Chaeto keeps dying??

[Ripside]

I've gone through a couple batches of Chaeto, from both eBay and the LFS.

Today I threw out a mostly brown, soft, spongy mass of chateo as I was putting in another new clump.

At one point, 2 months ago, my chaeto had grown to almost completley fill my 20g fuge. Then suddenly, over a couple weeks, it shrunk down to nothing.

My fuge has enough flow on it to *almost* rotate the chaeto around, but not quite. Around 300gph.

Meanwhile, my little single-leaf caulerpa has grown into about 12 leaves. Its still small (the size of a fist), so I wouldn't that would be "competing" against the chaeto.

I haven't added any meds, pH is fine, salinity, all that is good (params below). I light the fuge about 12 hours a day, using 2 of the exact bulbs Melev reviewed/recommended (75w equivalent output I believe).

All my fish, 2 anemone's, shrooms/xenia/zoos, and my only LPS, a frogspawn, are all doing great.

pH 8.2, SG 1.025, ammonia/nitrite, nitrate 10, Ca ~460 (varies somewhat), Alk ~9.0.

Any suggestions why I can't keep my chaeto alive?

 

[imtheonlylp]

i would try dosing iron...not that i have experience with it, but i have just started doing it and have read on here that iron supplements will help....Randy can you verify this plz?

 

[Billybeau1]

Wrong forum for Randy, but yes. Many of us dose chelated iron to help stimulate macroalgae growth.

Also your light may not be strong enough.

 

[Ripside]

I'm using the same bulbs, and have twice the lighting Melev had over his test fuge (4500 vs 6700, whatever they were). That grew great...

 

[Billybeau1]

OK well then maybe try dosing iron. I'm using the Kents super chelated iron but there are others on the market.

 

[Ripside]

Got some iron. Dosing as per directions.

The new ball of chaeto I got is hanging in there.

Seems like once my older batches would start dying, they'd float. This one, after 2 weeks almost, is still sitting on the bottom.

 

[Ripside]

Also - I realize my chaeto stopped flourishing about the time I started using RO/DI water. Could explain things.

 

[imtheonlylp]

my chaeto also looks like its just floating on the very top of the water, so i kinda wedged it between the LR that i have in my fuge...good or bad idea? oh and...i ordered the light that melev spoke about in that looooong fuge lighting thread he had elsewhere, so when it gets here im looking for some explosive macroalgae growth... ::crosses fingers::