How to rid an SPS tank of bryopsis safely?

[gex23]

I am in the middle of Firstly a bit of background on my tank :

It was gutted and re-started 24/11/2015 with 60% cured previously used live rock and 40% dry plating rock - this was due to an aggressive red planaria breakout.

The tank itself is a 130 litre TMC signature 600 and the filtration consists of :

Deltec SC 1351 protien skimmer - vinegar bathed every month and collection cup / neck cleaned weekly.
2 x chambers of cheato lit by 30w floodlights - total volume approximately 12 litres
4 litres of siporax in egg crate
BM reactor with GFO in it - replaced every fortnight

Parameters :

PH - 8
SG - 1.026
Alk - 7.3
Mag - 1360
Cal - 450
NO3 - 2.5
PO4 - 0.01

My lighting is via an ATI power module hybrid which uses the following photoperiod :

SPS prog by DEAF N1NJA, on Flickr

Flow is handled by the way of 3 MP10s set to approx 50% cycling through a variety of modes.

The bryopsis appeared around 3 months ago, along with GHA and some macro algae - now while I accept the GHA / tuft / macro algae is probably as the tank goes through the maturation process, the bryopsis is a somewhat tougher cookie and is spreading at a worryingly exponential rate.

The options i've seen so far are :

Kent Tech M, raising mag to 2000 + and holding there until the bryopsis growth stuns / falters / recedes

Lettuce slug

Tuxedo urchin

Yellow tang (too big for my tank)

H2O2, manually removing the rock with SPS in situ, and applying directly to the bryopsis (difficult as the scape is very heavy)

Any other options you can suggest?

I really hope I can win this battle as finally, after 18 months, i'm starting to get to grips with the demands of SPS :sad1:

Oh and here's an FTS as of tonight so you can see what i'm dealing with :

20160511_213110 by DEAF N1NJA, on Flickr

 

[reefmutt]

This is a tough one..
I have persistent bryopsis which seems to now be confined mostly to my over flow and gyres.. I assume that one or more of my 5 tangs, or rabbitfish, or hundred snails, or 30 scarlet hermits, or 20 emerald crabs keeps it pretty well cropped from the rocks.
I tried elevated mag. Bumped it to 1800 and the bryopsis withered and died in days but I guess I didn't keep it elevated long enough and the bryopsis came came back.
My next attemp at elevated mag. was shrugged off by the bryopsis. At 2000, it had no effect and I wasn't going any higher...
I did not know that lettuce slugs will eat bryopsis.. I probably couldn't get any anyways..
The urchin and the tang probably won't work..
Manual removal will, if you're up to it..
I'd say your best shot is prolonged, elevated text M.
Stonecold (a reefer on the boards) has used two part epoxy to cover the affected areas..
I've never tried this. He was apparently very successful with that method..
Good luck!!

 

[Acromaniac]

H202 dosing directly to the tank, don't bother removing the rocks to apply it directly. Go to the thread on H202 and find out the required dose. Have had success with this in the past as have heaps of others. I have even dipped frag plugs in pure H202 just to clean the plug and the H202 didnt effect the base of the SPS at all.

 

[reefmutt]

Where is that thread? I'd love to check it out myself..

 

[Acromaniac]

The dosage is 1ml per 10gal per day for 8 days with the 3% solution sold at the pharmacy.

The thread is more about Dino's but it kills all algae, Green Hair Algae is the easiest. Google dinoflagellates-my-experience-h2o2 as it's not a reefcentral thread, they have plenty of other threads too.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks. Will do.

 

[vuqchu]

Before you do any of the steps you mentioned, add a few more of the Mexican turbo snails. They worked for me.

 

[Garridactull]

Just try to manage it. In my opinion it is the sign of a healthy tank and a free food source for fish. Pick out a nice fish that eats the stuff, like a tang or some gobies seeing as your tank looks smaller i would look into gobies and snails


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Myka]

Try an Abalone. Trochus snails sometimes work too. The best method is to use lots of methods.

The Abalones that are usually available for aquariums are aquacultured and Haliotis asinina which stay smaller and are tropical. I've seen them mow down Bryopsis, though others claim they made no difference.




"the Bryopsis-feeding abalone Haliotis diversicolor"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574326/

 

[gex23]

This is a tough one..
I have persistent bryopsis which seems to now be confined mostly to my over flow and gyres.. I assume that one or more of my 5 tangs, or rabbitfish, or hundred snails, or 30 scarlet hermits, or 20 emerald crabs keeps it pretty well cropped from the rocks.
I tried elevated mag. Bumped it to 1800 and the bryopsis withered and died in days but I guess I didn't keep it elevated long enough and the bryopsis came came back.
My next attemp at elevated mag. was shrugged off by the bryopsis. At 2000, it had no effect and I wasn't going any higher...
I did not know that lettuce slugs will eat bryopsis.. I probably couldn't get any anyways..
The urchin and the tang probably won't work..
Manual removal will, if you're up to it..
I'd say your best shot is prolonged, elevated text M.
Stonecold (a reefer on the boards) has used two part epoxy to cover the affected areas..
I've never tried this. He was apparently very successful with that method..
Good luck!!

