Do chemical treatments for pests like dinos and other algae really help?

Do chemical treatments for pests like dinos and other algae really help?

  • YES (what worked, tell us in the thread)

    Votes: 82 38.0%
  • NO

    Votes: 39 18.1%
  • Haven't tried a chemical solution for algae

    Votes: 56 25.9%
  • NOT SURE if what I tried actually worked or not

    Votes: 30 13.9%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 9 4.2%

  • Total voters
    216

revhtree

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There is NO worse pest, IMO, like that of dinoflagellates or dinos as their friend Satan likes to call them. But dinos are not the only friend the devil has, there are also other algaes that when they take hold in your aquarium they don't like to let go! When they do take hold we scramble to find a solution to rid the tank of them and instead of treating the cause we look for a quick fix and sometimes that is a chemical one. Let's talk about it!

Do chemical treatments for pests like dinos and other algae really help, or is it all about treating the cause?

If you said YES then what has worked for you and for what algae issue?


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A Young Reefer

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Dino x worked for me against both Dino’s and gree cyano. However it stressed out some of the corals on the long course of treatment.
 

Treefer32

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Reeflux and Fluconozale work for Bryopsis and over time for GHA. Tried and true chemicals. However, they'll just come back if the source problem isn't dealt with. Running an algae turf scrubber for me prevented algae from coming back on my rocks after reeflux treatments even when my phosphates hit .5. My scrubber was growing algae like crazy, but, it never grew back in on the rocks. Still hasn't after 3 years since dosing Reeflux. as long as there is an ideal place for algae to grow outside the display it seems it will be content to stay there vs. in the display.
 

Glenner’sreef

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As far as (non-cyano) algae. I’m an “Algae filter” fan. My last reef (137g) had a refugium in the sump. And now my present tank (180g) now a year old has an Ice Cap Algae turf Scrubber. One algae growing system vs another makes all the sense in the world to me. Chemicals have there place. But only a last resort.
 

shakacuz

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i said yes. i used vibrant for bryopsis/GHA which ended up being an algaecide that threw my tank off balance and killed lots of corals. other than this, i've never used chemicals in my tank, but perhaps bottled bacteria (microbacter7, microbacter clean) that have definitely helped with dino/cyano. will be trying out copepods/phyto to battle dino's..
 

Greybeard

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The number one, never fail 'cure' for marine aquarium problems...

<Drumroll please>

An experienced, attentive caretaker.

Don't have the experience? Well, this is how you get it. Carry on.

Chemicals? Sure. Some chem treatments can 'solve' certain issues. I've rarely used an effective chem treatment that didn't have a downside. I much prefer more natural treatments when possible.

These days, there's lots of bio treatments, Dr Timms and such, gaining popularity. I'm hopeful that these might prove as effective, without some of the negative impact that many chem treatments can have. I've use Dr Timm's Cyano treatment (waste a way + re-fresh) with excellent results.
 

Reef and Dive

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Fluconazole - works like a charm for most green algae
Azythromycin - works great for most ciano
Dino treatments - more management than dosing something
Fembendazole - works ok for hydroids
Levamisole - works ok for some flatworms
Cipro - works ok for some cilliates
Mylbemicin - works pretty well for copepod parasites

Most of them require management of the source
 

Kristopher Conlin

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While I would agree that putting chemicals into the aquarium is a bandaid. Sometimes you really need a bandaid while you take care of the underlying issue.

I treated bryopsis in my frag quarantine tank with fluconazol(Reef Flux) and it absolutely wiped it all out. It took the green hair algea with it as well.

I was able to do several water changes to remove the influx of nutrients from the bryopsis breaking down and I haven't seen any for two years now.

I think chemicals should be used as a last resort for only the most stubborn algea.
 

Glenner’sreef

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Fluconazole - works like a charm for most green algae
Azythromycin - works great for most ciano
Dino treatments - more management than dosing something
Fembendazole - works ok for hydroids
Levamisole - works ok for some flatworms
Cipro - works ok for some cilliates
Mylbemicin - works pretty well for copepod parasites

Most of them require management of the source
Half way down your list, you mention Fenbendazole for hydroids. Here’s a first hand crazy scenario. I dosed Fenbendazole to rid my tank of the plague “Blue Clove Polyps. (Feb2022) It worked beautifully. The areas that were covered with these pretty little invasive pests ultimately and over just those covered areas grew a dense mat of moss. Difficult to get off of my rock work. 3 months ago and tired of seeing it, I purchased an Algae Scrubber. My aquascape is moss/algae free.
 

