Bryopsis Eaters (This is NOT Hair Algae)

[lhoy]

Maastards,

A while back I bought a Red Macro from a LFS and put in my scorpionfish tank. AFter a few weeks I noticed something green growing on the rock. After a quick search, I found it to be Bryopsis. Unfortunately, I had moved a coral from my Scorpionfish tank to my 75 tank.

Guess what? Dealing with Bryopsis in both tanks. I WISH I had hair algae.

I have done tons or research and even talked to Eric Borneman on the phone about this. His recommendation was Lettuce Nudibranchs as the primary control. I bought 6 from an on-line store and they just aren't making much of a dent.

I know Bryopsis contains a substance to deter predation by fish. I have read reports of some foxfaces and rabbitfishes actually eating. I bought a Scribbled and he won't even eat any type of algae on a rock. What are the odds I get the one who won't hardly touch any algae.

Anyway, I am looking to borrow, buy, steal a fish that someone has actually seen eat bryopsis. I don't mean a species reocmmendation, I mean you watched it eat the stuff.

For those not familiar with bryopsis, this is NOT the typical hair algae people have. Nutrient control really doesn't due much for this. Furthermore, I hardly have a trace of hair algae in the scorpionfish tank. I have twice taken everything out and scrubbed it, it just returns with a vengence.

Anyone have the "magic" fish? I have searched reef central, talked to Eric, read all I could find, what I don't need are "generalized" suggestions. I need the solution!!

Crazy thing is my SPS (all corals for that matter) are going great guns in both tanks!!!

Thanks,

Lee

P.S. The quarantine tank is getting ready to go up!!!!!

[cpreefguy]

Man, bryopsis is horrible, sorry to hear.
A few things "supposedly" eat it, like the sea hare and black urchin. Like with anything, individual animals willl vary. Good luck

[matt]

I've heard good things about sea hares and bryopsis. Diadema urchins are excellent overall grazers but I have not heard anything about them eating it.

[lhoy]

My sea hares haven't touched the stuff so far.

Lee

[brewercm]

I hate to say this but the only thing that I found that even touched it was a see hare that I had but couldn't keep up with my problem. Also the blue leg hermits will eat at the base if you pull as much out as possible but I had about 150 of them and they couldn't keep up either.

I finally just had to break down my tank and get ready to start over because it got too bad in mine. I would not sell any corals that had it or any of the rock. The rock I put in a trash can with water and a couple of chlorine tablets from my pool. I will use this rock eventually as base rock to start up the next tank and anything that I see briopsys starting on will come out immediately and not attempt to be pulled ( in hopes that it won't spreat that way in the water column as bad).

I wish you the best of luck with this and I will be very careful in what I pick up from now on.

[lhoy]

Cliff,

I can honestly say after dealing with dinoflagellates once, hair algae on occasion, a stinky fish, etc. that this is the most frustrating thing I have ever dealt with in the hobby!!

I hope someone has that magic fish!! I am afraid that all such reports of "such and such" a fish eating bryopsis are people who are really talking about the typical hair algae. I have too many amazing corals from the likes of River City, Hobogate, JG, etc. to lose that tank. A part of me wonders about breaking off the corals and reattaching to other rock that hasn't been in that tank.

Lee

[brewercm]

That would be a way to try and salvage what you can. Also be carefull if the stuff starts growing around your corals, it would kill mine. Not sure if it's toxicity was killing them or jut plain choking them out. I'd try like crazy to pull the stuff out and it would just spread.

Good luck with it. I know I lost the battle but am arming up for a new one soon. If I even see a sign of it on a rock from now on that whole rock is gone to the bleach bath and take as much corals off as possible to save.

[prof]

Dose calcium. I have always had good luck with algae problems by loading up on calcium. Not to mention your corals will love it. It will take at least a couple of weeks before you see any difference.

No luck with tangs or rabbit fish?

Don't give up. These things typically cycle.

Are you adding any other supplements?

[hobogato]

i had a little of it in my display and in my clam tank, but with dilligence - pulling fronds carefully and not letting them go in the water, my blue leg hermits have done a good job. i see a little in my clam tank on occasion. i pull it and then gather the hermits up and put them on the roots where i just pulled the top, and that seems to be working.

