. I even tried dosing Reef Nutrition's Phytofeast, Oyster feast, and Roti-feast but it did not improve the growth of corals that were receding. I finally conceded to dosing nitrates directly using Brightwell's NeoNitro and my nitrates are currently riding at 2ppm. Most of the corals that were receding are now showing signs of skeletal growth. The corals with the most obvious growth are in the Acropora's and you can see their growth below.
Overall the tank is a 40 gallon breeder with no sump with 30 genera of corals, 20 fish, as well as a couple of sponges and feather dusters. My goal was to create a display that would showcase the biodiversity of a coral reef ecosystem while incorporating of each species' specific requirements. I would like to add more inverts but I found that my super male melanurus (raised from a female) is highly predatory on crustaceans. I can definitely add more fish but am planning to move soon so I have disassembled my quarantine tank. Instead I am taking this concept to the next level and am going to try setting up a seahorse Acropora display.
One note about potassium: at 15 ml/day, it has the highest dose of my trace elements other than calcium and carbonate. Once the algae started growing in the exponential phase, I can barely keep the potassium level at 400ppm. While Chaetogro did not work for me at first, it may be useful now as a replacement for the Red Sea Colors but I am happy with the system I have currently. I used an ICP analysis to ensure that my trace elements aren't being overdosed. Using 3 jerboa wifi doses I currently dose: Calcium chloride, sodium carbonate, BRS magnesium mix, Red Sea's NOPOX, Red Sea Trace Colors Parts A through D, Brightwell's NeoNitro, Reef Nutrition's Phytofeast, Roti-feast, and Oysterfeast. I also feed 0.25 grams of reef roids, golden pearls 500 micron pellets, and formula one pellets three times daily with an Eheim auto feeder.
It is my sincere hope that the information I have provided will change the reef keeping experience. I would like to know what are other chaeto growers experience? Has anyone gone more than a year without a culture crash? It has been only three months so I would like to see if other chaeto growers would be willing to try dosing Red Sea's NOPOX to verify these results. Is anyone else dosing other carbon forms and are running a refugium at the same time? Based on it's smell, NOPOX would appear to be an acetone based carbon source. Can chaeto use other forms of carbon such as ethanol or acetic acid (vodka or vinegar)?
Chaeto starting to dry out at the surface (09/12/2022)
Dosing and feeding system
Harvested 06/22/2022, 07/07/2022, 07/28/2022, 08/22/2022
Acropora growth: 05/24/2022, 07/27/2022, 09/05/2022
Full tank shot:
Back in June 2022, I started dosing Red Sea's NOPOX in order to reduce the nitrate spike that would naturally occur when the chaeto would inevitably crash. That was the last time I have had to purchase chaeto for my reef tank and I couldn't be happier with the results. I could harvest the algae every two weeks but I wanted to see if the culture would crash once it reached a certain density. I found that the algae will grow until it is pushing itself out of the top and drying out (pictured below!). I did however, run into some problems once the algae was growing consistently.
The biggest issue I ran into was the undetectable nitrates but phosphates were consistently around 0.15ppm. I assumed that using Red Sea's Reef Energy AB+ would provide the necessary nitrogen for coral growth but some corals grew while others did not. I even tried dosing Reef Nutrition's Phytofeast, Oyster feast, and Roti-feast but it did not improve the growth of corals that were receding. I finally conceded to dosing nitrates directly using Brightwell's NeoNitro and my nitrates are currently riding at 2ppm. Most of the corals that were receding are now showing signs of skeletal growth. The corals with the most obvious growth are in the Acropora's and you can see their growth below.
Overall the tank is a 40 gallon breeder with no sump with 30 genera of corals, 20 fish, as well as a couple of sponges and feather dusters. My goal was to create a display that would showcase the biodiversity of a coral reef ecosystem while incorporating of each species' specific requirements. I would like to add more inverts but I found that my super male melanurus (raised from a female) is highly predatory on crustaceans. I can definitely add more fish but am planning to move soon so I have disassembled my quarantine tank. Instead I am taking this concept to the next level and am going to try setting up a seahorse Acropora display.
One note about potassium: at 15 ml/day, it has the highest dose of my trace elements other than calcium and carbonate. Once the algae started growing in the exponential phase, I can barely keep the potassium level at 400ppm. While Chaetogro did not work for me at first, it may be useful now as a replacement for the Red Sea Colors but I am happy with the system I have currently. I used an ICP analysis to ensure that my trace elements aren't being overdosed. Using 3 jerboa wifi doses I currently dose: Calcium chloride, sodium carbonate, BRS magnesium mix, Red Sea's NOPOX, Red Sea Trace Colors Parts A through D, Brightwell's NeoNitro, Reef Nutrition's Phytofeast, Roti-feast, and Oysterfeast. I also feed 0.25 grams of reef roids, golden pearls 500 micron pellets, and formula one pellets three times daily with an Eheim auto feeder.
It is my sincere hope that the information I have provided will change the reef keeping experience. I would like to know what are other chaeto growers experience? Has anyone gone more than a year without a culture crash? It has been only three months so I would like to see if other chaeto growers would be willing to try dosing Red Sea's NOPOX to verify these results. Is anyone else dosing other carbon forms and are running a refugium at the same time? Based on it's smell, NOPOX would appear to be an acetone based carbon source. Can chaeto use other forms of carbon such as ethanol or acetic acid (vodka or vinegar)?
Chaeto starting to dry out at the surface (09/12/2022)
Dosing and feeding system
Harvested 06/22/2022, 07/07/2022, 07/28/2022, 08/22/2022
Acropora growth: 05/24/2022, 07/27/2022, 09/05/2022
Full tank shot:
neonitro can.
