chaeto dying? chaeto upkeep

Cozen89

Premium Member
I was just wonder what everyone does to keep their chaeto flourishing?

I have mine in a HOB refugium and parts of it are dark green and other parts are light green.

Is it best to keep all in one clump or spread it out in smaller clumps?

Do you have to feed it at all or just have it absorb whatever is in the tank?

I just have a 36w PC on them which I run for about 11 hours a day.

starting to load my tank so I need the chaeto to be nice and healthy and remove those nitrates =)
 
also my chaeto seems to gather some debris as the water flows through it like a sponge. do I have to clean it? Or just let it be?
 
Cheato will live under weak light, even no light for extended periods, but loves strong light. I had a ball under MH that was absolutely out of control and doubled in size every week. In my sump there isn't much light (flourescent) and it lives but doesn't grow nearly as much. I had some in dark due to a burnt out ballast (no livestock) for 8 months or so and it didn't grow but it didn't die either. When I turned on the lights (72 watts in that case) it began to grow at a decent rate. I have never experienced cheato death, so I wonder if you have a less hardy strain. I recommend more light. Don't feed it. It absorbs nutrients from you water. Cheato does tend to collect debris, but don't wash it. Harvest it regularly as it grows and give it away, sell it, or throw it away to remove nutrients from your system. I try to give mine away or trade it in for credit at the LFS.

Lisa
 
I wonder if my light is too close to the top of the fuge. It's only an inch above the fuge and about 2.5-3 inches away from some of the chaeto. Because part of the chaeto on the top, not all of it, looks like it's turning gray. Could just be the debris adding up on it. not sure, kind of hard to get back there and get a close look.
 
I don't think the light is the problem. Just make sure it has plenty of flow running through it. It is a plant so if it is not receiving any nutrients, it wont grow as fast. Waste from fish and feeding are the nutrients it needs to feed on and grow.
 
I like this thread. I always wondered what conditions cheato need to live in. Seems like a very easy plant to care for. Sweet!:)
 
I've got mine growing under a regular desk lamp bulb. It doubled the first week it was under that light and it slowed down after that. I'm going to trim it down this weekend and see if that works.


Color of mine is all nie dark green but it has slowed down growth wise.
 
iron helps plants develope chlorophyll, which in turns helps the photosythesis process. If the cheato ball is a nice dark green color the iron probably won't do much. If the ball is turning yellow and dying, then I may try the iron. Just my experience from having planted freshwater tanks. I understand marine systems will vary and macroalgae will vary somewhat from higher order plants like we have in freshwater systems. so the same may not hold true.
 
If the light green coloration was due to an iron deficiency and not some other problem. Worth a try, but personally, I would get an iron test kit first, and read up on appropriate iron levels for a marine tank. Just to be on the safe side. ( I don't like sticking stuff in my tanks) Being a plant, it's always possible that it could be potassium, phosphate, or even nitrate deficiency. I was extremely skeptical the first time I had to dose nitrate into a freshwater tank to help my plants fourish, but it did. Granted I would never dose nitrate into my reef tank, I get plenty without the need for additional supplements, and my posphates are easy enought to raise if it's needed (a little extra over feeding raises phosphates quickly) but I don't test potassium and never dosed it in a marine system either. Bad thing about trying to figure out this sort of stuff with plants, if you dose the wrong item, you may just fuel more algae growth. If your cheato is not doing well, but your nuisance algae is, the wrong "plant" may wind up the victor.
 
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