What algae is this? And more importantly - how do I get rid of it?

[MInanoTank]

This algae has been growing in and between some zoas and it's getting kind of big.   

 

What is it?

 

And how do I get rid of it?

 

[Joevember]

Unfortunately, it's bryopsis, one of the most difficult algaes to eliminate normally. Check out the product fluconazole, which can deal with it.

[Pjanssen]

Looks like bryopsis to me too, but the pictures aren't great so not 100% sure. It is one of the hardest to get rid of, along with Green hair algae(GHA). Treating with Fluconozol works, but first manually remove as much as you can and work on getting your Parameters and water quality in check.

https://www.marinedepot.com/video/watch/fluconazole-for-green-hair-algae-bryopsis-how-to-treat-your-tank-with-flux-rx-from-blue-life-usa

[MInanoTank]

I put those zoas on that rubble about two months ago - is it worth it to take them off of that rubble and put them on a different piece?   Making sure I leave as much of the algae as possible behind?

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[patback]

4 minutes ago, MInanoTank said:

I put those zoas on that rubble about two months ago - is it worth it to take them off of that rubble and put them on a different piece?   Making sure I leave as much of the algae as possible behind?

 

I tried everything and couldnt make it dissapear. Fluconazole worked amazing and my tank is now 100% algae free.  

[MInanoTank]

26 minutes ago, patback said:

I tried everything and couldnt make it dissapear. Fluconazole worked amazing and my tank is now 100% algae free.  

I pulled the piece of rubble out and manually cleaned as much off as possible.   I just ordered FLUX Rx from Amazon - will be here tomorrow.   Do I need to pull carbon pack and Purigen while treating with Fluconazole??

 

[patback]

5 hours ago, MInanoTank said:

I pulled the piece of rubble out and manually cleaned as much off as possible.   I just ordered FLUX Rx from Amazon - will be here tomorrow.   Do I need to pull carbon pack and Purigen while treating with Fluconazole??

 

Definitely remove carbon and skimmer. I believe they say purogen is okay to use, but directions should come with it. 

[MInanoTank]

On 6/22/2019 at 4:50 PM, patback said:

Definitely remove carbon and skimmer. I believe they say purogen is okay to use, but directions should come with it. 

Flux Rx got delivered today - instructions say to pull chemical filtration for 3 days - so  I pulled the Purigen as well.

 

The instructions are a little vague though about dosing - is it just one dose, wait 3 days then put chemical filtration back in, and results in 10 - 14 days?   Or am I supposed to dose everyday?

[patback]

43 minutes ago, MInanoTank said:

Flux Rx got delivered today - instructions say to pull chemical filtration for 3 days - so  I pulled the Purigen as well.

 

The instructions are a little vague though about dosing - is it just one dose, wait 3 days then put chemical filtration back in, and results in 10 - 14 days?   Or am I supposed to dose everyday?

It should be one dose. When I used it, I kept everything out the entire 14 days. I would say after a week, most algae was gone and before the 14 days, 100% gone. Then all that's left is a good water change and correcting whatever underlying issue caused it in the first place, which in your case seems to just be a pest that was introduced. 

[MInanoTank]

I did a pretty good job of manually pulling that algae off the zoa rubble, but there were still a few pieces left when I was done.    3 days after dosing FLUX Rx - no signs of it on that rock or anywhere else.   Thanks for the help!!

[mcarroll]

(I know it's too late for all this, so for posterity if no other reason....but maybe it'll help somehow too.  Sorry in advance this post is so long.)

 

That's a fair amount of algae-FUD in the comments...NO algae help...and not a single caveat among the recommendations to treat this tank with drugs.

 

Are you sure it wasn't Caulerpa taxifolia?  It's quite similar in appearance, but "thicker" than bryopsis.  (Same Order as Bryopsis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryopsidales just a different Family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryopsidaceae so the similar look is not mere coincidence.)

 

Check out these caulerpa images:  https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=caulerpa+taxifolia

 

(I'm guessing it's not, but it's very hard for me to say for sure due to the graininess of your photos.....you should be able to easily tell for sure though.)

 

Algae is only hard to control when you let it get out of control.  (That's a truism, right?)  Even Bryopsis, which really is harder to deal with than most green algae.  (Herbivores really do hate it most of the time, so control falls more onto you than it does with most other algae.)

 

Dealing with algae is not that hard, just do some searches to find threads where folks have beat the algae int question sometime in the past....there are millions of them from today going back into the 1990's.....do whatever they did.

