help with macro growth

[kau_cinta_ku]

i am having problems lowering my nitrates they stay around 20ppm and phosphates read 0 on my salifert kit but i'm sure i have some. anyway i have tried cheato 5 diff. times and everytime it just melts away.

things i have tried:

1. meleves suggested light
2. PC 65k bulbs
3. 65k ge spiral bulb
4. more flow
6. less flow
7. dosing iron
8. 8 hour lighting all the way to 24 hour lighting periods

and each time my cheato just melts away. i have heard horror stories about caulerpa running amuk in ppl's tanks but i am to the point where i am not sure what to do and give it a try. i am willing to try cheato again if someone can give me ideas on what to do to make it grow rather then melt away again.

TIA
Sam

[graveyardworm]

Perhaps your Nitrate kit is reading innacurately. I have read that Nitrate test lkits should be calibrated. I have no idea how to do it though.

[kau_cinta_ku]

how would one caibrate a nitrate kit? i have tested fresly mixed saltwater and it reads 0 also i have a API and IO nitrate kit and the IO kit reads 10 lowest it will go and the API reads 10-20

thanks again

[graveyardworm]

I believe you need to make a solution with a known amount of Nitrate. Then test with your kit. Apply the difference in your results to your regular tank water testing.

This is just a guess, hopefully someone who knows for sure how to do this will chime in

[malsavant]

can you post a pic of your macro setup? If you can I might be able to point out some areas for improvement. I have experimented with chaeto a lot and have a good idea of the kinds of set ups that will work and what wont. I hope I can help.

[kau_cinta_ku]

give me till tonight and i will have pic.s.

thanks

[graveyardworm]

My cheato is growing very well, and from what you describe yours should be as well. So I'm just kinda grasping at straws for ya. Water flow light and nutrients are the basics. So if you're feeding your fish, changing water regularly, providing light and a power head then you should be good to go.

I see you have lots of SPS, how's the color? I would think that at 20 ppm NO3 that they would probably be brown. Are you dosing anything other than what you've listed like Zeovit?

[kau_cinta_ku]

sorry for the delay but here are some pics. tell me if you need any other views

top view


front view

[kau_cinta_ku]

oh and also my corals from my SPS have great color no brown at all. my oragon tort is very blue and my milli is a nice deep red and the cats paw is a nice pink. along with the others

[malsavant]

Hmm, I find that chaeto grows better if it receives uni-directional flow. For instance, it grows better in refugiums that flow through as in hang on backs or baffled systems. I've had problems with growth when I simply place it and point a powerhead toward it. Maybe if you could find a container to use so that you can push water through the chaeto.

[kau_cinta_ku]

this is just a sectioned off part of my 30 gal. sump/fuge it goes
skimmer - return - fuge. the the PVC from the overflow splits off half goes to the fuge half to the skimmer so the PVC you see in the pic. is the only flow it is getting directly from the drain. the maxi jet you see is just used to push the water through a DIY denitrator i just built. hope that clears things up a little

[malsavant]

That's what I was thinking. In order to have good chaeto growth water should flow through it. So it would be better to have skimmer - fuge - return with baffles between each to ensure that water passes through and not around. When I tried systems with a section off fuge I found that my chaeto did not grow very well.

[kau_cinta_ku]

i don't understand as water is still passing through the fuge just as if i did have my sump setup the same way as you described. except it wouldn't be going through the skimmer section first. the reason i did it like this is so that the fuge would get straight water from the overflow rather then all the organics the skimmer would take out first.

[malsavant]

Well maybe I didn't understand your setup correctly. Is the water passing through the fuge like water passes through a stream or is it passing through like a waterfall into a pool? Sorry for the analogy but I couldn't think of a better one off the top of my head. Also I just noticed it seems like your light source is kind of far from your chaeto. What is the distance from the light to the chaeto?

[kau_cinta_ku]

this may explain it better


the light is about 6" from the tip of the bulb to the top of the water.

and the water is moving like water in a stream no waterfall

[malsavant]

Hmm. Ok, well this is a method that has worked for me and I don't know if you are up for trying it. Use a comb or comb like structure to hold your chaeto in place and put the chaeto directly in front of a powerhead so that the water pulls on it at the loose ends. Also maybe place your light closer to the chaeto. This should work. Have you been getting your chaeto from the same place or have you been getting it from different people. Also do you know which strain of chaeto you have? I find that linum which is not as brillo pad like as the other strains works the best.

[kau_cinta_ku]

i will try that comb method when i get a new order of cheato as if i tried to do it with this cheato it would just fall apart. lol

i have bought the cheato from 4 diff. places just not sure what strain it was.

thankyou very much for the help it is giving me new ideas

[malsavant]

Well, I can send you some of my chaeto. I found that the very best growth came from my hob aquafuge. It grows unbelievably well in there. For some reason the flow is just right. You can get a cheap one at aquatraders for about 60 bucks and just put it on your sump. Then you could do something else with that space like cultivate cool macroalgae! Oh and I know I say this a lot on all my comments but red grape kelp is awesome and maybe you should try growing that in your fuge. It can grow rather fast under the right conditions and it wont go sexual. Plus it looks pretty. Actually I have found red grape kelp to be much more consistent than chaeto.

[kau_cinta_ku]

i actually just ordered some of that kelp as i was also gonna use it to feed my tang. but if that don't grow either i will take you up on the cheato. and try the other routes you suggested

thanks again for all the help

[sunfishh]

Guys doesn't algae need phosphate to grow? The tank has 0 phosphate. I think you may actually have to add phosphate to keep the chaeto alive and reduce the nitrates.

[kau_cinta_ku]

well i am sure i have some phosphate as there is a little alage growing in the main tank. it is just that my kit don't read to those lower levels.

[malsavant]

Macroalgae use much less phosphate than micro algae, nitrates are usually the limiting agent. I doubt his phosphates are exactly 0 especially if the nitrates are at 20 ppm.

[chris melb]

Hi malsavant

also having same problems - not melting but experiencing shedding. 2nd attempt also

N03 = 10ppm
P04 = .01ppm
Calc = 400ppm
Alk = 2.9
Ph = 8.3
Sal = 1.025
Temp = 24
Lighting spiral pc 6,700k
flow is 200l/hr in a 50litre tank - this maybe a bit low buti have the tank partitioned in half most flow is in the cheato side so 200 l/hr in a 25 litres
dose iron daily

Have only recently purchased it, previous owner had it on constant lighting, and used the zeovit, and was growing well.

My thoughts/future actions

* think i may have to provide simialr conidtions to previous owner - i.e 24hr lighting and gradually introduce dark cycle
* increase flow possibly
* stop dosing iron until it starts to grow
* shipping could have been stressful, may take a little while to adjust.

Other than that i have no idea, welcome any more suggestions.

Will post a pic tonight and continue posting any changes i notice.

[malsavant]

Why is the alk so low?

[chris melb]

Sorry the Alk is in meq/L.

Here are some pics of my chaeto as of 9th Jul 2007

Half tank shot



Full tank shot



Close up



Is it true that Chaeto may take some time (days-weeks) to acclimate to new conditions before it starts growing?