My humble SPS journey - Shallow 80g

[joshky]

Hey Josh, sorry to read about your bryopsis issues.. it's clear how demoralized you are. Totally been there with bryopsis (and being totally demoralized!). I still have it in my system but it doesn't seem to grow very fast anymore and only grows around the over flow which is easy to handle.
I'm not sure what, but between the several tangs, hermits and snails, one or many of them keep it controlled.
I suspect that most grazers will 'control' it when it's just sprouting but once it becomes leafy, nobody, but nobody seems to touch it. I think your best bet is to try to remove as much of the long stuff as possible and maybe get some more snails and hermits..
I once had a Sea hare that ate it ravenously for about 3 weeks and then it died.. my other attempts at sea hare bryopsis control are not nearly as successful. They may eat a bit, in passing but won't choose to eat it, if better things are around.
For whatever reason, currently I cannot get macro algea to grow in my system despite nitrates of over 30ppm and p over .15. I must be iron limited or something.. but under the current conditions, my bryopsis barely grows..
I just figured I'd put all this info out there.
Also, my first attempt at trying Kent mag was very effective. After dosing to 1700 ppm mag, the bryopsis shriveled and died but I didn't wait long enough with it at that concentration and it recovered and came back. My subsequent attempts with Kent required at least a 2000 ppm concentration to just make the bryopsis notice. After that Kent was not effective and I've had a problem with high mag ever since!
Clearly this bryopsis sh@t is very adaptable.
Good luck my friend!

I think my melanarus wrasse eats most of my hermits/crabs in general, I swear I had like 40 and I barely see them now. I'm gonna stick with vibrant for now and see what happens, if it doesn't look like it's working by the end of January I'm not sure what I'll do besides maybe trying a yellow tang. If that doesn't work I may just downgrade and do something simpler for now.

Sorry to read about your problems Joshky.
Seachem Flourish Phosphorus is mostly k2po4 and is used in planted tanks for Phosphorus dosing. I don't think is good idea to use it to battle bryopsis. It will most likely only increase growth of algea

Yeah which is what I figured would happen, Mark thought I was still having issues with dinos which would be a decent way to combat them.

If you want I can house some frags for you in case you have to much die off. We're only a few hours apart I think

Appreciate it, no die off at all yet just some minor recession and browning out. Some of the pieces that never colored up for me are doing the worst, so for all I care they can die and I'll just replace them with a new beautiful pack once the bryopsis is officially gone. :wildone:

 

[Rakie]

Raise Magnesium to 1500 minimum, 2500 max. Kill bryopsis very well, and has very few effects on any corals. You just have to keep it there for a long while to knock it all out.

 

[Wrangy]

Sorry to hear the battle is still slugging it out with you I hope for you sake and your sanity that the Vibrant does the trick! It's hard fighting these up hill battles in the tank as it really brings you down!

Hang in there mate I want to see you on the other side of it!!

 

[Patrick Cox]

Hey Josh, any updates to share? How are things going?

 

[joshky]

Sorry to hear the battle is still slugging it out with you I hope for you sake and your sanity that the Vibrant does the trick! It's hard fighting these up hill battles in the tank as it really brings you down!

Hang in there mate I want to see you on the other side of it!!

Hey Josh, any updates to share? How are things going?

I'm done with vibrant, great product for everything BUT my strain of bryopsis apparently. I did have a few other types of algaes it helped eradicate, one specifically was a smaller bubble like algae that wasn't a nuisance, kind of grew into small clumps of dozens of bubbles. I think my rabbit fish pecked at it every now and then so I didn't mind it tbh, was also a slow grower.

My acros are all starting to turn a corner, they seem a lot healthier with polyp extension and color is slowly returning to a few of them. My magnifica had to go through treatment again, it's been very upset looking since then and hopefully it just needs more time to perk back up. I don't think it's infected (yet), but perhaps some internal damage or something from moving etc..? I really hope that I don't lose it, before it had to be removed for treatment it had the most beautiful purple and gold tips, and because of my lack of motivation with the tank I didn't take any photos. :worried:

Thanks to the other forum and constant experimentation within the hobby I found a new thing to try to finish off the bryopsis, I'll be doing a one time dose of fluconazole (1800mg -- dose is 200mg per 10g) to the tank, which so far seems to be very reef safe and people are having FAST results. After I dose this and I'm confident the bryopsis is finally gone I'm going to consider dosing KNO3, need to make sure it's necessary after the algae is gone but I've been considering this for a little while now.

 

[reefmutt]

I was reading about fluconazol as well..
Very very interesting
I'll be following your results closely.
Good luck this time!

 

[rockworm]

I was reading about fluconazol as well..
Very very interesting
I'll be following your results closely.
Good luck this time!

So far, this stuff works. I dosed on Jan 21 and bryopsis is literally disintegrating before my eyes. Vibrant removed all of the other algaes and this stuff is stomping down the bryopsis. I am really amazed.

 

[joshky]

I was reading about fluconazol as well..
Very very interesting
I'll be following your results closely.
Good luck this time!

So far, this stuff works. I dosed on Jan 21 and bryopsis is literally disintegrating before my eyes. Vibrant removed all of the other algaes and this stuff is stomping down the bryopsis. I am really amazed.

I did my 1800mg dose of fluconazole this morning, I'm very excited to see this stuff die off for good. I don't have much to document as I've done a pretty good job of keeping it out of plague proportions with the vibrant dosing + low nutrients (acros suffering from it), and constant pruning.

