Bringing back chaeto

[rsaha]

I seem to be spending too much time battling bubble algae. I have emeralds that don't seem to be able to keep up (or just like other things to eat - hard to say). I feed around 1/2 cube of mysis in a 120 a day, run a good skimmer and do 10% a week water changes.

I run GFO but am not keen on cranking up the amount I use and was thinking of bringing back a small refugium area just for chaeto. I have been searching a bit but am not finding anything specifically on topic for an SPS tank.

So my question is - who is running chaeto, what bulb are you using and is it working for you?

Those opposed - why?

Here's a year old pic of my tank - I really need to get some updated pics...

 

[reelredfish]

How will this help with the bubble algae? I understood it to be that its based upon the release of its spoors when you pop it and not a nutrient issue like other algae. At least that is my understanding cause my sons IM30 has them real bad and I gave up on that.

I have since then pulled all of his live rock and its been scrubbed and cooking for months in a trash can in the garage. I am about to tear the tank down and start it all over from a clean start......I hate bubble algae and have never found crabs as a good option to take care of it at all...tried it in several tanks over the years.

 

[kevin_e]

How will this help with the bubble algae? I understood it to be that its based upon the release of its spoors when you pop it and not a nutrient issue like other algae. At least that is my understanding cause my sons IM30 has them real bad and I gave up on that.

I have since then pulled all of his live rock and its been scrubbed and cooking for months in a trash can in the garage. I am about to tear the tank down and start it all over from a clean start......I hate bubble algae and have never found crabs as a good option to take care of it at all...tried it in several tanks over the years.

That is how the spread, but in order to thrive/grow, they need nutrients. I like the idea of chaeto . While it may not help with bubble algae, it can't hurt with the diversity of microorganisms in your tank.

 

[Peter Eichler]

You're not going to get nutrients low enough to stop bubble algae from growing/spreading... If you do, you can almost count on having a whole lot of dead corals.

 

[rsaha]

That is how the spread, but in order to thrive/grow, they need nutrients. I like the idea of chaeto . While it may not help with bubble algae, it can't hurt with the diversity of microorganisms in your tank.

Agreed on the biodiversity as well. I used to run a proper refugium years ago on this tank but when I swapped out the sump I didn't bring it forward and so have been running without chaeto for a while.

Anyone have a bulb recommendation? I used to run a 6500K CFL but I'm wondering about LED bulbs now the world has moved on.

 

[rsaha]

You're not going to get nutrients low enough to stop bubble algae from growing/spreading... If you do, you can almost count on having a whole lot of dead corals.

Not thinking I will eradicate them. I've had bubble algae in this tank for nearly 10 years. Just looking to reverse what seems to be an uptick in growth rate so I don't spend my life picking them out of the tank.

I used all new rock - Marco rock and Indo maricultured) in my rebuild a couple years back - there's no way to get them out without bursting them and scrubbing the rock isn't really an option as they came back on the corals I brought forward anyway.

 

[swk]

Agreed on the biodiversity as well. I used to run a proper refugium years ago on this tank but when I swapped out the sump I didn't bring it forward and so have been running without chaeto for a while.



Anyone have a bulb recommendation? I used to run a 6500K CFL but I'm wondering about LED bulbs now the world has moved on.

I tried every led at Home Depot and eventually ended up going back to 6500k cfl. They just seem to grow macro much better than the leds ime.

 

[kevin_e]

I too use the 6500k from HD.

I ran a Taotronic over it at one point and growth was out of control, but that was 55 diodes.

 

[Jay_R]

Any other views on ideal Chaeto lighting... I've read that the LED's don't produce enough RED spectrum, and CFL's aren't great at penetrating the water column?

 

[horseplay]

I use 2700k cfl and it works great. Caulaper grows much faster. I suppose to go asexual some times. But I use it so are a lot of other ppl with a lot more to lose. So not a concern for me. I prefer it a lot more than cheats.

 

[rovster]

I was using a CFL spiral bulb (100W equivalent) and it was growing chaeto awesome. Only problem is my tank went ULNS and all the chaeto died on me, creating another problem. I like the idea of a refugium because of the biodiversity and seeing all those bugs in there is entertaining to me, but I'm a little hesitant to retry going forward.

As far as outcompeting bubble algae, that stuff is hard to beat. I recently started popping mine and I have not noticed a spread like some people lead you to believe. Actually, its less now. That said, my water is on the clean side, possibly too clean.

 

[Tweaked]

I am running the maxspect celestial grow light and man does it grow some algae in my fuge. Buddy just picked up the Nova S2 and it has doubled a ball of chaeto in only a few days! Red LEDs are the way for algae growth IMO.