New to STL and in need of Chaeto

[TheWackyWiz]

Hey Everyone,

Hope you're staying cozy and safe with this weather! Reaching out because I'm in a bit of a pickle. I recently upgraded my set up and unfortunately it caused my Chaeto to crash.

I've been having a heck of a time finding some replacement online, and my usual LFS are tapped as well. Does anyone in the area have some Chaeto they can spare?

Thanks;

 

[mjcoussens]

I've had my new system up since last May and it's only been in the last month or so that my Chaeto has started to grow. I have some I'd be willing to pass along. Mostly pest free, but I do have vermetid snails in my system. I'm across the river in O'Fallon, IL.

 

[TheWackyWiz]

I've had my new system up since last May and it's only been in the last month or so that my Chaeto has started to grow. I have some I'd be willing to pass along. Mostly pest free, but I do have vermetid snails in my system. I'm across the river in O'Fallon, IL.

View attachment 2036148

Hey thanks for replying! I ended up getting everything sorted but I really appreciate the offer!

 

[TheWackyWiz]

I've had my new system up since last May and it's only been in the last month or so that my Chaeto has started to grow. I have some I'd be willing to pass along. Mostly pest free, but I do have vermetid snails in my system. I'm across the river in O'Fallon, IL.

View attachment 2036148

Hey MJ,

I spoke too soon Turns out I was running my tank too clean and was starving my Chaeto out. Just wondering if you still have some extra you're willing to part with?

 

[mjcoussens]

Hey MJ,

I spoke too soon Turns out I was running my tank too clean and was starving my Chaeto out. Just wondering if you still have some extra you're willing to part with?

Yep, I have some that I can spare for you. Message me and we can work out the particulars.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Hi @mjcoussens and @TheWackyWiz! Just wanted to say hello, I’m in St Louis as well!

 

[TheWackyWiz]

Hi @mjcoussens and @TheWackyWiz! Just wanted to say hello, I’m in St Louis as well!

Hey! Nice to meet you. What sort of reef do you have going? Mines a 20g AIO tank with a couple beginner corals and fish. I'm pretty new to this whole thing so still learning.

 

[mjcoussens]

I have a 150 mixed reef that's been up for about a year now. It's heading towards SPS dominant. I upgraded from a 40 breeder that I ran for 7 years prior and turned into a frag tank.

 

[Grill]

Anyone needing Chaeto let me know. I have plenty to spare.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Hey! Nice to meet you. What sort of reef do you have going? Mines a 20g AIO tank with a couple beginner corals and fish. I'm pretty new to this whole thing so still learning.

I have a standard 90g at the moment with 3 fish and no coral; recently lost them -all- to cyano. Glad to see local people!
VERY nice tank @mjcoussens! I would love to see more pics, and the octopus painted on the wall??

 

[mjcoussens]

Sure, I'm happy to share more pictures of the tank.

I was all set to buy a Planet 210, then Underwater Paradise went out of business and I bought one of their 150 gallon frag systems with lights, skimmer, and sump for a steal. It's come along nicely since it was filled last May. I started it as bare bottom with dry rock from KP Aquatics and about half of the live rock from my 7 year old 40 breeder. Now, you can't tell it started as dry rock, coralline algae is growing like crazy. It's currently sloughing off in 1/8" thick sheets and is the main source of "detritus" that accumulates in the tank.

I used vibrant at the start to try to avoid the uglies, but stopped in August to try to get Chaeto established. I did have issues with bacterial blooms, cyano, and dinos up until September/October when hair algae finally took over my refugium. A UV and regular maintenance seemed to help with the uglies and none of this bothered the corals. Chaeto finally started growing well for me in January. Coral growth really took off for me when I added a CO2 scrubber in December, alk consumption went from .2dkh/day to 1.6dkh/day currently.

Flow is provided by 4 IceCap 4k gyres powered by a Wave Engine, the rest of the system is controlled with the Control 4.

The octopus is a vinyl decal from Amazon.


Cheers,

Matt

 

[Grill]

Sure, I'm happy to share more pictures of the tank.

I was all set to buy a Planet 210, then Underwater Paradise went out of business and I bought one of their 150 gallon frag systems with lights, skimmer, and sump for a steal. It's come along nicely since it was filled last May. I started it as bare bottom with dry rock from KP Aquatics and about half of the live rock from my 7 year old 40 breeder. Now, you can't tell it started as dry rock, coralline algae is growing like crazy. It's currently sloughing off in 1/8" thick sheets and is the main source of "detritus" that accumulates in the tank.

I used vibrant at the start to try to avoid the uglies, but stopped in August to try to get Chaeto established. I did have issues with bacterial blooms, cyano, and dinos up until September/October when hair algae finally took over my refugium. A UV and regular maintenance seemed to help with the uglies and none of this bothered the corals. Chaeto finally started growing well for me in January. Coral growth really took off for me when I added a CO2 scrubber in December, alk consumption went from .2dkh/day to 1.6dkh/day currently.

Flow is provided by 4 IceCap 4k gyres powered by a Wave Engine, the rest of the system is controlled with the Control 4.

View attachment 2107519
View attachment 2107521
View attachment 2107523

The octopus is a vinyl decal from Amazon.


Cheers,

Matt

I like the setup. I kind of wish I went bare bottom with my build. I have an engineer goby that wrecks havoc... tunnels under rock causing them to lean, mounds & mounds of rubble on top of corals, valleys and mountains that get moved on a daily basis.