Saltwater tumbleweed: what is your experience with Chaeto?

[Jrain904]

I’ve been growing it for years. Good stuff. For anyone who cares to know you can find giant clumps of it growing naturally in the mosquito lagoon and Indian river down in central Florida. Pretty cool to see it in the wild!

 

[Wendyr]

I had Cheato in a big ball in a lighted section of my sump. I also had it in a basket fed by my calcium reactor effluent. Both worked. The problem I had was that it was unnecessary. I was adding ammonium and phosphate stock solutions to keep nitrates & phosphate detectable and keep the Cheato growing. At the same time, I had poor growth and color in my corals. I replaced the cheato with a cryptic refugium. I have to manage nitrates and phosphates a little now but my corals are growing much more rapidly and have better color.

What's a cryptic refugium?

 

[Wendyr]

I have tried and I have failed... even changed out the cheaper grow light for a tunze... it does not grow for me that said, I do have a small piece of caulerpa successfully growing so I can at least grow something and the tangs like it.

Mine died too. Then I got a little basket for it. Seems to be growing (second round).

 

[EakTheFreak]

I have grown it successfully but agree with others who listed the following issues:
- Can become a detritus factory inside the chaeto ball if not moved/maintained constantly
- Can become an Aptasia factory if you don’t have peppermint shrimp or Berghia nudibranchs to clear it out
- Gets so thick that sometimes it creates issues with flow in refugium
- Hair algae would start to outcompete the Chaeto at times and become a tangled mess

I switched to Grape & Fern Caulerpa and will never look back:
- Easier to grow both strands, easier to harvest
- Doesn’t block flow and finds more areas to grow within refugium
- Still houses tons of pods
- Food for my Herbivores in the tank if I want to recycle some of it to the fish
- Easy as hell to harvest

 

[ReefGeezer]

What's a cryptic refugium?

Basicly a dark space full of live rock and sand that harbors lots of sponges, tube worms, bivalved, pods, and all kinds of other life. It helps with nutrient processing and provides input into the food web.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Basicly a dark space full of live rock and sand that harbors lots of sponges, tube worms, bivalved, pods, and all kinds of other life. It helps with nutrient processing and provides input into the food web.

Any chance of a picture? I'm very interested in this idea

 

[xiongsy]

Don't use h202.

 

[vick52]

I have tried to grow it so many times I just quit buying it anymore. I had it in my sump with a clip on plant light. It never did grow. Just seemed to disappear.

 

[Coral Loggers]

What’s the trick with this. I have tried several times and had no luck. Different lights too. I had low flow where it was but put a bubbler in. It has died everytime and cause very bad phosphate problems I am still battling over a year later. PLEASE HELP

 

[Jrain904]

I have grown it successfully but agree with others who listed the following issues:
- Can become a detritus factory inside the chaeto ball if not moved/maintained constantly
- Can become an Aptasia factory if you don’t have peppermint shrimp or Berghia nudibranchs to clear it out
- Gets so thick that sometimes it creates issues with flow in refugium
- Hair algae would start to outcompete the Chaeto at times and become a tangled mess

I switched to Grape & Fern Caulerpa and will never look back:
- Easier to grow both strands, easier to harvest
- Doesn’t block flow and finds more areas to grow within refugium
- Still houses tons of pods
- Food for my Herbivores in the tank if I want to recycle some of it to the fish
- Easy as hell to harvest

I prefer caulerpa as well.m

 

[ReefGeezer]

Any chance of a picture? I'm very interested in this idea

I'll try to get a shot tonight.

 

[Cary Meredith]

I grow it in a refugium and also have some if my 40 gallon frag tank, grows so fast I have a hard time giving it away and it has been keeping nutrient levels in check. Pods love it and have some feeding directly into my main tank for the mandarin.

 

[NewReefAdventure]

Mine died too. Then I got a little basket for it. Seems to be growing (second round).

Interesting... what does the basket help change?

 

[Captngutts]

I recently started growing chaeto. I believe it has dropped out my PhO4 and NO and has kicked off an infestation of dinos’s.

I think I’m experiencing a similar situation, although I’ve no way to check my Ph04 currently. (I must remedy that!) I’m running chaeto in the rear, middle chamber of my JBJ NanoCube 24. I’ve noticed copepods back there were thriving in the chaeto but have dropped off of late too.

What are you doing to address your problem, may I ask?

 

[BTimms]

I think I’m experiencing a similar situation, although I’ve no way to check my Ph04 currently. (I must remedy that!) I’m running chaeto in the rear, middle chamber of my JBJ NanoCube 24. I’ve noticed copepods back there were thriving in the chaeto but have dropped off of late too.

What are you doing to address your problem, may I ask?

I have done testing for pho4 levels. And I definitely notice levels drop when there is a larger amount of chaeto . I now limit the amount to a golf ball size in my 40gallon aio rear chamber. Within two days the Dino’s are almost completely gone. And nutrient levels are back to normal. I think chaeto can be seriously detrimental depending on the size of aquarium, filtration methods, stocking, feeding, etc… I’d bet in smaller systems chaeto causes more harm than good and can cause a domino effect that can wipe out a system. if you want or like chaeto only keep a small amount and discard it on a regular basis.

 

[Captngutts]

I have done testing for pho4 levels. And I definitely notice levels drop when there is a larger amount of chaeto . I now limit the amount to a golf ball size in my 40gallon aio rear chamber. Within two days the Dino’s are almost completely gone. And nutrient levels are back to normal. I think chaeto can be seriously detrimental depending on the size of aquarium, filtration methods, stocking, feeding, etc… I’d bet in smaller systems chaeto causes more harm than good and can cause a domino effect that can wipe out a system. if you want or like chaeto only keep a small amount and discard it on a regular basis.

Good idea! I just reduced mine to a small ball a third of what it was and will monitor. My chaeto seems very healthy and perhaps this will right the ship. It wasn't too bad yet but was heading in the wrong direction I believe.

 

[salty joe]

I grew Cheato for a year or two, I was pulling out over a gallon a week. Then, it suddenly turned to mush. I was dosing iron in my no water change tank. It must have depleted something, IDK. I'm harvesting about a half gallon of hair algea now. I'd guess it has about the same amount of nutrients as a gallon of Cheato.

 

[sfin52]

I placed it in a reef tank and it started to over take the tank. Little fragments got a foothold in the rocks. I had to install a urchin to get it under control.

 

[tory990]

I am growing some. Started with a softball size about a month ago and now at the point I'm going to have to trim it back. Its in my sump. But I notice if I don't feed it with chaetogro it will begin to grow algae. Yucky slimy stuff, basically hair algae I guess.

 

[TheFrozenReefer]

Been growing chaeto for three months now, while feeding my display tank with Rods Frozen food twice a day and Pellets 1x every other day. Thanks to the chaeto, my phosphates consistently remain near 0.03