Bryopsis Breakout

[Nereaga]

I currently have a standard 55 gallon reef setup that has been up and running for 9 months now. I have 55 lbs of LS, 60lbs of LR, 3 powerheads in the tank(about 1000gph), an Aqua C Remora w/MJ1200, and the 24'' CPR AquaFuge w/ a 4'' DSB and a ton of Chaetomorpha.

Livestock- Canary Wrasse, Kole Tang, 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 emerald crab, 20-30 hermits, 10 nassarius snails.

I get dark coffee skimmate from my Aqua C. I also change 5-8 gallons a week. Also try and syphon sand and rock during water change. I bought a RO/DI unit from thefilterguys 75gpd. My TDS readings are low, I have only had this unit for 2 months or so. Before that using Ro filtered water. The only thing I havent gotten yet is a phosban reactor.

I have recently had a giant breakout of Bryopsis. Some came on a piece of LR from the initial setup and has flourished in my nutrient rich water. I know that this is NORMAL for new setups, well algae breakouts, not so much Bryopsis. I have already removed the rock to bins of SW for a scrubbing of the Bryopsis, it always returns.

My problem is I am upgrading to a 75 g AGA w/ AGA stand. I will run a 20 gallon long DIY sump/refugium. I will also run either an ASM G-1 OR an Octopus NW 150. I would like to transfer my livestock and LR to my new setup, WITHOUT the bryopsis.

I currently am curing 40-50lbs of LR now that will be used during the initial setup of my 75. When the 75g is completely cycled and ready I will transfer the rest of my 60 pounds in.

Sorry for the ramblings.... My question is.... How do I remove as much of the Bryopsis off of my LR as possible? I want to limit the chances of this breaking out in my 75 g.

Thanks in advance!

Brad

[Kreeger1]

Don' remove it in the tank it will spread. Kill it by raising your mag levels to 1600. I battled it for 3 years tried everything, I mean everything and only the mag raising worked, and worked fast
Erik

Do a sure for it and you;ll see how alot of people did this method
erik

[Nereaga]

This will not effect livestock in the tank? I forgot to add I have a Organ pipe coral, LPS... It is getting engulfed in bryopsis!

Thanks

[Kreeger1]

nope, everything should be fine, flow the instructions on the byropsis threads

[cutegecko3]

an iodine dip of the rocks will kill it to.but it will return unless you reduce your phosphate level by hooking up your phos. reactor and keep it running.

[TimTen]

Just don't raise it to fast

[lhoy]

Originally posted by cutegecko3
an iodine dip of the rocks will kill it to.but it will return unless you reduce your phosphate level by hooking up your phos. reactor and keep it running.

This is not true. Bryopsis is a low-nutrient level algae. Try doing all the water changes in the world and/or running phosphate remover. Doesn't matter. That is one of the problems with Bryopsis. I know I just finished a 6 month battle and even talked with Eric Borneman about this.

I ended up just shutting off my lights for several months and stopping water changes. Lost a lot of SPS, but I couldn't believe how many corals had actually survived and some had grown.

After my experience, I would NEVER put anything that has any bryopsis on it into another tank.

Best of luck. My tank had NO hair algae at all was running great and I bought a rock with some red macroalgae. Next thing I know there was a small patch of bryopsis. Pulled it and within a few weeks the whole tank was covered. Every test on nutrients was great as well.

Nightmare.

Lee

[cutegecko3]

have you tried it to prove its not true or is that your assumption?

[dendro982]

cutegecko3:
Who?
I also have bryopsis with zero phosphates, phosphate remover is always in the sump. Are test results a proof?
Why wouldn't you prove yourself, instead of demanding proof from others? (I'm not picking up fight, just developed allergy on the "prove it". It's disease, as you know, not the ill will ).

[cutegecko3]

i bought a milli. frag that had a few red bugs on it and it also had a small patch of bryopsis.so i did an iodine dip at twice the recommended dose for fifteen minutes.the next morning the red bugs were still there but the bryopsis was dead.so i proceeded to dip all of my rocks and it killed the bryopsis on them as well.so therefore i would like to know how someone can claim it doesnt work.

[Fishbulb2]

I think Ihoy is disagreeing with you on is that removing nitrates and phosphates will keep the bryopsis away. His view is that it is a low nutrient algae so the low nutrient levels have little effect. I don't think he's denying an iodine dip won't kill bryopsis. At least that's what I read.

