Different kinds of chaeto?

[ChrisB]

I have one ball of chaeto in a sump that is what I would think was the "traditional" type and I have a ball in another tank that is slightly lighter green and not as "curly".

The ball in the sump is darker green and curls back into itself forming a dense crunchy ball.

The other ball is reaching out searching for something to latch onto. Without anything to grab it starts forming someting similar to rope, twisting around itself. It is slightly lighter green and more hair-like.

I like both fine, just didn't realize there were different kinds.

 

[Sen]

In my tank it's the same. The chaeto in the sump ist dark green, curly and compact and in the main tank it is much lighter green and growing a lot less curly.
In my case they're both the same kind. The chaeto in the tank has grown from a small frag of my sump-chaeto. I think in my case the reason is the different light and flow: 13.000 K MH in the main tank and 6500 / 10000 K T8 in the sump.

 

[ChrisB]

My two different clumps of chaeto were from two different sources so I thought maybe they were just different strains, but the lighting thing makes sense. That may be the difference.

 

[ClamIAm]

There are several species of chaetomorpha, although I don't really know what the differences between them are, so it is entirely possible that you have 2 different species

 

[graveyardworm]

There are like described atleast two different curly types, one has a noticeably larger diameter growth. Then there are some which dont curl and are generally found attached to a substrate.

 

[DouglasTiede]

So do you people supplement Iron to help it stay alive?

 

[graveyardworm]

Not sure if it helps it, but I do dose iron.

 

[ChrisB]

I dose iron but not as much as prescribed on Kent's chelated iron bottle. My chaeto goes from softball to basketball every 3 to 4 weeks. I also have gracillaria and ulva but even though they look great, they don't expand enough to harvest.

 

[graveyardworm]

Same here my iron dosing regimen is well below Kents recommended, and my cheato is doubling in size every 2 weeks.