But you can see how bad it was getting before I started this crusade with the vibrant....

 

[reefmutt]

So far, this stuff works. I dosed on Jan 21 and bryopsis is literally disintegrating before my eyes. Vibrant removed all of the other algaes and this stuff is stomping down the bryopsis. I am really amazed.

Thanks for the info, Ward. I'll have to pm you for info in where to get it. I haven't even looked yet..

I did my 1800mg dose of fluconazole this morning, I'm very excited to see this stuff die off for good. I don't have much to document as I've done a pretty good job of keeping it out of plague proportions with the vibrant dosing + low nutrients (acros suffering from it), and constant pruning.

But you can see how bad it was getting before I started this crusade with the vibrant....

Well, you certainly had a good plague of it!! Good luck, Josh. I hope you eradicate it!

 

[markalot]

Hi Josh,

keep us updated, I hope it works out for you! Glad to hear the acros have turned the corner ... as you know these issues can seem like forever to fix but the payoff is worth it. :thumbsup:

 

[joshky]

Thank you both for checking in, hopefully I'll be able to grab some new photos soon. I'm actually getting really excited about my tank again and I can't wait to buy more acros. :spin1:

Well, you certainly had a good plague of it!! Good luck, Josh. I hope you eradicate it!

So far so good, 97% of it is already gone, maybe not the roots but visually there's maybe one rock with the bryopsis left. I'm very happy to say (knock on wood), that the fluconazole has no effect on the magnifica anemone which was my biggest worry; I feel pretty safe in assuming that I'm the first to dose fluconazole with a mag. :uhoh2:

Hi Josh,

keep us updated, I hope it works out for you! Glad to hear the acros have turned the corner ... as you know these issues can seem like forever to fix but the payoff is worth it. :thumbsup:

I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to finally get rid of the bryopsis, unfortunately timing was a little annoying as I decided to start this right after coloring my acros back up from the last issue. :lol: As long as I don't have any personal blunders, I can't foresee anymore hurdles to overcome when this bryopsis is finally gone. My tank is seemingly doing really well right now and now that I've stopped dosing vibrant in my tank I'm seeing good improvements, I think as soon as I start dosing some form of no3 my acros are going to color up really well.

 

[drawman]

Josh I'm glad you tried the fluconazole I was going to mention that and I've seen some good success with it on the other forum too. Hopefully that 97% turns to 100% for you!

 

[Wrangy]

How did your clams react to it?? I'm nervous to try it with clams lol

 

[joshky]

Josh I'm glad you tried the fluconazole I was going to mention that and I've seen some good success with it on the other forum too. Hopefully that 97% turns to 100% for you!

Still a few small tufts left on the rock that I previously mentioned, and some growing in the overflow, but it's let go everywhere else. I think for 6 days in it's definitely showing great promise and I really hope that it's not just a short term solution but a long term one.

How did your clams react to it?? I'm nervous to try it with clams lol

I lost both of my clams to large gorilla crabs when I got my new live rock last year unfortunately. I think since my anemone (so far) is showing zero signs of stress, a clam would be just fine, but I know you've had your large maxima for a while so I completely understand the hesitation.

 

[biggles]

Very bummed to see you battling that bryopsis stuff Josh, Dave actually pointed it out to me at the shop last visit on a piece of rock as i've never come across it in all these years - talk about luck.

I hope you sort it out soon buddy, i'd be using lots of boiling RO on those clumps - not many organisms like boiling hot water syringed onto them and it feels great when you're doing it........ :thumbsup:

 

[joshky]

Very bummed to see you battling that bryopsis stuff Josh, Dave actually pointed it out to me at the shop last visit on a piece of rock as i've never come across it in all these years - talk about luck.

I hope you sort it out soon buddy, i'd be using lots of boiling RO on those clumps - not many organisms like boiling hot water syringed onto them and it feels great when you're doing it........ :thumbsup:

Very happy to say my battle has been successful using fluconazole, hopefully it won't come back!! My acros are all on the rebound too, things are looking so much better since I stopped dosing vibrant, I don't think I would recommend that stuff unless it's a last resort, for bryopsis anyways. It does a good job on other algae and you can be a lot more casual with your dosing as well.

I will have to try and do some updated photos soon, lots of growth on the few pieces that didn't go dormant on me.

 

[reefmutt]

Well, you've convinced me in the fluconazole. Now I just have to find out where to buy it..
I asked a Dr. friend for a prescription and when I told him I needed about 6000mg he said 'holy .... Do you have a dinosaur yeast infection!?!?!!

 

[joshky]

Well, you've convinced me in the fluconazole. Now I just have to find out where to buy it..
I asked a Dr. friend for a prescription and when I told him I needed about 6000mg he said 'holy .... Do you have a dinosaur yeast infection!?!?!!

I don't know if they have any stock left, but here's where I got mine.

https://www.payless-petproducts.com/fluconazole200.html

And you should've answered yes about the dinosaur yeast infection. :lol2:

 

[Piper27]

Can you tell us exactly what you did with the medication? Was it like an interceptor treatment or did you leave it in the tank for good?

 

[joshky]

Can you tell us exactly what you did with the medication? Was it like an interceptor treatment or did you leave it in the tank for good?

One time dose of 200mg/10g of tank water, I didn't change anything in my routine maintenance and I'm sure most of the medication is still in my system. Really simple, extremely effective, and so far it's completely safe.