Cheato dying and do not know why in my sps sump

[marine_freak]

I have been keeping cheato for 5 years now but lately it has begun to turn white on top and dye.....I have lost 2 whole colonies this way now. This cheato is in a mud refugium with moderate flow, with 100 watts of pc's on it. My paremters are in check... nitrates 0, phosphates 0, alk 9.0, ph- 7.9-8.1 , calcium 500, magnesium 1250, strontium 20.... I am also getting a brown hair algae in my tank....... I have not fed my fish in 4wks..... I just did a 30% water change, my RODI TDS is 0...... what the heck is going on??? Algae where I don't want it.... and no algae where I do want it. There must be some sort of nutrient in my tank for the brown to grow....... almost like brown fine hair........ cheato is p*ssing me off. Any suggestions guys??? Oh my flow is iwaki 70rlt as a return pump..... 2 seio 820's and 2 maxi jets in a 75 gallon tank. Thinkin about tearing the whole thing down and cleaning the hell out of it and putting rock back in bare bottom. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[waterfaller1]

Do you have actinic over the chaeto? It hates it. How old are the bulbs? Do you turn the chaeto? Do you export some out occasionally? Stop starving your fish..it's not their fault.

 

[JMBoehling]

According to some local members, 5100K seems to be the "Magic" spectrum for Chaeto growth. I personally run (02) 13Watt 10k PC bulbs on mine..

Make sure your Chaeto can tumble around in your fuge with water gently running through it.

Mine will grow with water changes. Either I am lacking some trace elemenets and the new water makes it grow, or is dilutes some accumulated PO4 for something... In one of my ancient Salt Water books, they mention that Chaeto growth is severly stunted with high phosphates. Still can't figure that out

 

[college429]

I had a similar problem. I started dosing Iron, and that helped.
I would recommend you try dosing Iron, and start feeding your fish again. Not feeding your tank will just make it worse for the Cheato.