Question About Growing Chaeto

[dickybird]

I've had chaeto for awhile and when I got the system over a year ago it was growing good but for the past 8 months or so it's not been growing hardly at all any reasons as too why maybe no nutrients or I have read low iron my light on it is a 6200 K cfl equle to 100 watt and the only thing that grows is red algae on th chaeto I would like to harvest it to I am exporting nutrients

 

[averhoog]

Pretty shure it will only grow when there is enough nutrients in the water

 

[Pistol]

Cut all the red stuff off and keep a small piece of the greenest and let it grow.

 

[Kman]

You could try iron dosing. Just be careful of the dose unless you have a test kit. (Seachem makes one) Use a half dose and see what happens. But if your nutrients are super low the growth will slow.

 

[EricTMah]

How many hours of light are you giving the chaeto? How much flow passing through it? Are you rotating the chaeto in the sump?

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[dickybird]

Yes rotating chaeto 12 hours of light and never measured the flow maybe about a gallon a minute

 

[EricTMah]

What are your parameters?
NO3, PO4 CA Alk and mag

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[dickybird]

N03=0 p04=0 ca=420 alk=2.5 to 3 and mag1350 all normal po4 is salifert test hard to read but think 0 reading

 

[averhoog]

I think you miss typed your alk or ihope you did all should be a lot higher around 8 to 9 that's were mine runs

 

[dickybird]

The alk is in meq

 

[dickybird]

Do you think it's just no nutreints or something else

 

[Pistol]

Just chop it down to a tennis ball size of nice green stuff and it should grow.

 

[dickybird]

Why doesn't it just keep growing the way it is just curious does it grow better if it's cut back?

 

[Pistol]

When it starts to get covered with cyano and algae and turns dark it won't grow very well, harvesting all that off should leave you a nice little green ball that should start growing again.

 

[bart84]

Not to hyjack your thread, mine is doing the same. As well as growing red cyano, which slows the growth. Is there a way to stop the cyano?

 

[Pistol]

Harvest the cheato and clean the cyano and algae out of the compartment your growing it in, you can't stop the cyano but you can control it. If your not harvesting enough and letting the ball get too big its growth gets stunted and it gets dark and cyano and algae will start to attach to it. If you have low nutrients you will have to keep it smaller and the cyano won't attach to it.

 

[unibob]

Not to hyjack your thread, mine is doing the same. As well as growing red cyano, which slows the growth. Is there a way to stop the cyano?

Like said above. It grows better if it is harvested every so often.

How much flow is there through your area where it sits?


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[EricTMah]

Harvest the cheato and clean the cyano and algae out of the compartment your growing it in, you can't stop the cyano but you can control it. If your not harvesting enough and letting the ball get too big its growth gets stunted and it gets dark and cyano and algae will start to attach to it. If you have low nutrients you will have to keep it smaller and the cyano won't attach to it.

Bingo!

Sony Xperia Z3

 

[scubasteve]

feed your fish more lol its probably doing its job too well and striped the nutrients out. chaeto just like flowers in the garden need certain things to grow if half are lacking it will suffer.

i also find if you can keep it churning it will grow nicely if sitting still its a gha and cyano magnet