Chrysophytes battle

[reeferfoxx]

If only there were a magical cure!

Dealing with this on a large tank definitely is not fun, but I'm at the point where I'll try just about anything and put as much work as needed to get rid of the stuff.

Chrysos were in the tank from the very beginning a little more than a year ago. I thought they were diatoms at first, then I thought they were dinos for the longest time and just recently found out they are chrysophytes (which seems quite rare, as no one in the reef community in the Austin area seems to have heard of it). I'm just glad I'm finally able to do something target directly at getting rid of the chryso, as I haven't been able to enjoy this tank yet without it.

I can relate! I delt with it for 6 months skimming through dino threads and dosing yeast etc etc. No worries though, it will eventually clear out. Tank volume is for sure a factor and honestly I've never had to help anyone with a tank larger than 100 gallons till @saltyfilmfolks tagged me here... lol

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I can relate! I delt with it for 6 months skimming through dino threads and dosing yeast etc etc. No worries though, it will eventually clear out. Tank volume is for sure a factor and honestly I've never had to help anyone with a tank larger than 100 gallons till @saltyfilmfolks tagged me here... lol

You're just that good!!!!!

 

[reeferfoxx]

You're just that good!!!!!

Nope. Still learning lol! If I were that good, I would never have had to deal with chrysos to begin with.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Nope

I do have a lot of proof to the contrary.

And so far there really seems to no 100% guarantees on not introducing an invasive organisim(Esp a microscopic one). Even qt has its limits.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I do have a lot of proof to the contrary.

And so far there really seems to no 100% guarantees on not introducing an invasive organisim(Esp a microscopic one). Even qt has its limits.

;Happy This is true. Thank you.

 

[reeferfoxx]

@MasonReef Any updates?

 

[MasonReef]

@MasonReef Any updates?

Yes. The 3 day lights out seems to have killed the Chryso. There is no Chryso at all on the rocks. I did have to change out my filter socks several times during the light out period - I'm guessing it was all the chryso dying off which was clogging up the socks.

Yesterday morning I started running GFO, which I took off this morning. Today my lights have been on their normal schedule, but I have not been home to look at things yet. I'll be able to take a look in 3 or so hours. I also purchased a silicate test kit from Amazon that came in today, so I will be able to test my water to see if there is any silicate still in it.

Since I will be out of town tomorrow though Friday, I am wondering if I should go ahead and do a large water change tonight? Or what should be my strategy to prevent them from growing right back (besides maintaining nitrate and phos at the target levels)?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Yes. The 3 day lights out seems to have killed the Chryso. There is no Chryso at all on the rocks. I did have to change out my filter socks several times during the light out period - I'm guessing it was all the chryso dying off which was clogging up the socks.

Yesterday morning I started running GFO, which I took off this morning. Today my lights have been on their normal schedule, but I have not been home to look at things yet. I'll be able to take a look in 3 or so hours. I also purchased a silicate test kit from Amazon that came in today, so I will be able to test my water to see if there is any silicate still in it.

Since I will be out of town tomorrow though Friday, I am wondering if I should go ahead and do a large water change tonight? Or what should be my strategy to prevent them from growing right back (besides maintaining nitrate and phos at the target levels)?

That's great news! Since you've had aggressive regrowth after a couple rounds of GFO, I think you should definitely follow-up(maybe finish) with that water change. I wouldn't chance it. Be sure to perform the silica test after the water change. I really think you are close to beating this! Job well done!

 

[pboutin]

FYI... I've had a minor recurrence. I did the cleaning with the diatom filter (minus diatom earth), ran GFO for 24 and did a water change. I noticed I still have some regrowth i'll take care of with the filter. I may invest in a silica test kit as well. I think maybe I should replace all of my water filters and RO membranes to be sure that my top off water and salt mix have 0 silica or as low as possible.

 

[reeferfoxx]

FYI... I've had a minor recurrence. I did the cleaning with the diatom filter (minus diatom earth), ran GFO for 24 and did a water change. I noticed I still have some regrowth i'll take care of with the filter. I may invest in a silica test kit as well. I think maybe I should replace all of my water filters and RO membranes to be sure that my top off water and salt mix have 0 silica or as low as possible.

Sorry to hear that ... Can you give a rough estimate of how many snails(astrea, trochus) you have in the tank?

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Don't know if it's been said yet, but fluconazole will help.

 

[MasonReef]

I performed a 80g water change last night. I did lose one acro during the lights out, but it was already looking bad beforehand. Everything else looks fine, no chryso regrowth yesterday with the lights back on.

