Feather looking Algea

[csal1-175]

Best way to remove this stuff without pulling LR

 

[nayrgaijin]

Do you have pictures ?
Maybe raising the Magnesium to 1500+

 

[AZDesertRat]

A Lettuce Nudibranch will eat bryopsis in nothing flat. You will want to have a place to re home the nudibranch though or make arrangements to return it to the LFS because it will soon starve. They have a very select diet and

 

[Acroholic]

Best way to remove this stuff without pulling LR

I suggest you do a search here and other forums (the one with the tang on the home page) under "bryopsis". Confirm that is what you have, then research what people do to treat it.

You might also do a Google/Yahoo under "Tech M for bryopsis".

Good luck. Bryopsis is a plague.

 

[subielover]

A Lettuce Nudibranch will eat bryopsis in nothing flat. You will want to have a place to re home the nudibranch though or make arrangements to return it to the LFS because it will soon starve. They have a very select diet and

I thought lettuce nudis were hit or miss with bryopsis.

 

[benny z]

I thought lettuce nudis were hit or miss with bryopsis.

i can confirm this. personally, i've never seen a lettuce nudi that does eat it.

the op could also be describing feather caulerpa. pic would really help w/ the id.

 

[AZDesertRat]

I have had bryopsis in three different systems over the last 15 years and never had a problem with a Lettuce Nudibranch not eating it, they love the stuff. They are inexpensive and always available at my LFS. I would give one a shot, I think you'll be quite pleased. Once they ate it it never returned in any of the systems.

http://fish.suite101.com/article.cfm/bryopsis_a_common_pest_in_aquaria

 

[benny z]

funny - none of the other fish they've suggested to keep it under control have eaten it ime either:

Some tangs, such as those from the Zebrasoma and Ctenochaetus families may keep it in control, but because the pest can be embedded in the rock quite deeply, it can come right back. If you have a large tank, a Naso tang would also enjoy eating it. Other fish known to be willing to try this alga are: the lawnmower or algae blenny and the bi-colour blenny.

*shrug* - everything is hit or miss in this hobby!

 

[AZDesertRat]

I wonder if you had feathery caulerpa and not bryopsis? I know the nudibranchs won't touch caulerpa. They can be confused.

 

[akabryanhall]

Things I hate in the world:
1. Old Navy Commercials
2. Rapers or molesters
3. Murderers
4. Bryopsis

 

[akabryanhall]

Tofu can safely round out the top 5.

Raising your magnesium slowly to 1500 and over has worked for some, but it is crucial that you keep it constant, that means dosing daily sometimes twice a day to keep it level. Your corals will thank you.
Nudi branch did not work for me neither did any fish I tried.

My tip, transfer all livestock into another tank and bake rock in the sun for 5 days, maybe add 2 or 3 days out of spite.

 

[benny z]

I wonder if you had feathery caulerpa and not bryopsis? I know the nudibranchs won't touch caulerpa. They can be confused.

i have neither. but yes, i do know the difference. i have clients who have and who have had bryopsis. a good friend of mine has a 2000g system in his restaurant that became overcome with bryopsis some time ago. needless to say this is a HUGE tank with lots of tangs and other herbivores. we tried dozens of nudis at a time... finally we gave up on natural predators and raised mag to 1600 and held it there for a long time. took about 6 months, but it finally all whithered away, and the tank has been bryopsis free for the past 2 years. during the treatement time we also increased water changes, doubled the amount of gfo we were using (a full 5-gallon bucket!), and reduced feedings.

 

[Acroholic]

I have had bryopsis in three different systems over the last 15 years and never had a problem with a Lettuce Nudibranch not eating it, they love the stuff. They are inexpensive and always available at my LFS. I would give one a shot, I think you'll be quite pleased. Once they ate it it never returned in any of the systems.

Bryopsis: A Common Pest in Aquaria: An unsightly, green alga that herbivores dislike to eat. | Suite101.com

If they would eat it all, then that would be the easiest solution. But many hobbyists report they are only hit and miss (example):
Bryopsis & Lettuce Nudibranchs - Nano-Reef.com Forums

If they worked well all the time, IMO, people would just buy them and not spend a lot more money on tech m, etc. You can buy them MO for as little as $5.99 each:
Elysia crispata "Lettuce Nudibranch" | Sea Slugs & Nudibranchs | Saltwater Invertebrates | Aquarium Livestock - ThatPetPlace.com__


To me, caulerpa and bryopsis look totally different.

