Growing Chaeto

[Reef Pilot]

I have some Chaeto in my refugium, but it is not doing too well, not dying, just not growing. I have some Caulerpa Prolifera in the same tank, and it is growing, although a little stringy and small leaves.

Not sure if it is my lighting, or lack of nutrients. I have two T12's, one daylight, and the other 50/50 daylight/actinic, so looks pretty bright to me. The nitrates and phosphates are near zero, with my tests. I have a big skimmer in my sump, and also use phosphate remover chips in a canister.

The Chaeto is on the bottom, though, in a corner. Should it be higher, closer to the light? Water flow is lower in that corner, too.

[fiorano]

it could be the phosphate remover and lack of nutrients.
Plants, including algae, need phosphates and nitrates to grow. sooo if its not growing maybe your water is just too clean,
darn! hahaha im pretty sure thats correct anyway. correct me if im wrong people!

[hillegom]

cheato grows well if it is tumbling, so it needs more flow than you have I think.
What is your alk? My cheato was not doing well for a while and I raised the alk from 5 to 8.5 dKH and bingo! Back to normal growth. This is in a 10 gal holding tank for some of my LR

[Reef Pilot]

My alk is usually around 7, CA around 400 -420. Have to add both every 2 or 3 days, as my display tank is very overgrown with soft and hard corals.

Could be right about water flow, as that corner of the refugium gets the least, which is why the Chaeto ends up there. Not sure how I can make it tumble.

[don.ald]

Originally Posted by hillegom

cheato grows well if it is tumbling, so it needs more flow than you have I think.
What is your alk? My cheato was not doing well for a while and I raised the alk from 5 to 8.5 dKH and bingo! Back to normal growth. This is in a 10 gal holding tank for some of my LR

not sure of the theory behind cheato having to tumble? maybe others can chime in here and let us know?
my cheato grows like crazy and it doesnt tumble. its packed tight in a 7g tank. once it starts to grow out of the tank i chop it in half and then it grows to fill the tank again. very, very low flow system for me.

[hillegom]

I found this on the net, which is better said than I can.

The tumbling allows all parts of the chaeto equal access to the light, allowing you to have a larger ball of chaeto before any of it starts to get shaded enough that it doesn't grow anymore.

If the chaeto is stationary, then the stuff on top always gets all the light, but the stuff on the bottom gets shaded out.

[Reef Pilot]

In my case, the stuff on top of the clump isn't growing either, so not sure if tumbling would help then. It is not close to the surface though, but in the bottom corner of the tank.

Water temp is 80F. Does that matter?