FYI... I've had a minor recurrence. I did the cleaning with the diatom filter (minus diatom earth), ran GFO for 24 and did a water change. I noticed I still have some regrowth i'll take care of with the filter. I may invest in a silica test kit as well. I think maybe I should replace all of my water filters and RO membranes to be sure that my top off water and salt mix have 0 silica or as low as possible.

I used the SeaChem test kit for silicate last night. Not sure if I'd recommended or not. According the the test, my water has zero silicate after my water change. It came with a reference solution that is supposed to be 6 (I forget the units), but I could only get it to read 2 - 3 after two tests. The testing method uses are toothpick type thing to get the coloration powder, which doesn't seem very consistent.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Don't know if it's been said yet, but fluconazole will help.

It helps with protists?

 

[reeferfoxx]

I performed a 80g water change last night. I did lose one acro during the lights out, but it was already looking bad beforehand. Everything else looks fine, no chryso regrowth yesterday with the lights back on.



I used the SeaChem test kit for silicate last night. Not sure if I'd recommended or not. According the the test, my water has zero silicate after my water change. It came with a reference solution that is supposed to be 6 (I forget the units), but I could only get it to read 2 - 3 after two tests. The testing method uses are toothpick type thing to get the coloration powder, which doesn't seem very consistent.

If the reference test shows a reading I would say it works ok for this purpose. Anything below 8-10 is good as micro fauna and snails can keep it under control.

 

[pboutin]

Sorry to hear that ... Can you give a rough estimate of how many snails(astrea, trochus) you have in the tank?

Ehh... It's OK it's still at a manageable level and growth seems slow. I have 2 snails in the DT and 5 or 6 in the Refugium. Snails are 2 Astrea one in DT one is Refugium, Cerith maybe 3 in the Refugium and Nerite 2 or 3 in Refugium and 1 in DT.
My Chryso seems to only grow on top of my rocks in the DT where they get light.

Don't know if it's been said yet, but fluconazole will help.

Have you had luck with beating chrysophytes and what was your methods and dosages?

I used the SeaChem test kit for silicate last night. Not sure if I'd recommended or not.

Thx I'll see what I can find.

 

[pboutin]

I used the SeaChem test kit for silicate last night. Not sure if I'd recommended or not. According the the test, my water has zero silicate after my water change. It came with a reference solution that is supposed to be 6 (I forget the units), but I could only get it to read 2 - 3 after two tests. The testing method uses are toothpick type thing to get the coloration powder, which doesn't seem very consistent.

I found Salifert Silicate Profi-Test has 2 methods for testing "The Salifert Test kit for silicate is a very fast, sensitive and accurate test, with two scales: an ultra low scale which is particularly useful for marine water and a high scale which is suitable for freshwater environments."
I think I'll order this one.

 

[dankreef]

I dealt with this stuff on my 600 for a while. Total headache. My observations. Only comes to tanks with 0 newts first. Second I added bacteria (Imo that dies out at 0ppm n03 and is when baddies form) add pods and add phytoplankton. My theory is to restart the base of your system. Then always maintain n03. Also add large cuc, screw manual removal . GL. I would definitely run gfo before adding bacteria

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

I ordered it for GHA and gave some to a friend who's tank was completely overrun with chrysophytes and he treated it once and it wiped them out. He could probably use one more treatment to make sure it's gone but without a doubt it worked. I'm not sure what the dosage amount was but it's the same everyone else uses. There's a popular thread on here for fluconazole dosing, I'll post it
Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php...attle-With-Bryopsis-Using-Fluconazole.285096/

 

[reeferfoxx]

I ordered it for GHA and gave some to a friend who's tank was completely overrun with chrysophytes and he treated it once and it wiped them out. He could probably use one more treatment to make sure it's gone but without a doubt it worked. I'm not sure what the dosage amount was but it's the same everyone else uses. There's a popular thread on here for fluconazole dosing, I'll post it
Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Bryopsis-Cure:-My-Battle-With-Bryopsis-Using-Fluconazole.285096/

If fluconazole kills protists it should have positive effects on dinos? Unless it's been recorded I can't say it would be effective. Chrysos aren't plant based like bryopsis or hair algae.

 

[reeferfoxx]

Ehh... It's OK it's still at a manageable level and growth seems slow. I have 2 snails in the DT and 5 or 6 in the Refugium. Snails are 2 Astrea one in DT one is Refugium, Cerith maybe 3 in the Refugium and Nerite 2 or 3 in Refugium and 1 in DT.
My Chryso seems to only grow on top of my rocks in the DT where they get light.

I typically suggest having at least 1 astrea or trochus per 3 gallons of water volume.