 

You just have to ignore the threads where folks don't beat it or where they give up/resort to magic bullets.  DO NOT DO whatever these folks did....nothing to learn there.  (For better or worse, there are millions of these too.)

 

This strategy of looking up old threads works on every algae....it just takes time to find the right threads.  Time your tank will always appreciate you spending.  :-)

 

On 6/22/2019 at 10:38 AM, MInanoTank said:

I put those zoas on that rubble about two months ago - is it worth it to take them off of that rubble and put them on a different piece?

Yes!!!  Yes!!!   Why did nobody say yes???  Move the corals if you can and (e.g.) throw the rock with the algae in a bucket of peroxide for a day or two.  (Or into the garbage.)  Done.  No full-tank treatment.  You win.  The tank wins.

 

There are several effective methods for controlling AND for getting rid of this algae....especially when it's a small, isolated growth like yours.  (Tweezers, fingers, peroxide, UV, diatom filtration, increased CUC, more diverse CUC, nutrient correction (which is not nutrient removal), etc, are all good tools.  That's off the top of my head.  Note "tools" not "cures".)

 

Your algae was not out of control....looks like the only thing "at risk" in the worst case scenario was 4-5 polyps of a zoanthid frag.  I'm guessing they, like most coral frags, are very replaceable if you were to lose them or if you were to decide to get rid of this offending rock.  Not really so bad if either were to happen.

 

I know dosing wasn't your idea, but for future reference that was kinda rabbit hunting with a bazooka to treat your whole tank with a major drug just for that. 

 

On 6/24/2019 at 3:53 PM, MInanoTank said:

The instructions are a little vague though about dosing - is it just one dose, wait 3 days then put chemical filtration back in, and results in 10 - 14 days?   Or am I supposed to dose everyday?

Instructions are vague because nobody has ever figured out the correct dosage, or treatment time, or exit strategy at the end of the treatment.

 

All of the available instructions are unscientific, seat-of-the-pants instructions based on (at most) hobbyist trial and error.

 

Caveat emptor definitely applies.

 

Not the way a strong med like this is supposed to be used.

 

The chemical is barely even soluble in water, so it might be hard to predict the dose the algae actually gets even if you did know the correct quantity to put in for the purpose.....which again, we don't.

 

Many hobby folks have seemed to stop thinking straight once they found out about fluconazole's "secret ability".

 

Nobody that pushes this drug seems to push the rest of the facts with it.  Maybe because nobody is doing any reading about it....instead everyone just gets the "miracle cure" off of social media and then turns around to dose their tanks with it?  I don't really know.

 

I do know that if you read enough in the big bryopsis threads, you'll see that treatment is only a little better than manual control and that it's most definitely NOT perfect "as advertised". 

 

Like most algae, with Bryopsis if you haven't corrected any issues that A) introduced it to your tank in the first place or that B) allowed it to grow...your algae (or something worse) will be back after the fluconazole is gone from the system...making the treatment a waste and leaving you in the same position or worse.

 We buy 

That's just how algae works and why manual control (along with your CUC and a balanced system) is pretty much always the best option. 

 

Manual control can be a lot of work, BTW...especially if you let your tank go like some folks do.   (Me.  Doh!!  I call it "having children".  LOL) 

 

But if anyone told you having a reef didn't involve work, they lied.  We really can't cheat the work....things always comes back around....the chickens always come home to roost.

 

Fluconazole is a drug that really and truly doesn't belong in our hobby.  It's not even legal to us without a prescription...just available though a loophole so "not quite illegal".  Gotta love our system, eh?  Not legal; not illegal.    (Worth a read for background. We buy our semi-legitimate meds from the class of retailer they talk about in this article.  That's how we get prescription meds without a prescription.)

 

Fluconazole is a very strong, synthetic chemical that does not break down with any significance in the body or after use when it's "free" in the environment.  Probably close to 100% of whatever amount you dose to your tank ends up in your local water supply after you're done with it.  A problem since this drug is VERY widely used for legitimate purposes (e.g. brain infections...it's listed as one of the W.H.O.'s "Essential Medicines" for those legitimate purposes) and causes resistant strains of legitimate target organisms.  Wanna have a brain infection and not have the cure work thanks to resistant strains?  Me neither.  So let's not keep promoting the abuse of this med.  

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluconazole, https://www.google.com/search?q=responsible+dispensing+of+antibiotics and https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2011/019949s051lbl.pdf for good background.)