Bryopsis Invasion Will Not Go Away

[CassAttack]

Hi everyone, I've had reef tanks off and on for over 10 years now, but my current set up has been running for a little under a year. It is filled with TBS rock and is a 40g IM Nuvo system. I top off with RODI water with Kalk, the water change schedule is a little inconsistent as I notice my corals do much better with less frequent water changes and supplementation instead. I use Korallen Zucht coral system weekly for supplementation. When I do water changes it is with RODI water and RedSea salt.

Anyways, my tank has had bryopsis everywhere for months now and I cannot shake it. I've tried more frequent water changes, running GFO/denitrate/Phospban in the media reactor, carbon dosing with NO3-PO4X, and nothing works except going in every 2 weeks or so and spending an hour picking it all out by hand. It is everywhere and grows incredibly fast, right over many of my corals. Most recently I've tried upping the Magnesium using BRS Magnesium mix (increasing by about 100ppm per day up to ~1900/2000) as I read this could be helpful to killing off Bryopsis, however it just seems to be growing faster if anything.

Any other suggestions??? My nitrates are definitely high but at this point how can I get them down if carbon dosing didn't work? I'm running deNitrate in the media reactor and water changes have little to no effect on nitrate levels. Phosphates are low but I'll run Phosphban in the reactor every other month or so as a precaution. Carbon dosing makes my corals look awful, but the magnesium has seemed to perk them up. Would love some more ideas or insight, thanks RC!

[Xxero]

Fluconazole... Read here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums//showthread.php?t=2607958

I had an outbreak a while ago, and jumped on the Fluconazole bandwagon. It killed all of my Bryopsis, and I didn't see any harm to any livestock whatsoever. That was at least 9 months ago, and the Bryopsis has never returned.

I ordered mine here:

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

HTH

[HippieSmell]

Everyone will recommend fluconazole, but I had success with Epsom salt.

[CassAttack]

Thank you both!! I ordered the Fluconazole, I can't believe this didn't show up on my many google searches!! If that doesn't work I'll try the Epsom

[outeastreef]

Question where did you buy fluconazole. I found some Bryopsis in my tank. Thanks

[bertoni]

Fluconazole is a drug, so a vet should be able to give a prescription, I think. I'd call one, as a starter.

[outeastreef]

Thanks I will call my Vet.

[Xxero]

Originally Posted by outeastreef

Question where did you buy fluconazole. I found some Bryopsis in my tank. Thanks

I purchased mine here:

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

They are 200mg tablets. The recommended dose is approximately 20mg per gallon of actual total tank water.

[sde1500]

DFS sells it as well. Woah, though 10 200 mg tablets for $20 is crazy cheap. Go with ^^^

[pinnatus]

What worked for me was Kent Tech M. I resisted using it because it sounded like snake oil, and I tried every other thing out there including Epsom salts, but nothing worked. I tried chemical means, and biological means. Peroxide, lighting, water changes, GFO, nudibranches, sea hares, rabbitfishes, tangs, snails - you name it I tried it. I suffered with it for well over a year and a half and spent a bunch of money on it. Finally gave in to the Tech M recommendation and the byropsis was gone in days. Did NOT try fluconazole, though. Never heard of it til now.

[pinnatus]

By the way, the only fish I ever had that ate it was my Moorish Idol. But it didn't eat it fast enough to matter.

[five.five-six]

Originally Posted by HippieSmell

Everyone will recommend fluconazole, but I had success with Epsom salt.

According to BRS 52 week video series, magnesium spike wipes em out 50% of the time and the other half of the time it does nothing.

I would defiantly try epsom salt before drugs.

[bertoni]

Part of the reason that magnesium was said to kill Bryopsis was a contaminant in Kent Tech M (a magnesium supplement) that seems to act as an algicide. Allegedly, Kent has identified the compound, but certifying it would be very expensive. I don't know whether magnesium itself will do much, but it might.

[jd371]

Originally Posted by outeastreef

Question where did you buy fluconazole. I found some Bryopsis in my tank. Thanks

This is where I bought it, cheaper than anybody else.
https://www.fishlifeantibiotics.com/

It does work like a charm, here is a time lapse of it working on a Zoa frag.

[Xxero]

Originally Posted by jd371

This is where I bought it, cheaper than anybody else.
https://www.fishlifeantibiotics.com/

profanity removed but Payless Pet Products has free shipping.

[jd371]

Originally Posted by Xxero

profanity removed, but Payless Pet Products has free shipping.

Fishlifeantibiotic has free shipping too.

[Xxero]

Originally Posted by jd371

Fishlifeantibiotic has free shipping too.

Oh nice! Sorry, didn't see that.

And for the record, profanity was not used in my last reply. I wasn't being disrespectful.

[CassAttack]

An Update on my tank: Fluconazole is working!!!! I am in shock lol The bryopsis is starting to lose its green color and slowly break apart after 5 days of treatment. Hair algae is going the same way! I only ordered 5 days worth to start because it was a bit pricey but just ordered some more because I definitely see it working. Highly recommend this method so far! I have some photos I will post once the course is complete

[sde1500]

Glad to hear it is working! What do you mean by 5 days worth? I believe the recommended dosage is 10mg/gallon once. Maybe another same size dose 21 days later if there is any remaining.

[Xxero]

And I thought that it was one dose at 20mg per gallon? That's the ratio that I used to treat my system. Approximately 100g of water, so I dosed ten 200mg tablets. Removed carbon first, but I ran my skimmer and lights the whole period. I left the dosage in the tank for 15 days, and then performed a 20% water change.

[sde1500]

Originally Posted by Xxero

And I thought that it was one dose at 20mg per gallon? That's the ratio that I used to treat my system. Approximately 100g of water, so I dosed ten 200mg tablets. Removed carbon first, but I ran my skimmer and lights the whole period. I left the dosage in the tank for 15 days, and then performed a 20% water change.

Yes, you are correct. 20mg, spoke without checking the notes.

[scuzy]

Same here used 5 200mg tablets in my 40 breeder and sump. Working great most bryopsis gone. Also used 9 200mg tablets in my pug and sump and it's going good.


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[bertoni]

Thanks for the update! It's good to hear that the Bryopsis is dying.

[Tauri]

Fluconazole is a wonderful thing. It killed my entire bryopsis problem as well as my gha problem. Whoever came up with the idea of using this to kill bryopsis gets a medal in my opinion.

[CassAttack]

Originally Posted by Xxero

And I thought that it was one dose at 20mg per gallon? That's the ratio that I used to treat my system. Approximately 100g of water, so I dosed ten 200mg tablets. Removed carbon first, but I ran my skimmer and lights the whole period. I left the dosage in the tank for 15 days, and then performed a 20% water change.

haha! Oh boy, I did a dose once per day for 5 days. Based on the original messageboard post that you provided it looked like you did a 14 day course because it was split up by day 1, 2, etc. Since it was a bit pricey I thought I'd try with 5 days and buy more if it seemed to be working. Whoops!!! I did not realize it was a "one and done" sort of treatment. LOL, the good news is that there seems to be no harm done to my tank from this over-dosing (the instructions with the pack recommended a 5 day dose so again this is why I figured it was fine). I suppose I will have another 5 doses in storage now in case it grows back Thanks for the clarification!