Chaeto reactor not doing so well. Any suggestions?

[Mr. Manty]

I have had this chaeto reactor running for 2 weeks now on a month cycled tank and have had noticeable growth - maybe doubled in volume from the baseball size it was.

But now I am seeing some brown growth on top of the chaeto which was once bright green (see below) and on the acrylic. Some of the chaeto is even becoming pale, just look closely at the photos.

I am guessing this is some cyano or diatom that is covering the chaeto and blocking light and/or respiration .

I have very high nutrient levels and I run the lights 24/7. Running the lights 24/7 should not be a problem as I have seen many do this with macro reactors with no issues and great growth. It seems to just be stunted by this brown growth. Or maybe that is not what haa stunted it, I do not know.

Any tips?

[jeromeit]

When I experienced this in my fuge I would rinse the chaeto in saltwater and put back into the tank. TBH it might be the light, I've heard that macroalgae, like most plants need a break from light, so I doubt that the 24 hour cycle is helping it. Never had it in a reactor though.

[wii64brawl]

Run the reactor lights opposite your DT lights.

[Mr. Manty]

if the duration of light is an issue its not because of the chaeto itself. I have seen plenty of examples of 24/7 light in reactors and it only increases growth.

But the 24/7 light could very well be contributing to the micro growth that is covering the chaeto.

[Mr. Manty]

And also there is no "opposite" lighting schedule for me as it is a peacock mantis shirmp tank and i only turn on the lights to view him. I'll try 12 hour lighting or something .

Maybe 24/7 lighting only works in low nutrients which discourage mircro growth on the macro algae. I have very high nitrates atm.

[eppersonm16]

After talking with other people who run Chaeto reactors successfully, they suggested that I add some kind of iron supplement to keep the Chaeto healthy and so I tried using Seachem Reef Plus which contains iron and other trace elements and so far it seems to work well. Hope this helps.......

Michael

[eppersonm16]

Also, on my Chaeto reactor I only run the lights for about 14 hours per day and I dont use a protein skimmer.

[Michael Hoaster]

Iron is often helpful for mystery macro stagnation. Are you sure you have high nutrients? One mantis shrimp shouldn't generate much. You might prune the chaeto back a bit to see if a smaller plant grows better. If so, this would indicate deficient nutrients, which also might indicate you don't need the reactor for your live stock level.

[Mr. Manty]

Im all but certain it is just something you have to deal with when you have high nutrients/ high silicates like me. I washed the chaeto off today and it was bright green underneath!

And yes my nitrates have been around 40. They are high from leftovers from the cycle and the kind of food that a 7 inch peacock eats. I feed him live clams that he busts open, makes my skimmer go crazy. Also he is in just a 20 gallon.

[scuzy]

Actually I read somewhere 24/7 lighting cycler does nothing for chaeto. I couldn't find the link. Reason I run mine reverse light schedule as my main tank. So far the growth is awesome.


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[Mr. Manty]

I have read people having better growth with 24/7 or that it does nothing or even harms it. There just isnt any good empirical evidence on this niche setup yet.

[scuzy]

Well mine is doing well on reverse cycle compare to 24/7 it died


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[Mr. Manty]

If it begins to go south again, doing half lights will def be my next step. There is no reverse cycle because do not run lights on my tank.

[cougareyes]

I know of no plant life on earth that requires a 24/7 light cycle, I don't get it. Anytime I ever had a negative experience with chaeto it has been because of too much light, either in intensity or duration.

[Mr. Manty]

The idea of 24/7 light has nothing to do with what it requires. Just unnatural acceleration of growth. I would like to run some tests to see if it makes a difference beyond anecdotal evidence from me or anyone else.

I can confirm that the chaeto itself is NOT being harmed so far by 24/7 light. The issue is all the cyano and diatom growth on the chaeto atm which i can wash off.

[firefly73]

all life requires a down time for respiration , disposing of waste etc.
mayhap its not seen too often as the cheato is cut down often enough to halt the failure.
. im running 58w of grow lights for land plants ........i get massive growth from 16 hrs on 8 off. edges are darker green centre is pale but only on top. there is a differnce in spectrum for higher and lower algae . lower will adapt and grow under anything hence outcompete the higher. not what you want so change to a grow type light , telltale pink/red 3/4 blue 1/4 . ive no lower algae growing in my fuge .......at all

[Mr. Manty]

I have another reactor with a red/blue led growth strip on it. This light does produce noticeable day to day growth so i just havn't gotten around to upgrading it yet.

I think I will slap on a timer , though. I will start with 16 hrs on 8 off like you.

[firefly73]

Originally Posted by Mr. Manty

I have another reactor with a red/blue led growth strip on it. This light does produce noticeable day to day growth so i just havn't gotten around to upgrading it yet.

I think I will slap on a timer , though. I will start with 16 hrs on 8 off like you.

id try to get those waste levels down to. macro is good imo at stabllizing a level but not the best to reduce levels if you know what i mean.

[ERivera65]

i would pull the reactor and seperate the algae. i would clean the inside of the reactor with a brush and rinse off the algae. When I ran my refugium setup in my old tank, i ran the lights mostly opposite of the display to help with pH by photosynthesis. i ran the refugium light like 14-16 hours.

[Mr. Manty]

I did clean the algae and am now doing a shorter photo period. I will try iron dosing if i do not see improvment by the end of the week.

[Mr. Manty]

What I learned:


If you have issues with diatoms or cyano in your tank, then your chaeto will get covered in it in a few days. Once you get the nitrates under control you will not have my issue.

Iron did definitely help. I got great growth but then it slowed to a crawl and began to fade and die. I am guessing because it is only a 20 gal system that has gone without a waterchange for a month that the chaeto used up all the trace elements that it needs (iodine, magnesium etc...)

I did a water change, will update with what happens.

[Michael Hoaster]

It sounds like you're having some luck!

Also keep in mind that as your nutrients get under control, there will be less for your chaeto, so you may want to prune it down, in essence, making it a smaller mouth to feed.

[Mr. Manty]

So.... even with frequent water changes, dosing iron, rinsing the chaeto every few days, plenty of nutrients... i can't seem to get it to grow for more than a week. It will fill up the tube, i will thin it out, then it will stop growing and turn white slowly.

[scuzy]

What kind of lights

[Mr. Manty]

The LED strips pictured at the beginning of the thread. The lights might not be ideal but the should be able to row cheato. This exact aame reactor and light combo os aold by marine depo and many people use it with great success. I do not know what curse i have. Incredibly frustrating : (