How to remove hair algae from clove polyps?

[Kraig]

I have never seen fluconazole used for algae on stalks before bur I don't see why it wouldn't work. Fluconazole takes a while sometimes weeks. Personally I would only do one method at a time fluconazole or h2o2.

I just added it to the tank, not directly on the stalk or frag. I know I should only do one thing at a time but I have other algae in this QT tank as well and I'm hoping the fluconazole will help with that.

 

[Kraig]

So I have a nice frag of firecracker clove polyps that have some hair algae growing on their stalks. I'm wondering the best way to try and remove it without harming the corals too much. I was considering removing them and trying peroxide, either applied with a Q-tip or dipping just the base of the corals. Anyone had a similar issue or have any thoughts on how best to tackle this? Below is a picture of how they look.

I see so many people talking about their success with using H2O2. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but I can't get it to work for me. Maybe I have something other than GHA that isn't affected by the H2O2. Whatever I have looks very similar to what you have (reference the pic I added).

 

[moz71]

I see so many people talking about their success with using H2O2. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or what, but I can't get it to work for me. Maybe I have something other than GHA that isn't affected by the H2O2. Whatever I have looks very similar to what you have (reference the pic I added).

That may in fact be bryopsis!!! sometimes hard to tell difference. The fluconazole may be the better treatment! Ironically, The clove polyps I mentioned brought bryopsis into my frag tank and went unidentified for awhile until i seen on my other frags. I did dose the fluconazole and it did kill it in a couple days and absolutely no other implications loved the stuff and easy!

 

[muzikalmatt]

That may in fact be bryopsis!!! sometimes hard to tell difference. The fluconazole may be the better treatment! Ironically, The clove polyps I mentioned brought bryopsis into my frag tank and went unidentified for awhile until i seen on my other frags. I did dose the fluconazole and it did kill it in a couple days and absolutely no other implications loved the stuff and easy!

Honestly, I was worried that it might be bryopsis myself, but it doesn't appear to have the branching/fernlike patterns that I've seen in bryopsis. I'll try to get a better pic when I go to dip it tonight. Regardless, I want to address it ASAP to prevent it from spreading elsewhere in the tank as for now it's contained on this one single frag.

 

[TnFishwater98]

I’m afraid cloves will become invasive…I just added a frag to my frag tank last week

 

[muzikalmatt]

I’m afraid cloves will become invasive…I just added a frag to my frag tank last week

Hopefully they do become invasive haha! I'm a big fan of their look and I've read that they're relatively easy to peel off the rockwork unlike Xenia or GSP. This tank is somewhat of an "invasive species" tank already as I've let it run wild over the last year and certain corals have taken over (mushrooms and zoas mostly).

 

[moz71]

I’m afraid cloves will become invasive…I just added a frag to my frag tank last week

I also noticed they seem to be a preferred base (home) for algae to take hold! that just might be my observation though!

 

[muzikalmatt]

I also noticed they seem to be a preferred base (home) for algae to take hold! that just might be my observation though!

Yeah, it's definitely odd. I've never seen algae growing on soft coral tissue like this before. I'm more used to seeing it grow on the hard skeleton base of LPS.

 

[Kraig]

Yeah, I’m very suspicious that its bryopsis as well. This was on the frag rack and several other places. The stuff on the frags, including that Ricordea in my previous pic to the right doesn’t quite look the same to me but Im still learning.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Apologies for the delayed update, but I pulled the clove polyps from the tank about a week ago and did a 3% peroxide treatment. I didn't actually fully dip the coral. I just used a Q-tip to apply the undiluted peroxide directly to the algae on the stalks and the frag plug. The corals were definitely a bit annoyed by it, but they have since recovered. However, there is still a bit of algae remaining. I may do another treatment in another week or so or I may just remove the affected polyps as it's only localized on 2-3 stalks and the rest seem fine.

Before pulling for treatment.

About to treat.

After treatment. (They're not happy.)

I'll post a picture of their current condition later today when the tank lights come on as this was about a week ago. Thanks again for the tips and suggestions everyone!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Here they are today, recovering nicely. There is still a small bit of algae on a couple of polyps in the back but it's greatly improved. I may just remove those polyps as I'm not sure they will recover anyways.

 

[vetteguy53081]

No Flux but peroxide. Leave this to a cleaner snail such as dwarf cerith, Caribbean blue leg hermits, nerite snails or astrea snails to finish off
Cloves are delicate and pulling with tweezers can even damage them.

 

[muzikalmatt]

No Flux but peroxide. Leave this to a cleaner snail such as dwarf cerith, Caribbean blue leg hermits, nerite snails or astrea snails to finish off
Cloves are delicate and pulling with tweezers can even damage them.

Thanks for the tip! I have a few ceriths and astreas so I'll let them handle it.

 

[tgafish]

Yup that's bryopsis. To be honest I'd just pull the plug and try again. Bryopsis is knocked back by reef flux but always seems to come back. I'd definitely sacrifice the plug to stay out of that nusaince!

 

[muzikalmatt]

So I figured I'd provide another quick update on the status of the algae and the clove polyps. Since there was still some algae remaining on the frag plug and some of the polyp stalks, I pulled the frag for treatment again. However, rather than using peroxide again I decided to remove the frag from the plug and cut out the polyps that were mostly covered in algae. In the process one of the polyps separated from the rest of the others so I ended up with two frags. Both are doing well although there is still a very small amount of algae on one of the polyps.

 

[Kraig]

Did you ever try reef flux? Im pretty sure mine was Bryopsis and not hair algae. Several peroxide dips didn’t really do anything. I finally treated with reef flux and that along with scraping off what I could from the frag seemed to donthat trick. Here is mine about a week ago.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Did you ever try reef flux? Im pretty sure mine was Bryopsis and not hair algae. Several peroxide dips didn’t really do anything. I finally treated with reef flux and that along with scraping off what I could from the frag seemed to donthat trick. Here is mine about a week ago.

I haven't tried Reef Flux yet. If that small patch of algae continues to grow I may give it a shot and treat it outside the tank again. Hopefully I won't need to but I appreciate the suggestion!

 

[Kraig]

I haven't tried Reef Flux yet. If that small patch of algae continues to grow I may give it a shot and treat it outside the tank again. Hopefully I won't need to but I appreciate the suggestion!

I should add looks like you have made progress and have an additional frag now! It was easier for me to use reef flux because it's in a qt tank and not in the DT. Not sure what steps I would take if it was in the DT.

 

[AquaBert]

The standard 3% hydrogen peroxide will knock it right out. I would just dip the entire frag for 2 minutes and put it back in the tank. 48 hours later that plug will be glowing white. The clove polyps won't skip a beat.

I used that advice and my glove polyp looks dead..

 

[Sean Clark]

I used that advice and my glove polyp looks dead..

Sorry to hear that. How healty were the polyps prior to diping? Any chance you have before and after pictures?