How Do I Get Rid of the Bryopsis????

[Guest Bemmer]

This Bryopsis is KILLING ME!!!!

 

Well, with the clock ticking and the tank tour only a few weeks away, I need to get rid of this bryopsis I have in my tank. I have removed about 80% of the nasty stuff by taking out the LR, scrubbing it and putting it in my sump or in a covered tub. I am afraid to try and syphon it out anymore because it just spreads. Here is what I have done recently...

• New RO/DI unit with two DI filters (2.5 months ago)
  
• New 96w 6500K light over the refugium (today)
  
• Reduced the MH lights from 9 hours to 6 hours a day.
  

What else should I try???? I need it gone or at least "presentable" in time for the tank tour.

 

[emissary]

When you find out, do let me know, would you?

[steveoutlaw]

Looks like a certain type of sea slug could help but it seems it's hit or miss as to which ones will eat it. I found this article about the slugs:

 

http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=3500

 

I know that when I would get a rock with the green hair algea growing on it, my gold spotted rabbitfish would take care of it in no time. Don't know if it is the same thing but may be worth a try......plus it's an awesome looking fish!!

Edited March 5, 2007 by steveoutlaw

[rioreef]

I have read on RC and other boards that a Scribbled Rabbitfish - Siganus doliatus will eat the stuff.

[lmeyer]

I was surprised to see you had a problem with bryopsis given your Tomini Tang. I had a bryopsis problem many years ago, added a Kole Tang and that was the end of the bryopsis. They are so closely related, I would have expected the Tang to deal with your problem.

 

I did find a good thread on RC, http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...threadid=167632.

 

Good luck!

[dhoch]

Rebecca,

 

This was my recipe (not sure what really did it, more likely a combination of things):

 

1) Added more snails (particularly turbos)

2) Added some emerald mithrix crabs

3) Added a sailfin tang (don't think he really did much)

4) made the sandbed in my refugium truely DSB (like 6-9")

5) Harvested chaeto regularly (under 2 x 24 of overdriven T5 HO... have to empty ~1/month)

6) Upgraded my skimmer

7) Dosed Kalk only for makeup water

8) Pulled it out by hand using melevs method (grab a bunch rinse hand in water before going back in)

9) Fed less

 

Dave

[Guest CapHillReef]

The Lettuce Sea Slug I got from the Sea Life Inc group buy is making short work of my bryopsis. I don't know anywhere locally you can get one, but it really is cleaning up my tank.

 

If my bryopsis doesn't show signs of return next week, you're more than welcome to take my sea slug. I don't want it to starve to death.

[Guest Bemmer]

Thanks everyone for your input....Forgot to mention (since I have tried so many different things)...

• bought sea slugs from F&F. They are moving around but I don't really see them on or near the bryopsis. Ugliest thing I have ever seen...truely a face that only a mother could love.
  
• Sea Lettuce Nudibranch - tried a couple of these but I have so much flow in my tank that they were just getting blown around the tank
  

I have not tried a rabbitfish. But I did read on RC that the lawnmower blenny is a good option too. I would rather the blenny because of the bioload.

 

I was surprised to see you had a problem with bryopsis given your Tomini Tang. I had a bryopsis problem many years ago, added a Kole Tang and that was the end of the bryopsis. They are so closely related, I would have expected the Tang to deal with your problem.

 

Good luck!

 

I don't have a Tomini tang...you may be mixing me up with Inna. I believe she has one. Hey Inna do you have any bryopsis in your tank? I have a Sailfin tang and a Lavendar tang. The Lavendar, Kole and Tomini are all from the same Ctenochaetus genius. Not seeing a whole lot of action out of either one of these guys.

 

Rebecca,

 

This was my recipe (not sure what really did it, more likely a combination of things):

 

1) Added more snails (particularly turbos)

2) Added some emerald mithrix crabs

3) Added a sailfin tang (don't think he really did much)

4) made the sandbed in my refugium truely DSB (like 6-9")

5) Harvested chaeto regularly (under 2 x 24 of overdriven T5 HO... have to empty ~1/month)

6) Upgraded my skimmer

7) Dosed Kalk only for makeup water

8) Pulled it out by hand using melevs method (grab a bunch rinse hand in water before going back in)

9) Fed less

 

Dave

 

Dave,

I have everything on your list...now. I believe by upgrading my lights and reducing my MH lighting cycle should help. Also, I read that adding a UV sterilizer will kill the spores floating in the water column. I have a 57w that I plan to hook up again. I have to read up on Marc Levenson's method of pruning bryopsis. I am actually reluctant to keep pulling the stuff out by hand because I know I am throwing spores into the tank. I do syphon the water while I am pulling the stuff out of the tank.

