Is my chaeto completely dead?

[shrimpy4]

Over the course of the last two years, the Chaeto in my 5-gallon tank looks to have completely died off. It started out when I got it from Petshrimp as deep green and “robust” in density and height.

Now it’s wilted, super pale, much of it clearly breaking down on the substrate. The shrimp move through it, munching on something. I rarely see any of my Petshrimp snails anymore, not sure if any are still alive to eat it, but they do stay buried and dormant for a VERY along time. I want to try picking up more chaeto and maybe snails. Should I remove as much of this dead batch as possible?

My shrimp are berrying and breeding just fine since my tank-heater induced die off a year ago. The tank sits right next to a north facing window, so should get plenty of indirect sunlight.

[Varanus]

Mustafa has said that it typically doesn't really "die" so much as wait for conditions to improve (and just what it considers ideal conditions is rather unclear, as Mustafa has had otherwise seemingly identical tanks where in one the chaeto falls apart and in another where it grows well). So you may just want to wait and see if anything changes.

[dilandau]

maybe get the parameters of the water checked before doing anything first...

i'm fairly new to the shrimp hobby (almost a year now) but I'm a pretty good indoor/outdoor gardener and like Varanus/Mustafa said, pulling a "rising from the dead" garbage is a thing plants do from time to time. A spider plant did this to me not long ago and also two chaeto after an EVENT in my tank that was due to an artificial lighting issue I recently had.

having said all this, however, I don't think this is your problem. my problem happened and was solved in 6-8 months ... your chaeto has been slowly staved for 2 years and if it's not caused by some off water parameters, I'm going to put my money on lighting. it may not be enough to keep the plant alive. People who SERIOUSLY grow this, do so under 90watt lighting systems and a plant with such high light requirements/tolerance is going to have a hard time with “indirect sunlight”.

another reason why I say this is because the lighting issue I had was a faulty light that burned off all my algae and left my snails high and dry and did odd things like get stuck at the surface looking for food and hid under the substrate. So, how’s your algae doing? And is it enough for the snails? Cause algae need light to grow and if you don’t have enough algae, we may be leaning towards lighting issues.

if the water parameters are fine and you have algae growing well, then I’m outta ideas … but hay, this is just my two cents.

if you end up having a hard time on this, maybe take some out and put it in a mason jar with some tank water and move it to a sunnier window. Maybe if it grows then, you will know. A little experiment to keep on the side while you figure out what's up with your tank cause I really don’t know about your snails.

[Mustafa]

I'm pretty sure checking the parameters won't help give any clues. Things like pH, Kh, or Gh don't fluctuate much, if at all in a properly set up supershrimp tank with calcium carbonate buffers. Also, this particular species of macroalgae is evolutionarily adapted to very low light levels. Nobody is "seriously" growing this species besides me actually. And I just let it grow under normal level lights that the shrimp tanks already have. Other species of Chaetomorpha used in the reef hobby may have different requirements, but they don't grow in our tanks anyway.

The part of the macroalgae that's the furthest away from the light is usually the greenest by the way. If your light is *too* strong and/or if there aren't enough nutrients to support the plant, then it can look very pale and even fall apart. The shrimp actually eat soft pieces that fall apart, so it's not a problem for the tank.

In this particular case I would remove most of the macroalgae, leaving just half a handful maybe, and the start feeding a bit more or a bit more often. Tanks with macroalgae do need a bit more food if you want to keep the macroalgae alive and looking its best.

maybe get the parameters of the water checked before doing anything first...

I'm going to put my money on lighting. it may not be enough to keep the plant alive. People who SERIOUSLY grow this, do so under 90watt lighting systems and a plant with such high light requirements/tolerance is going to have a hard time with “indirect sunlight”.