Cheers for responding reef mutt,

It worries me that even someone as successful and experienced as you knows it's a tough battle.....

Tech M, i'm told, has had the formulation changed. However i've been recommended an alternative product called continuum magnesium which possesses similar impurities in order to at least weaken the bryopsis.......

Did you manage to beat the bryposis in the end?

H202 dosing directly to the tank, don't bother removing the rocks to apply it directly. Go to the thread on H202 and find out the required dose. Have had success with this in the past as have heaps of others. I have even dipped frag plugs in pure H202 just to clean the plug and the H202 didnt effect the base of the SPS at all.

I'm slightly dubious about using H202 in the tank as I can see me messing it up and nuking the tank..... this will be a last resort only method.

Thanks though

Before you do any of the steps you mentioned, add a few more of the Mexican turbo snails. They worked for me.

I added turbos and they didn't touch it - which seems to be the common opinion 0 they'll eat most algae but not bryopsis.... are you sure they do indeed consume it?

Just try to manage it. In my opinion it is the sign of a healthy tank and a free food source for fish. Pick out a nice fish that eats the stuff, like a tang or some gobies seeing as your tank looks smaller i would look into gobies and snails


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Cheers for the input - you say sign of a healthy tank - but it's so invasive and I see many, many stunning SPS tanks on this site completely algae free?

Any idea what gobies consume it?

Try an Abalone. Trochus snails sometimes work too. The best method is to use lots of methods.

The Abalones that are usually available for aquariums are aquacultured and Haliotis asinina which stay smaller and are tropical. I've seen them mow down Bryopsis, though others claim they made no difference.




"the Bryopsis-feeding abalone Haliotis diversicolor"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574326/

Myka - cheers for the link and input.

I've never seen Abalone snails available over here in the UK ...... I do have a few trochus in the tank but they, along with the turbos, don't seem to touch the bryopsis....

My thoughts are the dry rock I used was high in phosphates, and as this went straight in the tank, it's leaching phosphates out into the water column by way of the potential gradient and this isn't helping in my algae battle.

I've decided on using several methods in the hopes this will at least lessen the amount present in the tank :

- I've started manually removing algae today by way if tweezers, very VERY tedious and not always successful but it's gotta help.....

- Upgrading my reactor to a more efficient one and replace the biophos 80 with rowaphos ; I currently use a Bubble Magus 'Mini 70' reactor which is cheap and not totally efficient. Thinking an inline Avast locker reactor or the like?

- Ensuring I keep on top of DI resin and other consumable replacements to keep the incoming water quality good.

- Adding a few more snails (turbo and torches) if they'll indeed consume the bryopsis....

- Adding a few lettuce slugs

Hoping the above will have an effect at least?

 

[joshky]

I did 3x that H202 dosage on my 80g to fight dinos, also had bryopsis, did it for over two weeks and it didn't kill either. I have been managing my bryopsis manually, it doesn't really bother me after fighting dinos.

I do have plans to get rid of it by installing another form of export for my system, either a ATS or something similar. If you have a proper ATS installed, I would think it'd be really hard for the bryopsis to hang on for long, eventually it should be out competed.

 

[ksed]

When you used H2O2 did you simple dump it in all at once or over a period of 24hrs?

I did 3x that H202 dosage on my 80g to fight dinos, also had bryopsis, did it for over two weeks and it didn't kill either. I have been managing my bryopsis manually, it doesn't really bother me after fighting dinos.

I do have plans to get rid of it by installing another form of export for my system, either a ATS or something similar. If you have a proper ATS installed, I would think it'd be really hard for the bryopsis to hang on for long, eventually it should be out competed.

 

[joshky]

When you used H2O2 did you simple dump it in all at once or over a period of 24hrs?

I dumped it all in at the same time. When I looked into it I saw no mention of doing otherwise, are you supposed to put it on a doser for it to work?

 

[justy]

Hi I have just started treating the bryopsis in my tank like you nothing seems to eat it. BUT H2 O2 definitely works! I pull out the rock that is effected sps and all, then with a toothbrush and a cup of 6% solution rub on to all the algae, you can here it fizzing. Leave rock out of the water for a few minutes as you treat all the algae. This way you use very little product but hit the algae hard. Replace rock straight back into the tank.
24 hrs later there was no sign of the algae at all!!
I even saw snails grazing on the algae about twelve hours after treatment.
Cheers justin

 

[reefmutt]

I have not found any fish or snail that eats it, really.. I have been led to understand that it is toxic and this is why nobody eats it.
I remember buying a rabbitfish from a shop who swore it ate every single form of algea known to man.. I personally watched it devour many types.
I added it to my tank and in two minutes, he went over to a big tuft of bryopsis and dove in... Then, he recoiled and spat out his mouth full and never touched it again... THEN, he started eating sps polyps so I had to catch him.
I use a dsb, cheato fuge, matrix, wet skimming and some po4 removers and I still have it grow here and there...
I'm going to look into the abalone.. Although I've seen abalones be very serious bulldozers..
I really haven't seen any conclusive results of using h202 in tank..
I'm sure it's a very effective dip..

