Chrysophytes?! Help me cure it?

[reeferfoxx]

k...whats next?

Refugium light and spot for refugium? lol

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Refugium light and spot for refugium? lol

HAHAHAHAHA!


You should out do me just outta spite. Go Planted. Gotta taste for Macros? Jus gotta watch the crabs n snail you choose.

 

[reeferfoxx]

HAHAHAHAHA!


You should out do me just outta spite. Go Planted. Gotta taste for Macros? Jus gotta watch the crabs n snail you choose.

LOL! That would be funny! Chaeto will be the extent of this.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

LOL.
check out @cHRoNzZe tank. Pretty stuff.

 

[reeferfoxx]

LOL.
check out @cHRoNzZe tank. Pretty stuff.

Wow! Macro-fanatic! lol

I miss San Diego! I bet everything is super cheap there!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Wow! Macro-fanatic! lol

I miss San Diego! I bet everything is super cheap there!

no comment we'll talk about your coral needs later.

 

[reeferfoxx]

no comment we'll talk about your coral needs later.

The tank is bouncing back fast! PO4 last night was 0.07ppm. Tested again this morning and PO4 was 0.06ppm. That said, cyano is taking up most of the phosphates, I think. Gonna run GFO till tomorrow. Might as well absorb whats floating around. Hopefully a good sandbed vacuuming will help as well. Also looking at the JBJ Nano-glo for a refugium light. Not entirely sure if I need a new media basket or if I can utilize the space I have now?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The tank is bouncing back fast! PO4 last night was 0.07ppm. Tested again this morning and PO4 was 0.06ppm. That said, cyano is taking up most of the phosphates, I think. Gonna run GFO till tomorrow. Might as well absorb whats floating around. Hopefully a good sandbed vacuuming will help as well. Also looking at the JBJ Nano-glo for a refugium light. Not entirely sure if I need a new media basket or if I can utilize the space I have now?

I just used the stock basket in my JBJ cube. IMO if ya dont wanna spent the bucks on a name brand, any warm white cool white waterproof tube grows the chato. I used el cheapo led strips in a few of my nanos HOBs.
the other thing that takes up Po + no pretty good is coral

 

[reeferfoxx]

I just used the stock basket in my JBJ cube. IMO if ya dont wanna spent the bucks on a name brand, any warm white cool white waterproof tube grows the chato. I used el cheapo led strips in a few of my nanos HOBs.
the other thing that takes up Po + no pretty good is coral

I was just looking at fragging my coral. I don't have the time this weekend. Maybe Sunday. But a major frag session is in the works! I was waiting for more purple coralline. However some traces of coralline are becoming more prominent. Also my magnesium has been floating around 1600 for the last 8 months. I have a new batch of salt coming in the mail. For peace of mind purposes, i want that Mag number down to normal levels.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

lol. I was suggesting a shopping spree!

 

[reeferfoxx]

lol. I was suggesting a shopping spree!

Well that will happen in due time! I need some acros haha!

 

[afqu]

that's so well arranged wow

I will link this to the last page of our peroxide thread not for required peroxide purposes, but because this is a thorough review w pics and vid of a pretty neat/rare/not totally devastating invader, really well done. id take some chry challenges badly over an ostreopsis dinos challenge lightly. I recall zero tank losses to chrysophytes but plenty of annoyances.

our algae correction threads still apply here, chry is a requisite hitchhiker it has no other vectors other than direct (sometimes microbial) transfers of marine materials among tanks, its not nutrient driven explosion, its import driven. ergo, if its fully physically removed it cannot come back until next non quarantine import...ultra violet light is indicated for fighting these guys, they have a pelagic phase where there are motile (intercept point)

UV wont strip them off the rocks, but it will burn the floaters from us stripping them off the rocks. if your chry was mine id simply blast clean the whole tank out and maybe hook up a pond sterilizer for a month then take it off, just my way. im sure some animal or chem combo can zap them too.

