chaeto dying???????

[kimboslice]

ok in my 150 gallon refuge i had a huge ball of chaeto taking up at least a 1/4 or a 1/3rd of it

but i decided to make a change by going from 24 hours to 16 hours a day on reverse lighting from my main

i also decided to add more light so i added another 200 watts of lighting i think

looked like my cheato was doing fine for a week or so then today i checked for the first time since a few days ago and a lot of it is dying off??

the other thing i did differently was i didnt prune it for a month or so and b4 i was doing it every 2-3 weeks because i wanted to see how big it would get

so whats going on here, should i routinely prune it? and as long as i took a lot of the dying cheato out the nutrients are taken out right??

 

[graveyardworm]

Not sure but it could be too much light, or some nutrient is lacking. It should be regularly pruned, I also fluff mine about once per week and give it a good shake to help keep it clear of detritus. Some nutrients may have escaped back into the water column, bit as long as you caught it before it began to decay then there probably wasnt much loss.

 

[chaffey]

tagging along, my died too light is 2 x 24watt T-5 24/7

 

[schneijt]

Well, from the sound of it, you did two things differently right before this happened. So, either the chaeto doesn't like the sudden decrease in photoperiod, or it doesn't like the extra light. My bet is that you might have shocked it with too much light. I run two of the "Melev" bulbs plus a 13w CF light over mine, and it does well. So, I'd go back to 24hrs of light, and slowly cut back from there, maybe an hour every few days. Then, I'd also gradually bring in the extra lighting, maybe an hour per day and slowly building up from there. Hopefully this will get you back on track. Worst-case scenario, you'll find out that the extra light is the problem and have to take it off.

Best of luck!
Joe