Am I dealing with Chrysophytes?

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

the smell gives it away

Can you elaborate?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Can you elaborate?

Not a smell in particular for diagnosis, there would be an obvious "low tide" or just bad smell in the house, when normally there is no smell to the reef aquarium.

That can go along with many other things I'm sure, but for me it was definitely when I had the outbreaks.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Not a smell in particular for diagnosis, there would be an obvious "low tide" or just bad smell in the house, when normally there is no smell to the reef aquarium.

That can go along with many other things I'm sure, but for me it was definitely when I had the outbreaks.

Got it. Thanks :)

 

[brian222]

I would like to give some updates after 1 month of battling with the problem, I think the majority if not all the Chrysophytes in my system are gone.

I have done a list of actions as the treatment:

1) Lower light intensity to about 60% of the previous, and shorten the light schedule from 9 hours to 6 hours.

2) 40W UV 24/7

3) 3 times 20% weekly WC, I brushed all rock surfaces each time and remove the majority of the debris from the system.

4) increased feeding, 1 cube of frozen mysis shrimp, and 1 large sheet of seaweed each day, also reduced skimmer running time by 50% to couple with the feeding to try to raise NO3 and PO4.

I also did an ICP test and it confirms there is an elevated level of silicon in my system:

And there is no detectable silicon in my RODI water.

 

[PopBot16]

Sure looks like Chrsophytes to me. By chance did you start with CaribSea Life Rock? I had this same golden algae in a prior setup with Life Rock. Keeping N03 at 5ppm or higher and 0.1 P04 helped, with manual removal and limited lighting. All together it lasted 6-8 weeks. I did not use chemicals, I allowed it to run course while I maintained nutrients. If I remember correctly, the tank had a smell to it also.

I think you're right about CaribSea Life Rock being prone to Chrysophytes. I've been fighting them for a few months now, even after getting my NO3 up to 10 and PO4 to 0.1 (daily doing of both). Any other insights into getting rid of them? Here's a post with photos: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-this-chrysophytes.1098608/#post-13333262