 

I think the only other thing I have not tried yet is adding sugar water, which seems to have worked for Tim Folta.

Edited March 5, 2007 by Bemmer

[madmax7774]

when you are pulling stuff out of the tank by hand, i would think you shouldn't have to worry about the spores in the water, as long as you have the UV hooked up and running.

John

[dzekunoi]

Rebecca,

 

No, I do not have any Bryopsis. I can not have any algea in my display. Tomini deals with it. He manages to clean a piece of overgrown LR with bryopsis on it in a matter of 15-20 minutes.

BUT Tomini is not an ultimate solution as they are hit or miss. Some people told me their Tominis do not touch hair algea. Mine is priceless!

 

[lanman]

Rebecca,

 

No, I do not have any Bryopsis. I can not have any algea in my display. Tomini deals with it. He manages to clean a piece of overgrown LR with bryopsis on it in a matter of 15-20 minutes.

BUT Tomini is not an ultimate solution as they are hit or miss. Some people told me their Tominis do not touch hair algea. Mine is priceless!

 

 

Rental fees?

 

My queen conch seems to like hair algae, and occasionally the larger turbinaria eats some. I had what was promising to become an epic infestation - there were little bits growing all over the sides of the tank. But something must have changed, or stabilized - I took out one rock that had a lot of algae on it, scrubbed it down, rinsed it, and put it back in - and shortly thereafter, it all started dying. There are just a couple of little patches left on one rock, and they get smaller every time the snail or queen conch pass through.

 

bob

[Guest Bemmer]

I was just on RC and read that the Scribbled Rabbitfish (Siganus doliatus) might eat it. What a beautiful fish. Are there any real downsides to having a rabbitfish...besides the obvious venemous spikes.

 

I also have two sea hares that don't appear to be making any kind of a dent. I might try the Elysia crispata, a type of lettuce nudibranch. I read that they work too.

 

Tomorrow I am going to pull more LR out and scrub it down, I might try the kalk past that I also read about.

 

What a pain in the you know what!!!!!

[lmeyer]

Rebecca,

 

You're right, I was thinking of Inna's tank. I agree that the Lavender Tang is as similar to the Tomini as the Kole is. I do have a Foxface, but not the Siganus doliatus, I have the Siganus Lo. It eats some algae, but is not a voracious eater. Only downside is that he is the dominant fish in the tank. When food goes in the water, the foxface gets first dibs. Anything he misses is available to the rest of the tank. I'm okay with that, he is neat to watch.

 

Be careful if you do wind up using the sugar method. I think it does work short term (from personal experience/anecdotal evidence), but watch the health of your tank while doing it. I just finished dosing sugar for about a month. My overall algae was reduced considerably, but I think it was a little bit like chemo for some of my inhabitants, you are hurting them, just less than the problem algae. My hammer, frogspawn, and candy canes loved it, they thrived with whatever was happening in the water. My fish, favia, favite, and platygyra seemed indifferent. My bubble, and all of my soft corals hated it and were withdrawn the whole time, I was worried that they might not survive the treatment if I continued. Also, my cucumber and shrimp were especially unhappy with it at the beginning and tolerated it later.

[steveoutlaw]

I was just on RC and read that the Scribbled Rabbitfish (Siganus doliatus) might eat it. What a beautiful fish. Are there any real downsides to having a rabbitfish...besides the obvious venemous spikes.

 

I also have two sea hares that don't appear to be making any kind of a dent. I might try the Elysia crispata, a type of lettuce nudibranch. I read that they work too.

 

Tomorrow I am going to pull more LR out and scrub it down, I might try the kalk past that I also read about.

 

What a pain in the you know what!!!!!

 

Rebecca-

I have had a Gold Spotted Rabbitfish for about 6 months now. It's basically a Tang with venomous spikes. He gets along well with every fish in my tank and is a voracious algea eater. I put a huge rock covered with bryopsis in the tank and he had it cleaned within 24 hrs. On top of that the Gold Spotted is a fascinating fish to watch......a lot of interesting behavior. To date I haven't seen a downside to having one since I got it.

