Killing Bubble Algae with Reef HD Reef Flux
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How's the algae still?
I decided to try your technique - I just added 16 capsules of ReefHD Reef Flux (fluconazole) at a 4x dose (16 capsules for a 43 gallon system including the sump; I'm assuming that at least 3 gallons are taken up by live rock volume etc).
My tank has a variety of soft corals/LPS as well as a coco worm and various macroalgae (none Caulerpa, but including Dragon's Breath, Chaetomorpha, red Gracilaria, some recent blue Hypnea, and a red bubble grape macro). 1 fish, 1 shrimp + 1 pistol shrimp that I never see, and a few hermits with a bunch of snails.
Today is Day 0; I was mildly surprised that the fluconazole doesn't dissolve easily, and that opening each capsule is kind of a pain!
I'm hoping for Valonia eradication over 4 weeks without harm to other inhabitants.
I went with this over Vibrant as I've read mixed things about Vibrant vs Valonia, as well as chaeto not doing well with Vibrant and this seeming like a reasonably safe, effective "kill the pest algae" treatment after reading how it's the premier treatment for Bryopsis.
My tank has a variety of soft corals/LPS as well as a coco worm and various macroalgae (none Caulerpa, but including Dragon's Breath, Chaetomorpha, red Gracilaria, some recent blue Hypnea, and a red bubble grape macro). 1 fish, 1 shrimp + 1 pistol shrimp that I never see, and a few hermits with a bunch of snails.
Today is Day 0; I was mildly surprised that the fluconazole doesn't dissolve easily, and that opening each capsule is kind of a pain!
I'm hoping for Valonia eradication over 4 weeks without harm to other inhabitants.
I went with this over Vibrant as I've read mixed things about Vibrant vs Valonia, as well as chaeto not doing well with Vibrant and this seeming like a reasonably safe, effective "kill the pest algae" treatment after reading how it's the premier treatment for Bryopsis.
CoralNerd
Valuable Member
I dosed 4x the dose also and it's been 10 days. Unfortunately I sold 5 big coral colonies so I had to add 10g to make up for the water loss. I'm sure this altered the amount of Reef Flux in my system. My skimmer has been overflowing so I have it draining out the drain tube. I decided seeing how I did that 10g wc I would dose Vibrant every 3 days also. The bubble algae is getting white. I'll continue with this method for hopefully 3 weeks total before I do a wc and remove the Reef Flux.
higorc
Active Member
I thought you were supposed to shut off skimmer completely? No?
Day 2 - I'm seeing sporadic bubbles (well under 5%, but I can see them as I was looking for them) that are turning white and involuting. Corals, anemone, Coco worm, Dragon's Breath, Chaeto, and Hypnea appear to be ok so far. Gracilaria (red) has some whitish powder on the top sides, but this may be old so I can't say if this is due to fluconazole or not. While I don't want to lose my red Gracilaria, so far things look promising.
Day 2 - I'm seeing sporadic bubbles (well under 5%, but I can see them as I was looking for them) that are turning white and involuting. Corals, anemone, Coco worm, Dragon's Breath, Chaeto, and Hypnea appear to be ok so far. Gracilaria (red) has some whitish powder on the top sides, but this may be old so I can't say if this is due to fluconazole or not. While I don't want to lose my red Gracilaria, so far things look promising.
Day 10 - Valonia has been dying off. Bubbles turn white, involute, and die. I'm definitely getting some organic foam in the sump (I run a skimmerless system), which I attribute to Valonia dieoff. Corals, anemone, Coco worm, and macroalgae appear to be ok. Some white areas on my red macroalgae, but those are light-exposed surfaces and don't seem to correlate with the Valonia death pattern.
Interestingly, Valonia under higher light look like they may be dying off faster, although this isn't clearly so. I wonder if Valonia under light are more metabolically active and therefore more susceptible to a compound that gums up the works.
Continuing to look promising, no problems so far with the fluconazole addition at 400%.