[Richard]

Bryopsis is a low nutrient algae, much like macro algaes, so just controlling water params alone will not work so well. Although you have to keep phosphate low to have any success. So controll phosphate in the water column (GFO, macro's, etc.) and phosphate sinks (detritus removal from the rocks). So that's step one.

Next step is constant manual removal. Basically, you are the best tang available for bryopsis control. It's a real PITA on a major outbreak because you have to pluck at it daily. Then eventually it will "crash". If you spend a bunch of time removing it and then wait until it grows back you'll never get rid of it. I found stainless steel forceps worked better than my fingers for plucking it off the rocks. And as Ace said remove the fronds from the tank. Once it is somewhat under control thing like Tangs (zebrasoma are good), lot's of hermits,tuxedo urchins will help you out. Not so much by eating it but picking at the roots till it crashes.

That's what worked for me on our 30. A time consuming PITA but after 2 weeks of me being a bryopsis eating tang, plucking every tiny bit I could see daily with forceps it was mostly gone.

I did try a foxface which really chowed down for about 5 days. He was fat on it and literally pooping bryopsis strands. Then he went belly up. So if you get a fish dumb enough to really eat alot of it I think he will ultimately poison himself. Maybe try a foxface after you have manually removed most of it.

Also, not sure how true it is but I read somewhere that there are a number of nudibranch species offered as Lettuce nudibranchs and that they are difficult to tell apart and only one is the specialized bryopsis eater. How you could be sure your getting the right kind I don't know.

I've noticed bryopsis is fairly common on wild collected zoanthid rocks and I have added several zoanthid rocks to my 215 that had some bryopsis growing on it. I don't worry about it though because it's a small amount so I just pull most of it off and then my tangs can't resist picking at anything green so they have kept it from ever taking hold in my tank.

It's alot like trying to manually get rid of caulerpa only much more of a PITA to pluck out. You just gotta keep at it for awhile.

HTH

[~TG~]

Is this bryopsis or hair algae here?? i have read bryposis is feather looking?

This looks "feathery" to me.... :unsure

[DaBird47]

Bryopsys...

[jroescher]

This may be of interest to you.....
http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=elysdiom

[Richard]

This may be of interest to you.....
http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=elysdiom

Nice link! So it sounds like you have to get juvenile Elysia clarki
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=16728

[Richard]

And another interesting link
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=19329

[~TG~]

lhoy..
Well if the pic i posted is indeed Bryopsis i HAD an infestation untill i got the ugliest Sea Hare id ever seen!! along with a lawnmower blenny PROPS to Ed @ Wolfreef!!! My Tank looked like a JUNGLE it was everywhere the walls the corals even in the SAND i wanted to just :cry CRY! It was that BAD and in 5 days it went from these before pics that were taken 3 days into the chow down to the after pics taken today! the Sea hare and LM Blenny chomped down on everything in their path cause everything is GONE.. i had Cyano/diatoms/and TONS of that green algae.. They are NON-STOP... just not sure what they will feed on once everything is gone??? :unsure
Let me know where you're located and maybe i can ship him to you??
but after hes done in this tank and in my other tank im putting him into!!

Tg

[Richard]

I don't think that is bryopsis although it is a little feathery. The fact that your lawnmower blenny liked it makes me think it isn't bryopsis. There are different species of bryopsis so maybe that is what causes the confusion about what eats what doesn't. The stuff that gave me trouble on the 30 was more fern like. Like this...

http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/ecorecat/images/bryopsis.jpg

[lhoy]

I have a large sea hare, dwarf sea hare, Scribbled Rabbitfish, and lettuce nudi's. Richard is correct that I believe there are two species of "Lettuce nudi's." According to Anthony's book on Inverts, the ones that really hammer on Bryopsis are the ones with a black line along the edge of the outer ruffles (if I remember correctly). Most sites list either latin name, but usually sell the ones I got which lack the black line. Kind of a crap shoot on ordering. This is why I wish our hobby would go to Latin names like those keeping herps. It makes it so much clear exactly what you are getting.

My sea hares never touch it. I have been pulling out (and scrubbing rocks) and it is almost like it comes back with a vengeance.

Just a little on my tank, I never dose anything and I only test temp and salinity. I am from the school that says watch your corals and you will know if everything is well. My SPS in that tank are growing like crazy. I have frags from Ace and Abe that are growing so fast it is mind boggling. Zoos are reproducing rapidly. Only filteration on the 45 tank is an Aqua C Urchin and a HOB Aquaclear with sponge (cleaned weekly with water changes) and carbon (replaced monthly). Everything is doing great.

