Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole
- Thread starter NCreefguy
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chickofthesea
Active Member
Does anyone know if this treatment is safe for clams?
Yes, it is safe. Fluconazole does not reach any major metabolic pathway of any animal in the aquarium at the recommended doses.
Regards
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
Nobody really responded to my question I posted earlier. I am 3 days in to a treatment for GHA, and it is still persistent. It definitely seems less dense , but I think it may be growing in new spots. I see it in the sand , is it falling off the rock and getting stuck? It seems longer in spots than before which is irritating some corals, is this because the structure is stretching? I do see some algae on my powerheads that wasn't there before. Is it possible for any algae to grow in a tank with Fluconazole? I went from scraping the glass 3-4 times a week to 2 times a week.
I added another 400mg yesterday (32 gallon tank), so I have a double dose. Reef HD says they have used 10X the dosage without issue. Everything seems to be doing fine and I am getting growth on several corals, but the persistant GHA is really bumming me out. It affects my zoas the most. I have 2 colonies that are alive but don't open because of the irritation of the gha.
I know that GHA takes longer to battle, but how long should I expect?
I added another 400mg yesterday (32 gallon tank), so I have a double dose. Reef HD says they have used 10X the dosage without issue. Everything seems to be doing fine and I am getting growth on several corals, but the persistant GHA is really bumming me out. It affects my zoas the most. I have 2 colonies that are alive but don't open because of the irritation of the gha.
I know that GHA takes longer to battle, but how long should I expect?
The term GHA does not refer to a species of algae, but to many species that present themselves in a similar way (filamentous form). Filamentous algae, in relation to their cellular structure, may be unicellular or siphonous algae (such as Derbesia and Bryopsis), or multicellular algae (such as Cladophoropsis and Cladophora) and many others, these are also commonly called "turf algae" ... siphonous algae are frequently sensitive to Fluconazole, the rest may not be sensitive at the recommended doses.
As for the time the action of fluconazole is perceived, it varies from 4 days to 1 week, when you begin to notice that the algae lose color, usually beginning at the tips, and begin to break loose or to be attacked by herbivores that before they despised them.
If a seaweed is growing in an environment treated with fluconazole, it is most likely not a drug-sensitive algae or at least not sensitive at that dose used.
Regards
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
I have definitely noticed some die-off and color change (more of a brown than green) and texture change, so it is doing something. I guess I will see what happens at 2X dosage.
If there have already been changes, you are likely to be able to eliminate them, and it is only a matter of time.
Regards
Falcon 6
Community Member
This treatment worked great for me!!! I had a growing infestation of bryopsis that didn't respond to the other standard algae control measures. I found this thread and followed the instructions.
It worked like a charm. 2 weeks later, no Bryopsis, and everything was still healthy, including my shrimp, crabs, RBTA, and softies.
Thanks so much for putting this up @NCreefguy !!!!
It worked like a charm. 2 weeks later, no Bryopsis, and everything was still healthy, including my shrimp, crabs, RBTA, and softies.
Thanks so much for putting this up @NCreefguy !!!!
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
How long does the medication stay active? I'm treating GHA and I was told that I may need a second dose. Do I run carbon to get it out or assume that it is now inert and add another dose? I did add more last week, but that would bring me to a single dose if the first one had become oxidized. How high of a dose has anyone gone? It has been 23 days, some die-off, most remains. Some comes off easy (I try to remove what is irritating corals) in big chunks with tweezers.
Anyone know if this affects Pistol shrimp? I haven't seen mine for a week, but the first 2 weeks he was fine, probably a coincidence. He might have molted.
Anyone know if this affects Pistol shrimp? I haven't seen mine for a week, but the first 2 weeks he was fine, probably a coincidence. He might have molted.
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
Does this lend credence to the fact that the fluco does break down and lose its effectiveness? When it is said a second dose is needed for GHA, is this because after 25 days or so the fluco is not potent anymore? I think in the case of algae, the plant absorbs the meds and the rest takes care of itself.
chickofthesea
Active Member
Thanks
The theory says yes, because the Caulerpales (the whole family) have ergosterol in their cell walls, and this makes them sensitive to the effects of fluconazole. But because they are slow growing and because they have thick walls, the time and doses needed to eradicating them are greater than the time and doses required for Bryopsis and Derbésia. Maybe double or more, depending on what kind.
