Don't forget to rinse your chaeto!

[Woodstock]

We all fight the battle of detritus... We diligently clean our equipment, vacuum, perform water changes, rinse sponges, wash filter socks, blow off the rocks, etc. but there is one other thing we need to remember to do...

For those of us with refugiums, we must also rinse our chaetomorpha algae.

Yesterday, I cleaned the 100 gallon sump (part of a 300 gallon system) which was filled with chaeto. I was astonished and grossed out at the amount of nasty funk that was trapped within the mass of chaeto. The water remaining after rinsing it was dark and 'muddy'! Yuck!

Chaeto traps detritus just like a sponge filter does so make sure you remove it periodically and swish it in a bucket of salt water to 'rinse' it well. Don't worry, you'll still keep tons of pods living it in.

I know I will add this chore to the regular maintenance list

[Neptunesghost]

I have a nest of bristle worms in my chaeto ball...they keep the junk out of the algae....sometimes the ball looks more red than green from the worms

[Kathleen]

I have alot of bristleworms in my tank, someone told me they can grow the length of a car, is this true?

[Neptunesghost]

Everything I have read says about 2 feet in aquaria. But, I too have heard tales of the "Loch Ness Worm"

[Future]

Originally Posted by Woodstock

We all fight the battle of detritus... We diligently clean our equipment, vacuum, perform water changes, rinse sponges, wash filter socks, blow off the rocks, etc. but there is one other thing we need to remember to do...

For those of us with refugiums, we must also rinse our chaetomorpha algae.

Yesterday, I cleaned the 100 gallon sump (part of a 300 gallon system) which was filled with chaeto. I was astonished and grossed out at the amount of nasty funk that was trapped within the mass of chaeto. The water remaining after rinsing it was dark and 'muddy'! Yuck!

Chaeto traps detritus just like a sponge filter does so make sure you remove it periodically and swish it in a bucket of salt water to 'rinse' it well. Don't worry, you'll still keep tons of pods living it in.

I know I will add this chore to the regular maintenance list

Yep Yep,
I cleaned my cheato out a few times and it trapped everything it possibly could. Quite nasty to see after a while.

Originally Posted by Kathleen

I have alot of bristleworms in my tank, someone told me they can grow the length of a car, is this true?

Quite possibly yes given the room and they are left alone.
I have a 3 footer, there was a guy with a 5 footer, but in the wild they can be much larger.

[sambrinar]

Yep I noticed that too! Ewwww

[Kathleen]

My chaeto seems to have grown, it is a large ball but its also a bit yellow on one side, could it be getting too much light?

Great advice, I will make sure I rinse it.

Are there fish that eat bristleworms? I won't be able to handle it if they get that big, too chicken.

[Basile]

Hey thanks . Never though of cheato being dirty. I noticed too; i seem to have a different type of cheato, most seem to have the spirali or the crass kind i've got the aerea. Looks more like an sos pad, very tiny filaments. So i guess that must really trap some gunk!