Perhaps this has been addressed already. I am so tired of searching everything I can on this, so I haven't read all of this thread.....yet. Sorry. I did get some excellent help recently, but no real cure. I had surgery 2 years ago, and didn't touch my tank (90 gal. wave, 9 years old) for most of this 2 years. I had a business I was playing catch-up with. I had one blue damsel, and a few mushrooms, a tiny bit of zoas, and frog spawn. 3 scarlet hermits maybe 4 years old, they pick at the stuff, I fed the tank about once a month. Not one thing was added to the tank for that two years at least. My T5s were at least 18 months old, as well as my RO/DI. Very few water changes in that time.

I started noticing this slimy golden algae, so I decided way past time ('bout 18 months) to get busy. I purchased new bulbs, and RO/DI fiters, and water changes. Algae kept growing. It does not touch the coral or sand. All over rocks, glass, power heads, everything except sand and corals. I have a detail brush on my siphon hose, so I am siphoning the slime about 5-10 gals ever 2-3 days while doing water changes. I just started GFO, and backing that down due to other advice and that I need to up my 0-PO4, but I sure feel like it is a losing battle. Now to read this whole thread But my purpose for all this typing is, I am not so sure about it not being nutrient or environmentally driven. I have a good scope, so I am going to look for the bugger, now I know what I am supposed to be seeing. Great info! I don't have NEAR the experience you folks have, just adding my experience.

 

[mcarroll]

I recall zero tank losses to chrysophytes but plenty of annoyances.

But my purpose for all this typing is, I am not so sure about it not being nutrient or environmentally driven. I have a good scope, so I am going to look for the bugger, now I know what I am supposed to be seeing. Great info!

It's still probably nutrient driven...but regardless, post pics of what you get under the scope!

Also, Brandon's quote up there is on the old side now – we're amassing new information on these topics daily, so it's not really fair quoting him from then.

Chrysophytes are most certianly nutrient driven just like every other critter in the microbial food web, they could be a normal background component of most healthy reefs.

And mine seemed happy "eating" my Hydnophora during the peak of my bloom. I didn't let them take my tank down, but it seemed to be heading that way. That coral went from the size of a dinner plate to almost nothing. Even after this much recovery time, the largest pieces of regrowth are only about the size of a quarter.

If you haven't already read the Dino thread* and/or the Nitrate dosing thread, now would be a good time for it! Likewise for this post on my blog: A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!) Maybe check out any posts that got tagged with #chrysophytes

Your tank needs a steady nitrogen source and a stable phosphorus supply. Tanks like yours and mine that get ignored probably have not had a bulletproof record on either side of that equation.

I hope this helps! You're welcome to PM me or post here with more questions!

*Just go to that thread for the background info and photo ID's that so many folks have posted. None of the chemical-based "possible cures" the thread drags you through actually work. In the end you've got to restore a normal nutrient balance.

 

[afqu]

It's still probably nutrient driven...but regardless, post pics of what you get under the scope!

Also, Brandon's quote up there is on the old side now – we're amassing new information on these topics daily, so it's not really fair quoting him from then.

Chrysophytes are most certianly nutrient driven just like every other critter in the microbial food web, they could be a normal background component of most healthy reefs.

And mine seemed happy "eating" my Hydnophora during the peak of my bloom. I didn't let them take my tank down, but it seemed to be heading that way. That coral went from the size of a dinner plate to almost nothing. Even after this much recovery time, the largest pieces of regrowth are only about the size of a quarter.

If you haven't already read the Dino thread* and/or the Nitrate dosing thread, now would be a good time for it! Likewise for this post on my blog: A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!) Maybe check out any posts that got tagged with #chrysophytes

Your tank needs a steady nitrogen source and a stable phosphorus supply. Tanks like yours and mine that get ignored probably have not had a bulletproof record on either side of that equation.

I hope this helps! You're welcome to PM me or post here with more questions!

*Just go to that thread for the background info and photo ID's that so many folks have posted. None of the chemical-based "possible cures" the thread drags you through actually work. In the end you've got to restore a normal nutrient balance.

