Proven Bryopsis eater?

PupChow · #1 04/11/2007, 11:47 PM

I have tried the Search when it was available and read up on most of the threads I can find. But I was hoping for more personal experience in this matter.

Right now I am combating a case of Bryopsis that is slowly getting worse. At the moment I can still manage to pull the small rocks out and pinch off the algae maybe once a week without them completely choking the corals, but they are definitely spreading.

I have tried a sea hare (asphym? spelling...), a small fox face, Mexican Turbos... all no luck so far. Is there any other biological control you would recommend?

I am planning on ordering some yellow tipped hermit from liveaquria and see if they will chow down the aglae, as well as throwing some Bryposis in a corner of my fudge and turning off main light for 3 days for a jump start. Are there other things biological control you would recommend?

musty baby · #2 04/12/2007, 12:38 AM

Lettuce nudibranchs

Best way to get rid of it though - put fewer nutrients into the tank (feed less, reduce bioload), and take more nutrients out (water changes, chaetomorpha, more skimming).

illcssd · #3 04/12/2007, 12:39 AM

So far, nothing has proven toeat my bryopsis....If you want i can show you a list of what i have tried that didn't work...

skey44 · #4 04/12/2007, 01:11 AM

0000000000.0000000000 things eat bryopsis. pull it out and do more water changes. if someone says something will eat it they are selling something they either know or don't know(they haven't actually seen it done only"heard") doesn't eat it. I don't know which is worse?

tigerarmy40 · #5 04/12/2007, 01:17 AM

I goave a buddy of mine a huge colony of caulastrea tha was covered in bryopsis, it was struggling in my tank so I gave it to him to try and save it, his pruple tang had it absolutely clean by the next day....probably not going to be common in all pt's but this one had a hunger like no other!

blazzent · #6 04/12/2007, 01:30 AM

there is a pinned thread on bryopsis in the marine plants section.

I used several methods at same time: fox face, emeral crabs, pulled out large clumps, and set a refugium.

uscharalph · #7 04/12/2007, 01:31 AM

I'm battling also.

blazzent · #8 04/12/2007, 01:32 AM

oh and stepped up water changes

PupChow · #9 04/12/2007, 06:39 AM

Thanks guys! I am turning off the tank light for the next two or three days and going to step up the water change (unfortunately only RO waters at the store, no RO/DI unit...). Also I was offered an opportunity to buy a few Lettuce Nudibranch at a great price, so I may give that a try as well. Hopefully the combination of all these will help.

illcsdd, I would love to see your list. Here is mine:

Dawrf Sea Hare
Foxface
Mexican Turbo

zzak · #10 04/12/2007, 06:59 AM

My rainford goby eats it but not enough to kill it off.

I'm currently running an experiment on a rock covered in bryopsis. It's been in a tank with no lighting with ROWAPhos, charcoal, and a skimmer running for 13 days. It has jetisoned it's furry strands but it looks like it pulled everything into it's roots first and settled in for the long haul. No root damage whatsoever ... yet.

AZDesertRat · #11 04/12/2007, 09:44 AM

Lettuce nudibranchs wiped mine out in no time and it has never come back in over three years.

King-Kong · #12 04/12/2007, 10:15 AM

Despite what some have said in this thread, there ARE things that eat bryopsis. And no, we're not selling anything.

I had a siganus doliatus/virgatus hybrid that ate my bryopsis. I had a nasty amount of it, and my purple tang ignored it. Then i heard about these great rabbitfish (the specific species mentioned above) and found one at the LFS. Threw him in, and he instantly began [slowly] eating it.

In time, he taught my purple tang to eat it, and both would sometimes fight over it! I would move a rock, and uncovered more bryopsis, and they'd rush over to eat it.

So, I'm not surprised to see the below comment saying the same thing about purple tangs!

Quote:

Originally posted by tigerarmy40
I goave a buddy of mine a huge colony of caulastrea tha was covered in bryopsis, it was struggling in my tank so I gave it to him to try and save it, his pruple tang had it absolutely clean by the next day....probably not going to be common in all pt's but this one had a hunger like no other!

ricks · #13 04/12/2007, 11:00 AM

Have you tested for phosphates??? Are you using tap water??? Do you overfeed??? Before you look at hit or miss livestock to try and correct a problem. Why don't you figure out what is causing the problem???? Yes, byopsis is very hard to cure. Once it a a start in your system. Pulling it out does no good, this only spread the spores and makes the roots spread out an go deeper into the rock work. The only sure fire cure is nutrient free water!!!!

Good Luck

Sudad · #14 04/24/2007, 09:30 AM

Bryopsis could only controlled by biological methods with herbivores. Chemical water parameters like PO4, NO3 or other organic water parameters haven't any influence on Bryopsis. This is really the disadvantage of Bryopsis. Bryopsis are even able to grow in very clean water with very low nutritions levels. You could see them very often at natural reef habitats, where the water parameters are much better than in most of our tanks . But at natural reef habitats a lot of herbivores control the Bryopsis. Only a very high Ca- and KH -level could sometimes control the growing rate, but will not kill the Bryopsis completely.

It's difficult to find the right herbivores. I had some good experiences with Tridacia crispata and some Elysia viridis.

