Cali Kid Corals

Dust cloud from Chaeto ?

Gonzo

Gonzo

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I've never heard it was bad, but thought I should ask anyways. So whenever I prune my chaeto or turn it over (once a month) a cloud of "stuff" which I am guessing is detritus emits from the chaeto clump. My sump does not have much flow in the chaeto chamber, so maybe that's the culprit. Regardless, is this something to be concerned about?
 
It's detritus collecting in your cheato from low flow. Cheato does better with higher flow and good lighting. It also can be that you are lifting some substrate from under the chato as you prune.
 
You also want it to tumble in order to ensure all area of the ball of chaeto receive ample light :) Also, the added circulation/tumbling helps to minimize the detritus that gets caught up in the chaeto IME.
 
Sounds like I need to add a powerhead down there. How do you all have yours angled at the chateo? I feel like a direct stream is just going to push it up against the side of the sump wall and it won't "tumble."
 
seminolecpa said:
Either bounce it off the wall or the bottom and it should work. You will need to mess around with it a bit to get a good tumble.
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+1
I have a MJ900 pointing down at the bottom of the tank so the cheato tumbles. I made a simple acrylic 'shield' to lessen the amount of chaeto getting stuck in the MJ intake, but it still gets chaeto bits stuck in it. You'll have to check & clean it every so often but it's the way to get flow & tumbling.
 
How much chaeto do you guys have? Mine is about the size of a basketball and I can't get it to tumble. Do I have too much?
 
Gonzo said:
How much chaeto do you guys have? Mine is about the size of a basketball and I can't get it to tumble. Do I have too much?
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If the chamber you have allocated for the chaeto is the size of a basketball, there is probably a bit too much chaeto in there :)
 
Fair enough Anthony :)

I'm just worried if I prune back my chaeto too much, like to the size of a softball, then I won't get enough nitrate consumption and my nitrates will go up quickly. Valid fear?
 
Where a bunch of cheato species are found are in low flow areas, most if not all IIRC. Mine have always been in low flow areas and THRIVE. Many ways to skin the reef cat so to speak.

For fuges you want good copepod, amphipod and mysid growth low flow is key. I prefer and recommend low flow fuges to everyone that wants those guys to grow.
 
I have both fuges, at home and frag tank as Gresh suggests, low flow and tons of tiny creatures can be seen when the light is on.
I've seen some refugiums where the chaeto is just packed, no way for it to tumble; chaeto is healthy and growing even with low light at the bottom of the fuges.
From time to time I just turn the chaeto but can't even say "X" times in a monthly basis
 
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