Thick carpet like bryopsis

[CTaylor]

Hi,
I think I had an outbreak of bryopsis. But it wasnt so much like fern looking. It was very tightly compact soft strands of dark green, in large diameter 'tufts' on the rocks. I think it's bryopsis, but not 100% sure. I already removed as much as I ccould by burshing it off the rocks, (removing the rocks first). Now to keep it from coming back , I'm reading is about impossible unless you overdose TechM. But then another algae woudl take its place.

Is another solution to get a larger clean up crew? will astrea and other (which? ) snails, hermits (which) eat this maybe when it's 'young'. If the dont eat green hair, not bry, and not bubble, then *** algae does a clean up crew eat? lol I'm thinking they eat these algaes when they are 'young' and when the algaes dont have their own defenses ??????

I do have a 'fuge' only about 10 gallons (part of my sump) which is attached to my 108 gallon reef. And good skimmer. So I'm thinking to prune the chaeto from the fuge more often.. But if I prune too much then there's a bigger outbreak of bad algae in my tank, so it's hard to get that right. I was also going to have my skimmer skimm more (not as thick a green fluid, but ligher and fill cup more often).

Another idea is to get the Skimz chaeto reactor. Or any / alll the above.

I'm always worried about getting too may snails and hermits as they won't have enough to eat lol. I like the micro hermits, as I think the larger ones have killed a healthy tang or two of mine, and a few gobies. So maybe 200 micro hermits and 50 total astrea and other snails? In addition to the higher skimming and maybe the skimz reactor? What do yyou all thnk?

thanks!

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I would try a Peroxide bath on a rock outside the tank.
Just pour it on & wait 5 minutes then back in.
See if it helps.

 

[CTaylor]

I would try a Peroxide bath on a rock outside the tank.
Just pour it on & wait 5 minutes then back in.
See if it helps.

Thanks,
The rocks are already scrubbed. WOuld the best way to proceed to keep everything clean to get a just a large snail/hermit crew? along with higher skimming? I dont want to, but if a Skimz algae reactor would do the trick in addition all the above, I would do it. I know battling bry is a losing battle from what I see overall, but isn't is possible if you have the right combo (of the above maybe) that i can be stopped? If not, then what algaes do a clean up crew eat?

Thanks

 

[dkeller_nc]

If you truly have bryopsis, scrubbing it off of the rocks and/or dosing the rocks with hydrogen peroxide will be ineffective (completely ineffective). While the TechM treatment was the go-to standard for bryopsis for several years, it can have a toxic effect on SPS corals, and is suspected to have a toxic effect on several more-sensitive LPS species.

A much better "nuke 'em" treatment is fluconazole, at the rate of 20 mg/gallon. It's generally quite safe for corals, inverts and fish. But it does have its downsides - specifically, the general term of treatment is 3 weeks, during which time you'll have to either turn off your skimmer, or simply let it overflow back into the tank. It will also nuke just about every algae in the tank, not just bryopsis.

So you'll have to make some accommodation for herbivorous inverts like hermits. One solution is to simply feed the hermits nori by putting a sheet in, weighted to the sandbed with a rock. They'll definitely find it.

One other thing to watch out for is a sharp spike in phosphate and/or nitrate, since a lot of nutrients are bound up in the algae. That can be taken care of by water changes and chemical absorbents, such as GFO.

 

[CTaylor]

DK
THANK YOU for that. So will this eliminate bubble algae as well? I dont mind doing a few large water changes to try to get rid of the fluc after the treatment. I'm guessing if will also kill chaeto. WHich is ok, since I have another tnak wiht chaeto there. BUT how can I be sure when I reintrooduce new chaeto that it doesnt have any broypsis, etc in it? That seems impossible. Or is there a place I can get it sterile? And what do people do once the algae is irradicated to ensure whatever corals they receive, etc do not have even a cell of bry or bubble on them? Do they do a quick dip in fluc?


I think I'll have to go that route some time soon.

Thanks!

If you truly have bryopsis, scrubbing it off of the rocks and/or dosing the rocks with hydrogen peroxide will be ineffective (completely ineffective). While the TechM treatment was the go-to standard for bryopsis for several years, it can have a toxic effect on SPS corals, and is suspected to have a toxic effect on several more-sensitive LPS species.

A much better "nuke 'em" treatment is fluconazole, at the rate of 20 mg/gallon. It's generally quite safe for corals, inverts and fish. But it does have its downsides - specifically, the general term of treatment is 3 weeks, during which time you'll have to either turn off your skimmer, or simply let it overflow back into the tank. It will also nuke just about every algae in the tank, not just bryopsis.

So you'll have to make some accommodation for herbivorous inverts like hermits. One solution is to simply feed the hermits nori by putting a sheet in, weighted to the sandbed with a rock. They'll definitely find it.

One other thing to watch out for is a sharp spike in phosphate and/or nitrate, since a lot of nutrients are bound up in the algae. That can be taken care of by water changes and chemical absorbents, such as GFO.

 

[Tastee]

I dosed my tank with Flucanazole 10 weeks ago and it worked a treat on my GHA. Not completely gone but 100x better than it was. I saw no issues with my inverts - Sand Sifter starfish, Hermit, Coral Banded Shrimp and various snails. I also didn't perform the recommended 25% WC after treating, just stuck to my regular monthly 12% WC at week 3.

I carefully measured NO3 and PO4 throughout but didn't see a spike. I did however ensure I changed my filter bags (225 micron thinmesh) every 2 days or so to stop decaying GHA spiking nutrients. This worked well.

