Treating Bryopsis and Valonia as Desirable Macroalgae?

[WheatToast]

We have all heard about strenuous, frustrating battles against the Sea fern (Bryopsis sp.) and Bubble algae (Valonia sp.), but can they be viewed in a positive light?

I have heard, on a few occasions, that Bryopsis and Valonia are excellent additions to planted marine aquariums for their nutrient uptake and appearance (my opinion, Valonia is one of the most beautiful algae varieties). Does anyone have experience/thoughts on this matter? How well can other macroalgae compete with them? Please post!

Example images:
Stunning Bryopsis specimen
Valonia in Tigahboy's aquarium
Valonia (bottom left)

P.S. You can buy them on eBay:
Live Frag Bryopsis Marine Macro Algae Plant Refugium Saltwater
Live Bryopsis Frag Marine Macro Algae Plant Reef Refugium Saltwater
Live Frag Green Valonia Marine Macro Algae Plant Saltwater Marine Velonia
Live Green Velonia Frag Macro Algae Plant Refugium Saltwater

 

[lapin]

I have both in my reef tank. They were not added as something to look at. However they make good food for some of my fish. I can see where if let go to their own devices they could take over a tank.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

I battled bryopsis a long time ago, nothing ate it ever and it quickly got out of control. Valonia on the other hand does not stand a chance against my foxface.

 

[Borat]

I lived with valonia for a year - the most annoying this is it likes to establish itself/live in the middle of zoa colonies. Did a 2 month vibrant treatment and it seems all valonia is gone. No - it's not a good algae to have in your tank (but GHA is and I always have had some bryopsis harmlessly growing my my sump).

Foxface eats the larger valonia bubbles (the small ones in between rocks - it will simply not reach due to its size), but (1) you need a large tank for this fish (5 foot +) and (2) you need to starve it to make it eat valonia and (3) it's somewhat of a lazy and strange fish (that I had for a year)..

 

[WheatToast]

I battled bryopsis a long time ago, nothing ate it ever and it quickly got out of control. Valonia on the other hand does not stand a chance against my foxface.

I lived with valonia for a year - the most annoying this is it likes to establish itself/live in the middle of zoa colonies. Did a 2 month vibrant treatment and it seems all valonia is gone. No - it's not a good algae to have in your tank (but GHA is and I always have had some bryopsis harmlessly growing my my sump).

Foxface eats the larger valonia bubbles (the small ones in between rocks - it will simply not reach due to its size), but (1) you need a large tank for this fish (5 foot +) and (2) you need to starve it to make it eat valonia and (3) it's somewhat of a lazy and strange fish (that I had for a year)..

Oh, sorry. I am asking for experiences with growing Bryopsis and Valonia in a planted marine aquarium, not how to eliminate them.

 

[F i s h y]

Them bubbles get big...

 

[LegendaryCG]

Oh, sorry. I am asking for experiences with growing Bryopsis and Valonia in a planted marine aquarium, not how to eliminate them.

I mean this is about as challenging as growing an aptasia tank. Literally do nothing and they both will be wildly successful.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Them bubbles get big...

Largest unicellular organism known to man. Yes, that is a single cell.

 

[Just John]

...and keep getting bigger!

Could start a nano tank for just one bubble. A single cell nano.

 

[Smite]

I always go full whites when I'm removing either GHA or bryopsis. I have to say, top down through a viewer the bryposis I had was actually very nice looking. It was a very dark green/blue feather look. I could see how some could like it and to be honest, yes it spreads easy but its very easy to manually remove. Compared to GHA at least.

 

[WheatToast]

Largest unicellular organism known to man. Yes, that is a single cell.

I thought that title belonged to Caulerpa taxifolia.

 

[WheatToast]

I mean this is about as challenging as growing an aptasia tank. Literally do nothing and they both will be wildly successful.

But do you have any experience with growing them in planted aquariums/how well can they compete with other macroalgae?