Let me just say for everyone who has never had it, DON'T WAIT TO SET UP YOUR QUARANTINE. This came on a frag from a LFS which was some red macroalgae. You couldn't see it when I bought it.

I have wondered if I can just continually keep it mowed low to make it easier for the nudi's to eat. I have seen them on it, they are just SLOW eaters. I will keep an eye out for the other nudi's mentioned.

Thanks so much for everyone's post. This stuff makes the "hair algae" we all wrestle with seem like child's play.

Lee

[lhoy]

TG - maybe I should give your hare a shot? Maybe he has a taste for it my other large on doesn't. The dwarf has never been seen to touch it either.

Lee

[Instar]

Bryopsis may come on a frag but, it is always there in spore form like all the other pest algaes. When the time is ripe and it is in season, it will grow, IF given the chance. I have all mined aragonite for rocks in my 125 and had as bad an infestation and complete overgrowth of Bryopsis as anyone ever had and never had a rock in there from the ocean. The tank was 5 years old at the time. What finally beat it - I let it grow up quite a bit. That made a lot of shade on the roots and they were not so green. Then I had a bryopsis pulling day, did a major large water change immediately following to encourage a crash, put in 300 micro blue legs hermits and a black longspine, blue spot urchin (the one with the eyeball). I also had 2 hippo tangs who loved the non-green roots so between them finishing off the roots, the water change enhanced crash and all the grazers, its gone except on one return nozzel and perhaps in the overflow and it's been under control for over a year now. The grazers have kept the rocks clean but I know for sure the spores are still available and waiting for their next opportunity to start the cycle all over again. I repeated this grow-pull-add grazers and macro to the refugium in a tank with live rock that came covered with Bryopsis from the start and used a scribbled rabbit instead of the hippo tangs and also have a 90 gallon refugium/sump that is loaded with Bryopsis on this system and the main tank is clean. The bottom line is Bryopsis is always there, just like hair and diatoms. Even if if was not visible on a LFS rock, it could still plague your tank so blaming it exclusively on one of the LFS's will mislead a lot of folks to some degree. The time to plan to beat it for anyone who doesn't have any is now, before it ever happens. Bryopsis is part of my nutrient export in the refugium on this system, as crazy as that sounds. Since the pulling day and adding the grazers, the main tank with coraline coverd live rocks is clean and clear of all signs of this troublesome stuff in spite of having it loaded up in the refugium. I have many systems to play with so this Bryopsis/Cheato refugium is an experiment. I am not necessarily recommending that at this point, just stating what I am doing to see if a few hermits, snails and one scribbled rabbit will control the main tank. So far it's working perfectly well.

[Louie3]

AAAAAgggghhh Ok my Hair Algea in my nano is Bryopsis!
I think I want to try out the LawnMower Blenny, but would it be ok in a 10g until his job is done?

[jroescher]

Also found this:

Tridachia crispa, the Sea Lettuce Slug, is a hardy specialist predator of Bryopsis and is available from aquaculturing facilities such as Inland Aquatics. However,it is a true specialist and will perish after all the alga has been consumed unless an effort is made to culture or otherwise provide the alga for its comsumption.

Here:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/algae/photoalbum_photo_view?b_start=2

[cyrus]

Raise your mag to 1500-1600 and watch it melt away! My experience there is always an easy answer :D refer to reefcentral.com

[fishypets]

You're only 3 years behind with this reply.

[SoLiD]

OMG.... That's Beyond Funny!!!! :)

[Salty]

Date Reading Fail...

[cyrus]

The information I re-opened the topic with will be helpful to people who read it. Forums are not placed here for time sensitivity but for the knowledge we can gain from each other.

[Bill S]

Cyrus, while your information is correct for SOME kinds of bryopsis, it's not a miracle cure, by any stretch. It certainly didn't work on my tank, and I tried it twice. There are 20 or 25 different species of bryopsis - it works on some, not on others.

As noted, this thread is old, and there have been several more recent threads regarding bryopsis.

[CoryDude]

The information I re-opened the topic with will be helpful to people who read it. Forums are not placed here for time sensitivity but for the knowledge we can gain from each other.