Regards
jasonrusso
2500 Club Member
I bought my first batch from Payless Pet Products for my GHA. I seem to be the only one who got tablets instead of capsules. I bought a pill grinder which did a pretty good job. I did the normal 20mg/gal dose. After 2 weeks of seeing very little change (maybe actually getting more growth in places), I added another 20g/gal dose. I let this sit for another 10 days or so with no change. At that point, my kenya tree stopped extending and my trachy wasn't really inflating. Nutrients were all still low. The kenya tree had a film on it, maybe the binder from the tablets??
I ordered some reef flux (which I knew were capsules), turned the skimmer on, added carbon and purigen (Reef HD says to use purigen to remove fluco). I did four 5 gallon WC (tank is 32 gallons) over 4 days. I then added the reef flux (4 capsules) and started dosing vibrant. I felt that if the GHA may be fluco resistant, the vibrant may attack a different strain. After 2 days of this, I was seeing better results. The GHA was clumping, and looked like it was melting in places.
I'll keep on dosing vibrant 2X a week, and leave the fluco in the tank. This is frustrating and disheartening to be honest. I'll keep monitoring the nutrients.
Did I get expired or crap fluco from Payless?? It was clearly black market tablets.
I ordered some reef flux (which I knew were capsules), turned the skimmer on, added carbon and purigen (Reef HD says to use purigen to remove fluco). I did four 5 gallon WC (tank is 32 gallons) over 4 days. I then added the reef flux (4 capsules) and started dosing vibrant. I felt that if the GHA may be fluco resistant, the vibrant may attack a different strain. After 2 days of this, I was seeing better results. The GHA was clumping, and looked like it was melting in places.
I'll keep on dosing vibrant 2X a week, and leave the fluco in the tank. This is frustrating and disheartening to be honest. I'll keep monitoring the nutrients.
Did I get expired or crap fluco from Payless?? It was clearly black market tablets.
By the filament format, with little branching and no "feather" pattern, most likely it is not Bryopsis, but may be Derbesia, which is also quite sensitive to fluconazole, or another species of GHA (Cladophora, Cladophoropsis and a broad etc) , which may be very resistant or not sensitive to fluconazole at the usual doses.Good day all. I’m on my 5 day of using 9mg/l fluconazol but not seeing much effect. Please confirm I am indeed dealing with bryopsis.
A simple way to begin the analysis of filamentous algae for identification, when only the format is not characteristic enough, is to observe a filament in the microscope ... If the sample has a cenocytic structure (without real cell divisions), it could be Derbesia or Bryopsis . If the sample has true cell divisions, as if the filament were a "cell train", it could be Cladophora, Cladophoropsis, or another GHA species.
On the other hand, and just looking at the photos posted, it seems that some filaments are already bleaching at the tips, which is usually the first sign that fluconazole is acting and that it may be a matter of time to get rid of them.
Regards
The way the pharmaceutical form is made ("modus faciendi", in technical jargon), is extremely important in its pharmacokinetics (how it dissolves, distributes and acts). A formulation of fluconazole can fulfill its purpose for human or veterinary medical use and, even then, does not obtain good results in the environment of an aquarium, for algae control.
Aspects such as micronization (particle size) and the excipients employed for the tablet composition can severely influence its solubility and availability for the desired goals.
The ideal, whenever possible, is to obtain the medicine of origins and brands already known and proven in their effects, so that the good results can be reproduced. Apart from this, it is a kind of "bet", in which it is not uncommon to lose.
Regards
Thank you kindly sir. I’ve searched everywhere for the type, only thing I can seem to find is bryopsis.
Here is a closer photo of it. In the one photo you can see the fern growth and on the other photo you can see what some of it looks like. You can almost see the cell segments. I hope this will help to get a better ID.
Here is a closer photo of it. In the one photo you can see the fern growth and on the other photo you can see what some of it looks like. You can almost see the cell segments. I hope this will help to get a better ID.
Chris Jakubowski
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Chris Jakubowski
Community Member
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- Reaction score
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So you need to find the underlying cause - Bryopsis likes three things
1) Intense Lights
2) High water flow over a rough surface
3) Nutrients
Try looking at turning down your lights and look at your nutrient export and flow
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