Wasabiroot

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Everything we add to our tanks that isn't there normally is a chemical. The important thing is how much do they affect the things you aren't concerned about. There is a place for treatments like Chemiclean, cipro, fluconazole, etc but they come with associated risks and collateral damage. I think as long as the user tries a less invasive, more baseline approach first and verifies the chemical is relevant to the issue at hand, it's fine. I also firmly believe that companies that sell additives that carry risk should be absolutely clear about their contents and not sell them as magic elixirs. This will allow the hobbyist to use appropriate strength treatment levels.

I don't necessarily agree that every chemical is a band aid covering something else up. Sometimes we invite disease and pests beyond our control or something slips past our QT regimen. We also need to be able to buy time when things get bad quick. Even the most experienced reefers need to use aggressive tools from time to time, just like medicine with aggressive bacterial infections in otherwise healthy sanitary people.
I do think companies that sell these remedies could do a better job offering alternative solutions first in their documentation, but that could reduce sales, so that part as a consumer is something to be aware of. That's a good spot for retailers to offer clear messaging on their products - perhaps a splash message like "Chemiclean does work to reduce cyanobacteria, but you should work to address the root causes like nutrient imbalance or improper flow before using this product". I think that's what people above were getting at with the band aid analogy.

I say this as a former Vibrant user. There was always suspicion the product contained more than it claimed but I took those risks to combat a very aggressive bubble algae infestation. It worked but also knocked my microbiome back to the stone age, gave me a Dino bloom and then diatoms as everything reset. I lost all my coralline. As a result my tank is about 6 months behind where I'd like it to be in maturation. Lesson learned.
 
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Jedi1199

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Like most others I try and avoid chemical fixes.

The one I have tried that worked was FluxRx for GHA/Bryopsis. It did exactly what it was supposed to do and caused no harm to the system overall.

I've never used anything else so i can't comment any further.
 

Rick Mathew

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VOTED Other....Cant really comment because I have no experience with them...Always have used "natural" methods...I also am not really bothered by a little algae and or cyano...have not as yet had to tackle a Dino issue.
 
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RiptideAquaculture

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Dino Treatment
The trick we use is to increase the NO3 ( nitrates)15-20ppm in the tank and run a UV filter. this is a very effective treatment and most of the time works in about 2 weeks

As for another algae issues we use a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution and a tooth brush. remove the affected piece and scrub it and manual remove the GHA the other step to do in tandem is removed the PO 4 from the tank with a GOF
 

Susan Edwards

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Voted yes. Sometimes, you need to deal with the issue and then deal with the cause.

Reef Flux for bryopsis. Nothing else works. Even low to no no3/po4 as the algae is using it up. Corals are doing amazing. Even some "dead" ones coming back.

Chemiclean for cyano. 1 dose, gone in 24 hrs. Had it bad after a previous reef flux treatment. Hasn't been back since.

Almost 3 weeks into reef flux as it didn't get all the bryopsis last time. Going longer and adding some more now to be sure I get it all.
 

ReefGeezer

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I voted "No". I certainly use chemicals to manage my system i.e. sodium nitrate & phosphate, ammonium chloride, amino acids and other organic carbons, trace elements, and etc.. However, I am afraid that chemicals intended to kill one organism are not specific enough to keep for killing similar, but otherwise desirable, organisms. Similarly, those intended to limit nutrients, limit them from all organisms. Some simply mask problems until they become worse. Some are not what they are advertised to be and do real damage. Additionally, when I was using these products, none worked for more than short periods.
 

RichReef

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I've always dealt with algae issues the same way.

Cut back feeding.
Deep sump/system clean.
Vacuum sand.
Blowing off/out rock.
0 TDS.
Water changes.
Phyto.

Even bubble algae along with crabs and manual removal.

Dinos were a different story. The 2 times I had it bad I drove to every LFS with in 2 hours in every direction and bought a small piece of live rock and a cup of sand and just added it to the system. Just have to look out for vermetid snails to pop up on the new rock.
 

jfoahs04

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I put "other." Different chemical treatments have varying degrees of "success" at removing the problem algae/cyano/dinos they're intended to get rid of. So on a basic level, you could say they are at least somewhat effective. But all of those things are typically symptoms of other issues, imbalances, etc. And rarely (if ever), do the chemical treatments address the actual underlying issues causing the algae/cyano/dinos. Sometimes, they can create bigger problems in the system, and most times the algae/cyano/dinos will come back if the underlying issue isn't addressed. So I view them as similar to taking nyquil when you have the flu. It may help with some of the symptoms which is helpful to an extent. But it's not going to cure the flu which is the bigger issue needing to be addressed.
 

joe5862

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Hello, with algae in mind, could someone give me some help with my algae issue? Any advice would be really appreciated. Thank you

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