Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

[Susan Edwards]

You can also buy at
https://www.fishlifeantibiotics.com I've ordered twice. I think it might have been cheaper than payless pet. Came very fast so I also recommend this place.

I started my display refugium today. Will be doing a second round with the main tank (the two tanks are not plumbed together yet). It's not nearly as bad as the main tank was. Will continue with my progress in my separate thread and post updates here every few days.

Decided to give the main tank a few days rest. I did a wc, brush and blew off all rocks. I cannot believe how much debris there was from the 16 days of treatment. Water was so full after the wc still! Also added another wave maker to blow along back wall of tank. It's a bit bigger than the other two. I need it to go from end to end. Another wow! More debris from sand. I think clearing all this will help my no3! Added carbon as I just also did a chemiclean and will give the tank a bit of time to recover and then retreat as there are still some spots..

 

[Mrcote1]

Has anyone tried this and had success in a dwarf seahorse tank with no losses? I have many types of macro algae as well as dwarf seahorses (hippocampus zosterae) and am about to start treatment but dont want my seahorses to end up dead

 

[JVS]

*******Important*******

Please read the Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) located right after the pictures before you treat your tank.It should answer most of your questions and help you avoid some mistakes.

First, I want to say that I am in no way shape or form telling anyone that they should try this in their tank.(at least not until we see how this goes) Yes Fluconazole can be used as an anti-bacterial med for fish diseases and I haven't seen any adverse reactions from using it, but I just don't want anyone to come back and say that they killed their fish/corals or inverts and blame me. This was not my discovery as I am just following what some others have already done. If you try this it is at your own risk and don't shoot the messenger.


Okay so like I have said in another Fluconazole thread,I always inspect and QT everything before it goes into my tank. I had several frags in qt for a few weeks and all seamed fine. Before transferring them to my DT I brushed off what looked like regular green surface algae and thought nothing of it.Well after about a month all three frags had a healthy helping of Bryopsis growing on them.
I've had to deal with this years ago so I know what kind of a struggle it can be. I did not want to just sit around and hope this cleared itself up because I knew this could get really bad.I had a tank full of Bryopsis years ago and tried everything I could to get rid of it and it just kept spreading everywhere.
Finally after gallons and gallons (system was almost 400gls)of Kent Tech M I was able to melt the Bryopsis away but it was no picnic.

Now, after learning that Kent Tech M has changed and doesn't work anymore or is hit or miss now,I read about some people having success against Bryopsis using Vibrant.I tried Vibrant for a couple of months and it did damage the Bryopsis fern/fan leaves but it wouldn't kill it off completely. I know people say to just give it more time but let me show you what can happen when you give Bryopsis time in your tank.(BTW I'm not knocking Vibrant or @UWC I think he has been a stand up guy on this forum and some people have had great success using their products)

They did not call me the Bryopsis King for no reason........

It was like this across the entire tank. Notice for you tang lovers out there that mine had no interest what so ever in eating any of the Bryopsis.If they would have kept the rocks picked clean this would not have reached being the forest that you see.I have more pics but it's ugly and I think you get the picture.As you can see,this would be my reason for NOT wanting to wait too long on this.

Anyway this brings me up to using Fluconazole. After searching the good ole web I found that some people(some over seas) were using Fluconazole in a one time dose to kill off Byropsis. At first I thought that this was too good to be true.I mean most people were saying that their tanks were Bryopsis free in about 10-15 days give or take a few days. Then they started posting before and after pics and also saying that they had not lost any fish or corals!! OMG sign me up! I thought. Well after doing a little more research I found out that Fluconazole can be used to treat infections/diseases in fish and that the dosage I would need to use was considered somewhat "safe" for the fish so I placed an order..

There were two different dosages that were being used. One was 9mg/L and the other was 150mg/30L which is 5mg/L. I have 200 gallons of total water volume in this system which is 757L. So 757L x 9mg/L would be a dose of 6813mg. 757L x 5mg/L would be a dose of 3785mg.
I went with 4000mg so it was 20mg per gallon.
Everyone was seeing their results when using the lower dose so I went with the lower dose.

*Also note that if I were using Fluconazole to treat my fish for infections I would need to dose this same amount every 24hrs for no less than 5 days but not more than 10 days.

This made me feel somewhat better about using it because this would be a one time dose and not building up 5-10 times as much in my aquarium over the course of 5-10 days.

