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Oh no! Please Not Bryopsis!

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Justin S., Oct 1, 2014.

  1. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0

    So I'm pretty sure I've got some form of bryopsis in my tank. It will not brush off, and it's difficult to pull off of the rock. I have to use tweasers to get it off. I've been dosing nualgi for a while, but only at half strength. Today I increased my Nualgi use to full strength recomended dose. The bryopsis is mainly limited to only one of my three display tanks (My Fish Only 15 tall).


    What should I do? I could cut my 15 off from the rest of my system, but how would I know that the bryopsis is not anyplace else? Its already poping up in my main DT, but I get it out of there right away, I don't want it on my corals.


    I've reviewed the following options:


    [list type=decimal]
    [*]Cut the 15 off the rest of the system and treat it alone (pray its nowhere else).
    [*]Dose Mg & Boost Alkalinity
    [*]Add UV sterilizers to help prevent the spread
    [*]Squirt Hydrogen Peroxide onto the problem areas.
    [/list type=decimal]

    On another note, this could be my misidentification. At this point I don't have any full grown specimines to photograph, just lots of small ones.


    The main question is: What truly works?
     
  2. hart

    hart Well-Known ReefKeeper

    730
    Ratings:
    +131 / 0 / -0
    I use hydrogen peroxide to great effect. Best to spot treat out of tank, but I normally can't and just spot treat in tank.
     
  3. beckerj3 Expert Reefkeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +610 / 2 / -0

    First - take a pic and post. If it is bryopisis, it is a challenge to eliminate. But that is from the perspective that it can be deep in a rock and thus hard to eliminate. The algae itself is very fine/feathery. It would appear to be easy to remove in the tank with a toothbrush. But that will mostly result in it floating away and spreading to somewhere else. So, if the algae you have is 'tough' then it is probably not bryopsis.


    I purchased a cube tank (complete set-up) 2 years ago. I didn't realize the algae in the tank was bryopsis. So, I've tried several methods over the 2 years to remove it from the cube. In hindsight I probably should have just dumped the rock, but it has the most beautiful blue corraline on it that I didn't want to part with.


    First thing I tried, was simply to remove all the algae and scrub the rocks really well. They were totally covered in the algae. That worked only a short time. After a month or so, the algae was growing again, and at that point I learned it was bryopsis.


    So the first method I tried was to raise the magnesium level. That method has been know to work for some/many (but didn't work very well for me). You slowly raise the magnesium level using Kent Marine Tech M magnesium to about 1600 or 1700. NO other magnesium works. The speculation is that there is actually a contaminant in Kent Marine that is killing the bryopsis. Instead of going into a long discussion here, do a search on the internet. Many articles are written about it and the method - if you want to give it a try. Although it initially worked for me, after many months the bryopsis came back. And I fought small outbreaks in the cube tank for about a year.


    So this spring I tried the hydrogen peroxide method. I've used it and found it to be more effective. As Hart indicated, it is best if you can remove the rock from the tank and treat. I removed all the rocks and treated them one at a time by scrubbing with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water and leaving them set for 5 or 10 minutes. Then back in the tank. That has worked quite well.


    3rd method - Ultra algea X - from Fauna Marin. Probably the best method for me. It pretty much eliminated the remaining bit I had. Nice thing with it is that you can treat IN the tank. Cons are that are it is expensive and I had a difficult time finding/obtaining the product. It is manufactured in England. BRS carries the product, however it was on Backorder when I wanted it. I found it listed in their inventory in March - but could not get it until July. The first shipment they rec'd to fill backorders in April was sold out within hours of the product showing on inventory. They weren't able to get more until the middle of July. Not sure if it is currently in stock or not.



     
  4. Fence13 Experienced Reefkeeper

    Des Moines
    Ratings:
    +300 / 1 / -0
    If it is or isn't byropsis, this option works for either. H2O2, squirted onto the algae, or the rock dipped into the H2O2 will turn it white and then any algae eater will eat it . 2nd I'd find some lettuce slugs. They work wonders on anything algae related. Just be careful as they can get blown around or sucked into a pump.

