Treating Turf Algae with Fluconazole

[foshizzle]

Flucanazole did a great job on some stubborn patches of red hair algae and GHA in my tank. It took 90 days before the red stuff disappeared but my dosage was a little light. My tank is full of SPS and nothing showed ill effects.

 

[Jose Mayo]

Yes, some structures are very reminiscent of how Bryopsis californica grows. Depending on the degree of infestation, it may be worth trying fluconazole.

Regards

 

[Dlealrious]

Yes, some structures are very reminiscent of how Bryopsis californica grows. Depending on the degree of infestation, it may be worth trying fluconazole.

Regards

Thank you for your help with this. Its really not that bad like. I have been smashed with h202 so patches are minimal. Just want to rid before i go away for 7 weeks in a few months

 

[Nik Mason]

Hi
Dlealrious, this is my experience with Fluconazole from another post.

I am from Cardiff Uk,
I know the correct advice is to find out the cause but its frustrating when you think your doing all you can and the GHA still persist,
I had it bad recently, on every rock and smothering my corals whilst I tried different approaches to get rid of it, but I have totally wiped it out, heres how:-
Look on youtube for Fluconazole treatment of GHA.
Its a treatment for human Thrush
In the stores its £5.99 for ONE capsule!!!
So I went and had a chat with my chemist [ not sure he believed me when I said i need a Thrush treatment for my marine tank but he was game ] he can buy them for 39p from Bristol labs, he sold them to me for £1 each,
I have a 700ltr tank so I needed 18 capsules for a 21day treatment, holt cow it is amazing!
Started to see results about day 3, the ends of the GHA started going grey / white, I added the powder inside the capsules [ not the capsules ] 18days later and I kid you not, its all gone, absolutely amazing!
my filter socks needed changing every day as the GHA came out, I stopped GFO and carbon and I took the skimmer cup off but left the skimmer running.
Lastly I have not lost any animals and all my rocks and sand a clean.
Best regards,
Nik

 

[PhreeByrd]

As Jose says, it is vital to have some idea of the species of algae you're dealing with. 'Turf algae' and 'GHA' are pretty meaningless terms, and although there are treatment strategies that will affect all alga to some extent, some treatments work best on certain types of algae, so it's important to know what you're dealing with.

One can always spot a novice because he's the one who says 'Product X' killed all my (Generic term) algae. I would strongly advise against taking any advice offered in that vein. After reading multitudes of algae-related posts and threads, I'm even pretty skeptical that a lot of people who seem to have positively identified a pest algae have actually done so with real certainty. Dumping chemicals into your reef without all the facts is playing with fire.

Scrubbing rocks in an effort to remove algae is a complete waste of time. You cannot remove all the algae this way, and assuming no other changes to water conditions or husbandry, it will just grow back (quite possibly more virulently, since you have probably also scrubbed off much of its competition).

I agree that the OP's algae looks very Bryopsis-like. I'm not positively convinced, but I'd say it's pretty likely. A real closeup might help.

 

[Arringar]

As Jose says, it is vital to have some idea of the species of algae you're dealing with. 'Turf algae' and 'GHA' are pretty meaningless terms, and although there are treatment strategies that will affect all alga to some extent, some treatments work best on certain types of algae, so it's important to know what you're dealing with.

One can always spot a novice because he's the one who says 'Product X' killed all my (Generic term) algae. I would strongly advise against taking any advice offered in that vein. After reading multitudes of algae-related posts and threads, I'm even pretty skeptical that a lot of people who seem to have positively identified a pest algae have actually done so with real certainty. Dumping chemicals into your reef without all the facts is playing with fire.

Scrubbing rocks in an effort to remove algae is a complete waste of time. You cannot remove all the algae this way, and assuming no other changes to water conditions or husbandry, it will just grow back (quite possibly more virulently, since you have probably also scrubbed off much of its competition).

I agree that the OP's algae looks very Bryopsis-like. I'm not positively convinced, but I'd say it's pretty likely. A real closeup might help.

I agree here. Looking at it up close and determining if the growth pattern is branching or simple filamentous in nature is the only way to really determine what you’re dealing with. It can be challenging to take close up photos that capture this level of detail.

