Help with Bryopsis

[realhiphop]

I posted this in the general forum, but didn't get the help I was looking for. I'm hoping that some of the folks that browse this forum might be able to help me.

 

I've had my tank up for around 2 years, and I've battled bropsis for the majority of the time. I'm getting sick of manually removing the algae by hand almost every week. I only have a 10 gallon, so I have around 15 lbs of rock in my tank. I've decided to scrub the rock from my tank.

 

Whats the proper procedure to scrub the rock? What type of brush is needed?

 

Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[mattie]

for ten gallon

just clean the rock to remove any large pieces of bryopsis in a bucket

add 2 large mexican turbo snails and 1 emerald crab

check the source of your water for phosphates...if water is fine your sand bed is rancid and your water is over do for changing.......siphon sand very well removing the top layer.... and do a 30-40% water change with well mixed heated new salt mix.....

do another water change in 2 weeks

within a month you r problem should be gone i have gone thru it many times and this solution has worked every time

 

scrub rock in bucket with tank water

use old tooth brush med or hard bristle works better

[realhiphop]

How often do you change the water when your scrubbing the rock? The water becomes pretty cloudy after scrubbing just 1 rock. My source water is perfect, it's measuring out at 0PPM. I think the source of the bryopsis is the bryopsis currently on the rock. It must be multiplying.

[mattie]

i would do all the rock in a bucket with out changing the water

your tanks only 10g the buckets gonna be 3-6g i can't see there beingh a real problem cleaning out 10-20 lbs of rock

bryopsis needs phosphates to survive no pho4 no bryopsis if the source water is good then it is the sand bed. alot of detritus turns into ph04 over time

[doncb]

I guess one persons posion is anothers....

 

From a bryopsis lover:

 

"Bryopsis (bryopsis meaning "moss like") is a gorgeous small green algae found in the Pacific Ocean. When placed in water, it fans out like beautiful underwater peacock which is why it reminds me of a feather princess."

 

 

Now, don't you really want to keep your "feather princess"??

[realhiphop]

I followed up on a chronicle of my problem in the general discussion. I was hoping for some of your thoughts.

Thread

[tinyreef]

don't scrub your rock in the tank. if you have to do any work on rock or coral or anything, i'd suggest doing it in a separate bin (filled with tank water to limit shock, yes even to the LR). then when you're done, dump that bin water.

 

manual extraction is still the best method ime.

 

the slug is another option but bryopsis usually outgrows one slug. get anymore and they'll likely starve quickly.

 

go thru the typical suggestions and precautions, test the water, test the mixed water, regular maintenance, etc.

 

the last thing you can try is a competing algae. that's the basis of algae-scrubbing/refugiums nowadays and a controlled algae is easier to maintain than an "out-of-control" algae/nuisance grower like bryopsis, cyano, dinos, etc.

[realhiphop]

So essentially I should siphon water from my tank to a bucket so I can scrub the rock in that bucket? I only have a 10 gallon, and there is probably only 7.5 gallons of water in there. If I use that water, there would be none left in my tank. Could I just use fresh saltwater to scrub?

[tinyreef]

you could use freshly mixed but imo it would be more cost effective/logical if you siphoned out 1~2 gallons from the tank (how big is your bin anyways? ) and replace that with the freshly mixed, i.e. like a regular/typical waterchange.

 

you're just keeping the stuff from being aired out for 10~30 minutes as you work on it. also, things look different in the air versus what you're used to seeing it as underwater. doing the work "underwater" gives you the perspective you were looking at before.

[realhiphop]

What type of brush would you use?

[tinyreef]

What type of brush would you use?

tooth.

 

 

 

 

 

really.

[fluidimagery]

Just a few questions... I'm in the same situation with a maddening amount of briopsis... although my tank has only been up for 6 months.

 

I'm tempted to pull my rock out as suggested. Questions are, what do you do with your corals while this scrubbing process takes place? What about the corals that have grown over the rockwork and are no longer fragments. And finally, what sort of Re-Cycling is going to take place after the algea and whatever good bacteria are scrubbed off the rocks?

[tinyreef]

Questions are, what do you do with your corals while this scrubbing process takes place? What about the corals that have grown over the rockwork and are no longer fragments.

hence, my suggestion to do the scrubbing or pruning under water. the algae clumps up into a shrivelled mass when out of the water and may be missed as you look over the rock dry. wet, they're still bushy and easily seen to be pruned/scrubbed off.

 

And finally, what sort of Re-Cycling is going to take place after the algea and whatever good bacteria are scrubbed off the rocks?

i doubt you're going to scrub off a whole heck of a lot of denitrating bacteria as most of that should be deep inside the LR (there's a whole bunch of boring threads on that subject, disputing and supporting, by the famous names of the hobby). bleah.

 

but the loss of recycling/processing algae (i.e. bryopsis) and surface nitrating bacteria may trigger a slight cycle. not a big deal imo as the system should right itself fairly quickly (1~2 days?).

 

if done gingerly (avoid squishing things dead) and with a decent waterchange, i doubt the system will suffer much. if you goosh a bivalve, peanut worm, or tear the tissues of a coral, then you may have some problems.

