Although ChaetoFarm’s proprietary strain of Chaetomorpha crassa is extremely resilient and adaptable when compared to the corals most of us care for, and even the other more common strains of chaeto. There are still many mistakes that can be made both when acclimating new chaeto to your system, and in long term care. Here are the top six mistakes that we see in the rare instances where our customers struggle with their chaeto.
Learn MoreThere are dozens of different Chaetomorpha species and several of them are available in the aquarium trade. But unfortunately, they are very difficult to identify, and are not created equally. We’ve found that our proprietary strain of Chaetomorpha crassa vastly outperformed the other species we were able to procure and test. Oddly enough, Chaetomorpha crassa is actually one of the least commonly available species despite being the easiest to grow. ChaetoFarm’s chaeto will give you much faster growth rates and unmatched nutrient export while being hardier and more adaptable, guaranteed. If you grow Chaeto now and are still experiencing rising nutrients, switching to ChaetoFarm chaeto will give you give you measurably better performance in the same refugium. See our article about the different species of chaeto to learn more.
When you receive your chaeto, the first thing you should do is inspect your chaeto to evaluate its current health. Healthy chaeto should be bright green, soft and pliable to the touch, and the water from shipping should be clear. Much like leafy produce, chaeto can wilt if exposed to extreme temperatures during shipping but as long as it’s still green, it should still be able to recover. However, it may take a little longer before you start to see strong growth. Brittle, scratchy, or slimy chaeto is a sure sign that your chaeto is having a rough time and will need a little extra TLC. A quick rinse in tap water usually won’t hurt anything either.
At ChaetoFarm, we’ve had great success without tumbling any of our chaeto. However, we’ve noticed that the thinner filaments of our strain of chaeto allow light to penetrate mats and masses of the chaeto far better than with other strains sporting thicker filaments, making tumbling not so necessary for good light distribution. Furthermore, if your chaeto becomes stressed and brittle from either shipping or acclimation, tumbling can pulverize your chaeto until nothing is left; a problem we’ve only encountered once. What we like to do instead of tumbling is simply flip our chaeto mats twice a week, however we’re still not sure this is necessary.
In the beginning, ChaetoFarm tested several strains and species of chaeto before we discovered our strain. In those trials we found that our strain thrives under seriously intense lighting, but it can also thrive in very low lighting as well with reduced growth rates. When acclimating your new chaeto we recommend low intensity lighting until you start to see noticeable growth, and then start to ramp it up from there. Keep in mind that the more intense your lighting is, the more important it is to ensure that your chaeto is receiving the nutrients it needs from the water. Intense lighting in particularly clean water will result in stressed, unhappy chaeto. If you’re keeping our chaeto in an “Ultra-low nutrient system,” then low to moderate lighting is probably ideal.
Chaeto needs Nitrate and Phosphate to thrive. Test regularly and dose if necessary to keep these critical nutrients balanced and available. If you’re here, hopefully you’re familiar with the “Redfield ratio” by now, if not read about it in the context of reef-keeping. Although chaeto loves nutrient rich water, the ideal ranges for corals will allow it to thrive as well. Just don’t let these bottom out. You can play with your lighting intensity and photoperiod as well to fine tune the amount of nutrient export you’re looking to achieve in your system.
Most of our customers grow chaeto in the sump under their reef tanks. We do too. If you run a dosing pumps or an ATO, it’s very important that these dosing and ATO lines are “downstream” in the system from your chaeto. Chaeto does not appreciate the drastic water parameter swings these additions will cause if added directly to your Refugium or “upstream” from it. Run these lines into your return pump chamber.
So there you have it, the top six mistakes our customers make with their chaeto. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll have a high probability of success growing chaeto in your system.