I did get a bit of a Dino outbreak however.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[CTaylor]

Thank you for that comment also Tastee . I somehow have 2500 mg total of the flucanazole . It's human pill form 100 mg each. I'll do some searches on it, and come back if I have questions. But what Im going to likely do is go forward and boost my clean up crew with $80 worth of astrea and micro hermits mainly. Try to skim more. Change 35% water a month split in 2 x a month. Prune Chaeto more. And as soon as I start to get the bryopsis growing again (assuming it will) I'll do the Fluc. It's probably best Im thinking to dose that when an outbreak is just starting (?)

 

[Uncle99]

CUC don’t clean up much at all and too many just adds to the nutrients load
I have only a few snails but I keep nitrates at 2-5ppm and phosphate at 0.03-0.07 and no algae. Keep great water and forget the CUC.

 

[CTaylor]

My nitrates were rising to 10 ppm, might have gotten hither. My phosphates were always < 10 ppBillion. But I know those levels also do not 'balance' with each other. In that time where my nitrates got to 10, is where I was having the issues. I just tested last night, Phoshorous (hann ultra low kit) at 6 ppB, nitrate less than 2 ppm. I'm keeping my skimmer on a higher output. So maybe I can keep this at bay, also turkey bastering the rocks weekly .

**Will blowing with a turkey baster help keep CaPO4 from forming on the rocks?
I'll probalby hold off on my CUC for a bit also. thanks for that.

CUC don't clean up much at all and too many just adds to the nutrients load
I have only a few snails but I keep nitrates at 2-5ppm and phosphate at 0.03-0.07 and no algae. Keep great water and forget the CUC.

 

[reefgeezer]

Sounds more like Turf Algae. That would be a good thing. It's easier to manage. I have some in my tank but it's not much of a problem. My sea urchin loves the stuff and keeps it from becoming an issue. I also pull it off the rock if it starts to build up where the urchin can't get it. If it's Turf Algae, once it builds a mat, it'll peel off pretty easily. Tech-M probably won't help. Fluconazole should work as might a few other algae treatments.

My best advice is not to go to any extreme in an attempt to wipe out all of the algae. Just try to reduce it and manage it to keep it from being a pest. IMO, healthy tanks have a little algae here and there. Once you get a handle on the algae and the nutrients causing it to get out of hand, a good clean-up crew can help. Long spine and Tuxedo Urchins do well for me. I also have a Lawnmower Blenny, a Kole Tang, some Trochus and a few Astria snails, and some small red-legged hermits in my clean-up crew.

 

[CTaylor]

I think it's a turf like bryopsis. Or was. I did another cleaning of the rocks, less than before, as I got some Mexican Turbos after the first cleaning. I cleaned it again after getting them to give them a 'clean plate' to keep clean. It's only been 10 days since then, but previously I would have bryopsis/turf regrowing in many places to some extent. I have it growing only in patches on one rock. I actually saw a large Mex Turbo eating the bry. I'm nearly positive what that snail was eating was bry as it look like tiny dark green patch of dense ferns. I also skim signifcicanly more (lighter skimmate) and changed 2 montth old carbon. But I'm thinking the turbos (not the astreas!) have been the major thing here. They keep it clean , but wont actually clean it up. I think older bry and/or turf algae tastes bad to them/toxic.

 

[ThRoewer]

The best method to kill off Bryopsis I heard about is ramping up the magnesium levels of the tank really high (like 1800). One of the LFS her confirmed that it kills them for good.

As for mechanical removal - that may just spread it faster and certainly not get rid of them.
Even drying the substrate won't kill them. I had Bryopsis coming out of reused frag plugs I got from an LFS who had a Bryopsis problem. Even after being dry for several months that nasty algae would sprout again from the plugs. So now I make sure to properly bleach all used frag plugs before reusing them.

However, your description doesn't match Bryopsis: http://blog.coralwonders.com/en/amenazas-en-el-acuario-bryopsis/

 

[CTaylor]

The best method to kill off Bryopsis I heard about is ramping up the magnesium levels of the tank really high (like 1800). One of the LFS her confirmed that it kills them for good.

As for mechanical removal - that may just spread it faster and certainly not get rid of them.
Even drying the substrate won't kill them. I had Bryopsis coming out of reused frag plugs I got from an LFS who had a Bryopsis problem. Even after being dry for several months that nasty algae would sprout again from the plugs. So now I make sure to properly bleach all used frag plugs before reusing them.

However, your description doesn't match Bryopsis: http://blog.coralwonders.com/en/amenazas-en-el-acuario-bryopsis/

Yes,
That I've read about... but it can still come back I heard (maybe those reefers are re-intorducing it without knowing it. But so far my Mex's seem to be doing it. I'll do a test. I'll take a pic of a patch of bryopsis.. i'm 90% sure it is. Because there are 2-3 spots I still have it. And clean it off, thoroughly rinse so I dont poison my tank again.. And give it a few weeks. If I'm clear of bry (if that's what it is, which I'll post pics), then it's likely the turbos that did it. I actually got 4 more today, and they are gigantic.. scary actually.

 

[CTaylor]

But back to the question.. and I appreciate all the other input. People usually use a more high flow pump as in the one linked to feed outisde air to their skimmers, correct? obviously if they are using one at all (duhh ).

Edit.. I dont even know if it is high enough powered, it just looks it

 

[CTaylor]

Shoot.. how do I have that last post delted? I put it on the wrong thread :-/