Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
So I have a Ocellaris clownfish a fire shrimp, 2 nassarius snails, 3 Margarita snails and a yellow watchman goby and there is some weird plant or algae growing out of my sandbed, does anybody know what it is.
Weird plant or algae growing out of sand bed
- Thread starter Kapachuka3
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Ippyroy
Defeater of Dinos
Cymopolia Barbata maybe?
Algae and Plants | Melev's Reef
ReeferWarrant
Valuable Member
It looks like bryopsis to me as well
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Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
Yeah I got it checked out and it’s bryopsis, might be getting a tuxedo to hopefully eat it
Dkmoo
Valuable Member
not sure a tuxedo would work here - 1) i'm not sure if anything really eats bryopsis as a main food so if you have other types of algae, or coraline in case of a tuxedo, then they will not really touch the bryopsis. I have a tux too and never seen it a dent on my bryopsis population. 2) its on the sandbed. Tux rarely stay in the sand.
so far the only thing that worked for me with bryopsis is H2O2 dip or Vibrant.
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Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
Oh ok, I have heard both that it eats bryopsis and some have said that it doesn’t touch it, I’ll take the chance with a tuxedo, and if it doesn’t I already kinda wanted one anyways so it’s still a win.
Dkmoo
Valuable Member
Gl!
Yeah tuxedos are awesome! I have a blue one that grew from the size of a quarter to 2 inches now. It does a great job cleaning other types of algae. It will eat a lot of coroline so keep that in mind. Also its always funny seeing it carrying rocks, snails, frags around. Just make sure u glue down anything you don't want it to pick up.
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Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
Sick man, I have a fire shrimp I have heard mixed things about tuxedos eating it do you think that would happen?
ReeferWarrant
Valuable Member
Tuxedo's are awesome, and I actually had some dwarf blue leg hermits eat some bryopsis. I always try to make sure the urchin is fed once in a while with nori though.
Dkmoo
Valuable Member
Shouldn't be a problem. Tho tuxedo urchins are technically omnivores (i think???) I don't think its fast enough to actually catch a shrimp? Esp if its happily munching on algae and coraline. Mine has been a model citizen.
I have heard anecdotal stories of urchins eating shrimp/fish, but my suspicion is that the shrimp/fish is already dead and its just doing its job as a part of the CUC
jcbasile
Active Member
If it is just that spot on the sandbed, you could also just suck it out and see if it comes back. I had patches of bryopsis in my tank and by manually removing them often over the course of a few weeks they just died off and went away before they became a serious problem
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Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
Sweet, how’d u remove them, with a net to get sand or a vacuum type thing?
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Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
How well did the hermits do at eating the bryopsis, and will they eat other snails, cause I have 2 nassarius.and 3 margarita I think
ReeferWarrant
Valuable Member
Always a risk you run with hermits, I'd go with manual removal before buying them honestly
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
As far as I know, nothing really targets bryopsis, so it’s either manual removal or chemical. I agree with above, manual removal is the first course of action.
jcbasile
Active Member
For me it was on a rock so I just pinched it and pulled it off. However, I have sucked sand out with my regular hose during a water change. If you have one of the wider tips for the pipe just take it off since they reduce the suction force and just suck out the top .25-.5 inch of sand
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