[lhoy]

Thanks fishbulb for clarifying. Also, I assure you it isn't my view. I have done no original research (I have not written any original work on the topic) myself but passing along what I have learned through some scientific periodicals, many reefkeeping resources, and discussions at MACNA with many experts.

Yes, not discussing the iodine dip which is totally useless if you have a large tank with a full blown breakout. Also, if you will note in my post that I personally visited with Eric Borneman by phone, you would probably have a better idea of assumption versus practice.

Again, it is a LOW NUTRIENT algae. Do some reading on what that means and then you will understand the fultility of controlling true bryopsis with phosphate removers, etc. And for the record I had NO hair algae in my tank and phosphates were unmeasureable when it broke out. That is the whole point of why this is such a nightmare. My tank was meticulously cared for when this broke out.

This is why forums like this can be such a nightmare. Everyone hears the word algae and assumes there are certain controls. Just like fish and corals there are many genera and species of algae and they aren't alike. I was told to buy a tang, get crabs, etc. This algae if unpalatable to herbivores. That means eliminating it through the use of fish, etc. isn't likely to work.

Hope this helps those struggling with bryopsis.

Lee

[nmywrx]

I have been batteling bryopsis for about 6 months now. I raised the mag to about 1750 for two weeks using the recommended Kent Tech M. It definatley cut back and stunted the growth of most of the vile weed, but I could not get it to completely die. During this time I lost my xenia and my zoos were closing up.

I don't know how much of your rock is covered, but if it's possible I would just remove the rock and boil it.

[cutegecko3]

ihoy thank you for clarifiying and im sorry for the misunderstanding.and also nmywrx if you will read the phosphate question thread on this forum i described how i got rid of it without harming or killing your corals.

[Nereaga]

Does this picture give you guys a better idea of what I am dealing with.

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=100_1054.jpg

This is a huge breakout. I do NOT want this stuff in my new setup. I need the best way of removing this stuff from 60 lbs of rock.

I too started out with just a small batch on a piece of rock I got. It took 8 months to settle in and explode. Its everywhere. I have Kent Marine Tech M. I need to get a Mg test kit asap. Since I dont have a test kit I am only adding in a couple of drops a day to start.

Any other suggestions.

Thanks

[cutegecko3]

hmmm. not sure if thats bryopsis or not just hair algae.bryopsis has a feathery growth form and i cant tell for sure from the pic.

[Nereaga]

What about this pic:

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=100_1032.jpg

or this

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=100_1028.jpg

[cutegecko3]

well my freind you just might be in luck.from those pics its only hair algae which feeds primarily on nitrates which will be much easier to control than bryopsis.what is your current nitrate level?

[Nereaga]

I use Hagen/Nutrafin test kits for all my parameters. Tank is as follows.

pH- 8.2
Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0
Nitrates- 0
Phosphates-0
Calcium- 420
Alkalinity- 140
salinity- 1.025
Temp- 77-78 F

I have a 5 stage RO/DI unti from thefilterguys. Change 10-20% water weekly. I also have a aquafuge with a dsb, rubble rock, and a ton of chaeto.

[cutegecko3]

well then i must need glasses.if your nutrient levels are that low it almost certainly must be bryopsis.but i would try to get a positive id. on it any way just in case.

[Nereaga]

It could be my terrible camera, that does not help. It seems to me to be Bryopsis, feathery in texture and my Kole Tang wont touch it. I put in algae sheets from ocean nutrition that he loves. I remember reading somewhere that most herbivores dont like the taste of Bryopsis. Im 90% sure its bryopsis. Maybe I can get a better picture tomorrow for you guys.

Thanks!

[cutegecko3]

in the mean time one of the best ways of manual removal is to take one rock out at a time and scrub it off with a toothbrush.be sure to rinse it off real good before putting it back in your tank.it can start a new colony from just a tiny fragment.

[Nereaga]

I tried that once already. I removed all of my rock and scrubbed it in 3 different buckets. I also bought 20 red leg hermits. To no avail it returned even stronger this time.... Its so bad its just blowing around the tank....

[cutegecko3]

i know.mine was just as bad.your going to have to reduce the amount of phosphate going in to your system.your live rock is saturated with phosphate and the bryopsis can live on that alone for months even if you stop feeding your fish completely.your phos. test might read zero but if you could test the center of your live rock it would knock you out of your seat.i got mine down to 0.00 on a salifert test kit by reducing feeding and using gfo.and when the bryopsis finally absorbed all phos. out of the live rock it died and hasnt returned for more than a year now.

[Nereaga]

Im going to dose with the Kent tech-m and watch my calcium levels and hope it works out. Fingers crossed! lol