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Chaeto not growing

itsacrispy

itsacrispy

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Hey guys,

I posted this over at RC's macro forum, but figured I might as well post here too. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on how to get my chaeto growing:

I have a ball of chaeto in my sump that is not growing. I've had it since late November, and it's actually shrunk a couple inches in diameter. Below is some info on what I believe may be contributing to this issue, and I'm wondering if anyone can comment on these potential causes:


(A)The sump/fuge is 40 gallons and low in flow. The ball of chaeto does not roll, though I do turn it over once a week.

(B) I have a lot of halimeda and caulerpa macros growing in the display. The halimeda and caulerpa have seemingly doubled in size and distribution for the month that I have had them. I wonder if these macros are sucking up all the nutrients the chaeto would require. I will be removing all these macros in the very near future.

(C) A 75W 6500K CFL bulb lights the fuge. I was told that this is too bright for chaeto, but before I buy a 5500 bulb I'd like some other opinions on this.

(D) The chaeto has a number of tunicates and sponges growing on the outside of the ball. The sponges cover roughly 1/4 of the exterior. I wonder if the chaeto is being smothered by the sponges and tunicates.

(E) I do not dose anything in this tank.

(F) Temp: 80-82 throughout the day

(G) Salinity: 1.25


Thanks in advance!

Mike
 
I had the same problem with chaeto. Tank was extremely lean and the chaeto wouldn't grow at all. Coraline grow on the chaeto ;)
 
Hmmm, well if lack of nutrients is the reason, that would make sense for my tank. I still have patches of cyano and diatoms in my tank; that plus the halimeda and caulerpa means I probably have zip in terms of nutrients.

BTW, this is kinda off topic, but is there such thing as green coraline algae? I'm noticing some growth on the back panel that looks similar to coraline, but is green.
 
I can't stop my chaeto from growing. It does not have to tumble to grow. I have it in Low-high light tanks (In the tank, stuck in the corners), so I do not believe your lights are the problem. I'd say thre is a lack of nutrients too due to the other macros.

My tanks contain purple, pink, red, green, and orange coraline. :)
 
(Staying off topic) There are many colors of coraline algae, you'll most often see them on new shipments of live rock, however from what I recall one particular strain tends to be dominant simply due to the conditions in our tank that allows that species to proliferate, usually the purple kind.
 
I also had the problem with growing cheato until I added a pump to make it vigorously tumble. I still have slow flow through the fuge but the ball rolls over every 3-4 seconds on average. Since I added the pump I've seen a big improvement in the growth of the ball. I think it has more to do with water and light actually penetrating deeper into the ball as opposed to the rolling of the ball.
 
[quote author=Dyngoe link=topic=5916.msg74698#msg74698 date=1231992637]
I also had the problem with growing cheato until I added a pump to make it vigorously tumble. I still have slow flow through the fuge but the ball rolls over every 3-4 seconds on average. Since I added the pump I've seen a big improvement in the growth of the ball. I think it has more to do with water and light actually penetrating deeper into the ball as opposed to the rolling of the ball.
[/quote]

Yeah, Dyngoe is probably right. Even though my Chaeto doesn't tumble, it does get flow from a power head or skimmer outlet, or something. Also, when my Chaeto gets to big, I pull part of it out to give away so it doesn't stagnate.
 
I've been experiencing really slow chaeto growth too. The hair algae and cyano are going nuts, though. >:(

I think there's probably some limiting nutrient for the chaeto that the hair algae and bacteria don't need. I wish I knew what it was so I could dose it.
 
I do have some other macros. Some have continued to grow while others have not so much.

I haven't dosed iron. Do you think it's worth trying?
 
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