Growing chaeto and nutrient testing

[ReeferFive-0]

I started growing chaeto in a small refugium in the back chamber of my aquarium and started dosing ChaetoGro at half dose to supplement nutrients. Since doing so the chaeto is growing very well and I've had to reduce it several times. However, there is now excess algae growth on my glass that I have to clean more often. I'm assuming my current regimen is adding too many nutrients into the water. For those of you that have a refugium, do you test for any of these nutrients added by ChaetoGro? I don't want to keep dosing extra nutrients without knowing what the concentration is in the aquarium. What is the best way to check this and know when to dose or is it just observing how things look?

 

[exnisstech]

I've never had to add anything but a cheap grow light to grow chaeto. I'm no expert but if it feeds chaeto I would assume it can also feed other algae but am not sure.

 

[shakacuz]

iron and manganese feed algae growth. remember chaeto is an algae, too. what feeds chaeto will feed other types of algae. when you do harvest the chaeto, it will likely unbalance your system a bit in terms of nutrients and good bacteria that populates on the algae, too. this could reflect in slight algae growth on your glass or rocks

 

[ReeferFive-0]

I've never had to add anything but a cheap grow light to grow chaeto. I'm no expert but if it feeds chaeto I would assume it can also feed other algae but am not sure.

Ok, I think I'll quit dosing the extra nutrients and see how the chaeto grows. If it slows down, I'll just dose as needed.

iron and manganese feed algae growth. remember chaeto is an algae, too. what feeds chaeto will feed other types of algae. when you do harvest the chaeto, it will likely unbalance your system a bit in terms of nutrients and good bacteria that populates on the algae, too. this could reflect in slight algae growth on your glass or rocks

Thanks for this. I researched this when I started the refugium and it seems like the iron tests are not very accurate. Should I just monitor and if the chaeto slows down just dose as needed?...or are there other methods to monitor these concentrations in a reef aquarium?

 

[shakacuz]

Ok, I think I'll quit dosing the extra nutrients and see how the chaeto grows. If it slows down, I'll just dose as needed.

Thanks for this. I researched this when I started the refugium and it seems like the iron tests are not very accurate. Should I just monitor and if the chaeto slows down just dose as needed?...or are there other methods to monitor these concentrations in a reef aquarium?

you can cut your dose of chaetogro by half again and continue. if the algae growth becomes a nuisance to you, then you can cut the dosing until the chaeto growth stalls.

 

[ReeferFive-0]

you can cut your dose of chaetogro by half again and continue. if the algae growth becomes a nuisance to you, then you can cut the dosing until the chaeto growth stalls.

Sounds like a good plan moving forward. Thanks for the reply.