had my 20gal fuge set up for 3 mos i put some cheato in there day 1 and there was a little grape caulerpa in the bag so iput that in too they both thrived for a wile i began pruning them as needed then i decided to take the caulerpa out and just leave the cheato in there why i dont know now all the cheato is turning white and if i touch it it all disintergrates and i have a fast growing boom of caulerpa in there again should i just trash the cheato and let it be
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cheato dying in fuge
- Thread starter kinder23
- Start date
sumpmonkey
Non-member
We run fern caulerpa and cheato.How much light and how many hours on your fuge.we run 20 hours of light with cfl =100 watts at 5100k
pallobi
Neal
imo, its dying out cuz your system doesnt have the nutrients to sustain it, which imo, is a good thing... unless of course you want to keep it... for the first few months of my current system, i tried to keep cheato as well, but i jus never had any nitrates, or very very little phosphates if any, and it would jus fade out and die like yours... however, for me, and wanting to sustain an ULNS, this was a good thing... eventually i jus gave up, and i am happy to not have to worry about any macro or the lighting for it, and now leave my system as is... ULNS with no macro (or sandbed for that matter) whatsoever...
perhaps its something else, but given the way you described it, my take is you jus dont have any nutrients to sustain it...
have you checked you nitrates lately? phos? again, i am betting they are too low to grow and sustain macro...
perhaps its something else, but given the way you described it, my take is you jus dont have any nutrients to sustain it...
have you checked you nitrates lately? phos? again, i am betting they are too low to grow and sustain macro...
sumpmonkey
Non-member
macro especially cheato grow best and export nutrient under crappy light more in the low end of the spectrum.......4500k to 7100k.But if you don't have the high nutrient,nitrates and phospate levels to support it the macros will not grow.we have breeding clowns so we tend to over feed the tank a little and in turn our chaeto and caulerpa grow faster than most peoples lawn
delta
Impatient Reefer
Could be a few thing. But first try running it on a alternate cycle from you main lights. The macro algae needs a dark cycle. Also try higher flow for Cheato
The turning white and dying sounds like low iron. But I would try the light cycle change and higher flow first.
The turning white and dying sounds like low iron. But I would try the light cycle change and higher flow first.
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Too much light.
12 hours on a reverse cycle from the DT is good enough.
And,there's always plenty of nutrients to feed chaeto.Unless you are running Bio-pelllets or something that chemically remove phos/trates..
That chaeto is toas if it's whitet.
12 hours on a reverse cycle from the DT is good enough.
And,there's always plenty of nutrients to feed chaeto.Unless you are running Bio-pelllets or something that chemically remove phos/trates..
That chaeto is toas if it's whitet.
do u have green algae on ur display glass and how often do u clean it, this is a good indication of your phosphate level
pallobi
Neal
these are very good points... but for the sake of good discussion, i dont run bio pellets or any sort of bacterial dosing or chemical removal of any kind... jus high flow barebottom in display, sump and "fuge" (which is basically an unlit 65g with live rock for biofiltration)... along with that i have an oversized powerful skimmer and i use a dual BRS reactor with activated carbon only... and i have absolutely no trates and undetectable phosphates in my sps system... i use salifert tests for both and sometimes check with my friends' tests who have elos and red sea jus for cross reference and good measure... imo, you dont need to bio dose or anything in the like to have a ULNS... OH, and i have a light bio load, only 5 fish in approximately 140 total gallons of water volume in my system
again, jus for the sake of discussion... everyone here has made some great points...
***let me correct myself, my activated carbon reactors is a type of chemical filtration, but not in the sense of bacterial type dosing or filtration such as biopellets etc...****
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sumpmonkey
Non-member
when was carbon classified as a non chemical removal additive..........???????????????????????????????/these are very good points... but for the sake of good discussion, i dont run bio pellets or any sort of bacterial dosing or chemical removal of any kind... jus high flow barebottom in display, sump and "fuge" (which is basically an unlit 65g with live rock for biofiltration)... along with that i have an oversized powerful skimmer and i use a dual BRS reactor with activated carbon only... and i have absolutely no trates and undetectable phosphates in my sps system... i use salifert tests for both and sometimes check with my friends' tests who have elos and red sea jus for cross reference and good measure... imo, you dont need to bio dose or anything in the like to have a ULNS... OH, and i have a light bio load, only 5 fish in approximately 140 total gallons of water volume in my system
again, jus for the sake of discussion... everyone here has made some great points...
***let me correct myself, my activated carbon reactors is a type of chemical filtration, but not in the sense of bacterial type dosing or filtration such as biopellets etc...****
pallobi
Neal
maybe i am a little convused, but im not sure what your saying... activated carbon is a type of chemical filtration, sorry if i worded something wrong in my post...
btw, one ? mark works jus as good as 25 of them lol
again, sorry if i misworded something... or misunderstood the post i quoted...
jus to note, i have gone up to a month without using carbon, and nothing changed whatsoever... jus wanted to share my experience...
