Joshifer October 26, 2013 Share October 26, 2013 I have these little bug things in my chato. I know the chaeto is used to absorb nitrates. But what are pods for? And why are people always trying to grow them? I googled but I'm getting long paragraph answers just want a short blunt answer. Also this light is awesome it's growing chaeto like crazy. I compared one clump with this light to one clump without light and these are getting really thick and long. I got it from bed bath and beyond for $20 it's led doesn't make any heat at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm October 26, 2013 Share October 26, 2013 Eating fish poop and becoming fish poop (being eaten). People love them as some fish like mandarins have a diet that is comprised almost entirely of pods. Having a stable population means a happy, fat mandarin. Best short answer I can come up with this late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 October 26, 2013 Share October 26, 2013 SunWyrm said it well. Wrasses also like pods. Some other carnivores will eat them, but other than my pipefish the rest of my fish couldn't care less about pods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto October 26, 2013 Share October 26, 2013 make sure you trim your chaeto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshifer October 26, 2013 Author Share October 26, 2013 make sure you trim your chaeto Thanks for the short simple answers. And Neto why trim it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto October 26, 2013 Share October 26, 2013 Thanks for the short simple answers. And Neto why trim it? The purpose of having chaeto is to reduce nitrates and phosphates. If its cramped on a tight space it will stop growing and release nitrates and phosphates back to water (it dies ). Yo want your chaeto to grow so that you know its doing its job. IMO your setup is ideal for a nano tank of maybe 10 gallons so i highly recomend you get at least a 30 gal refugium or sump. Happy reefing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads October 28, 2013 Share October 28, 2013 Pods also breed which puts their larva into your water column for your corals to feed on. Think of Chaeto as filter. For it to export nutrients you need to trim it and discard the vegetable mass, thus you are taking all the sequestered nutrients out of the system. If you let it in there (in the form of Chaeto) it is not out of the system. Your aquarium is a semi-closed environment, what goes in must come out, or stay there forever. Using Chaeto is a helpful way to export "inputs" from the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova423 October 31, 2013 Share October 31, 2013 The purpose of having chaeto is to reduce nitrates and phosphates. If its cramped on a tight space it will stop growing and release nitrates and phosphates back to water (it dies ). Yo want your chaeto to grow so that you know its doing its job. IMO your setup is ideal for a nano tank of maybe 10 gallons so i highly recomend you get at least a 30 gal refugium or sump. Happy reefing +1 to this I started with chaeto on my HOB fuge, got sick of tumbling and trimming. When i slacked like this the chaeto started dying, flowing in the tank, etc. Then I figured out, after researching, that chaeto for a smaller tank in an ac70 sized fuge is like using a match against the sun in a firefight. You need a large space like a sump refugium to properly do the chaeto nutrient export method. It needs to grown and then be trimmed to successfully export the n & p, if it is not then it starts to die and you will end up with more n & p then you had in the first place! So I ditched the chaeto and now just run small DIY reactors (rowaphos & zeovit carbon) in the AC70 with a lot of success. In conjunction with a DIY skimmer, I have all the nutrient export I need outside of PWC's. I also keep some blue macro algae in a onion bag in the tank, it performs some of the duties the chaeto did before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Rhoads November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 I also keep some blue macro algae in a onion bag in the tank, it performs some of the duties the chaeto did before. What a cool idea! I used to try to grow macro in-tank, and could never get it to stay where I wanted it. Nice tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lutz123 November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 Read this: http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/reefkeeping-made-easy-what-was-not-explained-160389-3.html It's a great resource for you and will explain nitrate exportation and how saltwater differs from freshwater. I can't remember if it's in the same place, but there should also be info on how there are very few saltwater "plants" - a vast majority is algae so what you know from freshwater will be different here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova423 November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 What a cool idea! I used to try to grow macro in-tank, and could never get it to stay where I wanted it. Nice tip! It is growing like wildfire. I'll have to split and sell a chunk of it soon. With this type of macro in the onion bag I have little spill out too. When I was running chaeto in the HOB it would just get everywhere in the tank, even with a screen I made from the original media basket. I ended up having to always put filter pad on the output, and change every day or two so detritus would not accumulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 It is growing like wildfire. I'll have to split and sell a chunk of it soon. With this type of macro in the onion bag I have little spill out too. When I was running chaeto in the HOB it would just get everywhere in the tank, even with a screen I made from the original media basket. I ended up having to always put filter pad on the output, and change every day or two so detritus would not accumulate. If your chaeto is growing like crazy, you should probably look into why your NO3 is high enough to grow them at such a high rate. Chaeto (and refugiums) masks larger issues from your tank. It's always good to get your parameters in check from good husbandry first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova423 November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 (edited) Not talking about the chaeto. Read the post. The chaeto was dying bc I put the octo in tank, and it spilled out into the tank. Octo was sucking up the nutrients. Regardless the chaeto had like zilch effect on n and p, except for hoarding it all in the plant itself and not showing up even with hanna checkers. Mostly overfeeding but I compensate with skimming, rowaphos & carbon in a reactor, and frequent PWCs. Tank is doing great. Edited November 1, 2013 by nova423 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 Ah!! haha..open mouth, insert foot..was associating your response to the title of the thread....advice still stands true for anyone else though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova423 November 1, 2013 Share November 1, 2013 Ah!! haha..open mouth, insert foot..was associating your response to the title of the thread....advice still stands true for anyone else though. Absolutely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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