Description
Fresh, vibrant green Chaetomorpha (“chaeto”) — collected fresh from the ocean here in the Florida Keys and fully quarantined at our Key West facility to make certain there are no pests, hitchhikers, or nuisance algae riding along. Just clean, healthy chaeto ready to go to work.
Choose your portion: 1/2 cup, 1 cup, or 2 cups — select your size above. Need a larger quantity for a big system or a store? Contact us and we’ll put an order together.
About Chaetomorpha (Chaetomorpha sp.)
Chaeto is the single most popular refugium macroalgae in the reef hobby, and for good reason. It grows as a dense, springy ball of coarse green filaments that tumbles freely in a refugium, and it is a nutrient-export workhorse — pulling nitrate and phosphate straight out of the water column as it grows. It doesn’t go sexual and crash like some Caulerpa species, and it doesn’t attach itself to your rockwork. Harvest a handful when it gets big, and you’ve exported those nutrients from the system for good.
It’s also a superb pod hotel — its tangled structure shelters copepods and amphipods that breed in the safety of the ‘fuge and feed your display. And it doubles as a live food for tangs and other herbivores.
Care Guide
One of the easiest things you can keep — light it, tumble it, harvest it.
- Lighting: Moderate to strong refugium light. Many keepers run it on a reverse light cycle from the display to help stabilize pH overnight.
- Flow: Moderate — enough to keep the ball gently tumbling so all sides get light. Tumbling is what keeps chaeto healthy.
- Placement: Refugium or sump. It does not need to be anchored or planted.
- Nutrients: Feeds on the nitrate and phosphate you want gone — no dosing required.
- Harvesting: Pull out and discard a portion when the ball fills its space. That physical removal is the actual nutrient export.
- Reef-safe: Completely — peaceful, non-invasive, and it will not attach to your rock.
- Water Parameters: Temp 76–78°F, salinity 1.023–1.026. Stability matters more than exact numbers.
Freshly collected & quarantined in Key West
Collected fresh from the ocean and held through our quarantine process so what reaches you is clean — no pest algae, no unwanted hitchhikers.
Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee
Ships UPS Next Day Air every Tuesday and Wednesday from Key West, Florida, bagged in saltwater and packed in an insulated box with a heat or cold pack appropriate for current conditions.
Live arrival is guaranteed. If your macroalgae arrives DOA, photograph it inside the unopened bag within 4 hours of delivery confirmation and contact us right away. We will work with you on a resolution.
UPS Next Day Air · Live Arrival Guaranteed. See current rates, ship days and how a claim works.
Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee
- UPS Next Day Air, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We hold the box if the weather at either end puts the animals at risk. Livestock ships in a 4-spot box: a frag takes 1 spot, a colony takes 2, and up to 4 spots ship for one shipping charge. Each box ships UPS Next Day Air for $30 in Florida or $50 elsewhere in the continental U.S. Eligible livestock orders of $299 or more ship the first box free. A $20 Box & Handling Fee applies per box, including on free-shipping orders. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.
- Live arrival guaranteed. Photograph the animal in the sealed, unopened bag and send it to us within 4 hours of the delivery scan.
- Approved claims are resolved with a replacement or store credit. We do not issue cash refunds on livestock.
- Coverage is for condition on arrival and ends at acclimation.
New arrival? Read this before you open the bag →
Full Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee · Refunds & Returns
Conditioned in our Key West systems · FL Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 · (305) 850-9949
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