Started Fluconazole to kill Bryopsis and GHA... A daily report....

[Fish Werx]

Yeah I think some of your areas will need a second treatment but it looks like the first treatment has worked pretty well for you. Unless your no3 and po4 levels are really high,I wouldn't worry about trying to lower it until you have completed the second treatment. Some people have seen high nutrients from the die off but some have not.

Thank you very much! I am running a full set of tests now and will post the findings as soon as they are done...
I usually test on Wed and Sunday, but my little boys birthday is this weekend and I know I will be super busy....

 

[Fish Werx]

"And the survey says....."

Temp 78.6
SG : 0.026
Amm : 0
pH : 8.0
NO3 : less than 0.25ppm (does anyone have experience with Red Sea NO3 tests? I have a question.)
PO4 : 0.08ppm
Mag : 1280
Cal : 380
dkh : 7.0

Man, that PO4 is climbing pretty steadily. It was .04ppm about a week ago.
I have a question about the Red Sea NO3 test if anyone uses theirs regularly with steady results.
My dkh has been a bit low for a while , I am trying to raise it by dosing Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 (4 caps per day of each) I guess I should try a bit more per day to raise the values?

 

[prsnlty]

"And the survey says....."

Temp 78.6
SG : 0.026
Amm : 0
pH : 8.0
NO3 : less than 0.25ppm (does anyone have experience with Red Sea NO3 tests? I have a question.)
PO4 : 0.08ppm
Mag : 1280
Cal : 380
dkh : 7.0

Man, that PO4 is climbing pretty steadily. It was .04ppm about a week ago.
I have a question about the Red Sea NO3 test if anyone uses theirs regularly with steady results.
My dkh has been a bit low for a while , I am trying to raise it by dosing Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 (4 caps per day of each) I guess I should try a bit more per day to raise the values?

I have no experience with either but found salifert for no3 really good.

Why not just add kalk to your ato?

 

[Fish Werx]

I have no experience with either but found salifert for no3 really good.

Why not just add kalk to your ato?

I will look into that. Ive always had good results with the 1+2, I just think all the corals are growing a lot faster in my new system than I am used to and taking in needed nutrients and minerals at a faster rate than i am dosing for?

 

[prsnlty]

I will look into that. Ive always had good results with the 1+2, I just think all the corals are growing a lot faster in my new system than I am used to and taking in needed nutrients and minerals at a faster rate than i am dosing for?

Yes that could be true. The nice thing about talk is that it is an easy inexpensive way to raise alk and ph at the same time slowly

 

[Fish Werx]

Day 20....
Its all pretty much academic now..... Im sorting through until the full 21 days just to document it. No more algae reduction at this point, actually the opposite is the case. Although, nowhere near as quickly as I would think.
Definitely doing a second dose starting in one week from tomorrow....

 

[Fish Werx]

Day 21....
Full treatment cycle. I am happy with the outcome of the medication. I still have some algae in areas. Mostly where it was darker and/or less flow. Plus I had an abundance of algae in my system to say the least! Here are the pictures, then I will get my notes of the treatment cycle together and list my pros and cons, plus what I would have done different.
Also, what I am going to do moving forward.

 

[prsnlty]

I think you and I have some strain of extra resistant bryopsis. The place where root was left on mine and had received a 2nd dose has not changed at all this time for me. Rick advised me to get lettuce nudibranch for it. I have one coming this week. I'll let you know how it does. If it eats mine like it did his I will order more.

 

[Fish Werx]

I think you and I have some strain of extra resistant bryopsis. The place where root was left on mine and had received a 2nd dose has not changed at all this time for me. Rick advised me to get lettuce nudibranch for it. I have one coming this week. I'll let you know how it does. If it eats mine like it did his I will order more.

I'm wondering if my lower than usual Alk and pH have anything to do with it? Perhaps the absorption of the medication is retarded by a bit like coral growth would be affected by the same conditions? I'm just throwing theories out there as I have absolutely idea? Lol!

 

[Fish Werx]

I think you and I have some strain of extra resistant bryopsis. The place where root was left on mine and had received a 2nd dose has not changed at all this time for me. Rick advised me to get lettuce nudibranch for it. I have one coming this week. I'll let you know how it does. If it eats mine like it did his I will order more.

I had a sea hare a while ago and it would eat one little clump and leave one right next to it. It eventually died after about 3 weeks. There was plenty of algae left, so maybe it just didn't want to eat the Bryopsis? I have a line on another one from a friend that had had it for a long time. Maybe I will try it again if the second dosage doesn't work.

 

[CastAway]

Tagging along

 

[Fish Werx]

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
OK.
So, my final post for this particular treatment cycle will be this one.
When I started 21 days ago, there was a ton of algae, both bryopsis and GHA apparently.
My starting parameters were as follows:

Temp - 79f
SG - .026
Amm - 0.0
pH - 7.9
NO3 - undetectable
PO4 - less than 0.02ppm
Cal - 410
Mag - ? (didnt have reagents at the time)
dkh - 6.8


Here is a pic of day 1 of treatment.

