Bryopsis Pennata

[konrakva]

Tom.
Its not easy to tell them apart but in general the plumosa is darker, have denser fronds and more branched. But I think you have to study a lot of pictures to get a feel of the difference. Pennata is more nakend in the lower half of the main branch, and the male is bright or yellowish green while the female is darker. To make it even harder, pennata are divided into subspecies by some and others think that this is just local variations.

I would not recommend just raising the salinity every day and expect the algae to die, because something else might just be more sensitive to the elevated salinity and suddenly die.

 

[tmz]

Thanks Konrad. I don't intend to raise the sg in my system ; just curious about identification.

 

[Supasalty]

I had bryopsis in a tank with high salinity almost 1.030 and the bryopsis did not thrive or even get the feathery leaves on the stalks but it still lived. After using the Tech-M it is finally starting to fade. I of course am not using natural sea water and there could be lots of things in there that could be affecting the bryopsis as well.

 

[dougers31]

I don't see anyone mentioning gfo. Is anybody currently running gfo and dosing tech M, and what are your results?

 

[AcroporAddict]

Tech M works with GFO.

 

[gp2]

just started Tech M, Tagging along...

 

[tmz]

Algae is limited by PO4 less than 0.03ppm. So it is clear that gfo can help limit it.

 

[schriss]

Wow just found this thread.
I'm fighting Bryopsis now. First I used some non-TechM magnessium, my mag raised to 1800-2000 levels. Zero impact on Bryopsis with those mag levels for weeks. Snails died as usual with high mag. Sadly I didn't check salinity at this stage.
Then, I bought TechM Mag, used entire bottle. At first no change to Bryopsis but then suddenly is started to die off. After some time the die off stopped, but Bryopsis is not growing as it used to, just some long thin roots as if it was looking for a new place to grow.
Then I noticed my Urchin not happy. Googled, read about salinity and found out about TechM Mag increasing salinity, so I measured it and got more than 1.030
So I was thinking that it might be the salinity killing Bropsis, not the magical TechM Mag.
That's how I found this thread.
I have lowered salinity since then to save the Urchin, it stopped losing spines and began to move around.
But Bropsis also stopped dying, BUT it's not growing either.
Now I think about raising Salinity a little bit and see how Bropsis reacts, but my Urchin might become upset again.
None of my corals are bothered by these experiments.

 

[bertoni]

Changing the magnesium level by 400-500 ppm or more won't have that strong an effect on the salinity level. Something else likely happened. Saltwater is at 35 ppt, more or less, and 500 ppm magnesium plus the chloride is only a fairly small change.

 

[MarlinHooker]

anyone ever use magCl flakes with success or is the only thing that seemed to work is the Tech M? I have a small patch of Bryopsis on a rock a can't remove and I'd prefer it doesn't get any worse ...

 

[tmz]

There is no plausible explanation as to how elevated magnsium levels would limit this algae. The anecdotal reports of reduction in bryopsis with Tech M only vary in terms of positive and negative effects with an overriding assumption that some mystery impurity may be damaging the bryopsis and nothing else. These accounts may just be a placebo effects. Personally, it's not a method I'd use .

 

[MarlinHooker]

Fair enough, any suggestions on how to get rid of it besides removing the rock it's on which I can't do?

 

[Elliott]

I've had luck just covering from light for a couple weeks, it tends to just die off and not come back, unless you have too many nutrients to promote algae growth, I use DD pink colored epoxy

 

[MarlinHooker]

What did you use to over it?

 

[Elliott]

just DD pink colored epoxy, make a flat piece and glue it down with super glue, I trim the bryopsis back by hand, dipping my hand and depositing the bryopsis in fresh water bowl each time to avoid seeding the tank, then cover it up with epoxy, may have to do a little "touch up" with a bit more epoxy if it starts to grow at the edge of the patch

http://www.marinedepot.com/D_D_AquaScape_Aquarium_Epoxy_4oz_Reef_Glue_Epoxy_Putty_for_Saltwater_Aquariums-D_D_The_Aquarium_Solution-RW2111-FIMTEP-vi.html

 

[MarlinHooker]

ok, great, I have similar stuff - it just ends up being white when dry, not pink ...

 

[Elliott]

ok, great, I have similar stuff - it just ends up being white when dry, not pink ...

that will work, all you're doing is blocking the light

 

[MarlinHooker]

roger

 

[tmz]

I use kalk paste, some calcium hydroxide/kalk powder mixed with feshwater at about 2tsps per 100ml of water. I spinkle it over a persistent patch or two at a time with a plastic syrige tipped with a piece of airline tubing for reach. When, it hits the tank water it gels and sticks to the algae and rock surface. It's highly alkaine and kills the algae and anything else it sits on for a short time; so you have to be careful with it and puff it off any corals it settles on .
Using too much at once can bump your tank pH and cause some precipitation, so, only a few patches at a time are possible.

 

[tmz]

Here is a link on bryopsis pennata, fyi:

http://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/invasive_algae/chloro/bryopsis_pennata.htm

Note: the authors note it likes nutrient rich water and eutrophic conditions near freshwater runoffs and variable temperature. It's intersting that the worldwide distribution noted in the article does not include waters known for higher salinity like the Red Sea.

Reducing PO4 and NO3 and cleaning out detritus will help. Maintaining constant temperatures and salinity a bit over 1.026 as Konrad suggests in post #1 may be helpful as well. Corals and algae are isotonic and their internal sg will be largely governed by the water around them. They don't osmo regulate like fish. It's possible this algae has a low tolerance threshold for higher sg; but, if this is the case the challenge is to avoid crossing the tolerance threshold for the corals you keep.

From the linked article:

...Bryopsis species are highly opportunistic in eutrophic conditions. Communities will have a higher biomass of this fast growing green alga are when located near fresh water output that is nutrient rich, or where water temperatures fluctuate...