Melting cheato

Will cheato slowly melt away if you don't have anything for it to feed off of? I had a large clump in my tank and it's been gradually getting smaller. For awhile there after I got it, it was growing really fast and I had to trim it back. Areas will start to fade in color and then just fall apart. It's kind of annoying since i have to fish the little pieces that float away out of my powerheads and off my other corals. I just did my tests and here are the results:

pH 8.0
Nitrates/Nitrites/Ammonia 0
Calcium 480
Mg 1280
alkalinity 7
temp 78
phosphates 0

Thanks for any help.

 

You need to lower the amount you have until you start showing a small amount of Nitrates again. Then it will grow again.

 

So then it is being starved? That's what I thought was happening but just wanted to double check. Thanks.

 

When I finally got the nitrates in the Aquapod down to zero, the same thing happened to me. A little neglect and the macro algae should bounce right back.

 

LOL.....OR......

One hasn't really done an export UNTIL you remove the algae that contains the phosphates and nitrates (and Iron and Iodine). The algae can still die and then release a whole bunch of nutrients at once into your system. That's why one should trim (export) as often as the macroalgae needs it. There's a balance that needs to be reached. The balance is where the Nitrates aren't zero for extended periods of time causing the death of your export system. The way one should manage this is not by making your tank dirty...it's by managing how much macroalgae one has.

 

Oh, I thought we were going for maximum algae growth.

 

Lot's of people do. It's counter-productive for most macroalgaes. However, for one macroalgae, it's downright dangerous.....Caulerpa. If Caulerpa doesn't get enough nutrients, it will "go sexual" and release toxins, gametes, as well as a lot of Iron, Phosphorus, Ammonium, and other forms of Nitrogen. It can even go sexual if you have plenty of food for it but one allows it to get so thick that the algae on the bottom can't receive light.