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My battle with Bryopsis

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by DangerJ, Oct 13, 2015.

  1. Oct 13, 2015 #1
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

    894
    Des Moines, IA
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    So a few months ago one tiny feathery strand of some unidentified algae showed up in my tank. I thought nothing of it, and plucked it away. Odd that my snails wouldn't have eaten it, but oh well.

    Then the strand came back. And it brought friends. More showed up and eventually entire rocks were covered. Tried manually removing with pulling and brushing the rocks, it would work only long enough until it grew back. Every subsequent pulling just resulted in it spreading worse, causing greater headaches for me. It's choking out my corals which is indirectly causing me to lose money. I'm not a fan of that.

    I researched, found that I do indeed have bryopsis. Most forums advise to use Kent Tech M to raise the magnesium levels high enough to kill it off in a week or two.

    Venturing out to the local shops, nobody seemed to have in on hand. Seascapes used their stock to battle their own bryopsis war, every other place I called didn't have it either.

    Good ol' Foster and Smith got it to me less than 48 hours after ordering:) I guess it helps that it shipped from MN.

    Today is the day. This is the first day of the war. Chemical weapons will be used.

    Join me in this adventure
    --- Auto-Merged, Oct 13, 2015 ---
    Day one baseline tank photo
     

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  2. Oct 13, 2015 #2
    Bud West Des Moines, IA

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

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    I talked with a buddy of mine who took each rock out of the tank and pulled out the bryopsis with tweezers. It worked pretty well. It's pretty tough so you can pull out entire strands this way.
     
  3. Oct 13, 2015 #3
    Fence13 Des Moines

    Fence13 Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Good luck, other things you can try is H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) on the byropsis and then your algae eaters will eat it (if you have any) and lettuce slugs (if you don't have that much flow). Both worked for me in my struggles.
     
  4. Oct 13, 2015 #4
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    I have a pretty solid algae crew, but they do NOT like eating bryopsis. Manually removing is super easy and it comes off in very large chunks....only to grow back. I want this stuff eradicated.
     
  5. Oct 13, 2015 #5
    Maureen Urbandale, IA

    Maureen Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Urbandale, IA
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    Take what you can out, clean it with Hydrogen peroxide and put it back. Hand pull what is left in the tank. Buy Fauna Marine Algae X now known as and sold at DINO X (Algae X) - Fauna Marin - Bulk Reef Supply. This worked for me. I fought bryopsis for some time. Used Kent M it did not work for me. Used Algae X now known as (Dino X) It does the trick when used following directions. Good Luck!
     
  6. Oct 13, 2015 #6
    violet21chewy Des Moines area

    violet21chewy Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Got rid of mine with hydrogen peroxide. I do have a jug of unopened Kent marine if you run out. Bought it for the same reason but never had to use it.
     
  7. Oct 13, 2015 #7
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Great advice guys! Thank you for the input. I'm going to give the Kent Tech M a go to see what can be done with it. I happened to be home for lunch the moment the big brown truck showed up, so I was able to dose the tank right then.
     
  8. Oct 15, 2015 #8
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

    894
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    Here's the 24-hour update photo from yesterday. No discernable changes. My wife stated that it looks like it is melting this morning, so I'll take another photo this eve.
     

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  9. Oct 15, 2015 #9
    Bud West Des Moines, IA

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

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    Are you sure that's bryopsis? I can't tell from the pics but if you google "bryopsis" and look at pics if look like mini-fern plants. In your pics it looks like a type of GHA almost.
     
  10. Oct 15, 2015 #10
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    It's definitely the fern/fan variety.
     
  11. Oct 23, 2015 #11
    DangerJ Des Moines, IA

    DangerJ Well-Known ReefKeeper

    894
    Des Moines, IA
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    I'm winning. Slow and steady dosing of Tech M has caused the algae to turn brown and melt. Manually removing it daily as it's clogging my overflows and pumps.
     

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  12. Oct 23, 2015 #12
    Maureen Urbandale, IA

    Maureen Experienced Reefkeeper

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    I am glad it is working for you! Bryopsis is a nightmare!
     

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