Death to Bryopsis

[disaster999]

well after about 8 days of 1900ppm mg level, the bryopsis really decreased in number as seen in the picture

 

 

but my corals are bleaching and dont look too good, i did a water change which brought the level down to around 1750ppm. death of bryopsis seem to stopped and they are slowly coming back to life...

[Reef Goddess]

The day by day pics were cool, too bad it didn't work so well.

 

Lettuce sea hares really are the best way to go for removing bryopsis. I had a 3x3' prop tank a few years back that was getting a pretty bad case of bryopsis and manual removal was driving me crazy. So I dropped seven lettuce hares in there and within 2.5 weeks (no joke!) it was sparkling clean. They worked so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to save them some algae. They are exclusive feeders of bryopsis so if you want to keep them after your problem is in control you need to save a patch of algae for them.

You do have to be careful about them getting sucked into your powerheads, but they aren't toxic it will just rip them up.

Unfortunately a lot of reefers think sea hares are not reef safe because they think of them like nudibranchs which they aren't. I've had several different types of sea hares ink in my tanks and get shredded over the years with no adverse effects to my corals/fish.

[klarion]

Along the lines of Dosing, there is a theory (more like a proven one) that Iron dosing in conjunction with competitive Macro Algae like chaeto will starve out GHA and microalgae.

 

Here is a thread I was pointed to for that research:

Iron Dosing Article

 

I've had and still have a little of GHA and Bryopsis in the tank and I use the following methods in conjunction to control them:

 

1. Water changes with RO/DI filtered water

2. Controlled Feeding (not too much)

3. Critters: Emerald Crab, Striped (Tuxedo) Urchin

4. Encourage Coraline growth with Purple Up (also contains Iodine)

5. Regular Detritus removal at W/C and running of HOT Magnum filter.

 

I also dose a limited amount of Kent Coral-Vite that contains some Magnesium.

[xJoshx]

Somebody should test this with bubble algea i have Red bubble it's slimly grows faster than GHA i think and it's taken over my entire fin tank.. i have chemi-pure elite Uv sterlizer and every thing is at 0 my emerald crabs make it worse IMO cause they pop them releasing more... Or does anybody have proven method of gettin rid of that s h i t

[ooje]

My emerald crab made short work of my GHA. I know there are differing opinions about them, but mine seems to be strictly vegetarian and I hope he stays that way!

[klarion]

Somebody should test this with bubble algea i have Red bubble it's slimly grows faster than GHA i think and it's taken over my entire fin tank.. i have chemi-pure elite Uv sterlizer and every thing is at 0 my emerald crabs make it worse IMO cause they pop them releasing more... Or does anybody have proven method of gettin rid of that s h i t

 

One Word: Emerald Crab. Mine absolutely loves bubble algae. As soon as one appears, it's gone within a couple of days. I've never actually seen the crab eat one, but he sure does find the time.

 

Also, a lot of people don't like the Emerald, but so far as I can tell, he spends most of his time in a burrow and comes out to forage occasionally. He eats many young caulerpa sp. algae, bryopsis and GHA. I should mention that mine is pretty small (about 1in).

 

My emerald crab made short work of my GHA. I know there are differing opinions about them, but mine seems to be strictly vegetarian and I hope he stays that way!

 

+1.

[Rick12341]

Yeah well, I didn't know it had to be kent. Apparently in the thread, the people who weren't having luck may have been not using kent

I used seachem, they're more like crystals. I feel uncomfortable about dumping it in until I get results, so it looks like I'll need a test kit. No worries, if it ends up working I don't mind spending any amount.

 

I had success with the powder... In liquid form mg will difuse throughout the water column faster and more potently. If you use the powder, mix it up with some tank water to make a concentrate in a jug and shake the heck out of it for a day or two to make sure its all dissolved and in solution. I used 3X the recommended amount per water volume as the directions...

 

Add some of the concentrate to the tank water and test the tank water an hour later, keep adding and testing until you get the concentration you want. My biggest problem was that the test kit I bought only goes up to 1400 By adding slowly and in measured amounts, I was able to figure out that if I added a X amount of the concentrate to the tank water, the mg level want up by X amount... (actual amounts left out because every tank is different) I got it to 1400 and then just guestimated how much more concentrate to use to get it up to 1600. Within a few days it was amazing how much byropsis started to die. I continued to test daily and when it dropped back to the 1400 color range (its subjective to some extent) I added the same amount of the concentrate that I added originally to get it from 1400-1600 to bump it back up. Did this for 2 weeks, no more byropsis.

[quickfinger]

I'm doing this right now with Kent tech M, so I figured I'd report results. Day 3 at 1600 and the bryopsis is starting to turn white/gray at the edges. It also is much easier to pull off. Nothing else in the tank seems to mind the change, though a frogspawn seems not to be extending quite so much. If this kills all the bryopsis, I will be a a really happy camper....

[kgk]

I'm doing this right now with Kent tech M, so I figured I'd report results. Day 3 at 1600 and the bryopsis is starting to turn white/gray at the edges. It also is much easier to pull off. Nothing else in the tank seems to mind the change, though a frogspawn seems not to be extending quite so much. If this kills all the bryopsis, I will be a a really happy camper....

 

I have been upping my Mg every day as well. Started at 1250 and should be pushing 1600 today ... going to check in a bit, just added it about 10 minutes ago. Hopefully I'll start seeing changes in the algae soon (and nothing else!).

[nikeSB]

I had to go into the 2000 range for my bryopsis to die. after taht, i picked it off. still hasnt come back but its only been 3 weeks....i also got lucky with a emerald that actually picked the left overs of the byropsis

[PODPIMP]

The day by day pics were cool, too bad it didn't work so well.

 

Lettuce sea hares really are the best way to go for removing bryopsis. I had a 3x3' prop tank a few years back that was getting a pretty bad case of bryopsis and manual removal was driving me crazy. So I dropped seven lettuce hares in there and within 2.5 weeks (no joke!) it was sparkling clean. They worked so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to save them some algae. They are exclusive feeders of bryopsis so if you want to keep them after your problem is in control you need to save a patch of algae for them.

You do have to be careful about them getting sucked into your powerheads, but they aren't toxic it will just rip them up.

Unfortunately a lot of reefers think sea hares are not reef safe because they think of them like nudibranchs which they aren't. I've had several different types of sea hares ink in my tanks and get shredded over the years with no adverse effects to my corals/fish.

 

Did you use this Lettuce Sea Slug?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2004/invert1.htm

 

Or this Sea Hare?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/images/oct...lysia_thumb.jpg

[quickfinger]

Update...the bryopsis continues to melt away. I guess it's been a little over a week now. So far, so good. Initially, I had my lights off for a couple of days and that gave the process a nice kick start. Overall, it's been a really major improvement. I had huge tufts all over the place, and now there are just a couple of raggedy looking tufts still hanging in. I think my CUC is taking care of the dead stuff. Also, I've noticed my macro algae seems to be doing unusually well, but I just switched from PC to LEDs and that may be a factor.