 

[Acroholic]

i have neither. but yes, i do know the difference. i have clients who have and who have had bryopsis. a good friend of mine has a 2000g system in his restaurant that became overcome with bryopsis some time ago. needless to say this is a HUGE tank with lots of tangs and other herbivores. we tried dozens of nudis at a time... finally we gave up on natural predators and raised mag to 1600 and held it there for a long time. took about 6 months, but it finally all whithered away, and the tank has been bryopsis free for the past 2 years. during the treatement time we also increased water changes, doubled the amount of gfo we were using (a full 5-gallon bucket!), and reduced feedings.

Only thing that worked for me was to raise the mag levels to 2000 with Tech M, leave it there for 2 weeks, then just let it fall naturally thru regular (not increased) water changes, so for at least 6 weeks it was much higher than normal. Haven't seen any return in several months now.

Lots of people report that just raising mag levels doesn't work, and Tech M is the only thing that does, which tells me (just my feeling) that it is something in the Tech M, and not the magnesium itself, that is getting rid of the Bryopsis. You'll find some folks reporting that they got rid of it using mag sulfate (epsom salts), but far more report that jsut using bulk magnesium additives did nothing for their bryopsis.

Take a look at the old label info from Tech M. This is from the Drs Foster Smith tech M product page under "more information". They have a new label that states the only ingredients are mag sulfate and mag chloride, I believe, but if they haven't changed the formula, look at the other 19-20 trace elements that could be killing the Bryopsis:
>
Contents:
Deionized water containing the following elements (as ions): magnesium, chlorine, sulfur, calcium, potassium, bromine, strontium, boron, fluorine, lithium, rubidium, iodine, iron, molybdenum, zinc, nickel, copper, manganese, vanadium, cesium, cobalt, tungsten, selenium, and chromium.
>

Personally, I think the trace copper is the killer. One side effect I noticed from the Tech M treatment is that I lose some Turbos, which would go right along with copper in the system. Adn copper is also used in commercial algaecides.
Dave

 

[benny z]

could very well be the case. it was indeed tech-m that we used on that system, too. being that it was going on 3 years ago, i'd suspect it was the "old" formula, if they did indeed change it. we bought it in huge commercial containers, as i'm sure you are aware it takes *a lot* of tech-m to raise 2000g of water to 1600 mag!

 

[Acroholic]

could very well be the case. it was indeed tech-m that we used on that system, too. being that it was going on 3 years ago, i'd suspect it was the "old" forumla, if they did indeed change it. we bought it in huge commercial containers, as i'm sure you are aware it takes *a lot* of tech m to raise 2000g of water to 1600 mag!

Yup..I used just over 3 gallons to raise the Mag levels to 2000 in my 300 gallon system.

 

[csal1-175]

I`ll try getting pics to help with the I.D so I can get the right treatment...

 

[Acroholic]

Premium Aquatics has the best internet pricing I have seen on Tech M.....forget that....I just checked. Used to be $19 a gallon......they now charge $33 a gallon. Maybe a pricing error when I bought 5 months ago? Glad I got it cheap!:wink:

 

[csal1-175]

He is a shot of it ,best I could get for now...

 

[TonyB]

Looks like feather caulerpa to me.


That said, here are some notes on my recent battle with bryopsis;
1.) Magnesium- boosted to 1600 with bulk products and had zero luck.
2.) Manual removal worked to keep it from spreading but it still was able to overtake small colonies easily if I skipped a few days. Big PITA.
3.) Turbo snails. I picked up some and plopped 'em right on a batch of bryopsis. They worked on it for a while but once they left the bryopsis, they would not come back on their own.
4.) Lettuce nudis. I bought two and the definitely eat the stuff. Just not fast enough. They are constantly grazing and have quadrupled in size in a matter of weeks.
5.) Dwarf mexican red leg hermits. These guys work GOOD. I have a couple dozen in my frag tank. I used to have to scrub and pluck bryopsis off of the frags twice a week. Not anymore.