To Fluconaloze or not to Fluconazone - that is the question?

[MikeCRK]

Hey Everyone!
I have spotted Bryopsis in my new tank.
Question is, shall I use Fluconazole or give it a bit time? Hermit and snail grazed on it a bit. It is a fresh tank, just going through the plagues, so I am not sure if safe to treat with the medicine.

Please help

I do not have any strong feelings towards using medicine in the tank


EDit: I just noticed each time I typed: Fluconazole I did it different (wrong) hahaha

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

just the one rock? you can pull and dip in hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey Everyone!
I have spotted Bryopsis in my new tank.
Question is, shall I use Fluconazole or give it a bit time? Hermit and snail grazed on it a bit. It is a fresh tank, just going through the plagues, so I am not sure if safe to treat with the medicine.

Please help

I do not have any strong feelings towards using medicine in the tank


EDit: I just noticed each time I typed: Fluconazole I did it different (wrong) hahaha

Flux and vibrant are often an alternative and Not a solution. This looks like bryopsis which is one of the more challenging of algae due to need of its complete removal. Removal is best accomplished by taking the rock out of tank and placing in a container of tank water. Then you will want to pull as much as you can by hand and discard. With a dental pick or small crochet needle, pull the roots off the rock. YOU MUST GET EVERY ROOT OR IT WILL SIMPLY RETURN !! This is why just peroxide or flux will rarely work.
After you are done return rock to tank and reduce white light intensity and even hours of white light and add the following cleaners which will help with control. These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails

This procedure is not as bad or time consuming as it seems. Assure phosphate levels do not become elevated which helps feed this algae

 

[MikeCRK]

@Jason_MrFrags @vetteguy53081

Thanks!

It is mostly on this one rock at front, but also in some other parts of the tank. I do not have an option to take my main rock out. I do not have whites on only blues right now (60%). I have a bright room, so that would do enough of white spectrum in this case (Bryopsis' rock does not have direct light). I was using white at 20% but did not have any issues with algae.

So reading it tells me only medical extermination would help against it. The question is will that affect my fresh and not that stable tank?

PS. Hydrogen peroxide is a great stuff for killing algae and cyanos in spots. I used that over the years in my freshwater tanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

@Jason_MrFrags @vetteguy53081

Thanks!

It is mostly on this one rock at front, but also in some other parts of the tank. I do not have an option to take my main rock out. I do not have whites on only blues right now (60%). I have a bright room, so that would do enough of white spectrum in this case (Bryopsis' rock does not have direct light). I was using white at 20% but did not have any issues with algae.

So reading it tells me only medical extermination would help against it. The question is will that affect my fresh and not that stable tank?

PS. Hydrogen peroxide is a great stuff for killing algae and cyanos in spots. I used that over the years in my freshwater tanks

In freshwater it works better but in salt with trace elements its an oxidizer. You will have to pick of roots with dental pick or you will be back to square one. I never add more than 1.5 - 2ml per 10 gallons
For windows, the power of UV will do this and UV will penetrate shades/blinds/curtains as I suspected bright lighting
Assure Phosphates not elevated. Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?

 

[MikeCRK]

In freshwater it works better but in salt with trace elements its an oxidizer. You will have to pick of roots with dental pick or you will be back to square one. I never add more than 1.5 - 2ml per 10 gallons
For windows, the power of UV will do this and UV will penetrate shades/blinds/curtains as I suspected bright lighting
Assure Phosphates not elevated. Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet?

My tank runs on ocean water (so I am not surprised with hitchhikers) and top ups with DI. It is going through an ugly phase now, so that is why I am cautious.
So I was going to treat it with meds. Peroxide leaves not only a lot of trace elements but also causes dead parts to explode and feed others...

I will drop the photo later when back at home.

 

[Aaron75]

I'll add my relatively recent experience with fluco that seems to be the trend. Flucanazole absolutely cleared up my bryopsis. It even eliminated my GHA and left my tank temporarily spotless. Since then though, I've had a cyano outbreak and currently have dinos. Flucanazole definitely works well for bryopsis but a common trend is that it results in some instability afterwards. In this case, i would absolutely support the manual removal as recommended above.

 

[exnisstech]

I'll add my relatively recent experience with fluco that seems to be the trend. Flucanazole absolutely cleared up my bryopsis. It even eliminated my GHA and left my tank temporarily spotless. Since then though, I've had a cyano outbreak and currently have dinos. Flucanazole definitely works well for bryopsis but a common trend is that it results in some instability afterwards. In this case, i would absolutely support the manual removal as recommended above.

This has been my experience as well. I had a tank that was pretty covered with green hair algae along with some bubble algae and bryopsis. I treated with Flux rx and now the tank is completely covered in cyano. Corals are growing great now but if I had to do it over I don't think I would use Flux.

 

[All_talk]

...These guys will consume bryopsis but not as fast as bryopsis can grow - They will never keep up.
Pin cushion urchin, Chiton snails, pitho crabs, and larger astrea snails...

I'm not intending to be argumentative but...

This has not been my experience. I went from a tank full of bryopsis (had been for years) to almost none with nothing more than a some manual removal and a big cleanup crew. I had already had a pincushion urchin and it certainly did not keep up, but with the addition of a large CUC I think it forced some competition for food and the bryopsis was now on the menu. I will say it took some time, serval months in fact. The included picture help tell that story.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm not intending to be argumentative but...

This has not been my experience. I went from a tank full of bryopsis (had been for years) to almost none with nothing more than a some manual removal and a big cleanup crew. I had already had a pincushion urchin and it certainly did not keep up, but with the addition of a large CUC I think it forced some competition for food and the bryopsis was now on the menu. I will say it took some time, serval months in fact. The included picture help tell that story.

A big crew will be a different story. problem id when food source diminishes, you have to provide adequate food source. You have consider the tank size as some cannot accommodate a large CUC but the key here in my response- This is a fresh tank according to OP- not one you dump a large CUC into at this time

 

[All_talk]

A big crew will be a different story. problem id when food source diminishes, you have to provide adequate food source. You have consider the tank size as some cannot accommodate a large CUC but the key here in my response- This is a fresh tank according to OP- not one you dump a large CUC into at this time

Fair enough.

 

[MikeCRK]

That all makes sense, in my case the issue is access and very young tank.

1. a very young tank means I would rather not make any revolutionary things in it as it will be getting stable longer afterwards
2. I am unable to take the rock out, the small ones sure! Bryo grows on the back of the tank too, I have no option but to scrub it. The piece of rock from the first photo was the one at the front on the left.

Here is the photo of my little jar:

So I was thinking based on your suggestions.

1. try to mechanically clean it as much as I can for now
2. use fluco if not ending/getting smaller
3. after finishing fluco treatment apply chemiclean to get rid of cyano (if needed)

I know quite invasive but should work fine.

I am thinking about Blenny to graze on it

 

[Harold999]

Did use fluco for hair algae, worked great, but it returned in full glory within weeks.