Can't grow cheato

ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#1
#1
I can't seem to grow cheato. Not sure why. Last time I had my tank up it didn't really grow.

This time wasn't really growing and slowly well basically disappeared.

Currently I am running it under a standard hardware store light fixture that most seem to use. Even bought a full spectrum high watt cfl for it. Runs 7p-7a.

My prams are normally in a normal range. The only one that's way off for me is calcium. The water in my area has always been really high. last test I did was well over 500. Thought it was off but I have done a few and they are all high.

Everyone always says it's easy stuff. But it seems to the the hardest for me.
 
D

djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
#2
Chaeto is in fact one of the easiest macros to grow due to its exceptional nutrient uptake capabilities. All macros require nitrate, phosphate and light to grow. Your system is lacking one of these. If you run GFO, bio pellets, vodka dose etc you will not be able to grow chaeto. Well you might get away with GFO (I never have) but running a ULNS will not allow macro growth, it cant outcompete bacteria for the nutrients.

Highly doubtful its your light.
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#3
#3
Aside from water changes. 15 gals ever 2-4 weeks I only use cheato for export. I normally do have nitrate when I test but not out of ok range.

I'll see if I can check ph and post.
 
dv3

dv3

Beluga
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
#4
i was killing chaeto too ...got rid of my skimmer, chaeto grows now ...lol....0 nitrates still ....your mileage may vary!
first i tried just turning off the skimmer after a month or so i just took it off
 
Zooid

Zooid

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
#5
I used to have the same problem. Kris is probably right. It's probably being limited by the amount of either nitrate or phospate in your water.
Run your system without it for a while. Try again in a few months and you might have better luck.
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#6
#6
No skimmer here
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#8
#8
djkms;103794 said:
DSB? how often and how much do you feed? Any micro algae? If so how much and what type?

Sent from my Synergy Rom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Ya on dsb 6-8in

Once a day. Sometimes 2 weekends.

Just the attempted cheato
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#10
#10
djkms;103810 said:
There is your answer - depending on the size of the grains of sand you have denitrifying bacteria out-competing the chaeto for nutrients. Just a hunch :)
Click to expand...
Semifine?
Hmmm ok
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#11
#11
forgot i do run a bag of carbon and amonia filter. Im going to check my prams for everything tonight and post.

can too high of flow be an issue? i didn't build a side chamber or anything in my fuge. Cheato just sits in a long middle chamber. It seemed to be not growing but not shrinking till the last few weeks and then all the sudden it was gone. the only thing i changed was swapped out my pump for a bigger mag 9.5.
 
Yaten13

Yaten13

Anthias
#12
#12
I'm curious why you want to grow chaeto? I grow it in place of a massive skimmer / carbon / gfo etc etc to keep my parameters in line (0 nitrates/phosphates). If you are achieving it with your current setup, then why worry about it? Of course scrubbing every last nutrient artificially (ie skimming / carbon / gfo) might not be the best if you keep anything soft like mushrooms, since they need to eat too.
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#13
#13
Yaten13;104223 said:
I'm curious why you want to grow chaeto? I grow it in place of a massive skimmer / carbon / gfo etc etc to keep my parameters in line (0 nitrates/phosphates). If you are achieving it with your current setup, then why worry about it? Of course scrubbing every last nutrient artificially (ie skimming / carbon / gfo) might not be the best if you keep anything soft like mushrooms, since they need to eat too.
Click to expand...
if my nitrates / phosphates were at 0 I wouldn't want to grow it :D Last 2 tests i ran they were both in the high end of the acceptable range. I have to do 15 gal wc on a 72g+30g every 2-4 weeks to keep them down. I would rather the cheato keep it down and I do a wc every 6-8 weeks.

Also I just reset this tank in the last 6mos so I might just be fighting with new tank syndrome lol but i didnt have any luck with cheato last time I had it up for a few years. similar results and doing wc every few weeks.
 
Yaten13

Yaten13

Anthias
#14
#14
Ah, I must have misread the early posts then. I'll wait to see what your parameters are tonight then. How much chaeto do you usually start with? I started with a handful in a 30ish gallon tub and it took forever to take off. Now I keep it filling about 1/2 - 3/4 of the surface area and it grows much faster. It might work to start with a bunch rather than a small handful. Just a thought.
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#15
#15
Yaten13;104227 said:
Ah, I must have misread the early posts then. I'll wait to see what your parameters are tonight then. How much chaeto do you usually start with? I started with a handful in a 30ish gallon tub and it took forever to take off. Now I keep it filling about 1/2 - 3/4 of the surface area and it grows much faster. It might work to start with a bunch rather than a small handful. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Ill post them up asap lol i wanted to do it last night but just didn't have time / energy. I started with a grapefruit to cantaloupe sized ball. was somewhat small compared to the size of the fuge chamber i gave it. Im going to try and grab what kms has and give it another go.
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#16
#16
Ok

Ammonia - .15
Ph - 8.2
Alk - 240
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0

I did a water change a few days ago and before that my ammonia no2 and no3 were all higher. Ph and alk were similar. I have a very small amount of red slime. Few patches smaller than a dime and some orange growth on my sand bed, not sure what it is iv never seen it before. I'm not worried about these but if my nitrate was 0 all the time I wouldn't have these would I? I also just removed a very large colony of bryopsis that was just ID for me. Could this have been filtering everything the cheato needed?


So during my tests a new question came up. My calcium was very high again. My test chart stops at 26 drops = 520. It didn't go blue till 35. I know calcium is good but can it be too high? I have heard 500 550 range is hitting too high. I have always had great coraline growth so I knew it was good. I dont dose anything at this point.

Thanks. :)
 
D

djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
You should never see a detectable level of ammonia or nitrite with a cycled tank. If you do, something is seriously wrong. Either your bacteria bed crashed or there is some huge die off somewhere that the bacteria cannot keep up with. Get a second opinion on your test results, take them to a LFS or better yet bring over some water tomorrow when you get the chaeto and I will retest. I am almost thinking bad test kit(s).
 
ChrisB

ChrisB

Butterfly Fish
#18
#18
Alright. I'll take you up in that. 6 630 ok?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top