Is AlgaeBarn chaeto from BRS legit?

[Cv111]

I ordered two 2oz chaetos from AlgaeBarn on the BRS website last week when the primary algaebarn website said they were out of stock, but BRS said in stock.

Noticed that the bit of water at the bottom of both bottles was super green/rank. I ended up discarding that water and adding it to my tank anyways. Non-zero nitrates/phosphates and decent fuge lighting and it's still started breaking up and losing some color/getting very slimy in texture after just a day or two.

Is it possible I got some old chaeto that was in a bottle for too long? Thinking about carefully removing the chaeto and siphoning out the spare bits and ordering a different one.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Hi there! WE ship our macroalgae wet/moist and not completely submerged in water. We package the macroalgae before the order is shipped and it sounds like your chaeto got a little too stressed during shipping. Would you please DM us your order information so that we can get you taken care of

 

[mindme]

I ordered two 2oz chaetos from AlgaeBarn on the BRS website last week when the primary algaebarn website said they were out of stock, but BRS said in stock.

Noticed that the bit of water at the bottom of both bottles was super green/rank. I ended up discarding that water and adding it to my tank anyways. Non-zero nitrates/phosphates and decent fuge lighting and it's still started breaking up and losing some color/getting very slimy in texture after just a day or two.

Is it possible I got some old chaeto that was in a bottle for too long? Thinking about carefully removing the chaeto and siphoning out the spare bits and ordering a different one.

Good luck with it really. You get such a small amount that I have never had much luck with it. Falls apart, gets sucked into areas easily, etc. I tried high flow in the chamber by using my UV return line, I tried without any extra flow. Always ended up towards the next chamber, falling apart. I ended up just turning my fuge light to bloom, grow hair algae and put a bunch of urchins in there to eat it/ harvest what I can every now and then.

I've been thinking about trying chaeto again because it seems much cleaner. But I am going to put it in a small 10g tank, and let it grow in there a bit before putting it in my sump. I'll just put water from water changes on my 29g in it.

Hopefully a larger amount will allow it to stay together better in my sump. It's crazy how expensive the stuff has gotten. Back in the day you could easily get a decent size ball that wouldn't fall apart for $5.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Good luck with it really. You get such a small amount that I have never had much luck with it. Falls apart, gets sucked into areas easily, etc. I tried high flow in the chamber by using my UV return line, I tried without any extra flow. Always ended up towards the next chamber, falling apart. I ended up just turning my fuge light to bloom, grow hair algae and put a bunch of urchins in there to eat it/ harvest what I can every now and then.

I've been thinking about trying chaeto again because it seems much cleaner. But I am going to put it in a small 10g tank, and let it grow in there a bit before putting it in my sump. I'll just put water from water changes on my 29g in it.

Hopefully a larger amount will allow it to stay together better in my sump. It's crazy how expensive the stuff has gotten. Back in the day you could easily get a decent size ball that wouldn't fall apart for $5.

Do you know what your nutrient levels were at when it started to fall apart? Have you looked into Red Ogo or Sea Lettuce to put in your refugium instead so you can feed it to your tangs, urchins, and other herbivores when pruning it back?

 

[mindme]

Do you know what your nutrient levels were at when it started to fall apart? Have you looked into Red Ogo or Sea Lettuce to put in your refugium instead so you can feed it to your tangs, urchins, and other herbivores when pruning it back?

I did try the Red Ogo, but I was dumb and it was after I put urchins in the sump. I'm pretty sure they ate it. I'll be moving them to my anemone tank before attempting anything again, surprising how fast they munched it down. It did also however get caught like the chaeto, but not sure if it would have fallen apart. So I didn't attempt it again without the urchins.

Sea Lettuce is ULVA correct? I've tried it in the past, but it puts off a terrible smell if it touches the air at all.

My refugium is right before my return pump. The chamber before is the skimmer chamber, and the water flows over that panel, into the refugium. But it flows under the next panel where the return pump is. I have some eggcrate and bio blocks in the bottom that prevents it from getting completely sucked into the next chamber, but it gets caught near it, and then slowly it unravels into the next chamber. I tried to create flow across the area with my UV return line, but it still eventually gets caught and it would unravel a bit in the fuge as well if it caught on it.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I did try the Red Ogo, but I was dumb and it was after I put urchins in the sump. I'm pretty sure they ate it. I'll be moving them to my anemone tank before attempting anything again, surprising how fast they munched it down. It did also however get caught like the chaeto, but not sure if it would have fallen apart. So I didn't attempt it again without the urchins.

Sea Lettuce is ULVA correct? I've tried it in the past, but it puts off a terrible smell if it touches the air at all.

My refugium is right before my return pump. The chamber before is the skimmer chamber, and the water flows over that panel, into the refugium. But it flows under the next panel where the return pump is. I have some eggcrate and bio blocks in the bottom that prevents it from getting completely sucked into the next chamber, but it gets caught near it, and then slowly it unravels into the next chamber. I tried to create flow across the area with my UV return line, but it still eventually gets caught and it would unravel a bit in the fuge as well if it caught on it.

Urchins LOVE red ogo lol. Yes Sea Lettuce is ulva and were the pieces long enough to pinch together with the bio blocks? Sea lettuce and Red Ogo can be anchored or tumbled (red ogo does tend to do better anchored)

 

[Cv111]

Good luck with it really. You get such a small amount that I have never had much luck with it. Falls apart, gets sucked into areas easily, etc. I tried high flow in the chamber by using my UV return line, I tried without any extra flow. Always ended up towards the next chamber, falling apart. I ended up just turning my fuge light to bloom, grow hair algae and put a bunch of urchins in there to eat it/ harvest what I can every now and then.

I've been thinking about trying chaeto again because it seems much cleaner. But I am going to put it in a small 10g tank, and let it grow in there a bit before putting it in my sump. I'll just put water from water changes on my 29g in it.

Hopefully a larger amount will allow it to stay together better in my sump. It's crazy how expensive the stuff has gotten. Back in the day you could easily get a decent size ball that wouldn't fall apart for $5.

I did have a clump in the past from a vendor (I think it's called like Aquatic Farms or something in Florida) that worked well but came with substantially more creatures. Mostly good ones, but AlgaeBarn's seems almost perfectly clean.

They've been good about to responding to me atm, so interested in how things proceed. It's worth noting that after some of the initial breakdown, what is left is a bit more structurally sound, just kind of softer and mushier than I'm accustomed to. Not sure if that remaining portion is viable or not.

 

[mindme]

Urchins LOVE red ogo lol. Yes Sea Lettuce is ulva and were the pieces long enough to pinch together with the bio blocks? Sea lettuce and Red Ogo can be anchored or tumbled (red ogo does tend to do better anchored)

I decided to give the red ogo another try - this time without the urchins. I'm going to anchor it and hope it does better that way.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I did have a clump in the past from a vendor (I think it's called like Aquatic Farms or something in Florida) that worked well but came with substantially more creatures. Mostly good ones, but AlgaeBarn's seems almost perfectly clean.

They've been good about to responding to me atm, so interested in how things proceed. It's worth noting that after some of the initial breakdown, what is left is a bit more structurally sound, just kind of softer and mushier than I'm accustomed to. Not sure if that remaining portion is viable or not.

If you wanted to keep an eye on it and see how it continues to do you can but we are replacing the entire order of chaeto anyways and sent you the reshipment confirmation in your DMs