 

steve

[Sugar Magnolia]

Rebecca, the foxface I added to the tank would pull at the clumps, but at the time that I put it in the tank, my tank was completely smothered in the stuff. Way too far gone as we discussed at BRK the other day. Now that the tank is completely redone, I see it picking at the rocks although there is really nothng on them for it to eat. Mine is very timid and will dart behind the rocks when the tank is approached, but will then come out to see if it's feeding time. Huge pig too, devours whatever is fed.

[Eve]

This was my recipe (not sure what really did it, more likely a combination of things):

 

Rebecca - the above is usually what happens. Don't get too discouraged! You throw everything at it that you (and anyone else) can think of and then one day it just starts to go away :-)

[jamesbuf]

I bought some tiger turbo snails when I first setup my tank about 2 years ago. I lucked out and had them multiply to uncountable numbers. My liverock doesn't even have a spec of algae and I can definitly attribute this to my snail population. When the lights are off, I can easily count over 100 baby snails on each large piece of liverock. If I'm up late when my lights go off, I'll post a pick of them when they arise from all the cracks and crevices of the rock. At 2am, I could swip a couple hundred off my front glass if I wanted to.

Free if you want some. With a tank that large, there'll be plenty for them to eat and multiply. Just let me know.

[Guest Bemmer]

James,

Thanks for your offer. I am actually planning to go to F&F today to pick up some Mexican turbo snails. I heard that they are good for bryopsis too. I will keep you and everyone else posted on whether or not these guys do the trick.

 

Rebecca

[dandy7200]

Rather than adding to the bioload look at the source of the problem.

 

Then personally I would take an agressive approach.

 

Question for the guys and gals that have tangs keep their algae trimmed: Do you use a nori clip?

[dzekunoi]

Question for the guys and gals that have tangs keep their algae trimmed: Do you use a nori clip?

 

Yes I do but not a huge piece of Nori.

Edited March 6, 2007 by dzekunoi

[Eve]

I do too. I just started recently because they were a little on the thin side.

[Guest Bemmer]

Rather than adding to the bioload look at the source of the problem.

 

Then personally I would take an agressive approach.

 

Question for the guys and gals that have tangs keep their algae trimmed: Do you use a nori clip?

 

Dan,

Thanks for the threads. I will print them off and review them. I appreciate your input.

 

R-

[Rascal]

Rather than adding to the bioload look at the source of the problem.

 

Then personally I would take an agressive approach.

 

Question for the guys and gals that have tangs keep their algae trimmed: Do you use a nori clip?

 

I agree with both of those suggestions. Phosphates were the problem for me. Large amounts of GFO, frequently changed, was the solution. That and cleaner source water. My plague was hair algae, but when things got really bad I would see a little bryopsis. In my tank it would die off before the hair, which seems able to thrive on even lower nutrients.

 

As for feeding Tangs nori while you are trying to get them to eat nuisance algae, that's an interesting issue. My sense is that they wouldn't do well on a diet of strictly derbesa/bryopsis. I have no real scientific basis for this, but it just doesn't seem like it would be as nutritious (it certainly doesn't taste as good). On the other hand, if you give the tangs all of the nori they can eat there isn't as much incentive for them to eat anything else. When my algae problem was at its worst, I limited nori feedings to 1 or 2 sheets of red and purple, to give them a balanced diet since all of the algae in the tank was green. Now that there is much less algae in the tank (not 100% gone yet though :( ) I have increased nori feedings to almost every day, and incorporated some green sheets into the mix.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Rascal

[Guest tgallo]

Rebecca, i had the same outbreak 3 years ago in my old tank,new tank syndrome with over feeding and inadequite nutrient export.

 

Rowaphos worked for me, ran it thru a large fluidized filter, po4 is most likely your problem.

 

If you choose to run a po4 remover, be careful and do it slow or it will upset the balance in your system/sudden alk drop, i learned the hard way and shared my findings with others wich im sure saved many tanks from sudden death. This was a big thread on RC/sps section years ago.

 

I dont think adding turbo snails or algae eating fish is the best long term solution, but the snails mite help for the tank tour :( .

[steveoutlaw]

Question for the guys and gals that have tangs keep their algae trimmed: Do you use a nori clip?

 

I put a full sheet of Nori in every other day and even with that they are constantly picking at the rocks and the corraline on the back of the tank.