chaeto not growing.

[vietcu]

I got a clump of some chaeto from John (bowman) about 2+ months ago. They are getting about 12 hours of plant light every day for 2+ months, and I don't see any growth from that clump whatsoever. I left for a 3 week vacation during that time, my neighbor overfed my tank so I know there is enough nutrients in the tank for the chaeto as I now have algae on my sand bed. My light timing for my sump is on at 11:00 p.m. and off at 11:00 a.m. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Esquare]

Give it a little more time. Mine seemed to take forever to start growing but then took off and it hasn't stopped.

 

[fambrough]

Does the chaeto look healthy? You're probably not doing anything wrong. Are you sure it hasn't grown? Sometimes, since the changes are so small on a day to day basis, it can be hard to notice. What are your nutrient levels for nitrates and phosphates? Also, I recommend slow flow through the sump/refugium. Are you pushing a ton of water through?

 

[Esquare]

Another thing would be flipping it over every now and again (weekly).

 

[Kreeger1]

Spread the clump apart, give it more surface area for light. Ripping it won't hurt it
Erik

 

[vietcu]

Chaeto is healthy as far as I can tell, color is healthy green. As far as nitrate and phosphate level goes I don't have a test kit for phosphate, but looking at my sand bed I know there is plenty of nutrients in my water. Flow through the refugium is a good flow, tumbling action with the clump of chaeto in the sump. But again no way to tell how much flow is going through the sump either. I only have a 40w plant light down there, so maybe I can increase the lighting output on it and see what happens. I have been away for 3 weeks that is why I posted this. I thought that I would be able to see a growth difference not seeing my tank for 3 weeks, but I didn't see any change at all in the chaeto. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[fambrough]

Tumbling is completely unnecessary. You might want to slow down your flow, unless you're relying on the return pump for DT flow, which I don't recommend, although lots of people do it.

JDieck did a study (and really wish I could find the link for you, but I can't right now) that disproved the tumbling chaeto theory. He ran a controlled study and found that chaetomorpha has a significantly higher growth rate when it doesn't "tumble." I do want to find this thread again or RC, because it's one of the myths that still gets around the track very often.

You might want to increase your light or at least evaluate the bulb you're using. I've been very happy with 6500K, I think it's some where in the 70 watt range.

Best of luck.

 

[Esquare]

Hey fambrough, did the study come to any conclusions on flipping the Chaeto periodically to avoid dead spots? Good info though on the tumbling.

 

[fambrough]

Not that I recall, but it sure seems like a good idea to me; the flipping, that is.

 

[fanandy8]

I know when I first put my fuge together and put some chaeto in it, seemed to take forever before it grew, but now it grows like mad. I have a just have a 13 watt power compact, something about 6500K light, on a reverse of my DT.

 

[Dtip]

Also keep in mind that, at least when its first starting out, it tends to grow by becoming "thicker" more than just spreading out. Like someone else said, just keep pulling the ball apart as space allows: that allows more light to get to all sides of it more consistently too.