[realhiphop]

Should I run phosguard 24/7 until all of the bryopsis disappears?

[tinyreef]

Should I run phosguard 24/7 until all of the bryopsis disappears?

can't hurt imo.

 

you may also want to run a particulate filter (e.g. floss) and some carbon (pers pref). the former to catch any floating bits of bryop and the latter to adsorb any plant/algae chemicals that "bled" out from the pruning. plant blood! bleah

[clamdigger]

Ok, seems a lot of work for a very simple solution. Scrubbing should be a last resort. Emerald crabs cut the bryopsis, but does not eat it. As they cut it it spreads to the rest of the tank with the flow.

 

Here is the first solution you should try. This is done by many LFS I know, and I have done it myself. Works well, and controls (even eliminates it) easily.

 

Harvest as much of it as possible. Try not to let any get loose and flow away to rest somewhere else. Then drop a lettuce nudi (I know it really isn't a nudi, but it is more commonly called that) right into the heart of the worst of it. Lettuce nudis, esspecially the younger ones, thrive on Bryopsis. They will mow this crap down to where it doesn't exist anymore. May even take care of any other trouble algae you have. When it is gone, and stays gone for a bit, take the nudi back to the store. It will die if it doesn't get taken out of the tank. They need lots of food to live, and if it does its job, it will run out of its food in a very short period of time.

 

You only have a 10g so get only one. Get the smallest one you can find. And make sure any intakes you have for filters are sponged so that it does not become nudi-soup.

 

If, after all of this, you still have a problem, then try scrubbing.

 

Emeralds and turbos eat algae, but they do not touch the bryopsis. they only cut it down and let it float around the tank.

[realhiphop]

Would the carbon be better than the floss? Also, do you turn your HOB filter off when you remove the filter media tray? When I leave it on and I remove the tray, all the floating debris that was trapped goes right back into the tank.

[tinyreef]

actually, for this situation i would prefer floss over carbon because i would be more concerned about surviving bits of bryopsis versus the chemical leaching from the pruning. you're going to be doing a wc at the time anyways, right? (discussed above)

 

you could stop the hob and dump that reservoir out too. that would clean out the mulm and detritus collected there as you noted. can't hurt too much since you're not using (consciously) the hob for any significant nitrating/denitrating.

[realhiphop]

actually, for this situation i would prefer floss over carbon because i would be more concerned about surviving bits of bryopsis versus the chemical leaching from the pruning. you're going to be doing a wc at the time anyways, right? (discussed above)

 

you could stop the hob and dump that reservoir out too. that would clean out the mulm and detritus collected there as you noted. can't hurt too much since you're not using (consciously) the hob for any significant nitrating/denitrating.

So you think my best bet would be to manually remove the bryopsis in my tank? What are your thoughts on lettuce nudis? I heard that they were toxic.

[tinyreef]

So you think my best bet would be to manually remove the bryopsis in my tank?

manual extraction is still the best method ime.

yep.

 

What are your thoughts on lettuce nudis? I heard that they were toxic.

also covered in the same post as above.

 

they're ok to use but like clam said, use with caution and prepare to give back to lfs or another reefer when the situation is resolved (i.e. their food supply runs out).

[vangvace]

if I may add to tiny's suggestion

 

the other thing I have found works when I scrub the areas effected with bryopsis is to us a kalkpaste on the toothbrush then rinse before putting it back into my display tank. But my outbreaks are far enough away from other coral to do this. This helps lengthen the time before the stuff grows back

[clamdigger]

Don't think they are toxic, but I have never tried eating a lettuce nudi.

 

Here is the deal. A lettuce nudi will munch that stuff gone, not disturb the rock or the corals around the rock, and can then be givven back to the lfs for credit. Its a cheap and quick fix as opposed to taking everything out, disrupting the tank, corals, levels, all that hooey just to scrub the rock when you haven't even tried the simpler ideas fisrt. Just take it one step at a time.

[fluidimagery]

So, I tore apart the tank last night to:

 

A. rid the tank of my evil pistol shrimp that has been eluding me for several months

 

B. scrubbed the rock to remove the uncontrollable amount of bryopsis

 

C. removed the detritus that has not been cleared over six months

 

I wound up changing about 80 percent of the water. Do you think this will have an adverse effect on the recycling process? So far so good, we'll see.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

[clamdigger]

You will have a small cycle since the rock came out of the water band you scrubbed it.

[bluenassarius]

dude, get a mini torch and burn the crap off the rocks and be done with it. YOU WILL NOT BE RID OF IT BY GETTING ANIMALS THAT "MIGHT" EAT IT. it won't happen! it's ROOTED into the live rock. save yourself some time and either get some new live rock OR burn it off. this is from experience dude. save yourself the headaches and be rid of it.

 

i'm ready to be flamed now. i stand firm on my suggestions for this guy.

 

yep.

 

also covered in the same post as above.

 

they're ok to use but like clam said, use with caution and prepare to give back to lfs or another reefer when the situation is resolved (i.e. their food supply runs out).