 

[gex23]

I did 3x that H202 dosage on my 80g to fight dinos, also had bryopsis, did it for over two weeks and it didn't kill either. I have been managing my bryopsis manually, it doesn't really bother me after fighting dinos.

I do have plans to get rid of it by installing another form of export for my system, either a ATS or something similar. If you have a proper ATS installed, I would think it'd be really hard for the bryopsis to hang on for long, eventually it should be out competed.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the H2O2.

I have no room for something like a down flow ATS in my cramped sump - hence the reason for running a cheato huge which is around 9% of the total system volume. Do you run cheato at all? Any other forms of nutrient export?

Hi I have just started treating the bryopsis in my tank like you nothing seems to eat it. BUT H2 O2 definitely works! I pull out the rock that is effected sps and all, then with a toothbrush and a cup of 6% solution rub on to all the algae, you can here it fizzing. Leave rock out of the water for a few minutes as you treat all the algae. This way you use very little product but hit the algae hard. Replace rock straight back into the tank.
24 hrs later there was no sign of the algae at all!!
I even saw snails grazing on the algae about twelve hours after treatment.
Cheers justin

The main scape in my tank will be nigh on impossible to remove as it's all epoxied together and is very heavy with tricky access.

Last resort though its what i'll have to do.

I have not found any fish or snail that eats it, really.. I have been led to understand that it is toxic and this is why nobody eats it.
I remember buying a rabbitfish from a shop who swore it ate every single form of algea known to man.. I personally watched it devour many types.
I added it to my tank and in two minutes, he went over to a big tuft of bryopsis and dove in... Then, he recoiled and spat out his mouth full and never touched it again... THEN, he started eating sps polyps so I had to catch him.
I use a dsb, cheato fuge, matrix, wet skimming and some po4 removers and I still have it grow here and there...
I'm going to look into the abalone.. Although I've seen abalones be very serious bulldozers..
I really haven't seen any conclusive results of using h202 in tank..
I'm sure it's a very effective dip..

I think, like you say it's more a game if containment rather than total eradication.......

What % of your total system volume do you dedicate to your cheato fuge?

Any thoughts on an ATS to outcompete Bryopsis? Is that even possible?

So many questions and so few definitive answers with this algae - a few people i've asked, here and Ultimatereef (my local forum) have resorted to tank shutdown and rescape in order to rid of this pest - the trouble with this is that I had to do that to eradicate red planaria flatworm in November 2015, and while i;ve eradicated them successfully i've now introduced the Bryopsis :rolleye1: - when will it end :lolspin:

As an aside note, i'm tempted to upgrade to the Avast spyglass reactor as it's reputedly extremely effect at keeping GFO etc in suspension for maximum PO4 absorption.....

 

[organism]

I use Kent Tech M and keep it around 1600, bryopsis has been steadily dying off since I started a couple weeks ago.

 

[toothman]

foxface worked in my tank, may nip at corals if not fed well.

 

[Reef Frog]

Try an Abalone. Trochus snails sometimes work too. The best method is to use lots of methods.

The Abalones that are usually available for aquariums are aquacultured and Haliotis asinina which stay smaller and are tropical. I've seen them mow down Bryopsis, though others claim they made no difference.




"the Bryopsis-feeding abalone Haliotis diversicolor"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3574326/

I'm only about 25% through the article and haven't reached the section talking about abalone. If that is accurate & the animals available and appropriate for our reef tanks, that would be great news.

This caught my eye:

"...demonstrated that siphonous algae take up nutrients from the sediment by a root-like system containing intracellular bacteria and translocate them throughout the thallus."

Like you said use "lots of methods. " I agree. Blowing the Rock, exporting the grunge, and keeping it clean of lots of decomposing matter is important. This is also why applying it directly to the rock (after plucking all you can by hand" is highly recommended.

Peroxide use is a great option but it will be fruitless unless you keep nutrients, phosphates in particular, super low for a long continuous period during and after treatment, youre wasting your time.

 

[MorganAtlanta]

I think it is unlikely that an ATS will out compete bryopsis. It didn't for me. I tried Tech M, which worked short term, but the bryopsis always came back. Bryopsis has a deep root or something that will regrow as soon as conditions are friendly. Eventually I just pulled out and cooked any rock where it appeared, as soon as it appeared.