Chaeto Care

[mchabot]

I purchased some Chaeto from renogaw a while back and it must have loved the nitrates in my tank because it has been growing like crazy. Nitrates are now at zero!! (thanks again renogaw). The chaeto has filled the space I originally put it in and I am under the impression that I should take some out at this point so that it can continue to grow and absorb nitrates. My question is how much should I remove and how often should I thin it out? Any advice opinion or fact will be greatly appreciated.

 

[chilwil84]

there is no real perfect answer for this cause i am sure different people have found what works for them. i tend to wait for it to get pretty dense than thin it allow to allow some light to pass through the ball

 

[mchabot]

Thats kind of what I thought. Anyone else want to chime in?
Matt

 

[jtrzerocool]

i would just remove what ever has grown in...remove just enought to where you have the same amount you started with...

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by chilwil84
there is no real perfect answer for this cause i am sure different people have found what works for them. i tend to wait for it to get pretty dense than thin it allow to allow some light to pass through the ball
This is exactly what I do, as well. It gets really thick, and I just thin it out and spread it to other areas so that it fills in the thin spaces and grows more.

 

[zsqure]

I have worms and little starfish that have popped up in mine. I got it from someone on this site. I'll have to post some pics. I just pull it apart and leave a tennis ball size piece in the fuge. (I try to keep the critters) and give the rest to my lfs.

 

[renogaw]

great stuff huh?
coral keeper got some from jt, who got it from me, and he's having trouble keeping it from overfilling as well
it's honestly becoming hard to sell it anymore because so many people have so much of it out there. if you get rid of any in the garbage, just make sure you shake out any pods and worms and such

 

[fishpoor]

Where can you keep chaeto? Can I keep it in my wet/dry? (I assume I would have to add a light) I can't keep it in the box that hangs over the tank because I have an acrylic tank and I only have 2 holes cut in the top.

 

[renogaw]

would have to go in a refugium. your wet/dry COULD be modified, but you're better off just making a sump/refuge instead. your wet/dry is going to cause you all sorts of nitrates.

 

[nycbob]

some people buy a soap holder and put them in there inside the tank.

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by Fishpoor
Where can you keep chaeto? Can I keep it in my wet/dry? (I assume I would have to add a light) I can't keep it in the box that hangs over the tank because I have an acrylic tank and I only have 2 holes cut in the top.
look up my thread "cheato house" and see what i did

 

[snakeblitz33]

lol, I have some of that, and once a week I take and turn the algae over a few times so the bottom part can get some light. I don't take any algae out at all, because the tank is used to that amount of cleanliness.

 

[mchabot]

Thanks everyone for your responses. It looks like I'll just do some general thinning and turning over to keep my Chaeto growing!