Chaeto Dieing

[ReeferPatt]

hey my chaeto doesn't seem to be doing so good. I have good light and flow.
Other than low nutrients what else might cause it to slowly dewindle? Still has good color, just falling apart. The ball is slowly getting smaller..

 

[matts125]

Do you dose Iodine? it has been known to make Chaeto die off...

Matt

 

[DalaiTom]

You might try dosing iron to get better growth from your macro.

 

[ReeferPatt]

No, no iodine dosing. I only dose 2 part diy and mg. That's it. just weekly water changes.. Dosing iron will help?

 

[burning2nd]

my cheato took a hike as well...

due to the great water conditions. and the bryopsis is in full swing now in the sump....

over powerd?
under fed?

that was my killer

 

[angelfish]

mine also suddenly die-off with no reason

 

[theJ]

what kind of good lighting are you using?

 

[burning2nd]

IME it has nothing to do with lighting. but with water conditions....

you will more then likely notice a algae cycle...

what i mean by that is other algae, will over power it, that will grow then it will return to the cheto...

i lost all my cheto but 1 small peace...
after the other aglae, that was over powering the cheto had its time to rise to max and then fall. the cheto starting growing ageain...

just remove the peaces' that are dead.. and wait

 

[theJ]

I've heard (I dont know for sure) that lighting does have a part to play, in regard to the chaeto actually growing. Dont they like more of a red spectrum to flourish?

 

[Gimpster]

I can't seem to get cheato to last in my fuge either. Not sure why but it always slowly just dies off and then algea of different types grow in the tank. Weird stuff too. About the only algea that does not seem to die off is the stuff that came in the Reef Pods bottle, its a light green thin flat ribbon.

Lately I have been getting this purple velvet like growth that covers the rocks and to some extent some of my corals which die from being smothered. Pulls off easy in big chuncks thick stuff too almost like a mat based coral.

 

[thumperss]

it won't stop growing in mine. it dose matter on the lights. and im growing chato,mexicana,and razer thay all grow wild in my tank.
Brandon

 

[Minus The Ich]

I know you said that you had good flow but when mine was not doing well I increased the flow and now it grows pretty fast now. What lighting do you have? Chaeto will grow under almost anything but what I have found works best is a cheap 90w halogen light from the hardware store.

But like you said if your light and flow are good maybe your water has too low of nutrients.

dennis

 

[Fishead77]

I can't seem to get cheato to last in my fuge either. Not sure why but it always slowly just dies off and then algea of different types grow in the tank. Weird stuff too. About the only algea that does not seem to die off is the stuff that came in the Reef Pods bottle, its a light green thin flat ribbon.

Lately I have been getting this purple velvet like growth that covers the rocks and to some extent some of my corals which die from being smothered. Pulls off easy in big chuncks thick stuff too almost like a mat based coral.

Sounds like you may have cyno algae! NASTY STUFF, seems to kill whatever it grows on.

 

[burning2nd]

im my sump i have 2 20" t5's 10k and 14 k

grows like wild....

In the nano 5.5
we have a hob aqua clear with a light over the top (clips on)

it use 2 have a 12v 5w halogen bulb.... (that only lasted a month or 2)
i went to superbrightleds.com and got a replace mr11 bulb (for the 5whalogen)

now its = 2 a 7watt hallogen... but makes no heat and will last a life time....

the cheto is starting to grow well ageain in the hob on the nano... under leds.

 

[lavenderfish]

This is a sideview of an AquaClear 500/110. It hides the heater, the chiller pump, adds flow and grows chaeto. I tortured the little blue clamp light into that position so the "fuge" is on a reverse lighting cycle. The black tank background gets rid of light leak. The chaeto doesn't tumble but I do pick it up and rotate the ball once a day with the morning feeding of the clowns. It doesn't grow at a fast rate but it does grow steadily and is a nice option for those of us with small tanks (20gallons). Yeah yeah I know, most of you have fuges and qt's bigger than my tank I will get there someday.

 

[Gimpster]

Sounds like you may have cyno algae! NASTY STUFF, seems to kill whatever it grows on.

Cyano? I thought that stuff is a thin film, like Diatoms. This is thicker almost like a leather coral that is growing along the surface of the rock face. Once I get some picks I will post a new thread. Its not like anything I have seen before.

 

[Damsel13]

When I have had a really bad outbreak of cyano it was REALLY thick and kind of like leather....maroon leather.

Thank goodness that was not in this tank as I got so angry :evil: I took that whole tank down. It was very small and I was very very new to this.

Turkey baster removal of that evil stuff would be my first line of defense.

Good luck,

 

[Damsel13]

Lavanderfish, turning chaeto great idea. I am going to start doing that today! My only problem is I have a little green monster (aka. 1" mantis shrimp, not too ugly )living in my fuge/skimmer where the chaeto resides. I think I will be turning mine with tongs.

 

[Boomer]

I was asked to come here for a look. As has been pointed out it is more likely a lighting issue and maybe iron, when dealing with cheato. Cheato is mostly only a chlorophyl a user. Chlor a has its spike of at about 440 nm and a medium peak in the 670 nm range. Chlor b is a accessory pigment, unlike a which is not an accessary pigment. b can only trasnfer energy to a, as b can not creat a light enery to chemcial energy reaction, where a does. This thus confines its range making it more picky on light, where they seem to do better under reder light.

An interesting read on Chaeto
Production within dense mats of the filamentous
macroalga Chaetomorpha linum in relation
to light and nutrient availability
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/134/m134p207.pdf

Yes, you may want to think about dosing iron, as a lack of iorn will cause chlorosis.

Some more reading;


Photosynthesis and the Reef Aquarium Part I: Carbon Sources
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-10/rhf/index.php

First Iron Article: Macroalgae and Dosing Recommendations
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/aug2002/chem.htm

Second Iron Article: Iron: A Look at Organisms Other than Macroalgae
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/chem.htm

Phosphorus: Algae's Best Friend
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm

What many have been using to grow Cheato is a bulb from Homedepot, which is a 2700k spiral compact florescent spotlight bulb with a std crew base. This bulb is round with a built in reflector and has the appearance of a "PAR" halogen bulb. For what ever reason, this bulb seems to work well, even though it is much higher in the red. I do not know how many houses I have been to in the last year where Cheato seems to grow like weeds under this light.

 

[lavenderfish]

Lavanderfish, turning chaeto great idea. I am going to start doing that today! My only problem is I have a little green monster (aka. 1" mantis shrimp, not too ugly )living in my fuge/skimmer where the chaeto resides. I think I will be turning mine with tongs.

Tongs sound like a great idea. With any luck your mantis will fall out and you can send him off to a new home.

Thanks for the articles Boomer.