How do I dose it ??*******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
UPDATE: it's been a little over 6 months sense I ran my first fluco treatment, I never had bryopsis I only had a horrific GHA issue. I was about to put a lot of work into my system and needed it gone then. Here are some before pictures.
As you can see I had it pretty bad, it seemed no matter what I did, no matter how many water changes, rock scrubbing, or things I added to the tank did anything to fight it back. I dosed my 125 gallon with a 30 gallon sump with 20 capsules from Payless pet product. 200mg each I believe. After 21 days my tank looked like this.
Now the pictures make it look amazing but the gha was still present. The fluco had taken out a solid 85% but there was still some in the lower light areas. I had done a pretty large upgrade to my sump right before these pictures were taken and was hoping that plus carbon dosing would handle the rest. I was wrong.
My Gha stayed minimal for the first couple weeks but about 3 weeks in it all started creeping in again. I decided to try fluco again before it started getting too out of control and ran another 20 capsules through the system. This time i got the same out come. About 85% gha destroyed but still that lingering bit in the low light areas which I had even made sure to adjust lights through the treatment to hit those areas harder. But just like the last time a couple of weeks went by and it started creeping up again. Now I know what you're thinking by now this guys nutrients must be out of control for this to keep happening but through almost this whole time my nitrates never went about 5ppm and phosphate at .16. I started carbon dosing after the first treatment with vodka and had been keeping up on that through the whole process. It seemed to be working for nutrients but all the gha needed was the light. I had finally had it with the GHA and was thinking about tearing my tank down hitting the rocks with acid and re curing them in darkness but I figured I would give the fluco one last shot.
This time I wasn't messing around I increased carbon dosing until nitrate was at near 0, increased my light times and intensity, I left my skimmer cup off for the full two weeks, did a 60% water change and increased the dose to 30 capsules. I'm happy to say this was the death blow to the gha. After 18 days I was 100% gha free. I did another 60% water change started running lots of carbon, Gfo, and continued carbon dosing. It's been a couple of months now and this is my tank today:
Still 100% gha free.
Things iv learned through this process:
-Sea hares do not do well with fluco I lost two going through treatments that were other wise fine before.
- Light definitely plays a large roll in how the treatment works.
- Mushrooms also do not like fluco, didn't lose any but they suffered.
- you need to drop your nutrients as low as possible before the treatment to account for the massive die off that will take place in your tank.
- water change after needs to be much larger again to account for the mass die off happening in the tank. You need to get your water back to absolute perfect as quickly as possible after treatment or you are leaving the tank with perfect conditions to bring the gha back.
- skimmer should not be ran at all for the first couple days and then only with out cup after day 3.
I think a lot of people are hoping it's just a cure all and it is but if you don't solve the root cause of the issue before treatment and then remove the new root cause (i.e. The die off that happened in your tank during treatment) it will just keep returning. Just my two cents though! Happy reefing!
Some people, myself included had to do 2 treatments. I'd wait 14 days before doing the second treatment. When I did my treatment I left the skimmer off, took carbon and GFO offline, however, I still used filter floss. So I don't know if that effected my treatment. I actually forgot I had filter floss in the sump. @NCreefguy maybe able to answer the floss issue. But I think you may have to do a 2nd treatment. Also, when you said 120gl water volume, does that include the sump water volume as well?Clear photo was day 15 of treatment.
Blurry photo was the first day of treatment.
-120 gallons total water volume
-Added 12 capsules of 200mg Flunco from Payless pet. Broke open the capsules and mixed the powder in a cup of tank water, then dosed the tank all at once.
-No carbon
-Skimmer on but not collecting
-Lights on as usual
The treatment didn't seem to put a dent in the algae at all. The treatment made my Yuma fairly upset, it still doesn't look normal. Was my math off??
Agreed. I do not believe that is bryopsis, and this treatment may or may not have any affect.