400 magnification. I can go bigger. Don't have a clue. All I saw was flowers and rods. I am half thru the Dino Thread. Didn't mean to jump on Brandon, sorry. I get the same thing on a lot of my old articles
Nothing moves or swims. I did about 8 slides total.

 

[mcarroll]

@taricha what's your opinion on these pics?

The round guys look like several of the chrysophyte pictures online but it's hard for me to be sure.

 

[reeferfoxx]

400 magnification. I can go bigger. Don't have a clue. All I saw was flowers and rods. I am half thru the Dino Thread. Didn't mean to jump on Brandon, sorry. I get the same thing on a lot of my old articles
Nothing moves or swims. I did about 8 slides total.

Can you get a clear pic at 600-800x?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Lets be clear. I'm no scientist. I Don't have any biology degrees. What I have learned is one type can have a cell wall and another type won't have a cell wall. Now, if that's dependent on freshwater vs saltwater, I have no idea. However, I've seen two different forms of growth here on R2R. One being very thick and mulm-ish and the other being less dense and more fuzzy? Could one determine a cell wall or not? Possible. Could they both have cell walls? Possible. When I had mine, I really wish I would have taken a microscope to it. That said, what we do know is that the presence of a cell wall means the cell wall is made up of silica. Destroying the cell wall would be the first step. First thing I did was run a recommended amount of GFO for my tank size. I didn't start small and work up. When I dropped that bag in, within hours I had an Alkalinity dip. If that is the key to cell wall destruction, so be it. Secondly, I inadvertently was dosing KNO3, not for chrysophytes but because I was getting cyano growth. Bouncing ideas around and getting better understandings of tanks biology and chemistry, led me to getting a balance going with KNO3. That with manual removal was key to eliminating my chrysophyte issue.

@afqu better magnification would help to see if a cell wall is present. I agree with @mcarroll that this is chrysophytes. It is my theory that killing them is determined by its structure. And it may not matter. Balancing nutrients and manual removal may be all you need. However, when I was tackling mine, I was already working on balancing nutrients.

 

[afqu]

Can you get a clear pic at 600-800x?

Haven't used the scope for awhile, so forgot what all to do. After I did these I realized I needed to play with the scope's light. I am pretty sure I am dealing with Chrysophytes. I just don't know what I am "supposed" to be seeing, or what to look for. I will do some more later today, and see what I can do.

 

[taricha]

Thanks for tagging me on this thread. I have no idea (yet) on the last posted pics. Please give us a tank shot of the stuff that's going under the scope, too.

I wanted to flag this too. These below are excellent pics of exactly something I was trying to ID from another users really bad pics. I called it likely pseudo-nitzschia (diatom). Which is wrong, I can see that the ends aren't pointy but rounded. The zig-zag chain of elongated cells "glued" together at alternating corners is matched by other diatoms though.
Said all that to say, some of what's being battled in this thread is diatoms. Look for things being labeled as "benthic diatoms" elsewhere online, could be helpful.

Microscope view

 

[AcroJack]

Just reading this thread after being deep on the dino thread. This to me from the tank pics I have seen you all post seems to be what I'm dealing with as well ( in addition to the couple Ostreopsis you will see on the pics). After 20 some years in the hobby, first time I"ve been introduced to this fun "jelly" of a pest and its really thrown me for a loop. It is only showing up in an 8'x3'x14" grow out system too, not the 3 other tanks and 100 gallon fuge that is connected which had me looking for what specific conditions exist in this grow out that it is thriving on. Thanks for having a look. Appreciate the feedback.
Today parameters are:
8.4 dkh
Ca-450
Mg-1425
NO3-.25
PO4-.05
I plan on adding a UV to the return on this system this week (40W with a flow of about 800gph (ecotech L1)) to see what that does. I know it will get the Ostreopsis out, but these little dots below when isolated are what is forming the golden brown jelly coating my egg crate/plugs, and some tiles.
)) to see what it does.