I turned off all skimming and reactors before treatment. I ended up just turning the skimmer all the way down and removing the cup so as not to remove the medication in any way. Also, removed all media (GFO and 0.8 ROX carbon) and just running the reactors without any media to kill any pieces or spores in the equipment. I was not sure if the carbon or GFO would affect the treatment. I decided to run the system like this and not do any water changes until day 21 for a full treatment cycle. I topped off every day as per usual to maintain sump levels and SG. I didnt change my feeding habits at all.

My levels NO3 and PO4 both have crept up a bit during the treatment. My PO4 way more than the NO3 for some reason? Still not sure about the reason.

Here is the same area after 21 days of treatment.....

My parameters after a full cycle of treatment without water changes or my GFO and Carbon reactors are as follows.


Temp 78.6
SG : 0.026
Amm : 0
pH : 8.0
NO3 : less than 0.25ppm
PO4 : 0.08ppm
Mag : 1280
Cal : 380
dkh : 7.0

In the last few days I have actually noticed a regrowth of some of the algae. Especially in the darker and lower levels of the tank. I am assuming it has to do with my elevated readings of NO3 and PO4? Whatever the reason, I am going to try a second dose in the system. This time running my GFO and skimmer as usual. I will update on this thread as I start my second treatment.

Also, during the treatment I noticed a marked boost in growth and coloration on many of my corals! And, I noticed a boost in coralline algae! BONUS!

Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them and if I can, provide a detailed account of my findings.

 

[Scorpius]

FYI I'm on day 10 of treating with Fluconazole and I too see an increase of PO4 and NO3 nonexistent. I'm running gfo to keep the PO4 down to weaken my Bryopsis.

 

[Tsev03]

Awesome video and you have a wonderful tank! What is the solid yellow fish that looks like a wrasse?

 

[Fish Werx]

Awesome video and you have a wonderful tank! What is the solid yellow fish that looks like a wrasse?

That is actually @prsnlty s tank. She may be able to sged some light on your question.

 

[prsnlty]

Awesome video and you have a wonderful tank! What is the solid yellow fish that looks like a wrasse?

Thank you It is a yellow Coris wrasse

 

[Fish Werx]

OK! So, I am going to start a second dose tonight on the tank! Here is what has transpired since the final day of the first 21 day treatment......

I have done two 20% water changes since the end of the 21 day treatment, ran my GFO to get my PO4 back down to .02ppm (from a high of .16), my NO3 is right under .25ppm. It really never shot up like the Po4? I ran my carbon reactor as usual starting the 22nd day....

I pulled as much algae as possible during these water changes and vacuumed the sand thoroughly. I did notice that the algae pulls so much easier now and most of it just siphoned off the rocks without manual pulling. Which it rarely did before the first treatment. So perhaps I am now mainly battling GHA and the Bryopsis was killed off?

I also now have a bit of cyano in the DT, (it had appeared in the sump during treatment) so I am sure that I will battle that through this treatment.... I will run my power heads stronger than usual to raise flow....

I will do another water change this evening right before dumping in the recommended dosage of Fluconazole.

I will run the GFO this round to keep the PO4 at bay, as I saw quite a drastic rise (for my system anyway) and actually noted some algae growing back towards the end of the treatment. Even on the sand, which it has never done. Im assuming from the bits breaking off and settling on the sand?

I will not run my carbon reactor with carbon in it. I will however run it just to get the medication through it.

In my case, I believe that the algae was so thick in places and had been established for so long that the first round didnt quite eradicate it all. Although, even my wife has commented on how much better the tank looks now! So it did work, just not 100% in my case.

.........................................................(On a side note:I am sure it has nothing to do with the Fluconazole, but I lost my Firefish. I mean really lost it? If it jumped out then perhaps my cat had a snack? But it is nowhere to be found in or around the tank, and I haven't seen it for 2 weeks now. I do know that he appeared perfectly healthy last I saw it and it was eating fine.
I only list this here because I am trying to put down as much detail as I can for those following along. NOTHING ELSE was affected or changed at all in the tank! Snails, shrimp, fish, softies, LPS, SPS, coralline algae, chaeto in the sump, all perfectly fine! I think it was just one of those things. ).............................................................

 

[Fish Werx]

And, the cycle starts all over again..... Fingers crossed!

 

[Fish Werx]

Session 2, Day 1............
Ok, so I dosed last night after lights out (actually dimmed) and crossed my fingers... Not a ton of algae left from the first dose, but enough to outrace my CUC... Hoping this kicks the algae in its behind!

So, this will be my "focus rock" to keep track of the devastation! It is easily the worst piece in the tank. And its weird because it has been on the sand since the first dose. Also, you can see a tiny bit of cyano on it... Ughhh...

 

[prsnlty]

I don't have the hairs of it sticking up but do have the roots and the roots are spreading so I'm in a similar situation as you. I do think that they're spreading because my no.3 is very high. And has been from the start. I believe that if my no.3 was quite low in the first place it would have killed it off completely. And I also believe that the second dose was pretty much worthless in my case because my no.3 is still too high. At least that's what my situation seems to be. I believe the NO3 fuels the root system. Best of luck to you ! Oh and I did not get cyanobacteria at least not the red kind. I do have some green in my Sump and I've noticed a few spots here and there that are very very tiny in the DT