Is there such thing as too much Chaeto?

[Tiny Ocean]

Is there such thing as too much Chaetomorpha? About one ninth the volume of my tank is occupied by a lovely puff of healthy green Chaeto.

It seems to me that the more Chaeto I have to uptake ammonia and nitrates, the less I need to worry about ammonia spikes and the more I can feed the shrimp. I had a good brown scum built up for them before I put them in their current tank but now they have wiped the sides of the aquarium as clean as a wineglass in Buckingham palace. The limestone rock in there did have some brown scum and green spot algae but now it is immaculate pure white.

Maybe I have too much Chaeto and there isn't enough nutrient left in the water for the microorganisms? Or maybe I need this much chaeto, and more, to stabilize the water so I can increase inputs for the microorganisms?

It's a gallon tank and it has only 20 opae ula and roughly as many *small* MTS in it. Definitely not too many.

[John]

Hi Tiny Ocean! If the chaeto is healthy, it should be fine to keep, though it may compete with algae growing on surfaces for nutrients and thus potentially slow shrimp population growth. If a large amount of chaeto dies, it may pollute your water and thus have a negative impact on your shrimp. One ninth of the volume is not a problem, but if it covers almost the entire tank, it could become a problem. In the meantime, just feed more if you want surface algae to grow.