I still stand behind my original thought after seeing your most recent photos. I believe it is some variant of bryopsis.

You cannot treat bryopsis infestation with low nutrients, or even 0 nutrients (zero nutrients is a myth anyway). Fluconazole is the only method I am aware of that reliably works. Put simply, it inhibits chemical processes required for cell wall stability. It will appear to literally melt or dissolve away.

 

[Arringar]

As a follow up, I’d also like to point out that I treated my 90 gallon very heavily stocked SPS tank with Fluconazole and did not experience a single issue.

The algae was gone within 4 days. I started the removal process on the 7th day. No sign of it since, that was almost a year ago.

 

[Dlealrious]

Hi
Dlealrious, this is my experience with Fluconazole from another post.

I am from Cardiff Uk,
I know the correct advice is to find out the cause but its frustrating when you think your doing all you can and the GHA still persist,
I had it bad recently, on every rock and smothering my corals whilst I tried different approaches to get rid of it, but I have totally wiped it out, heres how:-
Look on youtube for Fluconazole treatment of GHA.
Its a treatment for human Thrush
In the stores its £5.99 for ONE capsule!!!
So I went and had a chat with my chemist [ not sure he believed me when I said i need a Thrush treatment for my marine tank but he was game ] he can buy them for 39p from Bristol labs, he sold them to me for £1 each,
I have a 700ltr tank so I needed 18 capsules for a 21day treatment, holt cow it is amazing!
Started to see results about day 3, the ends of the GHA started going grey / white, I added the powder inside the capsules [ not the capsules ] 18days later and I kid you not, its all gone, absolutely amazing!
my filter socks needed changing every day as the GHA came out, I stopped GFO and carbon and I took the skimmer cup off but left the skimmer running.
Lastly I have not lost any animals and all my rocks and sand a clean.
Best regards,
Nik

Awesome, it's act

Hi
Dlealrious, this is my experience with Fluconazole from another post.

I am from Cardiff Uk,
I know the correct advice is to find out the cause but its frustrating when you think your doing all you can and the GHA still persist,
I had it bad recently, on every rock and smothering my corals whilst I tried different approaches to get rid of it, but I have totally wiped it out, heres how:-
Look on youtube for Fluconazole treatment of GHA.
Its a treatment for human Thrush
In the stores its £5.99 for ONE capsule!!!
So I went and had a chat with my chemist [ not sure he believed me when I said i need a Thrush treatment for my marine tank but he was game ] he can buy them for 39p from Bristol labs, he sold them to me for £1 each,
I have a 700ltr tank so I needed 18 capsules for a 21day treatment, holt cow it is amazing!
Started to see results about day 3, the ends of the GHA started going grey / white, I added the powder inside the capsules [ not the capsules ] 18days later and I kid you not, its all gone, absolutely amazing!
my filter socks needed changing every day as the GHA came out, I stopped GFO and carbon and I took the skimmer cup off but left the skimmer running.
Lastly I have not lost any animals and all my rocks and sand a clean.
Best regards,
Nik

Always good to hear no casualties. It's hard to get here in oz but luckily my mrs has a good relationship with her doc so I was able to get 10g of it. Only need half that but thought why not. Helped another local guy out with the half of it. My tank is 600lt total so was thinking of dosing 3000mg as I don't have a lot of it

 

[Dlealrious]

These guys have done a great job of clearing most of the patches in display!! Only problem they keep climbing on the corals and ticking them off. Will dose this weekend and see how it goes.

 

[Dlealrious]

As a follow up, I’d also like to point out that I treated my 90 gallon very heavily stocked SPS tank with Fluconazole and did not experience a single issue.

The algae was gone within 4 days. I started the removal process on the 7th day. No sign of it since, that was almost a year ago.

When you say removal did you just scrub rocks in tank or remove?

 

[Arringar]

When you say removal did you just scrub rocks in tank or remove?

I resumed skimming and added carbon plus a 5% water change. Because I removed it early I did not do any further water changes outside of normal, which for me is a 1% water change daily performed via automation. I should also point out that I used the full recommended dose.

