Cheato goes to Mush

[inet-projects]

Hi All,

I have Cheato in my sump for about a year, every 2-3 weeks I reduced it by 50% as it grew quite well, I run a lamp on it opposite to the reef lights to help stabilize PH. In the last week the whole ball of Cheato has gone to mush and reduced by quite an amount.

Any reason why this has happened?

Thanks

Dave

 

[kharmaguru]

Hi All,

I have Cheato in my sump for about a year, every 2-3 weeks I reduced it by 50% as it grew quite well, I run a lamp on it opposite to the reef lights to help stabilize PH. In the last week the whole ball of Cheato has gone to mush and reduced by quite an amount.

Any reason why this has happened?

Thanks

Dave

A required nutrient has bottomed out. Likely iron. Many people need to use Brightwell Chaetogro to keep chaeto happy.

 

[shred5]

Yea iron is usually the cause. I add iron daily for my marine algae's and plants.

Could be phosphate bottomed too. I try not to add anything else unless needed to up those other nutrients like phosphate.

 

[inet-projects]

Yea iron is usually the cause. I add iron daily for my marine algae's and plants.

Could be phosphate bottomed too. I try not to add anything else unless needed to up those other nutrients like phosphate.

Thanks everyone for your response, will look into it.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I agree with above posts-it's probably iron. Iron is a micro nutrient that can quickly be used up in closed systems.

Chaeto likes high light and high nutrients. This could be a sign that your tank has matured and stabilized, leaving the cheato with few available nutrients. Well maintained tanks may not be able to support chaeto growth, so you may not need it anymore. You might consider diversifying your fuge with another macro algae or two. Gracilaria is a red macro that grows slower and doesn't require high nutrients to keep chugging along. So it's a good alternative when the cheato's not happy.