Yes, but the emergency section is here for time sensitivity. Either way, your input is appreciated.

[Europhyllia]

Geesh. He was trying to be helpful. Give him a break people.

[BIGBIRD123]

This a good topic of discussion and for some people better late than never. I'm sure there are a few people out there that are battling what they think is hair algae but instead could be one of the other forms of bryopsis. This topic will go on and on for as many years as there are hobbyist in the aquarium field. There are a lot of people that had good luck ridding their tanks of it and some that just had to give up and start over. So no matter if it is emergency discussion or just continuous input discussion, it will always be a needed topic of discussion. This is just where the Education part begins...what we are all about.

[cyrus]

I am sorry that you had no positive results with the information I put forth. As others have pointed out how ever, there are many, many things in the marine world that we have yet to understand and my input is purely to increase information in our shared hobby. I have no interest in trumping anyones advise and I hope you all understand that. I do know that there are newer forums on this subject and I repeat my previous statement that time does not dictate our ability to share our experiences we are all here for knowledge not ridicule. I currently am engadged in a battle with bryopsis and that is why I don't see a problem with reviving the forum. I welcome any and all input. That said HAPPY SAINT PATTIES DAY!!!

[hobogato]

ok, i moved this to the current forum so we could continue the discussion :)

i had it in my big tank, and when i put in the solar tubes, it melted away. we tried to replicate that in bill's big tank with a reptile daylight bulb, with no success. not really helpful info, just thought i would add it to the discussion...

[alienspacepirate]

WHen i first got into this hobby I thought it was totally silly to have a 'quarantine' tank.. but after dealing with a few nuisance hitchhikers I understand the necessity.. especially if you had a large tank that you would just be unable to get to every crevice and cranny. In my 55 I can move coral and rocks around but its already a pain in the butt..

[Bill S]

Mine came in on a rock. Steve, you might remember seeing it as a quarter-sized tuft on the rock - you said "you better get rid of that". I wish you'd said "take that freakin' rock out NOW!". I'd still have an SPS tank.

The reptile bulb DID make a difference. I tried replicating the bulb with a daylight MH bulb (UGLY color), but it didn't work.

[CoryDude]

cyrus,

Bill is correct. Increased mag will work on some types of bryopsis. I had a type that would disappear when the mag levels where 1800-2000 mg/L. But once the levels were brought back to 1200, the algae would return.

These are some of the things that seemed to work on my 60 gallon. Most are outlined in this thread.

1) Increased mag. This really seemed to help with the stuff growing on the plastic parts in the aquarium. Constant levels are kept around 1400-1500
2) Manual removal by pulling the algae from the base instead of just "mowing" it.
3) Increased total alk @ 5meq/L, and high stabilized ph around 8.3 day and 8.2 night
4) vigorous protein skimming
5) reduced nitrates and phosphates

As long as I do the above, the bryopsis is manageable and stays at bay. But, if I let any of the above slip, it slowly returns.

I also found some little patches in my 90 gallon sps tank. I got the nitrates to almost zero, added new some phos remover, and dosed with mag. The bryopsis turned white and melted away in a few days. Haven't seen any traces of the stuff in the 90 for almost 5 months now. This could also be because of the Hiatt.

bstreep has some good advice in his previous posts and threads. I'd recommend you research his older stuff.

Best of luck to you and keep up the good fight. Don't let this stuff run you out of the hobby!

[Shu]

Dose ken tech M worked like a charm for me. used one whole bottle and it was all gone.

[Europhyllia]

3) Increased total alk @ 5meq/L, and high stabilized ph around 8.3 day and 8.2 night


My alk tends to get kind of high (buffering) and I get nervous at 4.65. Did you have any problems with calc/alk balance or precipitation at alk that high?

[CoryDude]

Not really. In a high demand system like the sps tank, I add a little carbonate to my make up water along with what the calcium reactor adds. My levels are 5.0 meq/L total alk, 400-450 mg/L, and ph is 8.3 rock solid.

There is some lime buildup on the sump, and the air inlet on the venturi for the skimmer has to be cleaned every few days. Other than that, no real problems. But, that's just my experience.

[CoryDude]

precipitation at alk that high?

I caused a snow storm in my tank years ago when i didn't know how to dose kalk water. I thought it was pretty cool till I realized I lost an elegance and some porites because of it.