Bryopsis Control

Discussion in 'Algae' started by Tangster, Aug 31, 2008.

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  1. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    Well I seldom start a thread but I know some here are fighting a problem with the plague of Bryopsis algae and I held off posting anything until I actually saw results. I have tried every know algaecide and remedy out there over the last 4 months fighting this green monster called Bryopsis Penneta that we had taking over this tank from last fall until April when I was a little more able to do battle with it. A list of what was tried follows and I tried every trick and idea I had ever heard or knew of..
    1. was to jack Ph to 9.0 average for about 6 weeks from Oct to Dec 07 and wet skimmed like crazy did nothing at all
    2. Jacked the Magnesium from 1400 to 3,700 ppm used Mag Chloride for a month used Epsom salts for a month and then Kent's tech M for about month from Dec 07 till spring 08 did nothing still wet skimming like crazy again Nothing at all.
    3. replaced all the system's water to get mag levels back to 1700 ppm about a 400 gal water change over a two week period then let it work for a few weeks that did nothing.
    4. tried an algaecide called Marine algae Fix I think it was ? Did nothing
    5 ran tank light less also while treating with the Algae Fix for a couple of weeks. This looked like it killed it out :) but soon to realize it was back ): but with a vengeance I guess I made it mad ? so about 3 weeks ago it went nuts taking over everything again. Had I been alone I would have started to crying But the girl Aka amcarrig was around and looking :)
    6. I was about ready to go the Barley extract route a week or so back but in a marine system that can be devastating to many corals and while I was almost out of options other then just ripping it all down and nuking it all and restarting ? Amcarrig ran up on a product called Ultra Algae X..
    7. Got the algae X going. Its very expensive but WTH, so is saltwater :) and labor as a last ditch and supposedly safe algae fix I /we took a shot she ordered some . I messed up on the first 3 doses last week.. Then i caught my mistake and following the label directions almost to a tee I added 40 ml last Tuesday night after lights out then Thurs night then last night today I can honestly see where its breaking up and dieing off and all in the skimmer .. It seems to be working like a charm still its 21 day treatment so I'll follow up but at this point I'd recommend it to all and see if it works as well ? But follow the label closely .

    The product is ULTRA ALGEA x as in a medicine , It comes from Germany and it can be hard to find as its just making its way big time into the States here . Its made by a Co. called Fauna Marin and at this point I'd say worth every penny.. But you have to remove all algae from the system you want to keep I simply cut off my refugium control valve ..
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2008
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  3. {Nano}Reefer

    {Nano}Reefer Dragon Wrasse

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    is that reef safe Tangster????
     
  4. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    It's certainly more reef safe than bryopsis :D

    Something I didn't mention in my original post is that it is absolutely essential that you run airstones in the tank when treating it with this product.
     
  5. photo-guy

    photo-guy Flamingo Tongue

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    Any idea what's in it? Some kind of herbicide???

    If a plant likes conditions that replicate that of the ocean, and grows well in it, then some chemical that kills it scares me.

    I strongly recommend that you wear gloves when handling it. Keep children away from the aquarium and the chemical. See if you can get a copy of the MSDS and read it. At least until you know more about it.

    Good luck.
     
  6. amcarrig

    amcarrig Super Moderator

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    MSDS is not required for this product because it's only approved for ornamental fish use. You can read up on the use of this product on Reef Central which is where I found out about it. Just do a search for "bryopsis" and you should be able to find the thread.

    As for whether or not it's safe, if you're going to go through all the trouble of protecting yourself against this particular algaecide, you might as well do the same for any and all algaecides (and there are alot of them).
     
  7. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    I can only answer questions about how this product is working in our tank. If you want any details about the product itself, you can direct your questions to the manufacturer because I don't know the answers. What I do know is that my use of this product is in a last ditch effort to rid my tank of the invasive species of bryopsis that has been choking out and killing our corals since last year. If this doesn't solve the problem permenantly, I will be breaking down this tank and starting over. So again, if you have questions about how it's working in our tank, fire away but if you want any more information than that, I'm not in any position to answer your questions.
     
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  9. photo-guy

    photo-guy Flamingo Tongue

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    Product or chemical? I'm not talking about the same thing you are.

    Uh, yeah, prolly so.

    Without my spending any more time on the issue, here's the first example I googled up. Not saying this is a good or bad example, just the first one I found on google. Prolly thousands.

    http://pbigordon.com/pdfs/PondMasterAlgaecide-MSDS.pdf

    Tangster, I'm not saying you should answer such questions. The product could be perfectly fine. I'm just bringing up an issue as a consideration. That's all.
     
  10. Tangster

    Tangster 3reef Sponsor

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    Since I don't know what chemical is used in the product, I can't search for MSDS data. If I'm not mistaken, someone on the R/C thread asked the manufacturer what the product consisted of but I highly doubt that the manufacturer would answer the question as it's probably a trade secret.
     
  11. {Nano}Reefer

    {Nano}Reefer Dragon Wrasse

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    LMAO that was good! ;D
     
  12. photo-guy

    photo-guy Flamingo Tongue

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    The person who first taught me how to do a reef tank used to insist on one small urchin.

    I cannot remember the name of it. It looked like a white snow ball. Had medium sized (relatively speaking) blunt [edited] by blunt I mean you could pick it up without getting stuck, but the spikes were still farily well pointy if I remember correctly. [/edited] spikes. Didn't damage corals nor dislodged anything. When it came up to a coral it would move its spikes to not touch the coral and change course.

    I kept one too for a while. When it came to algae it was like a bulldozer. And beautiful coraline algae would regrow in a few days (less than a week) where he was. A beautiful thing and fun to watch its clown like behavior of holding things over its head.

    Haven't kept one in years. Sorry cannot remember its name.

    But I would think it would be the answer.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2008