I collected an animal list with some herbivores which are recommended to eat Bryopsis:

Fishes: Some smaler "parrot fishes", Siganus vulpinus, Z. xanthurus

Snails: Elysia viridis, E. ornata, E. rufescens, Placida dendritica, Limapontia capitata, Scutus and the well-known Tridacia crispata.

Hermit crabs: Not really, they eat the similar Derbesia but not Bryopsis.

Hope you would win the fight against Bryopsis. Good luck!

Sudad

MTB · #15 04/24/2007, 10:06 AM

I have been battling bryopsis for months. My lawnmower blenny eats it to an extent. I have taken every rock out of my tank on several occasions and scrubed and scrubbed. Rinsed every thing twice in clean freshly mixed saltwater and still it is growing away. Once this stuff goes sexual you will have it EVERYWHERE. I am trying the lights out for three days to see if that will help. I don't think it will do anything. I am willing to try anything at this point. My phos. and nitrate both read zero. If the lights out doesn't work I willscrub the rocks clean and try the lights out again. I have noticed herbivores are more apt to eat it if it is short. Good Luck in the good fight.

ToniYo · #16 04/24/2007, 10:10 AM

I second the scibbled rabbitfish. Do exercise caution as the dorsal fins are venemous. I love mine. He has a great personality, likes to be out and about and loves to get in the high flow areas and "swim against the tide"!

ricks · #17 04/24/2007, 11:24 AM

Sudad... Your trying to tell me that PO4 and No3 do not fuel algae like bryopsis to grow??? And only herbivores can control it??? You can try rabbit fish, snails, crabs and sea hairs.. All are hit and miss!!! I to have battled bryopsis, and believe that the spores lie dormant in your tank. Until nutrient levels climb. than they will hatch, and take over your system. The only thing that will keep them in check is very clean water.... Whenever I see some algae it's time to change my rowaphos. Also high flow and heavy skimming will help with the nutrient export...

happy reefing

wife no likey · #18 04/24/2007, 12:29 PM

lettuce sea slugs DO eat it. You just need to put like 10 of them in because they get sucked into things real quick.

Liquid Hobby · #19 04/24/2007, 12:56 PM

I put a sea hare in my tank and 3 days later no bryopsis... I then put him in the fuge, no algea or bryopsis in there either now...

YMMV...

TWallace · #20 04/24/2007, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ricks
Sudad... Your trying to tell me that PO4 and No3 do not fuel algae like bryopsis to grow???

In my experience, yes bryopsis grows quite nicely despite the tank having 0 nitrates and phosphates at all times. Even with a refugium, carbon and a phosban reactor.

I can also vouch for Siganus doliatus not eating bryopsis. Maybe some do, but I've tried one myself that didn't eat it. One of my LFS also has a small one in a tank that won't touch the bryopsis.

Lastly, lettuce sea slugs will (sort of) eat it, but they aren't very effective. They suck the chloroplast out of the plant, but don't appear to actually eat it. This may do a little damage to the bryopsis, but not very much. I had 4 lettuce sea slugs in my 12g QT to test this for a couple months. They never made a dent in the bryopsis, though they were constantly moving around on it. They even grew 3-4 times in size (I got them as babies from someone locally that bred them), but never made any impact on bryopsis growth. This is the only creature I've ever seen that appears to eat bryopsis. I've tried all the crabs, snails, sea hares, etc mentioned above (no tangs though).

TWallace · #21 04/24/2007, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Liquid Hobby
I put a sea hare in my tank and 3 days later no bryopsis... I then put him in the fuge, no algea or bryopsis in there either now...

YMMV...

Can you be more specific? What kind of sea slug? Not aplysia I assume (I tried several of those, they never touched it).

flyyyguy · #22 04/24/2007, 02:13 PM

I agree and have witnessed firsthand the fact that bryopis can grow in a lownutrient, healthy sps only system that no other nuisance algae will.

There are different strains of bryopsis as well, some are more likely to get eaten than others. I LOVE scribbled rabbitfish and have had 4 of them. None of mine would touch it unless i hit it with boiling water out of a syringe first. Then all of them would eat it.

A blow torch will eat it with no abandon and was a huge factor in how i finally beat the stuff.

I also heard someone say above to pull it out. Absolutely DO NOT pull it out in the tank. It spreads by fractioning and if you pull it out while the rock is in the tank you are only making it worse.

mbbuna · #23 04/24/2007, 02:46 PM

hands down best bryopsis eater, Lytechinus variegatus . you must first crop the algae though they wont eat tufts. best of all they are dirt cheep. http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/sgi...suppliers.html

Liquid Hobby · #24 04/24/2007, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TWallace
Can you be more specific? What kind of sea slug? Not aplysia I assume (I tried several of those, they never touched it).

I really don't know... it's a strange looking thing.

Tennsquire · #25 04/24/2007, 06:51 PM

I had bryopsis take root in my prop system during an extended absence from home. I have had some success (slowly) with it by placing affected live rock pieces in the sump so they don't get any light and by aggressive overskimming. In addition to water changes, I've raised the alkalinity in the tank slowly, changed bulbs, and dramatically increased the flow (added 3 Korallia 2's in addition to a Tunze Turbelle). The stuff seems to be dying off.
When I empty the skimmer cup every other day, it's dark green and nasty. Skimmer is a Lifereef SVS2-24 and total water volume is ~55 gallons, which is way over-done but it's working.