So let the battle begin!!

Before I dosed the tank I turned off my actinic lighting,changed my filter socks from 200 micron to mesh filter socks,turned off the UV channels on my Radions,removed my GFO/GAC filters and removed my skimmer cup.

I emptied 20 of the 200mg capsule in a cup of tank water and stirred for a minute or two.(throw away the empty capsules) Not all of the medication dissolved but that's okay. I then poured the entire cup in my DT in front of a powerhead.
Cloudiness went away after about an hour. Fish,corals and inverts didn't seem to notice any change at all.

I apologize in advance for my blurry pics as photography is not my strong suit.

Edit: I know some people don't like reading through entire threads and just want to see the results so I'll keep this first post updated with all the pics.

Before the treatment started...

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

A big thank you to @stevo01 for writting the FAQ for this thread.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

****This treatment seems to work best in well lit areas of the tank. Some people are noticing quicker results by adding light to the shaded areas of their tank.*****

Q: Will Fluconazole kill Bryopsis?
A: YES. As of 2/2/17 Fluconazole is completely killing all Bryopsis. There have been no reports of it NOT working.

Q: How does Fluconazole work?
A: Fluconazole blocks the enzymatic pathway for the production of ergosterol. Ergosterol is essential for maintaining the cell wall integrity of plants. Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in cell membranes of fungi and protozoa, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill anything else in my system?
A: So far Fluconazole has not killed anything other than bryopsis and GHA. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING else is unaffected.

Q: Where do I get Fluconazole?
A: There are many sources online. The most popular/best choice is to purchase the medication in 200MG CAPSULE.

Q: How much Fluconazole do I use?
A: The suggested dose is one SINGLE dose in the amount of 20mg per gallon of water. There are reefers who are experimenting with using 10mg per gallon right now, but none with completing the 1st "round".

Q: Do I do a WC before treatment?
A: Yes. It would be a good idea as the treatment is for 14 days and expect an increase in NO3.

Q: How do I prepare the the medication?
A: I have noticed with the capsules it is very tough opening them without crushing the capsule. This is what I did. Use a razor blade and cut off the rounded end of the large outer half of the capsule. Then you can very easily pour the contents out into a glass of RODI water or tank water. The amount of water doesnt matter, but make it enough to be able to mix the med up. The med isnt very soluble, but mix it up best you can. Preferably dose at night when fish are asleep. Then pour the entire dose into the DT, or sump. Some have put it into their sump socks. I dosed directly into the DT.

Q: How long is the treatment?
A: 14 days.Maybe up to 21 days if you still have GHA present in the tank.

Q: Do I remove my carbon?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I remove my skimmer cup?
A: Its suggested for at least the first few days if not the entire treatment remove your cup. If you pull your cup you may continue to run the skimmer, or turn the skimmer down as to not allow the skim to enter the cup. You do not want to remove the med.

Q: Do I take my ATS offline?
A: Yes. Completely sanitize it, and reintroduce it after all the bryopsis is 100% gone.

Q: Do I take my bio reactor offline?
A: No.

Q: Do I take my GFO offline?
A: No GFO will not remove the meds.It will also help to remove the po4 from dying algae.

Q: Do I continue to dose H2O2?
A: Yes. It will not interact with this med.

Q: Do I continue to dose Vibrant?
A: Yes. This SHOULD not interact this med. It may help to dose Vibrant as it will assist in NO3 export.

Q: Do I continue to dose colors, alk, calcium, and magnesium?
A: Yes.

Q: Should I change my lighting?
A: No.

Q: If I take my carbon reactor, or any other equipment off line/out of the tank, do I just put them back into the system after treatment?
A: No. Do not reintroduce the algae. It would be best to sterilize any equipment and throw away old media for reactors.

Q: Is it ok to take out my chaeto, or other algae's then put back after treatment?
A: No. this may reintroduce the algae. Leave the macros in the tank.

Q: Do I take my carbon reactor offline?
A: Yes.

Q:Should I stop using Purigen during treatment?
A:Yes.

Q: Do I take my UV Sterilizer offline?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I do a WC during treatment?
A: No. Unless it cannot be avoided and a WC needs to be done to save life.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill my chaetomorpha or other beneficial maco's?
A: The treatment has not harmed any macro algae.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.