I ended the treatment because without skimming my pH was dropping below my personal comfort zone. My system uses the zeovit method and the corresponding low KH (6.5) didn’t offer sufficient buffer capacity to prevent the pH from falling to potentially dangerous levels. The outside air that runs through a co2 absorption material into my skimmer intake keeps the pH well above 8.0 at all times. Without it this drops to around 7.8 at night.

 

[Dlealrious]

I resumed skimming and added carbon plus a 5% water change. Because I removed it early I did not do any further water changes outside of normal, which for me is a 1% water change daily performed via automation. I should also point out that I used the full recommended dose.

I ended the treatment because without skimming my pH was dropping below my personal comfort zone. My system uses the zeovit method and the corresponding low KH (6.5) didn’t offer sufficient buffer capacity to prevent the pH from falling to potentially dangerous levels. The outside air that runs through a co2 absorption material into my skimmer intake keeps the pH well above 8.0 at all times. Without it this drops to around 7.8 at night.

Ohh ok removal of meds. thanks

 

[Lasse]

I really do not understand you folks. If the hermits doing their job (and I know they do) - why you risk your whole aquaria with using a chemical? I have 40 + hermits of different species in my aquaria (together with snails, urchins, crabs and sea cumbers) PO4 levels between 0.04 and 0.1, NO3 levels about 2 - 16 ppm. One of my crabs is normally very busy cleaning my corals.





Sincerely Lasse

Any algae I do not want to have - Nope

 

[futureinterest]

It doesn't look like bryopsis to me. I agree that getting more grazers will help. Some hair algae growth is a sign of a healthy reef tank frankly. Having the right livestock in place to deal with it is the key.

 

[Arringar]

I really do not understand you folks. If the hermits doing their job (and I know they do) - why you risk your whole aquaria with using a chemical? I have 40 + hermits of different species in my aquaria (together with snails, urchins, crabs and sea cumbers) PO4 levels between 0.04 and 0.1, NO3 levels about 2 - 16 ppm. One of my crabs is normally very busy cleaning my corals.





Sincerely Lasse

Any algae I do not want to have - Nope

After treating my tank with fluconazole to eliminate a large algae growth issue I did add significant numbers of hermits and tiger trochus snails. They prevent food waste and small amounts of algae from becoming a problem over time.

That being said, grazers are not always effective with a large algae outbreak regardless of the cause.

Great videos, thanks for sharing.

 

[Dlealrious]

Nice video Lasse. After adding the hermits on the weekend i do agree with you, they have been doing a pretty good job so far. I added one of the larger ones to my frag tank last night. Will see how it goes cleaning plugs on egg crate. already bulldozed some over. Like is said earlier my only reason for wanting to add meds is im away for a 7 weeks in a few months so really dont want to come back to algae overload with a friend watching the tank. If i wasn't going away i wouldn't be adding anything for it. I have waited 3 months so far since i first saw this stuff growing but controlled it with h202(bloody zoa frag had it, one of my first corals so had no idea what is was)

 

[bluewill]

Using Fluconazole really isn't a risk, its not just " dumping chemicals in your tank" as stated above. It is a medicine actually a Fungicide used to treat fungal and yeast infections ( go figure) in humans , and has absolutely been proven to eliminate Byropsis and GHA from an aquarium system. I would be pretty sure looking at your photo's that your Turf algae is Bryopsis. I have dealt with outbreaks on and off for 30 years . Just recently after an outbreak , I read this this whole Thread
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/b...sing-fluconazole.285096/page-257#post-4831059
all 250 pages , and was convinced enough that the risks were low.

5 days of treatment following previous Reefers recommendations , and had complete 100 % removal of Bryopsis , and 95 % removal of GHA although now i think 100% .
No adverse effects to any SPS , LPS, Fish, Invertebrates ect , as a matter of fact most users ( read thread ) have their systems have never looked better .
I am the biggest sceptic in the world and have never used any medication or like substances since I've been doing this from the late 80's .
I saw a video on line where Jason Fox discussed ending his 10 year struggle with bryopsis with a couple of capsules. and never has worried about it since.
Read the thread and make an educated decision to try or not

 

[Jose Mayo]

Well ... it was determined by the sea gods that I discovered the effects of fluconazole on nuisance algae in the year 2013 when I was treating a clown ocellaris that had acquired fungus and realized that at the same time that the ocellaris improved, the algae from the glass and the rocks disappeared. Since the first observation, many tests and then the report of the discovery, I have had some disappointments and many joys ...

