Refugium Maxing Out?

[Lil' RegalReefster]

Hice there, a have a few questions concerning my refugium. I have been noticing that the growth of my cheato is very inconsistant and unpredictable. My refugium is about 12 gallons and when the cheato grows enough to fill most of the fuge (takes about 2 to 3 weeks) it will suddenly shrink by almost 50% and become very dense and even more curly. When this happens it will stop growing and collect algae and detritus and begin to break apart and become brittle. Afterwards, I will harvest it and leave about 1/3 in the fuge. After harvesting, it takes up to 1 or 2 weeks for it to start growing again. When it start to grow again, the cheato strands get more stringy but also stronger and look a lot healthier. After about a week or two it fills the fuge and then the process repeats. I have also tried removing small amounts more frequently but every time I do it's almost as if it "resets" the cheato and it will take a week for it to start growing again. I have seen countless refugiums where the cheato look super healthy and fills the entire fuge without looking unhealthy. They simply take a handful out every now and again and it thrives!!! I would very much like to achieve this with my refugium so can somebody please advise me on what to do or what might be happening, this is basically my only nutrient reduction method so it's very important that I find a solution. I also would like to eventually get some wrasses and a dragonet so I am worried that this unstable refugium will not be good for my pod population. My tank is about 7 months old and I dose 5 ml of cheato gro daily in my 120g and have lots of available nutrients, No3 20-25ppm and Po4 0.05- 0.09, and the rest of my parameters would be considered within "normal" range. Also I have a kessil h380 that lights the entire fuge evenly. Thank you for any help in advance and I very much appreciate your input and Replys and sorry for the long post!

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

Please anyone, I really would like some help figuring this out!

 

[PeterC99]

What is the light schedule on your aquarium and what is the lighting schedule of the refugium?

How much flow does your refugium get?

what is the make up of your aquarium? FLOWR or reef?

What is your feeding and water change schedule?

How long has your aquarium been setup? Did you use live sand and rock?

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

The refugiums runs on a 12 hour reverse schedule and the display runs for a 10 hour period.

The refugium does not have a ton of rapid flow but it gets the turnover laminar flow in the sump which is about 6-7 times the total tank volume But overall, I would say low flow.

The tank is a mixed reef, however, I still do not have a lot of coral so I would say I have a medium bio load

I feed three times a day, pellets once in the morning (two- three pinches of micro pellets), small piece of PE mysis and small piece of homemade reef mix

The cycle was a month and a half long and was completed 7 months ago. All dry rock and sand, I did deal with dinoflagellates for quite awhile and recently beat them to the point where I only find very small patches of dino's in the tank. The refugium contains 10 lbs of live Fiji rock and has about an inch of sand. There is some cyano growing on those live rocks however it has NEVER touched or grown on the cheato.

 

[PeterC99]

Sounds like your aquarium is starting to mature. Keep harvesting your chaeto Before it maxes out the refugium. The health of the refugium will tell you the health of the aquarium.

Chaeto growth should be consist to the point that you have to harvest every month.

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

Ok, so basically it's just one of those things that inexplicably works itself out. Ahhhhhh, the Joy's reefing brings lol

 

[LacViet]

Do you turn the chaeto every few days? When chaeto grows and fills the fuge, the bottom chaeto will not get enough light and that’s when it turns curly, darker green color, and dense (at least in my observation). I harvest about a third to a half every 2 weeks when it just fills the fuge, and turn chaeto every few days so both side can get even light.
how do you harvest it? It might be something to do with chaeto “reset” and stops growing for 1-2 weeks before it starts to grow again. For me, i just yank out a bunch out of the sump, leaves the other remains still submerged in the fuge. Then spread the remain out thin to fill the fuge completely.

 

[BiggestE222]

Chevy nitrates and phosphates. Check iron. Maybe feed more

 

[AlgaeBarn]

The refugiums runs on a 12 hour reverse schedule and the display runs for a 10 hour period.

The refugium does not have a ton of rapid flow but it gets the turnover laminar flow in the sump which is about 6-7 times the total tank volume But overall, I would say low flow.

The tank is a mixed reef, however, I still do not have a lot of coral so I would say I have a medium bio load

I feed three times a day, pellets once in the morning (two- three pinches of micro pellets), small piece of PE mysis and small piece of homemade reef mix

The cycle was a month and a half long and was completed 7 months ago. All dry rock and sand, I did deal with dinoflagellates for quite awhile and recently beat them to the point where I only find very small patches of dino's in the tank. The refugium contains 10 lbs of live Fiji rock and has about an inch of sand. There is some cyano growing on those live rocks however it has NEVER touched or grown on the cheato.

Have you tried increasing the flow so that the chaeto tumbles?