Interestingly, Valonia under higher light look like they may be dying off faster, although this isn't clearly so. I wonder if Valonia under light are more metabolically active and therefore more susceptible to a compound that gums up the works.
Continuing to look promising, no problems so far with the fluconazole addition at 400%.
I should add - my Valonia by a rough ballpark measurement is about 40-50% better. There's still a lot of Valonia, but I continue to see dieoff and white/involuting bubbles as well as seeing the underlying live rock where before the Valonia was dense enough to obscure it completely.
Day 14 - Valonia continues to die off, with more brightly lit areas dying faster than areas with more shade/lower light intensity. No problems with any other tank inhabitants. Organic scum collecting in sump (skimmerless), 1 1x1" patch of cyanobacteria on a powerhead previously completely covered with Valonia. Progressing as expected; I'm not sure how long I need to wait after every Valonia is dead for partial water changes/carbon/skimming.
Valonia roughly 80% gone; bubbles in more brightly lit areas die off faster than ones in shadier areas. No side effects, with different macroalgae being ok (Dragon's Breath, Hypnea, Gracilaria, Chaeto). No invert issues. I have lost 2 urchins, but those were new additions and I can't tell if that is related to fluconazole or not although I doubt that as I can't think of why fluconazole would do that.
Still with organic scum in the sump and a tiny patch of cyano on the powerhead where a huge clump of Valonia used to be. I may remove some of the organic stuff . . . or I may just let the chaeto do its job since it works really well for me.
I do wish that it worked faster, but then again a simple single treatment that takes the place of trying to remove a million bubbles without popping them and has no evident side effects or problems for a reasonable price seems pretty darn good to me!
Still with organic scum in the sump and a tiny patch of cyano on the powerhead where a huge clump of Valonia used to be. I may remove some of the organic stuff . . . or I may just let the chaeto do its job since it works really well for me.
I do wish that it worked faster, but then again a simple single treatment that takes the place of trying to remove a million bubbles without popping them and has no evident side effects or problems for a reasonable price seems pretty darn good to me!
Roggio
Active Member
I have a small amount of bubble algae in a very large system. I've been scrubbing it off with a toothbrush because I cant use crabs (my eels will eat them). I have a bottle of Vibrant coming in the mail. I will update my results with that. If I do not see improvement after 4-5 treatments I will go ahead with the Flux. In my system I would need $85 dollars worth 
Expect updates
Expect updates
CoralNerd
Valuable Member
With Vibrant make sure your nutrients don't get out of whack. It gave my tank cyano...2 treatments of ChemiClean and it's still there .I have a small amount of bubble algae in a very large system. I've been scrubbing it off with a toothbrush because I cant use crabs (my eels will eat them). I have a bottle of Vibrant coming in the mail. I will update my results with that. If I do not see improvement after 4-5 treatments I will go ahead with the Flux. In my system I would need $85 dollars worth
Expect updates
Day 29ish - Valonia continues to die off; Valonia in shady areas have now been dying off. Refugium is processing the organic foamy stuff left over from dead algae, tank is returning to "normal". I have lost 2 tuxedo urchins that were both added during this time; they seemed to die within a day or two. Not sure if they are sensitive to fluconazole or not . . . overall, happy with things although it's been a month and there are still Valonia around (even if 90+% are gone and dieoff continues).
Reef_a_holiks
Well-Known Member
sorry for the late reply. I used the standard bryopsis dose and left it in the tank for 35 days over the 21 days and didn't see much change with the bubble algae. failed attempt. Maybe a higher dose is needed.
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Is reef flux safe to use with BTA’s and serpent stars ?
I have a BTA and a brittle star; both have seemed ok with the Valona (4 x the bryopsis) dose although I haven't seen my brittle recently. Urchins may be another story, but that's unclear to me - I've had 2 tuxedo urchins die within 48 hrs after addition, but that may be completely unrelated.
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