chaeto dying! please help

[kel8edg]

my chaeto in my built in refugium in a 29 gallon nano tank keeps on dying. it emits a foul fishy smell and clouds my water. my skimmer collects greenish liquid which i guess is from the dying chaeto. my water parameters are: ph at 8.0 to 8.2, nitrites 0, ammonia is 0, nitrate is between 10-20ppm, phosphate is at 5ppm.

please help

 

[jvu61]

too much light /too little light ? would be my first guess

 

[rookie07]

Looks like cyno is growing on it.

Is that a redish film that is growing in/around it?

 

[kel8edg]

it is actually brownish in color. i have an led light bought online named "ocean revive" but i set it in the lowest intensity. it is lighting my main display tank and the built in refugium (where the chaetos are at) behind it. I also light the refugium with an ordinary fluorescent bulb at night (over night) so it is getting 24 hour light.

 

[j0hnnyb0y13ave]

I was using a led at first on my chaeto kept dying and dying till I switch to a reg 80 watt indoor flood bulb in a reg dome light fixture lol now I cut it once a week and it's full of pods and all kind of bs.. If u need some more to give another try let me know deff try the flood bulb and dome fixture it's 20$ and I'm sure it will work

 

[Dan_P]

i have local macro algae from Long Island Sound. It survived with one 5000 K CFL 120 watt equivalent spot light and then grew vigorously when I lowered to just 6 inches from the surface of the sump. I just added a second light and I am finally able to harvest algae.

I had a ball of chaeto fall apart and disappear just before I lowered the light. I conclude from this experiment that it is very likely that in case of poor macro algae growth, our light sources are too dim. I have had undetectable nitrate for the last six months and phosphates below detection limits for a month. This level of nutrients did not prevent the macro algae from going nuts when the light intensity was increased.