Cycling Tank - Is this Bryopsis or just GHA?

[sleeri]

Hi all, I’m on week 3 of cycling my new 40g cube. No fish yet. Things having been going well, but this algae showed up over the last few days. I’m hoping it’s just GHA, but am concerned it’s bryopsis and that I may need to take action to remove ASAP. Any help IDing would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ScottB]

Hi all, I’m on week 3 of cycling my new 40g cube. No fish yet. Things having been going well, but this algae showed up over the last few days. I’m hoping it’s just GHA, but am concerned it’s bryopsis and that I may need to take action to remove ASAP. Any help IDing would be greatly appreciated.

Yup that is bryopsis to my eyes. Shocking to see that so quickly.

I would suggest reading up on fluconazole, Reef Flux. It is very effective. Generally, corals come through the treatment just fine. Rarely though, it creates problems for SPS & LPS.

 

[Doctorgori]

Could be...but I though Bryopsis looked more "Complex" with a leaf structure,,,,erh sort of picture of Bryopsis
Eitherway: H2O2

 

[sleeri]

Thanks. I used live rock, so assuming there was a small amount on the rocks. I just have a few small SPS frags, so not really any corals to worry about.

Do any fish or CUC eat it or is fluconazole the best option?

 

[sleeri]

Could be...but I though Bryopsis looked more "Complex" with a leaf structure,,,,erh sort of picture of Bryopsis
Eitherway: H2O2

If it matters, it all appears to be single strands. No thick clumps.

 

[DeniableArc]

G’day mate! Looks like bryopsis and that is very unlucky in a tank a couple weeks old. I just treated bryopsis in a 1 year old tank, I completely eradicated it with fluconazole in just 5-10 days

 

[Iam_Mitch]

Appears to be Byropsis. If its a brand new tank and you dont have too much rock, you can consider removing the rock and brushing it off manually

 

[TriggerFinger]

I had this in a new tank, only on the glass though. I drained the tank and scraped the glass and wiped it clean with hydrogen peroxide. It didn’t come back. If it’s only that rock, you could pull it, scrub it and spray with peroxide

 

[sleeri]

It’s on all the rocks. I’d prefer not to break it down. I’m not even sure I could get all of it anyway. Ahh reefing... always a problem to solve! Oh well, part of the fun!

 

[brandon429]

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[brandon429]

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[sleeri]

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[sleeri]

Just began treatment with reef flux today. Guys at BRS had good things to say about it in one of their videos. Figured I’d give it a shot.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I do not think that is bryopsis.

 

[mitch91175]

Appears to be Byropsis. If its a brand new tank and you dont have too much rock, you can consider removing the rock and brushing it off manually

Don’t think this will work for Bryopsis. It has roots that need to be killed.

 

[sleeri]

I do not think that is bryopsis.

I’m still not 100% sure myself, but figured there isn’t much downside to using the reef flux since there isn’t much in my tank. Do you think it might just be some “standard” variety of GHA? It doesn’t appear to be as thick as some of the bryopsis I’ve seen in photos.

 

[ScottB]

I've certainly seen happier, healthier bryopsis infestations in my day. Maybe that is what 3 week old infestations look like though.

It was a pretty good match to what was in one tank I treated, and the outcome was excellent, fast and complete.

If you se that acros getting pale or white tips, move it to lower light immediately; keep it there until you've done a few WCs.

 

[sleeri]

I've certainly seen happier, healthier bryopsis infestations in my day. Maybe that is what 3 week old infestations look like though.

It was a pretty good match to what was in one tank I treated, and the outcome was excellent, fast and complete.

If you se that acros getting pale or white tips, move it to lower light immediately; keep it there until you've done a few WCs.

Hope that’s my luck as well. When do you start to see an impact from Reef Flux?

 

[ScottB]

Hope that’s my luck as well. When do you start to see an impact from Reef Flux?

It seems to vary a lot. I saw it in two days. Others reported a week or more. It begins with it kinda getting white around the edges and being more fragile. Then it just starts melting.

Anything that is shaded is the last to be affected. The process of cell wall destruction requires a solid photosynthetic process. Example: there was some growing under/around a frag rack I had in the tank. Within 4-5 days most everything was completely gone except under the rack. I moved it and poof. That also disappeared.

One more note in case this is NOT bryopsis as there is some fair question on that still.
a) Flux kills other algaes as well but takes longer
b) If it is bryopsis and you kill all of it, it won't come back. If you leave in in shadows, it will slowly return.
c) If it is NOT bryopsis, and you have too much light and nutrient the algae will come back.
d) Fluconazole is only removed via water changes. It does not break down just FYI.

Keep an eye on the acro. You might think of preemptively moving it into lower light if you can -- especially if it has green pigments. Every now and then for reasons I've not yet discovered Flux crushes green pigmented SPS.

 

[sleeri]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful! I’ve got a Radion xr15 gen 5. I dialed it down to 50% on AB+. Was at 75%. The acro (Cali tort) was already growing a bit at the base, so hoping not to move it.