Nutrient export

[mrpope]

What species of caluerpa or other macroalgea are the best for nitrate and other nutrient export

 

[JamesR]

I don't know about the best, but i have "spaghetti" algae (chaetomorphea ?spelling? and my nitrates have been 0 since I've had my tank. I have mostly lr with some bioballs in my wet/dry.

It also doen't go sexual. So no worries there.

Jim

 

[malkore]

Yeah I went with chaeto also. Oddly none of my LFS's knew what I as talking about, but a guy on another board sent me some for the cost of shipping.

 

[mrpope]

Do you have to trim it back to further remove the bad nutrients from the tank? I only ask because a lot of people are selling chaetomorpha on ebay, but I dont want to buy stuff that could possibly be filled with those bad nutrients. Any advice?

 

[cmor1701d]

but a guy on another board sent me some for the cost of shipping.

Got enough to send some my way

 

[phases99]

I just bought some Chaeto from Ebay, I'll let you know how it is.

 

[cmor1701d]

Great! Post a quick review of what you get back to this thread.
How much Chaeto and much did it cost?
How is it being shipped?

 

[malkore]

Unfortunately my guy dumped his SW setup for a FW planted tank, so he can't ship you any, and I don't have enough to share (I lack enough light to make chaeto grow like crazy).

As long as you get healthy chaeto, it's not gonna put bad stuff in your water. It doesn't go sexual like caulapra either.
I need to double the light on my fuge to get better chaeto growth...that's my current quandry.

 

[phases99]

I'm not happy so far. I ordered it Sunday night and got an email that it shipped Wednesday priority mail. It supposed to be two days from his location to mine and it's Friday night and it hasn't come

 

[cmor1701d]

Keep us posted.

 

[phases99]

I received a full QT sized ziploc bag of dense, very healthy looking Chaeto. It was moist in the baggy. The pods or whatever else that was in it probably did not survive as it was in transit for 3 days. It fits very nicely in my 12" CPR Aquafuge. Hopefully it will help my cyano problems by absorbing excess nutrients. It will definately provide a nice home for the hundreds of pods currently residing in the fuge. I'm not sure if I will light it for 12 or 24 hours, any recommendations are appreciated.
The Ebay seller was Seaside Treasure's and my first impression was that it was a worthwhile purchase.

 

[mrpope]

I just got my Chaeto from Aquatic Gallery in Milpitas, Ca. $10 for a big ball of it (probably a quart). No pods on it though from what I can see. I have the 13W Jalli light that is recommended with the 12" aquafuge, so if it grows fast you will see posts for free Chaeto in the near future.

 

[cmor1701d]

Thanks to both of you. I would probably light it for 12 hours, opposite the main lights.

 

[phases99]

I would probably light it for 12 hours, opposite the main lights.

12 hours opposite lighting appears to be the recommended way to go. So no changes needed to my current config. Thanks

 

[c0mf0rt]

I'm gonna get some of this stuff from ebay...

What do you guys mean by opposite lighting????

 

[cmor1701d]

If your main lights are on at noon and off at midnight, then the fuge light would be on at midnight and off at noon. It helps stabilize the pH so don't get as big a drop at night as you normally would.

 

[c0mf0rt]

HUH.... ok..... will do.......