Algal genus Spotlight: Bryopsis "hair algae"

[graveyardworm]

You'll find alittle more specific info here

 

[GROSSR]

I guess before I break down the take it is something worth trying. Maybe in a year, if I can't get this licked. Sounds scarry.

rich

 

[DNA]

Here is an incredible story on this thing.

I have Bryopsis in a few spots around the tank that just refuse to go away so I bring in a Foxface and I remove a medium sized infested rock and let it dry out for weeks.

The Foxface eats all the Bryopsis and dies after being in the tank for a few months. 4-5 more months pass and there is no sign of the evil algae. Then the tank suffers from high nitrate and guess what. Bryopsis is back in all the usual spots and even the dryed out rock gets infested again in a flash.

This thing is sure to thrive in outer space.

 

[imnata]

Can somebody ID this macroalgea? Is it Bryiopsis?

 

[graveyardworm]

Check out the Algae slideshow

Welcome to Reef Central

 

[Claeth]

looks like it to me.. good luck. I would suggest a convict tang. its your best bet. Emerald crabs are also known to graze on it. I have it in my system, very hard to get rid of, but luckily it grows fairly slowly, so its not hard to keep pruned back by hand if you keep your PO4 levels down. try to keep it centralized in one area if possible, and if you don't prune it inside the tank, it shouldnt spread to the rest of the tank. Move the rock into a refugium if you can, there you can let it grow and be a good thing. hope this helps.

 

[imnata]

Thanks for the welcome and for the tips.

I got some divided opinion on whether I have Bryopsis or not, so I decided to check here with you guys.

 

[Gman1978]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=1570617#post1570617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lesd
The vast majority of fish will ignore Bryopsis. I have Tangs who devour normal hair algae and caulerpa, but won't touch Bryopsis.

Some people have had success with rabbitfish. I've heard better stories about orange-spotted and doliatus rabbitfish than the common foxface. However, even that is hit or miss.

My problem is that I can't even use Lettuce slugs. I have too much flow in my tank and they just end up getting blown around and sucked into the overflow.

Phosphate removers (aluminum based ones) really make my leather corals unhappy.

So right now I'm just manually removing as much Bryopsis as I can, and it's steadily spreading all throughout my tank. Hopefully when I move the tank next month I can scrub down all the rocks and make a real dent in it.

Anybody tried a plethora of tuxedo or other urchins?

I have a 75gal that I just started 3 weeks ago. I used 80 pounds of cured tonga rock and then all of a sudden-wham. I have a lawn on the live rock. It is predominately on the top of the live rock,not the sides, or the sand yet.

My snails have been useless and cannot right themselves if they are in the sand beds. However, they are making good work of the grass.

With regards to urchins, I bought a pin cushion urchin who has now started mowing this stuff down for the first time tonight. Once my light comes on tomorrow I will take a closer look and see what he ate. I can also post a pic for you to confirm that my tank lawn is the same stuff...
-- Lesd

 

[Jimbo327]

Hair Algae is like cockroaches. You can destroy and kill them all on the surface, then it just comes back in numbers over time, and laugh in your face.

 

[kypatriot]

I have this crap in my 'fuge and tank, along with gracilaria and caulerpa in my fuge.

If I tried to use an urchin to controlling this stuff, could I put it in the 'fuge, or would it just feast on all my macro?

 

[Me No Nemo]

If it's hair algae, not bryopsis, a cleanup crew consisting of Trochus Grazers (they can right themselves better than astrea snails...which, IMO, are a waste of money, and the trochus will clean the rock as well as the glass); Mexican Turbo snails; Fighting Conchs which are excellent detritious cleaners and Cortez Mexican Hermit Crabs...great algae eaters. Also, a couple of Atlantic cucumbers and some of the large Tongan Nassarius snails. One of these is equal, IMO, to about 10 of the small vibex nassarius. Also, if phosphates are a problem, there are two great ways to remove them: a phosphate reactor...pretty inexpensive for the long run with Phosban as the agent or the Tropic Marin Elimi-phos. I've had excellent results with both. HTH.

 

[dendro982]

What about removing bryopsis, growing on the coral?

I have it on the Christmas tree rock, 10g unskimmed tank, micron sock only, changed daily. The water parameters are not bad, "thanks" to bryopsis, but still have 5 ppm NO3 and 0-25ppm PO4, now added Rowaphos.

The tank is heavily fed - for Christmas tree worms, scleronephthya and blueberry, swiftia and fine blue gorgonians.

Plucked it away - next week all the same, tried to apply kalkwasser paste, that I'm using for eliminating aiptasia, on the big patches. But it runs onto live coral tissue and kills it. Turbo snails didn't helped at all.

I will re-do the system hopefully within month, it will be with skimmer, but still well fed.

Are there other option for live corals, other than manual removing (no siphoning - nowhere to siphon) and removing nitrates and phosphates?

 

[kypatriot]

You should check out this thread
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1113109

 

[dendro982]

Excellent idea! Thank you.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

I'm having my first outbreak of this crap right now. What's odd is that it is only growing on the glass and my tunzes, none to be seen on the rocks. It's very odd, but I guess I'm not complaining. It can't really do much damage where it is now. What is preventing it from growing on the rocks?

 

[kypatriot]

It grows on the glass and overflow box in my tank too. None really on the rocks, but in my other tank, it's only on the rocks.

Do you have a fish or snails that could be eating it off the rocks?

The Tech-M trick works wherever it grows.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Yeah, I have snails, but they go on the glass too. Perhaps hermits are getting at it, but I've never seen them be this efficient at it. I mean there is absolutely none on my rocks.

 

[dendro982]

In Advanced forum (if I'm not mistaken) is a thread "Fast solution for Bryopsis", the same treatment, only applied locally.
Doesn't work with Seachem Advantage Calcium (Mg sulfate). But after a couple of months bryopsis disappears from porous surfaces (coral), and continue to grow in a high flow, even in unfed low light tank.

May be copper from TechM kills it?

 

[dendro982]

Even 3 weeks of TechM didn't killed or significantly reduced the feathery bryopsis.

 

[Claeth]

Ive found the only way to remove it completely is to consider the rock its growing on dead, a sign of Old Tank Syndrome, (which should be called old rock syndrome), and literally remove it from the main system or put it in the dark part of a sump for a long time. It's easier to replace the rocks with fresh from the ocean ones, than to use chemicals to treat the system for it. not to mention new rocks add new life, and Old rocks work just fine in dark sumps. don't have enough sump for it? get a bigger sump! Dilution is the solution to the pollution.