dyeing chaeto

[rambler67]

so i have had some chaeto in my sump for about 3 weeks and it just started to dye out is this normal or any reason why here are the parameters on my tank thank you
ph 8.2
amn 0
no-2 0
no-3 10ppm
cal 400
po-4.25ppm
sal 1.023

 

[Gti_Leo]

how is the lighting in there?

 

[Tank2379]

Sometimes if your Nutrient levels are low they can die off... Try feeding more- Any compact lighting with 6500K would help grow cheato with no problem.

 

[David S]

dye or die?,chaeto will go a lighter colour if the lighting is too strong or close,

 

[mr_X]

if you have detectable nitrate and phosphate, i don't think it's a lack of nutrients that killed it off.
i'm not sure about all of the parameters, but if you have detectable nitrIte, i wonder if this could be the problem.

 

[rambler67]

it is dieing really light in color and just withering away to nothing I have a 6500K light on it. on 12 hours off 12 hours the nitrIte are undetectable

 

[mr_X]

that's the best spectrum lamp for macro algae IME, but i have seen folks use all sorts of lamps over their refugiums and the algae grew fine.
the same thing is happening to the tank i maintain at the local gym. after a power outage that killed most of the fish, the macros all died. that was last summer. since then, i've not been able to grow any algae in that refugium. it all withers away.
new fish are in the tank and nutrient levels are high. i also use the reverse lighting schedule, 12 on and 12 off.

 

[rambler67]

I only have a a wrasse and an eel in the tank right now need to get rid of then im can add all the other fish that i want. so it could be a lack of nutrient for it to grow.

 

[sdergar]

I use to have trouble with mine when I first put the chaeto in then I switched to a stronger 23watt bulb and 24 hour lighting in the sump and it seems to have corrected it. Not sure if that is the issue but why not try it for a week or so to see if it works.

Steve

 

[mr_X]

it's not the lack of nutrients. your test kits are supporting that.

it wouldn't be that algae needs 24 hour lighting. i'm going to try a halide over the refugium and see if that makes a difference.

 

[David S]

I used to run a MH over mine to sell it back to the lfs,worked a treat,just make sure it has good flow and not too close to the light.Keep turning the chaeto over and trim it each month.

 

[mr_X]

it's not a flow issue either, because this system i am speaking of had the same flow before the power outage.

 

[David S]

I know that when chaeto dies it gives off an awful stench,there wouldn't be some sort of bacteria in the systems since the kill off would there??

 

[mr_X]

well, if it was a month or two down the line, we couldn't rule it out, but it's been a year of weekly water changes in my case. i'm going to grab a new batch since i put the 175 watt halide pendant over the refugium. that plus a 23 watt energy saver bulb that did fine up until the outage should be more than enough light.

 

[David S]

Maybe you just dont have enough nutrients for it to survive.

 

[Tomchong22]

This is kind of a side question. Will dead macro algae end up creating an ammonia spike if you leave it in the sump?

 

[David S]

I dont know about an ammonia spike but it will leach all the nutrients back into your system

 

[mr_X]

Maybe you just dont have enough nutrients for it to survive.

believe me when i tell you, there are PLENTY of nutrients in that tank!
so much so that when i do water changes the water coming out has a yellow tint to it.

 

[David S]

Can you put the chaeto in an area so it will tumble,as it needs good flow,otherwise maybe its time to go to halimeda or calaurpa!!

 

[Maya]

Mr x... Just a shot outside the box on the cheato. We rose Gardeners have a problem sometimes growing roses in spots where we have lost a rose. We call it "rose sick soil". Sometimes it's a lack of nutrients (not likely the case in your aquarium) but sometimes it because the dying rose has left some sort of illness (bacterial or viral) in the soil when it died. The new roses wither and die for no apparent reason even when given the proper care, nutritution, etc. The soil in the area of the new rose needs to then be replaced. Is it possible that when your cheato died it left some sort of toxin or fouling in the substrate of the refugium that is causing the die off in the new specimens?