Chaeto - normal to double in size in 4 days?

[muppet]

Wow. I'm amazed. I just set up my fuge on Sunday with a smallish softball sized lump of chaeto and I swear it's doubled already. I'm probably going to have to prune it by the weekend.

Sheez.

 

[fatdaddy]

It grows like crazy with high nutrients.

 

[muppet]

Nitrates are 0 in my DT. I overfeed a bit, but not THAT much.

 

[mike_cmu04]

Must have alot of nutrients i am lucky if i can get mine to double in size over months.

 

[muppet]

I know my Octopus RO/DI was putting out dirtier water than I thought for awhile. I wonder if that's something to do with it.

 

[fatdaddy]

Nitrates are 0 in my DT. I overfeed a bit, but not THAT much.

They pull in dissolved organics as well as nitrates/phosphates. There is no way to measure these. (Also, not all dissolved organics can be pulled out by your skimmer.)

 

[WhoDat?]

If could have been a bit smashed together and when you let it sit in the sump for a while it loosened up.... so it might have been bigger than you thought from the beginning.... Also it grows faster under intense lighting....

 

[floydie83]

What kind of lighting do you have on it?

 

[muppet]

I've got a reverse schedule 6500K bulb with lots of aluminum foil to minimize light loss. It runs 16 hours a day.

 

[floydie83]

humm...well regardless it will help compete with other algae, so nothing to fret about I think.

 

[muppet]

6.5K, not 6500 K. Sheez.

 

[fatdaddy]

6.5K, not 6500 K. Sheez.

Star temps are in Kelvin, so you had it right.

10K and 20K, are shorthanded to mean, 10,000K and 20,000K, respectively.

 

[lordofthereef]

If could have been a bit smashed together and when you let it sit in the sump for a while it loosened up.... so it might have been bigger than you thought from the beginning.... Also it grows faster under intense lighting....

this is what I am leaning towards, especially given that there is such a visual difference in size in only four days.

 

[TripleT]

Nitrates are 0 in my DT. I overfeed a bit, but not THAT much.

What's your phosphate reading?

How old is your nitrate test kit?