The reasons that made me face the resistance and disbelief of many fellow aquarists at that time were the same as I have today and that are only to make available to colleagues an additional tool whose use proved safe in thousands of experiments , able to control with relative ease and low cost one of the worst pests that invaded our aquariums, the seaweed Bryopsis, in front of which many companions were defeated in the battle and gave up.

I was never moved by a commercial interest in this. I never gave in to the thought of making a "proprietary formula" with a "secret ingredient" and a beautiful brand to make money from it. I studied the product as deeply as I could to clarify the mechanism of action that allowed the control of these nuisance algae by fluconazole and I think I was able to discover that in these algae the main structural lipid, responsible for the integrity of the membrane and cell wall of these algae, was ERGOSTEROL, the same structural lipid of the fungus cell walls as fluconazole.

There were more happy coincidences; Fortunately, fluconazole did not compromise the synthesis pathways of other structural lipids present in macroalgae (especially red ones), dinoflagellates, bacteria, protozoa and, more importantly, did not compromise any route of synthesis of any structural lipid present in animal cellular tissues micro or macro, whose main constituent is CHOLESTEROL, so it was safe for any living being in the aquarium except fungus and some nuisance algae.

Today, unlike just 2 years ago, I have the joy of reading, on all the good aquarium websites on the planet, that when problematic and difficult-to-control algae appear in an aquarium, the first concern and secret desire of the reefkeeper is that Bryopsis, because he knows that if they are, all they need is fluconazole, and their victory in battle will be guaranteed.

And this is the "profit" I receive from my personal investment in developing this method of treatment: that joy!

Regards

 

[Lasse]

After treating my tank with fluconazole to eliminate a large algae growth issue I did add significant numbers of hermits and tiger trochus snails. They prevent food waste and small amounts of algae from becoming a problem over time.

That being said, grazers are not always effective with a large algae outbreak regardless of the cause.

Great videos, thanks for sharing.

Important remark. Introducing a clean up crew as early as possible ( read - the moment you turn on your light) has always been my trademark Most algae have a very short population dubbling time and at a certain moment - the daily production is higher than the daily consumption. Introducing CUC as early as first week give you a algae free start.

@Jose Mayo With the knowledge that flucanozole is a known inhibitor of a certain enzyme in the P-450 enzyme cascade can you ensure that you do not get sub lethal effects on fish? IMO - it is important to stress that dissolve a drug in a saltwater aquaria is nearly the same as give fish the drug oral. Salt water species drink - fresh water species does not. The enzyme that flucanozole inhibits in fungus (and probably byropsis)
is a part off formation of cholesterol at least in humans. In plants it have shown that the same enzyme is an important pathway of forming other sterols.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Jose Mayo]

@Jose Mayo With the knowledge that flucanozole is a known inhibitor of a certain enzyme in the P-450 enzyme cascade can you ensure that you do not get sub lethal effects on fish? IMO - it is important to stress that dissolve a drug in a saltwater aquaria is nearly the same as give fish the drug oral. Salt water species drink - fresh water species does not. The enzyme that flucanozole inhibits in fungus (and probably byropsis)
is a part off formation of cholesterol at least in humans. In plants it have shown that the same enzyme is an important pathway of forming other sterols.

Sincerely Lasse

So Lasse, the difference between what is "remedy" and what is "poison", whether to humans, other animals or plants, has always been the dose. Fluconazole inhibits the enzyme 14α-demethylase (CYP51) of the cytochrome P450 system but has not been shown to be an important inhibitor of the synthesis of other sterols in addition to ergosterol in its field studies and, in relation to cholesterol, no inhibition was observed with clinical importance. Also, in relation to toxicity, its LD50 in animals is very high, well beyond the recommended doses for the eradication of nuisance algae, so much so that there is not a single case of animals affected by the use of this medication, in the 5 years in which its action on some of these algae is known.

Regards