Why does Bryopsis keep coming back?

[TrishK]

We’ve treated our 180 reef 3 times now reef flux. We have tons of rock so we get enough to treat 200g. We follow the directions turning off the skimmer and removing carbon. Wait 3 weeks, do water changes. It all dies off then 2 months later it starts coming back. We’ve not added anything new to the tank in about a year. So why is it coming back? Do we need to tear apart the skimmer and bleach it before using it again? What am I missing?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

We’ve treated our 180 reef 3 times now reef flux. We have tons of rock so we get enough to treat 200g. We follow the directions turning off the skimmer and removing carbon. Wait 3 weeks, do water changes. It all dies off then 2 months later it starts coming back. We’ve not added anything new to the tank in about a year. So why is it coming back? Do we need to tear apart the skimmer and bleach it before using it again? What am I missing?

hello - that has to be super frustrating - hang in there!!

Suspecting your bryopsis is (getting) resistant. Not on the label but found somewhere online where you can dose tank at 2x rate... and that is what I did. My yellow tang did not do well (was near death a few hours after treatment start) so it 'vacationed' in QT hastily setup and then I had to reacclimate yellow tang weeks later back into main display tank (home). I also have an 180g so that meant 4 bottles since just 10 capsules in each of the bottles of Reef Flux I used - 2 bottles would be normal treatment for a 180g with ~20g sump. Corals, inverts, and all other fish did fine with Reef Flux at 2x dose, but recommend keeping an eye on everything/everyone in case you have different reaction. Yellow tangs do have reputation of being 'coal mine canaries' of reef tanks...

Since I was also doing Vibrant at same time for other nuisance algae it was so hard not to do water changes during Reef Flux treatment for our bryopsis.

My bryosis never came back, but lately I'm dealing with hair algae so bad I've finally broken down and ordered that BRS 4 FOOT UV light... it arrives today and we'll plumb it into one of my two sump return lines.

 

[TrishK]

hello - that has to be super frustrating - hang in there!!

Suspecting your bryopsis is (getting) resistant. Not on the label but found somewhere online where you can dose tank at 2x rate... and that is what I did. My yellow tang did not do well (was near death a few hours after treatment start) so it 'vacationed' in QT hastily setup and then I had to reacclimate yellow tang weeks later back into main display tank (home). I also have an 180g so that meant 4 bottles since just 10 capsules in each of the bottles of Reef Flux I used - 2 bottles would be normal treatment for a 180g with ~20g sump. Corals, inverts, and all other fish did fine with Reef Flux at 2x dose, but recommend keeping an eye on everything/everyone in case you have different reaction. Yellow tangs do have reputation of being 'coal mine canaries' of reef tanks...

Since I was also doing Vibrant at same time for other nuisance algae it was so hard not to do water changes during Reef Flux treatment for our bryopsis.

My bryosis never came back, but lately I'm dealing with hair algae so bad I've finally broken down and ordered that BRS 4 FOOT UV light... it arrives today and we'll plumb it into one of my two sump return lines.

Yeah we’ve always had a UV....my hammer, frog spawn, bird nests, torches and Duncan’s never are very happy when I do treatment but usually bounce back but I always worry. Maybe I will try 1 1/2 doses. Do you keep your skimmer off the whole 3 weeks? I was thinking the bottle said 3 days so we usually turn ours back on after 3 days but maybe we need to keep it off ‍

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Yeah we’ve always had a UV....my hammer, frog spawn, bird nests, torches and Duncan’s never are very happy when I do treatment but usually bounce back but I always worry. Maybe I will try 1 1/2 doses. Do you keep your skimmer off the whole 3 weeks? I was thinking the bottle said 3 days so we usually turn ours back on after 3 days but maybe we need to keep it off ‍

I went to my fish log (notebook) and it doesn't say when I turned skimmer back on... sorry! Also annoyed with myself for being rather sketchy in notes... though didn't remember the yellow tang looking as bad/horrible (though... near death... guess that IS bad looking...) as described in notes, so at least something was documented to help me remember.

 

[Isopod80]

I've recently dealt with bryopsis myself and the easiest method of removal for me was adding a few lettuce nudibranchs. The trick is to get the right ones due to the fact that there are 2 similar looking varieties with the same trade name. I can say from personal experience that the ones reefcleaners.org is currently selling are the bryopsis eaters. I've purchased them twice over the last few months for 2 different tanks and no more bryopsis.

 

[TrishK]

I've recently dealt with bryopsis myself and the easiest method of removal for me was adding a few lettuce nudibranchs. The trick is to get the right ones due to the fact that there are 2 similar looking varieties with the same trade name. I can say from personal experience that the ones reefcleaners.org is currently selling are the bryopsis eaters. I've purchased them twice over the last few months for 2 different tanks and no more bryopsis.

Are they tiny like the apitasia nudibranches? We had those and our peppermint shrimp ate them

 

[Isopod80]

The ones I got from reefcleaners were about 1 1/2 inches and I believe they can grow to 3"-4" total. John is a good guy. If you contact him before placing the order you can ask him to send the largest he has. I've made requests like this several times and he's always done his best to honor them. You may want to remove the shrimp temporarily to be safe. Also try to cover intakes/powerheads etc. to protect the nudibranchs. They tend to find their way into these things. I made some guards from perforated sections of water bottles and it worked great. Some claim that the younger ones are more effective as the adults rely more on photosynthesis than actively feeding but I personally haven't seen evidence of this. Removing the shrimp as I mentioned is probably best.

 

[TrishK]

The ones I got from reefcleaners were about 1 1/2 inches and I believe they can grow to 3"-4" total. John is a good guy. If you contact him before placing the order you can ask him to send the largest he has. I've made requests like this several times and he's always done his best to honor them. You may want to remove the shrimp temporarily to be safe. Also try to cover intakes/powerheads etc. to protect the nudibranchs. They tend to find their way into these things. I made some guards from perforated sections of water bottles and it worked great. Some claim that the younger ones are more effective as the adults rely more on photosynthesis than actively feeding but I personally haven't seen evidence of this. Removing the shrimp as I mentioned is probably best.

Oh I tried to remove the shrimp for days on end with the bottle traps and everything else we could think of and they were just to smart to fall for it. I think we’re stuck with them until they croak We have way too many rocks and nooks and crannies and holes for them to hide in and too much coral growing we can’t remove any of it. It’s so frustrating. We’re dealing with the apitasia too. The “real” peppermint shrimp seem to have taken care of some of those as well as the file fish we got and we nuke the others with lemon juice. Always one thing after another...oh and did I mention the vermetid snails?

 

[Isopod80]

For what it's worth it have a pom pom crab that decimated two berghia within seconds of adding them to my tank. He smelled them from a mile away. He doesn't even attempt to bother the lettuce nudis. Neither does my skunk cleaner. In fact nobody does. It might still be worth a try. Like I mentioned earlier you could ask John if he could send larger ones if possible. At $6 each you won't find them cheaper. Most places ask at least twice that.