 

[LegendaryCG]

I thought that title belonged to Caulerpa taxifolia.

They both compete for that title. I’m sticking within my original answer.

 

[LegendaryCG]

But do you have any experience with growing them in planted aquariums/how well can they compete with other macroalgae?

I’ve grown them with chaeto, gha, turf algae, dragons breath, and ulva. They always did very strongly and tended to out compete favorable Macros.

 

[Tamberav]

The bryopsis can grow right on desirable macro and out compete and smother it easily. Bubble algae would not worry me.

 

[WheatToast]

@inland_reef
@EverydayAquarist
@AlgaeBarn
@Mibu
What do you guys think?

 

[Goaway]

I had an invasion of byropsis in my old aquarium. I was growing chaetomorpha, grape caulerpa (safe) and fern caulerpa (this one is bad, everyone knows why). Byropsis wasn't nearly as bad as I have read. GHA was far worse. It all took place after my heater malfunctioned and cooked my tank. Anyhow. Keeping these 3 algae, I could never grow any form of red algae. I know I wasn't doing something right. So, most likely my fault. Seriously.

Algae scaping is so complicated. I possess no skills in making them look pretty, or keeping reds and greens alive. Grape caulerpa is beautiful! It sits in my sump in a giant clump. I use it to feed my foxface. Chaeto for nutrient export. But, they do not out compete each other. Both have a nice growth rate.

Byropsis, I would imagine would need to be controlled like GHA. But, GHA is far more a weed and easier to hand remove. I just wouldn't play with byropsis. I would imagine it could out compete the more desirable algaes. Dragon tongue or red finger algae (scinaia complanata). Which I would love to keep.


Now isn't that beautiful?

Now valonia, I love the look of the clusters. Never had an issue with this algae. It removes easy, plenty of predators. So, I never see it in my tank. Also, there is a red variety. I did not have luck growing it in my sump.

None of these are my pictures.

If you know how to take care of water foliage and scape with it. Yes, you can make these invaders look beautiful. Because they are. Knowing how to care for your algae is far more difficult in my own opinion, much more difficult than fish keeping.

 

[inland_reef]

That red bubble algae grows pretty well in my tanks as it’s a really bad nuisance to gorgonians. I guess in the wild they tend to smother gorgonians and kill them off with their rapid growth. I keep mine in check but it’s a really pretty species to have in my tank.

Going back to the main question, I actually enjoy these macro species. Some consider them nuisance but I have come to deal with the fact that they are competing for the same nutrients that other macros are fighting for. They do tend to have a potential to outcompete more favorable macros although there are a lot more macro species that can outcompete them with rapid growth (caulerpa is your friend). Where I worry the most about these types outcompeting is with the slow growing macro algae. I recently did a pretty significant trim on my macro tank to open up more flow again and the little hair algae I used to have and manage absolutely took over smothering the slow moving macros. I also have a significant amount of bubble algae on the rock work. My fault the pendulum swung the other direction because of my quick removal of fast growing nutrient sinks. But I enjoy it’s presence just as much as the more fashionable ones. They serve a purpose like someone said Nutrient export. So with my lack of nicer macros exporting those nutrients something had to step up and take over

I have a new setup that I’m actively letting turf algae grow on the sand bed. Looks like little patches of moss. Anyone else in their right mind of a normal mixed reef would remove it but I think it looks sweet and adds to the overall aesthetic of the natural macroalgae style display

bryopsis is so much easier in my mind to control than hair algae. It usually grows in tufts. Wait for it to get large enough to pinch and boom removed. Hair algae or even the fine filamentous algae that grows on everything sucks to deal with but that’s what blue legged hermits are for as well as salt water mollies, provided that your tank doesn’t have a ton of flow (they’re not great swimmers) and no predators to eat them.

my 2 cents. Interested to hear more

 

[WheatToast]

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[WheatToast]

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