Bryopsis outbreak - help (search engine busy)
- Thread starter Chuck H.
- Start date
jmcmahon66
New member
In my experience, fish rarely eat bryopsis, its more of hit or miss. My sea hare ate every type of algae he could. Ate bryopsis like green cotton candy. I also loaded up with phosban in a reactor, and have had great results. Good Luck, I hate hose green feathers.
Joe
Joe
Kreeger1
KING LEAR
Im pretty sure tangs don't eat bryopsis. With over 10 hours searching the net to find anything that eats it, tangs never came up once and its was also stated that tangs do not eat it. Maybe you did have luck with some yellow tangs but I still think what you had wasn't bryopsis, yellow tang eating it would be a common fix for that problem then don't you agree? I have 3 different tangs in my tank and have seen them all take a bite then spit it out.
Zebrasoma and Acanthurus tangs will NOT eat bryopsis algae. The lettuce slugs will eat it but will not eradicate it. I don't recommend them. Most urchins and rabbitfish won't touch it either, so what can be done?
First of all, manually remove as much as you can while siphoning the associated water out of the aquarium. Repeat this as often as necessary. Once a week is not too often. As you gain control over it, the time between siphoning and water changes can be extended.
As for biological controls, I recommend two animals. The Fiji Rabbitfish, Siganus uspi, WILL eat bryopsis if it's hungry enough. This doesn't mean that ALL rabbitfish will eat bryopsis, because they won't.
Halloween urchins (Tripneustes gratilla) will eat bryopsis as well. Don't be afraid of urchins in your reef aquarium. Tripneustes gratilla doesn't grow much larger than a tennis ball and is a great herbivore. They will NOT eat corals. They may graze on coralline algae, but it will return stronger. Some studies suggest that they actually help coralline algae by removing epiphytic algae from its surface. I'd suggest stocking these urchins in densities as high as one per 10 to 25 gallons, depending upon the severity of the problem and size of the urchins.
Lastly, I'd suggest using one of the granular ferric oxide hydroxide PO4-removing compounds on a full-time basis.
To sum it up, you need to do ALL these things to defeat bryopsis algae. There are no shortcuts or magic pills. Shocking it with abnormally high pH levels is dangerous, not recommended, and probably ineffective. If you have bryopsis on just one or two rocks, I'd recommend removing those rocks and either disposing of them or breaking off the section with the bryopsis by chisel. Also, don't add bryopsis to your refugium. It WILL migrate into the display tank and become a pest. Bryopsis is a scourge and shouldn't be treated lightly. Don't ignore it when it first appears or you'll be sorry in the long run.
Greg
First of all, manually remove as much as you can while siphoning the associated water out of the aquarium. Repeat this as often as necessary. Once a week is not too often. As you gain control over it, the time between siphoning and water changes can be extended.
As for biological controls, I recommend two animals. The Fiji Rabbitfish, Siganus uspi, WILL eat bryopsis if it's hungry enough. This doesn't mean that ALL rabbitfish will eat bryopsis, because they won't.
Halloween urchins (Tripneustes gratilla) will eat bryopsis as well. Don't be afraid of urchins in your reef aquarium. Tripneustes gratilla doesn't grow much larger than a tennis ball and is a great herbivore. They will NOT eat corals. They may graze on coralline algae, but it will return stronger. Some studies suggest that they actually help coralline algae by removing epiphytic algae from its surface. I'd suggest stocking these urchins in densities as high as one per 10 to 25 gallons, depending upon the severity of the problem and size of the urchins.
Lastly, I'd suggest using one of the granular ferric oxide hydroxide PO4-removing compounds on a full-time basis.
To sum it up, you need to do ALL these things to defeat bryopsis algae. There are no shortcuts or magic pills. Shocking it with abnormally high pH levels is dangerous, not recommended, and probably ineffective. If you have bryopsis on just one or two rocks, I'd recommend removing those rocks and either disposing of them or breaking off the section with the bryopsis by chisel. Also, don't add bryopsis to your refugium. It WILL migrate into the display tank and become a pest. Bryopsis is a scourge and shouldn't be treated lightly. Don't ignore it when it first appears or you'll be sorry in the long run.
Greg
Last edited:
Chuck H.
Member
Pic of my Bryopsis
Pic of my Bryopsis
Thanks for all of the replies and discussion. Here is a small pic of Bryopsis next to a green mushroom. This is the rock where it all started and it is starting to spread here and there.
My Sailfin has nipped at it, as has my Lawnmower Blenny, so is this really Bryopsis or am I dealing with some other type of algae? I do have a Phosban reactor and I've been running a pouch of Purigen. I'll be changing out the reactor at the end of the month and may use more phosban this time (used only 2 teaspoons the first time). This pic slightly illustrates my problem with this rock as the algae is all around some mushrooms. I also have a yellow polyp colony that the algae has infiltrated and there is no way to manually remove it without damaging the polyps.
Pic of my Bryopsis
Thanks for all of the replies and discussion. Here is a small pic of Bryopsis next to a green mushroom. This is the rock where it all started and it is starting to spread here and there.
My Sailfin has nipped at it, as has my Lawnmower Blenny, so is this really Bryopsis or am I dealing with some other type of algae? I do have a Phosban reactor and I've been running a pouch of Purigen. I'll be changing out the reactor at the end of the month and may use more phosban this time (used only 2 teaspoons the first time). This pic slightly illustrates my problem with this rock as the algae is all around some mushrooms. I also have a yellow polyp colony that the algae has infiltrated and there is no way to manually remove it without damaging the polyps.
