Why is my Fuge whack?

[magdelan]

I am running a spiral compact 6500k bulb over a 30g tank. I had a clump of Cheato in there untill I rinsed it to get all of the junk off of it. Now it has sort of fallen apart. There is Cyano ALL over but NONE in my DT. What do I have to do to maintain a successful Fuge?

Here is a picture of my fuge.

Here is a picture of the bulb that I use over the fuge.

 

[GMaquarium]

why is this not a successful fuge?

 

[magdelan]

why is this not a successful fuge?

Because there is cyano ALL over the place and my cheato is covered with it! The cheato sits motionless at the bottom of the tank. Most fuges that I've seen has the cheato floating on the surface of the water geting a nice flow of water through it. Mine is a purple brick.

Does anyone have some cheato to spare???

 

[shroutk3]

I would add a small powerhead to keep the chaeto suspended- theres probably not enough water movement. That or just shake it more often.

Mine def. doesn't float- I keep it propped near the surface.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Yaeger, my fuge looks EXACTLY like that too. I alway wonder why I can't seem to keep chaeto under various lights. I always end up with a box full of cyano and other reddish algae. Still teeming with pods, and none of the red fuzzy algae in the DT, so why ask why....

 

[Krypt1979]

Looks like a successful fuge to me, granted the chaeto isn't doing the nutrient exporting for you, but at least its containing the nasties to the fuge and not the DT.

 

[magdelan]

I've been dosing vodka for 12 years now.....well, 6 weeks for my tank. The DT is cleaning up it's act, however prior to the vodka (6 weeks ago), I suspect that my trates went so sky high that ALL of my pods bit the dust (or detritus in this case).

Again...If anyone has some cheato and/or LS with pods...I would be forever in debt to you (until I leave your driveway).

Cully, that's reassuring...honestly.

 

[Capt_Cully]

I'd read that starting Vodka in an established tank can lead to pockets of bacterial colonies i.e. slime balls. Perhaps your fuge is an example?

Surprised you can keep the Wadkie around long enough to dose it realiably.

 

[tmz]

Mine seem to work well when nitrate is less than 5ppm( currently at 0.5ppm) and PO4 is undr 0.1ppm, currently .05ppm. I also use the spiral bulbs; two over a 20 gallon and two over a 24 x36 inch bin full of chaeto. Both are bare bottom. I get only small patches of cyano and bits of hair algae from time to time. I do also dose vodka and vinegar and use gfo and gac and run a couple of cryptic refugia(unlit with live rock/ one with sand under the rock). I keep seahorses in the 20g. Since I dropped the nitrate and PO4 about a year ago, the chaeto still grows but much more slowly so I don't know how much NO3 and PO4 it's taking out now . I still like it for habitat for pods and such and use it on opposite photo period to help the system's nightime oxygen levels.

 

[magdelan]

I still like it for habitat for pods and such and use it on opposite photo period to help the system's nightime oxygen levels.

I have my fuge lit 27/7. Should I throw a timer on it?

Surprised you can keep the Wadkie around long enough to dose it realiably.

I keep it under my sons matress at night.

 

[lcs]

I have cyano, a little hair algae, some kind of slimey, dino looking stuff in my fuge. My chaeto is sitting on the bottom as well. I keep telling myself that I should turn it, but I never get around to it. It's about doubled in size in the six weeks I've had it and the pods seem to be doing well. I also run my 18watts of light 24/7.

 

[dreaminmel]

24/7 here too with the same Bright Effects bulb. A ton of pods but a ball of chaeto that just doesn't grow.

 

[cardiffgiant]

I have my fuge lit 27/7. Should I throw a timer on it?

Here is your problem. While adding hours to a day can lead to greater productivity, exceeding 24 hours is not recommended.

Possibly a flow issue. I've always fed fuges from the bottom, with water exiting at the top. The macro tends to collect in a nice green brick at the top. I've never been able to get it to tumble. I tried with powerheads, but the chaeto would move for a couple of days and either grow to fit the space or strands would get pulled into the powerheads. I shake mine out in buckets of waste water when I do my weekly water changes. Lots of detritus gets trapped, and it gives me a chance to do regular pruning, and to loosen the ball/brick of macro a bit.

But in my opinion, if your nasties are growing in your fuge and not in your DT, then you've got a successful fuge.

 

[spike81101]

Hey where did you get a picture of my fuge? LOL.

Mine looks the same way. I figure it is better to have a crappy fuge and nice DT than to sweat the small stuff. Now...if I could only get a nice DT! :lmao:

 

[block head]

vodka dosing dropped my trates and caused a nasty cyano flare up in my dt. i drank the vodka and tank looks much better

 

[tmz]

Everything can look better to you if you drink the vodka.
BTW I've been dosing vodka( ethanol ) to my aquariums for about 16 months. There was a bit of cyano on the sand bed in one tank.When I changed some of the vodka for some vinegar(from 34 ml vodka only to 26ml vodka and 60ml vinegar for 550 gallons ) it waned.Note: vinegar is a 5% solution, 80 proof vodka is a 40% solution, so vodka has 8x the carbon content of vinegar. Presumably the acetic acid(vinegar) is favored as a carbon source by bacteria that do a better job at competing with the cyanobacteria than those that prefer (ethanol)
I run chaeto lighting for about 15 hours . Intuitively, it seems a period of darkness may be needed by the algae and is amore natural cycle.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

perhaps Chaetomorpha is being outcompeted in mag's 'fuge.

I know that other alga (if present) can give Chaeto a run for the money......

 

[Capt_Cully]

FWIW after almost 5 years of running fuge light 24/7, I just switched it to 12 hrs overnight. We'll see what happens. I'm always up for a good experiment.

 

[cardiffgiant]

perhaps Chaetomorpha is being outcompeted in mag's 'fuge.

I know that other alga (if present) can give Chaeto a run for the money......

Agreed. I had grape caulerpa completely chopke it out and out compete it in one fuge. Then had the chaeto overtake the caulerpa when I switched to a new fuge.

FWIW after almost 5 years of running fuge light 24/7, I just switched it to 12 hrs overnight. We'll see what happens. I'm always up for a good experiment.

I did a 24 hour photo period for a long time. I do notice more growth when I give it a 12 hour photo period.

 

[tmz]

I think the ectended photo period idea had it's beginnings with caulerpa users. Since this algae sporulates and dumps a nutrient mess in the process at night. Some used 24 hour photo to discourage the sporulation. Chaeto does not have the same nasty habit as it is multi cellluar while caulerpa is a single cell.