Chaeto stopped Gorwing, Why?

[Squado]

I've had three decent size clumps of cheato for about 4 months now and all have had good growth up until now. Now the bunchesa are starting to break apart and have cyano growing on them, even though their is none in the main tank display. When I asked the manager of a LFS, he told me that is could be due to the fact that my skimmer chamber in the sump is before the macro and could be starving it out of nutrients or over oxygenating the water in the next chamber. my lighting schedule is 24 hours a day for the sump and 9 hours a day for the main display. Has anyone ever heard of this before, or is their a solution to help it grow. I've tried shaking the cyano off in new sw, but it seems to grow back and only in the sump. Any suggestions? TIA........

 

[beachbumin]

I have never had my chaeto on 24 hour lighting schedule. Not sure if that is what your problem is but HTH

 

[scumchug]

I've had Cheato on 24 hour lights with no effects after a month or so. I don't think it worked as well as a on/off schedule so I went back. Sorry, but I can't comment on why its dying.

 

[MT79]

I've noticed the same thing. A good pruning works for me. (Remove as much cyano as you can) After that it will grow back pretty aggressively, until it reaches about the same density as before. Iron plays a large part in the growth/health of macro's. If your not doing regular PWC's I'd recommend you start. Looking into a quality iron test kit and dosing it, if necessary, is a possibility. I feel I get better results w/ a 15-18 hour lighting schedule rather than 24. Also, since I decreased the flow in my fuge, I have less cyano growing in there than before. That seems counter intuitive, but it worked for me.

 

[Ziggy953]

I think the reduced lighting period had more to do with the reduced cyano then the flow JMO. I have had different lighting periods on my fuge and I've found that 18 hours works best for me too. I have 3 different kinds of macro in my fuge and they all seem to be doing very well. I too have the problem of cyano growing in the fuge. I've tried the lower flow and the higher flow, even had a small PH in the fuge for a month. Didn't seem to have an effect on it for me.

 

[scumchug]

I also had 3 different types. I cut back to 2 now just because i'm scared of it going sexual. I have a 4 chamber fuge, so i try different things to get rid of the Cyano. The best thing i've found is to add a small powerhead and a few snails. No cyano at all.... The problem for me is that i would need 4 powerheads. I have a mixture of snails in there, so i'm not sure which ones eat it. but its all gone. I have had a problem with nitrates since day one.. constantly 10 ppm never higher, never lower. I have tried everything possible to get them down to zero. Even when i added the fuge they diped down, and were right back to 10ppm within a couple days. After I added the powerhead they disappeared. Totally dropped to Zero, and have never climbed higher. i'm not sure why this worked, and i'm not sure it will work for everyone, but it sure worked for me.

 

[Dr.Nate]

Well, I'll tell you why mine stopped growing one time.....my light was too old. Once I replaced the bulb, it took off again. I would also heed the above advice, too, however.

 

[MT79]

think the reduced lighting period had more to do with the reduced cyano then the flow JMO

I actaully changed them separately, weeks apart. I started w/ a reduced lighting schedule and saw a little improvement. When I reduced the flow, I removed a PH, it got even better. Good points regarding adding some snails and the age of the lamp. Shutting the light off for a few days until the cyano clears up completely, along w/ manual removal, provides a fresh start.

 

[Squado]

The thing is that I've always had them on a 24 hour lighting schedule and never say problems. The only differences that I have made is that I changed the bulbs from pc to t5 and added a small powerhead to create a ripple effect on the surface. I shook all the cyano off about a week ago, and then it grew right back. I dont think that my chaeto is dying, it hasnt turned white, it is still a dark greenish, but is losing its clump form. It is starting to seperate and just sinks to the bottom of the fuge. I;ve had chaeto for about six months now and this is the first problem I;ve had with it. No idea what to do?

 

[Dr.Nate]

You don't need fancy lighting for chaeto. (although I'm not saying that is your problem) But any old cheap NO bulb works great (in fact better) than higher powered lighting. I first started mine under PC bulbs with lots of wattage. When I switched to a $13 NO light, it actually grew faster! And on the bright side--NO lighting will not feed the cyano as much either.

 

[Squado]

Do you think that I should start dosing Iron in the tank? I was also considering using a mud substrate instead of the live sand that I have been using. In the next couple of weeks, I will most likely be setting up a new sump and thought that it would be a good time to start off making some adjustments during this time. I heard that mud substrates bind phoshates and naturally help keep iron levels up. Do you think that putting the skimmer chamber in the new sump after the refuge would be a good idea? Your thoughts and ideas are most appreciated? Thanks........

 

[MT79]

Do you think that I should start dosing Iron in the tank?

I would test first. Check out what this says about dosing iron, among other things- http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Do you think that putting the skimmer chamber in the new sump after the refuge would be a good idea?

I would put it before the fuge. IMO that would be better b/c then you have less DOC's getting into the rock, LS, and/or mud in the fuge. Your skimmer will perform best when getting surface water directly from the tank, before anything else filters it. I run my sump w/ the skimmer before the fuge, and many pictures I've seen of sumps are set up the same way. I've never heard of it being an issue. HTH