Q: What other nuisance algae's will be killed by Fluconazole?
A: Fluconazole kills the green algae Derbesia also known as GHA. It seems that GHA takes longer to kill than the bryopsis but it still dies. Bubble algae is unknown due to most reefers treating their tanks have been using Vibrant. Vibrant kills bubble algae very well.

Q: When do I do a WC?
A: At the end of the full 14 day treatment. After treatment has completed you will go back to your normal running system. Do a WC as your NO3/PO4 levels may be high from a lot of dead algae.

-Stevo




This treatment has been a huge success.For so many years we have had to deal with this terrible algae. Well now we can finally say that beating Bryopsis is a reality. No more tearing down your tanks. No more endless hours of pulling and picking at this mess. Fluconazole has made the eradication of Bryopsis from our tanks quick,easy and painless.Please let everyone you know in the reefing community about this treatment. The more people who know,the better.

Testing by @twilliard will be ongoing to determine a minimum effective dosing plan in the near future.
If you still have any questions about using Fluconazole,don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you to everyone who has been and continues to help and contribute in the thread. R2R has the best reefing community around!!!

NCreefguy

Do you dose the tank every day or wait 10 to 15 days and see if it worked

 

[ksanfranfan]

Do you dose the tank every day or wait 10 to 15 days and see if it worked

Dose once at the recommended dosage per tank volume. After the initial dose, no dosing is done for the duration of the 14 days.

 

[ksanfranfan]

Has anyone tried this and had success in a dwarf seahorse tank with no losses? I have many types of macro algae as well as dwarf seahorses (hippocampus zosterae) and am about to start treatment but dont want my seahorses to end up dead

I don't recall in this thread or the other one if anyone treated their tank with sea horses. I have a friend that did the treatment with pipe fish and they made through fine.
With the exception of his tank, can't say how it'll work with seahorses.

 

[mskohl]

I have flucon in hand, but I'm trigger shy.
I am due for a water change this week, so I think I'll do a nice big water change and then dose. Might as well start the process with clean(er) water. Since my snails and conchs are in QT because of failed magnesium treatment (and Mg is still 1700), I think I'll just leave them there unless I can significantly bring that mg down in the water change.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@mskohl I've read they've changed the formulation of the mg so that raising it no longer deals with algae. None of my snails were affected during the treatment. My corals did mostly okay, some not opening as well, but my water quality really went bad without the skimmer for 9 days as I had such massive die off. I did a big wc yesterday and couldn't believe all the debris. I need to re-treat but am giving the tank a week of some good skimming and carbon.

 

[Gary Wilkinson]

I am 5 days into Fluconazole treatment

37 capsules 200 mg for 1400 Ltr ( this without displacement ) 370 US Gallon

the Bryopsis in the areas of high light have disappeared
in the shady area I can still see some

three questions

when can my skimmer cup go back on ?
when can the GFO go back in ?
when can activated carbon be used 14 days ?

having treated before with High Mg treatment only for the Bryopsis to come back in the same place after 6 months, I don't want to take any chances

 

[Susan Edwards]

@Gary Wilkinson I put my skimmer on at day 9 just because I was worried about the corals. I had the skimmer off completely though. I believe you can use gfo at any point in treatment. I was using phos beads until po4 bottomed out. Activated carbon after the 14 days and a water change.

 

[ksanfranfan]

I am 5 days into Fluconazole treatment

37 capsules 200 mg for 1400 Ltr ( this without displacement ) 370 US Gallon

the Bryopsis in the areas of high light have disappeared
in the shady area I can still see some

three questions

when can my skimmer cup go back on ?
when can the GFO go back in ?
when can activated carbon be used 14 days ?

having treated before with High Mg treatment only for the Bryopsis to come back in the same place after 6 months, I don't want to take any chances

Some people never stopped skimming and still had good results killing bryopsis.
GFO can still stay online. You'll probably want to change it out after the 14 day treatment.
Activated carbon needs to be removed, the medication might become less effective.

 

[mskohl]

@mskohl I've read they've changed the formulation of the mg so that raising it no longer deals with algae. None of my snails were affected during the treatment. My corals did mostly okay, some not opening as well, but my water quality really went bad without the skimmer for 9 days as I had such massive die off. I did a big wc yesterday and couldn't believe all the debris. I need to re-treat but am giving the tank a week of some good skimming and carbon.

