I’ve been growing it for years. Good stuff. For anyone who cares to know you can find giant clumps of it growing naturally in the mosquito lagoon and Indian river down in central Florida. Pretty cool to see it in the wild!
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What's a cryptic refugium?I had Cheato in a big ball in a lighted section of my sump. I also had it in a basket fed by my calcium reactor effluent. Both worked. The problem I had was that it was unnecessary. I was adding ammonium and phosphate stock solutions to keep nitrates & phosphate detectable and keep the Cheato growing. At the same time, I had poor growth and color in my corals. I replaced the cheato with a cryptic refugium. I have to manage nitrates and phosphates a little now but my corals are growing much more rapidly and have better color.
Mine died too. Then I got a little basket for it. Seems to be growing (second round).I have tried and I have failed... even changed out the cheaper grow light for a tunze... it does not grow for me that said, I do have a small piece of caulerpa successfully growing so I can at least grow something and the tangs like it.
Basicly a dark space full of live rock and sand that harbors lots of sponges, tube worms, bivalved, pods, and all kinds of other life. It helps with nutrient processing and provides input into the food web.What's a cryptic refugium?
Any chance of a picture? I'm very interested in this ideaBasicly a dark space full of live rock and sand that harbors lots of sponges, tube worms, bivalved, pods, and all kinds of other life. It helps with nutrient processing and provides input into the food web.
I prefer caulerpa as well.mI have grown it successfully but agree with others who listed the following issues:
- Can become a detritus factory inside the chaeto ball if not moved/maintained constantly
- Can become an Aptasia factory if you don’t have peppermint shrimp or Berghia nudibranchs to clear it out
- Gets so thick that sometimes it creates issues with flow in refugium
- Hair algae would start to outcompete the Chaeto at times and become a tangled mess
I switched to Grape & Fern Caulerpa and will never look back:
- Easier to grow both strands, easier to harvest
- Doesn’t block flow and finds more areas to grow within refugium
- Still houses tons of pods
- Food for my Herbivores in the tank if I want to recycle some of it to the fish
- Easy as hell to harvest
I'll try to get a shot tonight.Any chance of a picture? I'm very interested in this idea
Interesting... what does the basket help change?Mine died too. Then I got a little basket for it. Seems to be growing (second round).
I think I’m experiencing a similar situation, although I’ve no way to check my Ph04 currently. (I must remedy that!) I’m running chaeto in the rear, middle chamber of my JBJ NanoCube 24. I’ve noticed copepods back there were thriving in the chaeto but have dropped off of late too.I recently started growing chaeto. I believe it has dropped out my PhO4 and NO and has kicked off an infestation of dinos’s.
I have done testing for pho4 levels. And I definitely notice levels drop when there is a larger amount of chaeto . I now limit the amount to a golf ball size in my 40gallon aio rear chamber. Within two days the Dino’s are almost completely gone. And nutrient levels are back to normal. I think chaeto can be seriously detrimental depending on the size of aquarium, filtration methods, stocking, feeding, etc… I’d bet in smaller systems chaeto causes more harm than good and can cause a domino effect that can wipe out a system. if you want or like chaeto only keep a small amount and discard it on a regular basis.I think I’m experiencing a similar situation, although I’ve no way to check my Ph04 currently. (I must remedy that!) I’m running chaeto in the rear, middle chamber of my JBJ NanoCube 24. I’ve noticed copepods back there were thriving in the chaeto but have dropped off of late too.
What are you doing to address your problem, may I ask?
Good idea! I just reduced mine to a small ball a third of what it was and will monitor. My chaeto seems very healthy and perhaps this will right the ship. It wasn't too bad yet but was heading in the wrong direction I believe.I have done testing for pho4 levels. And I definitely notice levels drop when there is a larger amount of chaeto . I now limit the amount to a golf ball size in my 40gallon aio rear chamber. Within two days the Dino’s are almost completely gone. And nutrient levels are back to normal. I think chaeto can be seriously detrimental depending on the size of aquarium, filtration methods, stocking, feeding, etc… I’d bet in smaller systems chaeto causes more harm than good and can cause a domino effect that can wipe out a system. if you want or like chaeto only keep a small amount and discard it on a regular basis.