bryopsis: which option would you choose?

[bjolly]

I have a 28 gal nanocube which has been running for almost 5 years, sadly neglected for 2 years. The current inhabitants are an ocellaris clownfish, a yellow watchman goby, and a handful of snails (mostly cerith, nassarius and stomatella). Oh, and a metric ton of bryopsis. It's everywhere. All over all the rocks.

I really want to get this tank back in shape and make it something I can be proud of and enjoy again. I have no corals, so that at least makes tackling the algae a little easier.

I've read up on bryopsis and some people recommend peroxide but some say it just comes back. The tech M method seems to be successful for a lot of people but again, not everyone. And just to add a wrinkle, I'm moving to a new house in about a month and will have to take everything out of the tank to move it.

My initial thought was to do peroxide dips on the rocks a couple at a time, and get the bottom-most rocks done when I take them out to move. Then I second guessed myself and thought maybe I should go the tech M route.

And then it hit me tonight - if I buy new dry rock now and cycle it in a container, by the time I move it could be ready to use and I could just start all over with clean rocks. It seems like kind of a copout, but also seems a lot simpler and more attractive than fighting with the algae for months on end. And with this size tank, it wouldn't cost much to get new rock.

Is there a big downside to starting over? I know it would take me from a more mature to a less mature tank. I'd lose some of my snails and pods and a lot of biodiversity. But it seems a hell of a lot easier.

 

[bobbravo2]

You can always bleach the rock. I've done that to kill it off. I am using tech m in an established reef, it's a lot slower, I'd bleach if it were an option.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I've read that Tech M doesn't work any more. It used to have some other 'stuff' in it besides magnesium, now it doesn't. It's just like any other Mg additive and will have no effect on your bryopsis.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Considering you're going to move (and thus have a lot of things on your hands), I'd strongly suggest the Tech M route. It'll cost you $30 for a gallon bottle from Drs. Foster and Smith (don't buy the small bottle, it takes a lot of TechM), and if it doesn't do the trick for you, you still have a good magnesium supplement.

Don't dip your rock in peroxide. From the standpoint of the bacterial biofilm, that's the same thing as bleaching. And since Bryopsis has "roots" that grow into rock, it won't effectively eliminate it.

A slight variation on the "new rock" idea might be to consider a new tank in your new place. Even if it's the same size (a nano), that'll give you the opportunity to get the newer and better equipment that's come out in the last 5 years, and let you transfer your fish and inverts in your current tank with little to no risk.

 

[Devaji108]

I like the new tank idea.. as I really dont care fornanocube/biocubes. there are a lot of reasonably prices tanks out there now.
SC aquariums
IM fusions
aquxmaxx
mr. auqa
etc. all prices pretty good some better than other with SC and aqua max being really reasonable.

OK now back you your question if you want to keep the life on the rock and keep the setup i would go with an ATS give the place for the HA to grow. along with daily pruning if from the rock I think you could win the battle.

worth looking in to IMHO
good luck!

 

[bjolly]

interesting, tech M is a clear crowd favorite. Has anyone else heard what Ron Reefman is saying, that it doesn't work anymore?

I would love to upgrade to a bigger tank but it's not in the cards right now financially. I've been eyeing red sea max as well as SCA. I'd love to have something in the 60 gal range eventually.

Part of the appeal to me of new rock is that I could have it well cycled in a separate container, so it could just go in the tank (along with new sand) when I set up in the new house. Out comes the old rock and sand, along with all their accumulated wastes and the bryopsis, and in goes new, clean stuff, already cycled. With a low bioload (2 small fish and some snails), it seems this would be low risk? Or would the bryopsis return from microscopic remnants on the surfaces, the pumps, etc?

 

[Art13]

With my tech m experiences, it's worked twice, most recently a few weeks ago, and failed once, a few months ago. Both times it has worked, i've brought nutrients down to 0 for nitrates and phosphates first with gfo and carbon dosing before adding tech m.

 

[davocean]

interesting, tech M is a clear crowd favorite. Has anyone else heard what Ron Reefman is saying, that it doesn't work anymore?

Yes and I'm not sure where that rumor came from but last I saw a rep had stated nothing has changed.
I just used this a couple months ago as I had bry pop up in my new tank, worked like a charm, as always

 

[Scorpius]

New tank is always a nice option. :lol:

 

[Reef Frog]

A complete restart with new rock or bleaching may be the best route.

But from the way the OP described the situation, that tank could likely be rehabilitated with peroxide. Like bleach, it is an oxidizer, not just as powerful and easier to work with than chlorine bleach.

With no corals it would be straight foreword. Fish, snails & shrimp, go into holding tank, physical removal, long soaks for all rock in full strength 3% peroxide, scrub rock, 100% water changes, mechanical filtration & detritus control, draconian nutrient control and a period of full tank dosing. You probably should start with new sand or go bb. Don't forget to run lots of peroxide in the tank to kill remenants on equipment & the tank itself. It is important to not slack off on the nutrient control for several months.

Some of the bacteria deep inside the rock will probably survive making the new cycle shorter and the rock will have more capability then say brand new dry dock being cycled. The other options may be best for you, but the advantage of this is that it can be done quickly - no more than a few hours time over a day or maybe a weekend. Bryopsis can regenerate from residual pieces missed by peroxide if the cellular structures remained in tact and again find themselves in a hospitable environment again. So Nutrients, especially PO4, need to be kept down to absolute minimal levels for quite some time.

NOTE: If you think your rocks are leaching PO4, a bleaching and lanthium chloride treatment would be worth the effort invested. JMOs.

 

[Bent]

Are you 100% positive is bry?

Might just be simple algae from neglect.

 

[dkeller_nc]

You could do what ReefFrog suggests if you have enough rock in the tank to divide it between a temporary 20g for your fish while you nuke everything in your main tank, whether you do that with bleach or hydrogen peroxide.

But if you don't have enough rock, you'll want to get a couple of sponge filters soaking in your tank now. Within 3 weeks or so, they'll have enough bacteria to keep up with a couple of modest-sized clownfish in a 20g Petco dollar-a-gallon special with an air pump and a heater.

But definitely don't nuke all of your rock, sterilize the tank, set it back up with the nuked rock, and put your fish in it. In theory, they might survive if you very carefully managed water changes to keep the inevitable ammonia spike down. But that's the equivalent of cycling a new tank with a "tough fish" - standard practice 20 years ago, but unnecessary now.

 

[bjolly]

oh, I know, I would never put the fish in an uncycled tank. that's why I was thinking of getting new rock, cycling it now and then setting the tank back up with the new cycled rock when I get to the new house.

the way I was thinking of it, instead of putting the fish in a holding tank while I nuke the rocks, I'd put the rock in temporary holding to nuke it, while the fish are in the regular tank with clean but cycled new rock. I have at least a month before I move, so I have time to cycle new rock first.

then I could nuke the old rock and save it for a future bigger tank.

I'm pretty sure it's bryopsis. I will try to get a clear closeup picture later to post, in case I'm wrong. It's definitely not regular hair algae, and it looks ferny.

 

[Art13]

The only issue with not treating the tank where the bryopsis is, if theres a floating spore or any tiny piece you missed, it may come back and you're back to where you started.

 

[soulpatch]

peroxide dipping or paste are my go to with algae. Have had great success over the years in doing it...