Chaeto Observation

[Rhodesholar]

Hello all.

I just wanted to post an observation on my Chaeto and see if anyone else has ever had this happen.

I never had problems growing Chaeto. It grew like weeds and I was harvesting at least once a week.

My PO4 was higher then I liked .08 so I started running GFO.

I started to notice my Chaeto turning brown and dying back. I noted that my PO4 after running the GFO was down to .01.

It appears in the last few days the Chaeto is starting to make a come back. Still brown but less so and starting to grow again.

I tested P04 again and I am now at .04 as the GFO has probably exhausted as it has been in roughly 3 weeks or so.

Has anyone else seen this happen to their Chaeto when running ultra low PO4 or is this just coincidence?

I am going to hold off on changing out the GFO and give the Chaeto more time and see if it makes a solid come back as long my PO4 doesn't rise much more.

Also for the record my Nitrates are undetectable or very low as they don't register on the test kit.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

More or less a normal situation when using both.
You could try GFO @ a reduced portion.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

The GFO is likely outcompeting the chaeto for phosphate. I'd just use one - chaeto. Keep GFO on hand for emergencies.

You can reduce the size of the chaeto if nutrients are too low, essentially giving you a smaller mouth to feed. When it melts down it's dumping those nutrients back into the tank.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Tight balance. How big is your tank, sump, refugium? Running gfo and a refugium can get tricky, also why are you doing gfo in addition to the fuge?

 

[Rhodesholar]

Not a very big fuge. PO4 was creeping up higher then I like so I ran some GFO. PO4 went from like .08 to .01. I felt it better to get the PO4 down but the Chaeto it appears took the hit. It's coming back now. PO4 is at .04 now. I can live with that if I can keep it there.