How to rid an SPS tank of bryopsis safely?

[Reef Frog]

Never owned an ATS but planning on one for my next build. I asked the owner of Turbo Aquatics if an ATS could out compete bryopsis & bubble algae. He said it would but could take quite a while. Some users agreed. If hounded the ATS threads you'll see this guy is a straight shooter. Of course it needs to be properly sized & maintained properly. I sure hope this is the case.

I can see how the ultimate program would be:
1 Physical removal
2 Killing with peroxide and/or Tech M. Spot treatment best.
3 Blow off the rocks and capture & export crud
4 huge water changes, mechanical filtration & wet skimming
5 All the while ruthlessly keeping PO4 low. Use GFO and change it out frequently. NEVER let it rise for several months.
6 Feed less
7 All the while do a therapeutic full tank dosing 1ml per 10g. Don't do it the day you do spot treatments.
8 a few black out periods during this period won't hurt
9 If a few Sprite reappear, get them out right away.
10 The end game would be to eventually transition from GFO to an ATS several months out.

This ain't easy and takes lots of effort, time & patience. I can understand why some people just do a break down, nuke the rock & start over.

I beat BigB this way 4 or 5 years ago. During the first year or two after treatment a new sprig might appear once in a while if I slacked a little on the GFO changes. I just removed it and changed the GFO immediately. If you procrastinate you will fail. It's all good now but I suspect it's possible that remnants may remain awaiting the proper conditions to make a comeback. And new frags, colonies or rocks could reintroduce it at any time,'so be careful. I'd discard frag plugs before DT introduction.

It also gets better with time as coral grows & covers & shades larger & larger areas.

 

[heyfishyfishy]

Looks like I've got as few spots of this poping up. Thinking I'm going to go there sure way and pull the rock and use peroxide. I really need to start quarantining!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[eclipse720]

This question is a little off topic but i fought this in the past and lost. I simply started all over with another tank and downsized to 28g rr mostly sps tank. I kept the rock that was affected by bryopsis, which was everything but can i safely re-use this rock? After breaking down the old tank i "tossed" the lr outside and its been sitting out there for almost 6 months. I also used the peroxide method and even covered the whole tank with black trash bags to keep light from coming in but all that only delayed its come back for a few weeks.

 

[gex23]

Never owned an ATS but planning on one for my next build. I asked the owner of Turbo Aquatics if an ATS could out compete bryopsis & bubble algae. He said it would but could take quite a while. Some users agreed. If hounded the ATS threads you'll see this guy is a straight shooter. Of course it needs to be properly sized & maintained properly. I sure hope this is the case.

I can see how the ultimate program would be:
1 Physical removal
2 Killing with peroxide and/or Tech M. Spot treatment best.
3 Blow off the rocks and capture & export crud
4 huge water changes, mechanical filtration & wet skimming
5 All the while ruthlessly keeping PO4 low. Use GFO and change it out frequently. NEVER let it rise for several months.
6 Feed less
7 All the while do a therapeutic full tank dosing 1ml per 10g. Don't do it the day you do spot treatments.
8 a few black out periods during this period won't hurt
9 If a few Sprite reappear, get them out right away.
10 The end game would be to eventually transition from GFO to an ATS several months out.

This ain't easy and takes lots of effort, time & patience. I can understand why some people just do a break down, nuke the rock & start over.

I beat BigB this way 4 or 5 years ago. During the first year or two after treatment a new sprig might appear once in a while if I slacked a little on the GFO changes. I just removed it and changed the GFO immediately. If you procrastinate you will fail. It's all good now but I suspect it's possible that remnants may remain awaiting the proper conditions to make a comeback. And new frags, colonies or rocks could reintroduce it at any time,'so be careful. I'd discard frag plugs before DT introduction.

It also gets better with time as coral grows & covers & shades larger & larger areas.

A very regimented regime right there.

I have to admit I rarely ever blast the detritus off the rocks, but i'll start doing this when water changing to aid nutrient export.

Kent has supposedly removed the impurities that made Tech M so effective in the fight against bryopsis....

I'll look to upgrade my reactor in a month or two to aid more efficient use of GFO.

I just hope I don't have to shut the tank down to eradicate a pest......again.

 

[plyle02]

I know many will question this, so here you go, for what it is worth. I had a bad case of bryopsis a few years back, I researched and read as much info as I could. I tried manual removal, snails, blackouts, raising mag, and nothing seemed to work. Somewhere I read about emerald crabs, so I thought, what the heck and bought 6 or so in a 34 gallon tank. Within a week, there was none left. The back panel of the tank was covered, the rocks covered. They completely destroyed it. However, although they are supposed to be reef safe, they picked at polyps of a stylo I had. When I saw this I pulled them and banished to filtration area/sump and bryopsis did not return. I made an effort to feed very little during this time to stimulate all the tanks inhabitants appetite. This was my experience Good luck with this algae, I was at my wits end with it!

 

[Myka]

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.

4c, second paragraph. Scroll exactly halfway down the page.

 

[reefmutt]

There were some old posts about Fauna Marin's Dino x working for bryopsis..
I wonder if anybody has tried it?
I'm considering it but I don't know much about the product, yet. I'll have to do a bit of looking around..

 

[Diesel3443]

There were some old posts about Fauna Marin's Dino x working for bryopsis..
I wonder if anybody has tried it?
I'm considering it but I don't know much about the product, yet. I'll have to do a bit of looking around..

I saw the same thing. They even changed the name to Algae X. I am about to order a bottle myself

 

[reefmutt]

I thought it used to be called algea x and was changed to Dino X..
Anyways.. No matter..
Let us know how it works for you..
Diesel, when I copy and past the address for your build, it doesn't work.. Can you post a link?