Chrysophytes battle

[pboutin]

Note the strings forming in the tank when there was no flow from the chryso.

 

[pboutin]

Day 4 - continued
Dosed 15 ml KN03 - up from 10 ml
Dosed 40 ml of P2O5

Changes:
Cleaned off all rocks by hand brushing
Vacuumed all chrysophytes out of water and what fell on sand
Left filter running on the tank for several hours after

Observations:
Once water was clear of floating chrysophytes there were none to be seen on rocks
Corals seemed a bit more open during the cleaning process

Day 5
Measured 0 ppm NO3
Measured 0.16 ppm PO4 - up from 0.08
Measured Alk at 11 ppm

Changes:
Turned on GFO reactor with fresh media - this will be my 24 hour batch and do water change tomorrow

Observations:
Tank is still clean!
Corals are in the same shape I'm sure waiting for the nitrates to rise
I'll take another picture of the refugium today to compare algae growth and color

Notes:
Even after turning off the bioreactor my nitrates are still 0. I'll increase the dose tonight back up to 20ml. The phosphates are rising without increasing the dose... could this mean the chrysophytes were taking up phosphates or because I didn't have my GFO reactor running last night? hmmm

 

[mcarroll]

Even after turning off the bioreactor my nitrates are still 0.

That gives you some idea of how hard you were pounding the system down to zero! Wow. At least you got a little rise from PO4.

Keep on keepin on!

 

[reeferfoxx]

could this mean the chrysophytes were taking up phosphates or because I didn't have my GFO reactor running last night? hmmm

My po4 was undetectable when I had chrysos.

 

[reeferfoxx]

My po4 was undetectable when I had chrysos.

Actually! I went through my old threads and my po4 and no3 were undetectable. It wasn't until I started dosing kno3 that po4 started to go up.

 

[pboutin]

It wasn't until I started dosing kno3 that po4 started to go up.

Interesting... you weren't dosing phosphorous? How then did PO4 go up?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Interesting... you weren't dosing phosphorous? How then did PO4 go up?

I started feeding reef-roids to the tank to help get po4 up. Which only helped to get a noticeable 0.01. Eventually I stopped feeding reef roids and continued dosing kno3 and after awhile the po4 jumped up to 0.07-0.08. I assumed the po4 was locked inside the BRS reef saver(mined rock). Dosing kno3 helped 'unlock' it so to speak.

 

[reeferfoxx]

It's also a little hard to give a definitive answer as to the whats and the whys. When I delt with this, people had no idea. No answers no cure. There were times when I ran GFO for 38 hours and 48 hours. But the main thing I learned was the correct order of operations in the elimination of chrysophytes. Here was my thread. Like I said, I didn't know what I know now and things were thrown in the tank like a casserole.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chrysophytes-help-me-cure-it.263759/

 

[mcarroll]

When I delt with this, people had no idea. No answers no cure.

Felt like the same with me....I didn't get a pointer to the possibility of chrysophytes until I had already suspected "encrusting diatoms", dinoflagellates, cyano, etc, and tryied most of the usual "remedies".

As I recall, I kinda bumped into the KNO3 thread around the time I was settling on the idea that I had chrys. vs something more well-known.....so the two went together.

I was locked into the toothbrush scrubbing routine because my Hydnophora was losing the battle rapidly and I wanted to save him. I'm imagine that it helped overall – and it did save the coral – but I wasn't systematic about doing the whole tank (most is inaccessible) or even removing the bits I scrubbed loose. I did use an algae scrub-pad a little toward the end to help remove some patches that were more accessible....but that's only like a 70% removal since big chunks and all the juices end up still in the tank.

The point is, it still worked! In the end it's the stable nutrients and the restoration of the tank's microfauna that does the real trick. I still haven't cleaned my front glass by hand since the outbreak,but I've been loosely keeping a photo-log of the progress the algae and pods have made. It's an amazing recovery, to be honest – I've had such a small hand in it. I admit I'm easily and often amazed by this stuff though....

 

[pboutin]

Day 5 - continued (5/19)
Dosed 10 ml KN03 - into DT mid day
Dosed 10 ml KN03 - into refugium at night (6:45pm)
Dosed 0 ml of P2O5 - skipped the dose as I had a measurement of 0.16ppm

Changes:
Left the GFO running for its 24 hours

Observations:
Algae seems to be getting darker in the refugium

Day 6 (5/20)
Measured 0 ppm NO3
Measured 0.08 ppm PO4 - down from 0.16 ppm
Measured Alk at 11 ppm - no change even with fresh GFO

Changes:
Turned off GFO reactor at 24 hours

Observations:
Tank still appears clean, there are some chrysophytes hanging out on the rocks and sandbed some that were missed during cleaning.
Some corals look better, some still yet to show signs of improvement

Notes:
My nitrates are still 0. I'll increase the dose tonight up to 20 ml and do a second dose of 20 ml after today's planned water change. The phosphates dropped a bit but still measurable without last nights dose. I plan on doing a 25% (40 gal) water change today, with it I'll try to vacuum the sand to get any chrysophytes that fell after the cleaning on Thursday (5/18)


new shot of refugium from yesterday (5/19) for comparison

 

[mcarroll]

Looking good! Careful increasing the N dose....we're not trying to make a spike, just a correction to a defficiency – make sure you can test before the next dose.

