Fluconazole for treating bubble algae

[Shufflepig]

Works well for Bryopsis, but not bubble algae. In fact, I think it made the bubble algae worse in my tank.

Did you use it at 80mg/gallon? 4X the dose is supposed to work for bubble algae.

 

[JMetaxas]

Did you use it at 80mg/gallon? 4X the dose is supposed to work for bubble algae.

No, just dosed for Bryopsis.

 

[Shufflepig]

Day 5 of 4X Fluconazole dose. No issues at all with any of the corals. The small amount of hair algae I had is pretty much gone. About 25% of bubble algae is turning clear. Hopefully that will continue with the remainder of bubble algae. I will continue to update.

 

[Betex]

Day 5 of 4X Fluconazole dose. No issues at all with any of the corals. The small amount of hair algae I had is pretty much gone. About 25% of bubble algae is turning clear. Hopefully that will continue with the remainder of bubble algae. I will continue to update.

How’s it looking now? I’m curious about treatment as well.

 

[Shufflepig]

How’s it looking now? I’m curious about treatment as well.

3 weeks since dosing the Fluconazole. Corals were totally unaffected. Fish and cleanup crew also unaffected. I would say 75% of the bubble algae is gone. I had a really bad case of it so I am pleased so far. The bubble algae appears to continue to die off. My plan is to give it 3 more weeks then redose the Fluconazole to hopefully eliminate what remains. Overall, I consider it a success thus far.

 

[Betex]

3 weeks since dosing the Fluconazole. Corals were totally unaffected. Fish and cleanup crew also unaffected. I would say 75% of the bubble algae is gone. I had a really bad case of it so I am pleased so far. The bubble algae appears to continue to die off. My plan is to give it 3 more weeks then redose the Fluconazole to hopefully eliminate what remains. Overall, I consider it a success thus far.

That’s great to hear thanks for the update

 

[jasonDeReefer88]

3 weeks since dosing the Fluconazole. Corals were totally unaffected. Fish and cleanup crew also unaffected. I would say 75% of the bubble algae is gone. I had a really bad case of it so I am pleased so far. The bubble algae appears to continue to die off. My plan is to give it 3 more weeks then redose the Fluconazole to hopefully eliminate what remains. Overall, I consider it a success thus far.

Thanks for post

 

[pharazon]

Any update?

 

[Shufflepig]

Any update?

The bubble algae continued to die off for 5-6 weeks after initial treatment. I’d say initial treatment killed 80% of the bubble algae with the 20% that survived mostly in lower light levels. I was very pleased with the amount of die off and I actually have not repeated the treatment. As far as tank inhabitants:
Fish were unaffected
Snails were unaffected
LPS including euphyllia were unaffected
Softies were unaffected (leather and zoas)
SPS - Acros unaffected
Stylos unaffected
2 encrusting montis (Superman and sunset lost their base color but the polyps still blue and green respectively)
The affect on the encrusting montis was the only negative reaction I saw despite the 4X dosage. The small amount of green hair algae I had was totally wiped out.
Overall I think it was very successful. Will definitely redose if the bubble algae population starts to increase.

 

[reeferdon]

Any updates on the treatment of Fluconazole for bubble algae?

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Any updates? And can you do water changes weekly while after dosing?

 

[ElementReefer]

I recently used Reef Flux to eliminate bubble algae in my 55 gallon mixed reef. Before this, I tried manual removal, emerald crabs, a Foxface and my nutrients have always been well controlled. Nothing worked.

I dosed at 4x what is recommended on the bottle, which is ONE CAPSULE per 2.5 GALLONS of system volume, or one bottle for every 25 gallons.

I emptied all the capsules into 500ml tank water, stirred until it was mostly dissolved, and dumped it all in a high flow area. Turned skimmer off for first three days.

Noticeable effect at one week. Over 90% gone at 3 weeks, at which point I did a 30% water change. No effect on the animal population at all. No observable reduction in coralline algae, in fact it has already covered most of the few remaining bubbles, which are probably dead. The bubbles slowly but consistently fell apart, and there was a moderate increase in decayed algae material in the filter floss. No change in nutrients observed.

10/10 would recommend as FIRST LINE treatment,

 

[ElementReefer]

Update:

Small areas of bubble algae have reappeared sporadically, but so far they all disappear over the following 1-2 days. I think the emerald crabs are keeping enough pressure on it.

Phosphates skyrocketed from 0.03 to 0.3 in the past two weeks, I guess as the final byproduct of all the bubble algae die-off, plus no nutrient uptake from living bubble algae. Currently running phosphate media for the first time in this tank’s history.

Fish and inverts doing fine, and no sign of opportunistic microorganism bloom.

 

[jda]

Even if you treat, it is a good idea to get some emeralds. They work great for me, but I do get the Florida Keys ones directly from the diver. The seem to have a lifespan of about 3 years, so they do need replaced. I have never had an issue with the Keys emerald crabs, but I keep them fed and don't ask them to just eat poop when the algae is all gone. I have had some get a body the size of a quarter and they don't bother anything.

 

[ElementReefer]

Update: Had a bacterial bloom, upgraded the skimmer, since then parameters are very stable. The bubble algae has grown back, but only in spots that my (now fully grown) Foxface can’t get to. I consider it controlled.

In the end, for me, a little chemical intervention brought the problem back in the zone of natural control, which could then take over from there.

 

[Willito]

Thanks for sharing your experiences @ElementReefer and @Shufflepig.

The rockwork in my 550g reef is covered with small bubble algae, and I want to eliminate it before it gets even worst. I see that both of you have used Flux RX 4x the recommended dosage and the results were good after 2-3 weeks. I wonder if the results would be similar if used at the recommended dosage (20mg/gallon)? 4x the dosage would be costly on my 550g , would like save money if that is not needed. Please share your thoughts.

 

[ElementReefer]

Oh man, ancient history. I do recall that the standard dose was not sufficient, but I guess you could try it.

 

[Willito]

Update:

I just passed 5 weeks of Flux RX treatment at 4x dosage in my 550g mixed reef ( very costly) . I’d say the result is very good. During treatment UV was off, skimmer was off and back on after 7 days.
- LPS and soft corals were unaffected.
- SPS color became pale and polyps receded
- Snails were unaffected
- only one acro colony died, was unhealthy prior
- 80% of GHA decreased after 2 weeks with 20% remaining, must be a stubborn strain. After 4 weeks, new algae growth was present but slow growth due to remaining drug still in the water
- Bubble algae appeared unaffected until week 3, when some started turning clear. Slowly each day more would turn clear, die and detach from the rocks. Just passed 5 weeks of treatment and only a few small bubble are visible. 98% has been eliminated.
- Prior to treatment I have a large foxface and over a dozen tangs that would occasionally pick at GHA and Bubble algae, they were not interested other than film algae and the short stuff.
- Phosphate increased slightly during week 2-3. Filter floss was changed every 2-3 days, this probably kept phosphate from spiking.
- Flux RX’s affects were most noticeable between day 12 - 28. GHA was first to die, bubble algae took almost twice as long to eradicate

After 5 weeks of Flux RX, I decided to turn UV back on, unit is a Lifegaurd 120W Pro Max. After two days the water started turning yellow/green, and darken with each day. Could it be a chemical reaction and the UV is breaking down the Fluconazole? I couldn’t be certain so i added activated carbon. Currently on day 6 since UV was turned on, carbon has been running for two days, water is still yellow/green. Corals and Fish are unaffected thus far. Roughly 40g of water has been replaced via wet skimming since reactivated, otherwise no water change has been done. Obviously a large water change would help, but what else could be causing the yellow/green tint in the water?