Bryopsis Battle Loosing? Winning?

[RobinsonReef]

Ok so Ive been battling bryopsis for about 2 months in my 90g mixed reef. Not sure where it came from, possibly a frag I didnt inspect well enough :/. At the time it started I also had a nitrate problem from my sump/filtration not being big enough. Upgraded all of that, new skimmer, sump and got water parameters super stable in the past month. Nitrate 2-3ppm Phosphate .02ppm PH 8.2 Alk 9.5-9.7 Cal 450. So now that all my parameters are stable the bryopsis is no longer spreading. Its contained to my Marco Dry rock only, my live seed rock has NO bryopsis on it. Possible dry rock leaching phosphates??? I have upped my magnesium using kent and the bryopsis has seriously slowed in growth and the little leaves have melted away and the stems are bright green instead of dark green. Altho it just stays like that. Its not really growing and not really dying. I can prune it way back while doing water change so it doesnt float all over the place and in a few weeks its getting long again. It is not spreading and its not growing on anything but my dry rock. I am really pondering pulling all my dry rock out and replacing with live rock slowly. I have two structures that I cemented so I think to minimize the bioload blow I will replace one structure give it a few weeks then replace the other. Any thoughts or input on how to go about replacing the infected rock without stressing things out really bad? Thanks in advance!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Bryopsis is an STD. Not related to water parameters and doesn't distinguish between dry or live rock. If given the chance will cling to just about anything. Tiny filaments will release and float till it finds a spot to attach itself.

 

[Rjramos]

Bryopsis is an STD. Not related to water parameters and doesn't distinguish between dry or live rock. If given the chance will cling to just about anything. Tiny filaments will release and float till it finds a spot to attach itself.

STD! lol[emoji23]! Can I cover my branch rock with a condom![emoji23] I have been using Kent tech M on my 29 BC with good results, although I still don't know if it will come back after I lower the Mg back down. Mg has been between 1800-2000 over last 3 weeks. This tank has 0 nitrates and 0 phosphate readings, so as mentioned, not a nutrient dependent algae. Good luck!

 

[RobinsonReef]

Thanks guys! Haha yeah I realize its an STD!! I took out one section of my rock today, about 30lbs and replaced with "Real Reef" man made rock that has been seeded for a while at my LFS. Will wait a week and replace the last section of rock in a week or two so I can minimize shock to the tank. My MG is high with Tech M too for about 2 weeks now. Its semi melting away but somehow still growing where it already is but not spreading at all...UGH guess ill just replace all the rock and make sure I don't carry any over to the new rock. All my corals are super happy and growing great and fish are all fine...this stuff sucks!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Thanks guys! Haha yeah I realize its an STD!! I took out one section of my rock today, about 30lbs and replaced with "Real Reef" man made rock that has been seeded for a while at my LFS. Will wait a week and replace the last section of rock in a week or two so I can minimize shock to the tank. My MG is high with Tech M too for about 2 weeks now. Its semi melting away but somehow still growing where it already is but not spreading at all...UGH guess ill just replace all the rock and make sure I don't carry any over to the new rock. All my corals are super happy and growing great and fish are all fine...this stuff sucks!

Only a handful of people have had success with Tech M. I'm a skeptic but... Manual removal is the best and most tedious way to remove it. If you pull the tufts off, you will notice no regrowth in that area.