 

[pboutin]

Looking good! Careful increasing the N dose....we're not trying to make a spike, just a correction to a defficiency – make sure you can test before the next dose.

Of course! One dose after the water change give it a few hours then test. I plan on doing a full set of tests now, after the water change as I'm sure my Mag is now more inline to where it should be.

 

[MasonReef]

It's also a little hard to give a definitive answer as to the whats and the whys. When I delt with this, people had no idea. No answers no cure. There were times when I ran GFO for 38 hours and 48 hours. But the main thing I learned was the correct order of operations in the elimination of chrysophytes. Here was my thread. Like I said, I didn't know what I know now and things were thrown in the tank like a casserole.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chrysophytes-help-me-cure-it.263759/

I'm dealing with the same chrysophytes in my 240 gallon tank. Based on your other thread and your contributions to this thread it looks like you have successfully beaten this stuff. Is this a good summary on how you beat it in your tank?

1. Remove as much chryso as possible manually - either by canister filter or vacuuming out during water change.
2. Run recommended amount of GFO for 24 hours only - to remove silica
3. After the 24 hours is up do a 20% water change

If after these steps are taken and chryso is still present, I assume you just repeat the process? As in put a fresh batch of GFO and run it again for 24 hours followed by another water change?

My nitrate and phosphate tested at 0.0 ppm. Do you still recommend getting the stump remover and dosing to raise nitrates?
Did you find the UV filter to be useful in the fight against chryso?

 

[pboutin]

Already my corals are opening up! I haven't done the tests yet but plan to after dinner.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Already my corals are opening up! I haven't done the tests yet but plan to after dinner.

 

[mcarroll]

My nitrate and phosphate tested at 0.0 ppm. Do you still recommend getting the stump remover and dosing to raise nitrates?

Fixing these numbers (try 5ppm / .05 ppm or so) is the core of your solution.

• Remove as much chryso as possible manually - either by canister filter or vacuuming out during water change.

• Run recommended amount of GFO for 24 hours only - to remove silica

• After the 24 hours is up do a 20% water change

This is how you move things along if you don't have the patience to just watch. (I did the all of the above + patience.)

I'm not positive UV or diatom filtration would help, but if I had one I'm sure I would have used it.

They are at least in some cases and some circumstances motile, so hypothetically either filter might help.

 

[pboutin]

Quick update: After my water change I dosed 10 ml of KNO3 and 20 ml of P2O5 at around 1pm. My corals were looking good today around 6 pm. I did my water tests at 7 pm and got readings of 0.08 ppm of PO4 and 0.25 ppm of NO3. With that I decided to just dose another 10 ml of KNO3 and will remeasure in the AM.

 

[mcarroll]

Quick update: After my water change I dosed 10 ml of KNO3 and 20 ml of P2O5 at around 1pm. My corals were looking good today around 6 pm. I did my water tests at 7 pm and got readings of 0.08 ppm of PO4 and 0.25 ppm of NO3. With that I decided to just dose another 10 ml of KNO3 and will remeasure in the AM.

Looking good so far!

 

[reeferfoxx]

If after these steps are taken and chryso is still present, I assume you just repeat the process? As in put a fresh batch of GFO and run it again for 24 hours followed by another water change?

I would recommend that, yes. However with a 240.... It's hard to say do water changes on it because it's so much water lol.

Lets try something different. Sort of like two sessions. I think a canister filter would be best for your tank just so we can save as much water.

DAY 1

1. Manual removal via toothbrush and canister filter. Let it clear before GFO.
2. Then add recommended GFO per tank volume for 24 hours.
3. Monitor Alk and nutrients.(no3/po4)

DAY 2

1. Remove GFO.
2. Focus on Alk, NO3, PO4
   
3. Take a break.

DAY 3

1. Manual removal via toothbrush and canister filter. Let it clear before GFO.
2. Then add recommended GFO per tank volume for 24 hours.
3. Monitor Alk and nutrients.(no3/po4).

DAY 4

1. Remove GFO.
2. Water change.
   
3. Monitor parameters.

 

[MasonReef]

Fixing these numbers (try 5ppm / .05 ppm or so) is the core of your solution.

I bought some stump remover tonight to add nitrates. I understand that the corals need nitrates for photosynthesis and coloration, but why does low nutrients promote the chrysophytes? Not doubting it at all, just want to understand it.