Bryopsis Algae Problem

[Dave21]

Hi all,

 

So my tanks been going for about 6 or 7 months now and I added a candy cane coral about a month or so ago. 

 

The coral seems to have had some type of bryopsis algae on it. I tried manually removing the coral, pluking as much off as I could and putting the coral back, regular water changes to keep nutrients low, but unfortunately it continues to grow on the coral. 

 

My conch, tuxedo urchin, snails, and hermits do not seem to have any interest in it at all. 

 

Does anyone have recommendations about how to remove it from the coral. I'd rather not toss the coral, but it hasnt spread to anything else in the tank and I'd like to keep it that way. 

[Ratvan]

I would continue to manually remove the algae as much as possible, spot treat with H202

[mcarroll]

On 2/27/2022 at 7:34 PM, Dave21 said:

Hi all,

 

So my tanks been going for about 6 or 7 months now and I added a candy cane coral about a month or so ago. 

New tanks like to grow algae.

 

This looks like regular green hair algae to me.  Not bryopsis.

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:34 PM, Dave21 said:

The coral seems to have had some type of bryopsis algae on it. I tried manually removing the coral, pluking as much off as I could and putting the coral back, regular water changes to keep nutrients low, but unfortunately it continues to grow on the coral. 

Water changes and keeping nutrients low actually promote green algae like this.  Seems crazy but that's algae for ya! 😉

 

You want PO4 to be ≥0.05 ppm and NO3 to be ≥5.0 ppm.

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:34 PM, Dave21 said:

My conch, tuxedo urchin, snails, and hermits do not seem to have any interest in it at all. 

I would only count on the snails to do any good.

 

What size tank?  How many snails and what type(s) do yo have?

 

Remember that YOU are the #1 member of your cleanup crew.....so until the snails are able to keep up, you should keep up with removing the algae manually.  As often as it takes.

 

Once the algae is short enough for the snails to eat – they only eat small, fresh growth – and once you have enough snails to cover the tank, you shouldn't have to do so much manual removal.  Someday, none at all.

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:34 PM, Dave21 said:

Does anyone have recommendations about how to remove it from the coral. I'd rather not toss the coral, but it hasnt spread to anything else in the tank and I'd like to keep it that way. 

 

[JojosReef]

If you zoom in really close, you can make out the fern-like fronds that are suspect for bryopsis. No?

 

If it's bryopsis and it hasn't spread, I would move it into a QT tank or tupper and try treating with Flucanozole. That is a 2 week treatment, so might need to be in a place to support the candy cane, i e a bit of reef lighting and temp control. I now try to avoid putting chemicals in the DT.

 

I feel for you. I had a candy that grew long GHA out of it's skeleton that was impossible to manually remove. Finally went away after I changed my system to gulf live rock/sand and all of my GHA receded following advice from @mcarroll

[DaJMasta]

Hard to tell from the pic, but I have certainly seen bryopsis that looks like this - where the fronds aren't present on the entire stem or look ragged/irregular.  Another sign could be that in normal reef lighting there are strands in it that appear silvery-bluish instead of just green.

 

I think the solutions mentioned are the right ones, though I've had good luck with urchins eating it (they eat a path through it, but don't come back for the remaining bits).  If it's in one place, hydrogen peroxide is a good spot treatment that can be administered out of the tank and then put back in with very little risk or effecting of anything else.  For full tank, fluconazole (Flux RX in my case) was my choice, and while the treatment is supposedly about 2 weeks, I saw substantial results in less than a week and it had a minimal effect on everything else.

[Dave21]

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry for the slow reply. I've been busy and haven't had chance to log on. 

 

I ended up removing the coral from the tank and pluking as much as possible and putting it back in after thoroughly rising it to make sure nothing drifts off. I didnt have peroxide to treat it with but will pick some up and give that a try.

 

I dont think its hair algae because it does have little fern like branches on it. I have a snail  that periodically grows a bit of hair algae on the shell and it looks totally different. 

 

The tank is 29 gallons and as far as snails go I have two ceriths, five astrea, a black margarita, and two trochus. They do a good job with all the rest of the algae. Honestly the only thing I have to do cleaning wise is just use a magnet cleaner once or twice a week on the front and side glass. 

 

 

 

[jcrisman2009]

On 2/28/2022 at 5:02 AM, Ratvan said:

I would continue to manually remove the algae as much as possible, spot treat with H202

Just don’t get the H2o2 on the polyp tissue. They don’t tolerate hydrogen peroxide as well as some other corals.