Yeah, learned that the formulation changed the hard way (and verified here), but it doesn't change that the magnesium is still in the system. I pulled the snails because the were dying, and if I put them back in while the mag is still high, they will head downhill again. As I said, maybe the water change will lower it enough that I can return them to the tank.

I don't have tons of bryopsis - just a few small patches and though I'd like to see the dramatic die off, I think I will pluck as much as I can to avoid more death lingering in the water. I don't know how my tank will handle suppressed skimming - I have a lot of tangs and I feed them well.

Did the initial treatment not kill all of your bryopsis? Has it been the full 14 days? If not, what do you attribute it to?

 

[Susan Edwards]

The reason I still have some is I had a super bad tank ful. Most of what is still there is down low or in deep crevices. Some of it could be gha which can take 21 days to kill. I waited 16-17 days to do water change.Tank needed it desperately. Once you treat, you don't want to pluck as from what I read, it kills from top down. If you want to see what I had and where I ended up, here is the separate thread I started to document
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-fluconazole-susans-rms-max-c250.316308/ I had so much debris from the die off that my tank really got bad. Next time around, shouldn't be so bad.

 

[mskohl]

The reason I still have some is I had a super bad tank ful. Most of what is still there is down low or in deep crevices. Some of it could be gha which can take 21 days to kill. I waited 16-17 days to do water change.Tank needed it desperately. Once you treat, you don't want to pluck as from what I read, it kills from top down. If you want to see what I had and where I ended up, here is the separate thread I started to document
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bryopsis-fluconazole-susans-rms-max-c250.316308/ I had so much debris from the die off that my tank really got bad. Next time around, shouldn't be so bad.

Oh my, you did have a tank full. I understand the need for a second dose. And, I like your plan of cleaning the water and debris first.

I meant plucking before dosing, but am questioning that now. Anyway, water change hopefully happening tonight, so I need to figure it out. Lol

 

[Susan Edwards]

I suspect plucking before won't hurt anything. I tried but there was so much, I just dosed. Good luck!

 

[becks]

I've ordered some fluconazole for my tank! This year I have have been battling everything ich resulting in a fallow tank, dinoflagellates and now bryopsis! I look forward to seeing some results

 

[xilez]

Anyone know if that will do anything vs Bubble Algae?

I've been told Vibrant "works", but its a lot of mixed reviews...how fast did the vibrant work, cyano etc.... If I have Bryo AND bubble algae, should I do both Fluco and Vibrant together?

 

[liveround69]

Anyone know if that will do anything vs Bubble Algae?

I've been told Vibrant "works", but its a lot of mixed reviews...how fast did the vibrant work, cyano etc.... If I have Bryo AND bubble algae, should I do both Fluco and Vibrant together?

I know that i have/had bubble algae during the Flucon treatment process and I didnt see any results of it dying. Although I did notice that the little bladders stopped swelling up so much. I removed mine with a good vacuuming of the rock work but only had a very small amount. As for the Vibrant you may want to ask Susan Edwards. I think she has used it in tandem with the Fluconazole. Not sure of the results though. I personally havent used the product.

I suspect plucking before won't hurt anything. I tried but there was so much, I just dosed. Good luck!

I plucked most everything and did a major scrubbing and water change before the treatment to eliminate most of the die off causing major parameter spikes. So far it seems to have worked as planned but we will wait and see if it requires another treatment.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@xilez I used vibrant and nopox while treating. Didn't notice any harm.
@becks I'm in the same boat except I had both ick and marine velvet. I'm into day 13 of a fallow tank. Just did my wc from the flucon and the chemiclean as I started getting cyano, even with high no3 (but low po4) I'm dealing I think with dino's right now. I've cut the light hours and I was going to stop vibrant, but used it to see if that would help. I had cut out vibrant and nopox cold turkey a week ago to see if the tank would settle.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Anyone know if that will do anything vs Bubble Algae?

I've been told Vibrant "works", but its a lot of mixed reviews...how fast did the vibrant work, cyano etc.... If I have Bryo AND bubble algae, should I do both Fluco and Vibrant together?

Wow!! Its seems like its always something with these fish tanks, right?" I definitely feel you. If its not one thing its something else. LOL!!!

 

[Carlos Danger]

I've ordered some fluconazole for my tank! This year I have have been battling everything ich resulting in a fallow tank, dinoflagellates and now bryopsis! I look forward to seeing some results

Oops! I was quoting for you in the previous post. Sorry about that!!!