    I've never had high Mg levels to be that useful for me. But either way, good luck.
     
  5. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Photos: help identifying please: [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  6. beckerj3 Expert Reefkeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    West Des Moines, IA
    Ratings:
    +610 / 2 / -0

    Yeah - it looks like the nasty stuff...
     
  7. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    The algae in the first photo is hard to pull out, I can't just brush it off.
     
  8. Kungpaoshizi Well-Known ReefKeeper

    561
    davenport
    Ratings:
    +39 / 1 / -0
    +1 to peroxide, recently tried tech m and it didn't work.
     
  9. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Can anybody tell me if this is correct: I'm trying m tech right now. Since last Friday I've been dosing 90mL / day for my 120 gallons of water. I have no idea where my magnesium level is actually at since I don't have a test yet (will get that on Wednesday). Is this the correct rate & has anybody seen this work? What did your progress look like?
     
  10. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    As far as identification: I have confirmed it is bryopsis. I dipped my frags in 25/25/50 saltwater water / ro water / hydrogen peroxide for 10-15 minutes each roughly 2 weeks ago, and no algae has grown on them since. Still in the bigger scope of things system wide I need a treatment plan.
     
  11. Zach Well-Known ReefKeeper

    605
    Coralville, Iowa
    Ratings:
    +21 / 0 / -0
    Water changes water changes water changes. After my fight with the big B. I learned what I had feared and hoped. That its just another algae. TechM and Mag levels don't do much, you can copper the crap out of your water but your best fight is to pick off what you can. scrub with a stiff bristle brush in the water, run a skimmer and keep your params at 0.

    don't fret or freak out, it will spread before it dies off. just stay on top of it. And run heavy lights on your macro fuge. That tends to help.
     
  12. PotRoast

    PotRoast Well-Known ReefKeeper

    999
    Ratings:
    +24 / 0 / -0
    If you are using Tech M correctly there have been countless documented success stories. But you have to do it correctly to have any hope for success.

    Right now there is no sense in dosing Tech M if you don't know what your Mg levels are to begin with. Plain and simple. First find out what your levels are, then dose slowly, test again, dose and repeat until you get to the recommended mg level. Only then can you tell if this method will work for you.
     
  13. Zach Well-Known ReefKeeper

    605
    Coralville, Iowa
    Ratings:
    +21 / 0 / -0
    There are also countless stories of how garlic cures cancer in fish.
    Bottom line is we don't know if they have changed the formula or not, and we don't know the correct dosing. Some say 1600 for months others say 2200 for months while others say 1900 for a week. It's a **** shoot. Until you truly understand reef chemistry, you shouldn't go dumping large (extremely large) doses of something you are not even testing for in the first place into your tank.
    Get an Mg kit. You will want a titration kit. And just clean your tank.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 24, 2015
  14. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    I am testing my magnesium (via titration), calcium, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, pH, and ammonia today.. Will add the results.
     
  15. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Results: Phosphate: .25 || Magnesium: 1530 || Calcium: 440 || Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate: All 0. || pH: 8 || Salinity: 1.024 What do you guys think?
     
  16. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Alright! Bryopsis Done!? Ordered Ultra AlgaeX from Fauna Marin in Germany! Cost me $125 for 1 Liter! Holy Bananas! It's supposed to work to treat Bryopsis! I sure hope so! For all the time & $ I've already spent trying to handle the Bryopsis I hope this will prove to be so effective that in the end I will say: why didn't I do it that way to begin with? Opinions please?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 24, 2015
  17. Justin S. Well-Known ReefKeeper

    436
    Pleasant Hill
    Ratings:
    +3 / 0 / -0
    Unfortunately after 20 days of treatment Ultra Algae X did not eliminate or reduce my Bryopsis problem. It did successfully kill some inverts though.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 24, 2015
  18. hart

    hart Well-Known ReefKeeper

    730
    Ratings:
    +131 / 0 / -0
    Sorry to hear, but thanks for following up.
     

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