Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

[Velcro]

Well here's a weird one for you guys...

I dosed my tank Saturday and today the bryopsis is mostly gone. What's left is white. That's not the weird part...

I just tested my phosphate (hanna ULR Phosphorous) and it is zero ppb phosphorous. I've tested it three times. All zero ppb. My phosphorous was 15ppb (0.03ppm PO4) on Friday... I will say that I have a ball of chaeto spinning in the refugium under a red grow light 24/7 and it has grown quickly, but ZERO ppb phosphorous?? What the heck...

I mean to say that 15ppb is equiv. to 0.05ppm PO4, not 0.03ppm.

 

[mcarroll]

Well here's a weird one for you guys...

I dosed my tank Saturday and today the bryopsis is mostly gone. What's left is white. That's not the weird part...

I just tested my phosphate (hanna ULR Phosphorous) and it is zero ppb phosphorous. I've tested it three times. All zero ppb. My phosphorous was 15ppb (0.03ppm PO4) on Friday... I will say that I have a ball of chaeto spinning in the refugium under a red grow light 24/7 and it has grown quickly, but ZERO ppb phosphorous?? What the heck...

What number were you expecting that made this a surprise?

With chaeto actively growing and such a low amount of available phosphate to begin with...seems like it makes sense.

What are the before/after numbers for Nitrates?

 

[Elgringodiablo]

Has anyone used this while running Zeovit or Full Triton Method??

Very curious if there are any negative interactions with those systems.

 

[T2LEE]

My tank has responded tremendously well with Fluconazole. All algae in my tank is completely gone!!! Wow! I am so happy and so impressed with this stuff and all my coral and fish look amazing.

 

[Ardeus]

I am on day 11.

Some algae disappeared in the first 5 days, other (the majority) are still there. I have at least 3 types of algae.

If I have to repeat the treatment, how should the transition be done from the 1st to the 2nd?

At day 21 do a 10% water change and on the next day dose fluconazone again? I am doing weekly water changes but I dose fluconazole in the same proportion (20mg/gallon of new water).

If I do the 2nd treatment, won't I be creating a double concentration of fluconazone in the tank?

Is the concentration of fluconazone lower as time goes by? At what rate? What is removing it from the water in a significant way?

 

[Velcro]

There's not much of a way to know how quickly fluconazole breaks down in the marine environment. Tons of data out there for human and animal degradation, but in an aquarium setting who knows.

 

[Ardeus]

The thing I don't like about this is that the length of the treatment causes a disruption in the tank's routine and it may affect its stability.

I am running without skimmer and carbon and I will not clean the glass until the treatment is over

So, how are people doing 2 consecutive treatments?

 

[Saumann7]

So I started this treatment in my 5 gallon and then after about a day I realized I messed up, I didn’t remove the purigen so I’m assuming it removed it. What should I do now? Should I restart treatment?

 

[Ardeus]

During the treatment I noticed that the caulerpa stopped growing. By the end of the 3 weeks treatment almost all of it died.

 

[mcarroll]

There's not much of a way to know how quickly fluconazole breaks down in the marine environment. Tons of data out there for human and animal degradation, but in an aquarium setting who knows.

It's a very durable molecule.....it's one they're actually researching for use as corrosion inhibitors. No joke.

There's little reason to assume much about it (or many other synthetic drugs) breaking down, even if effectiveness has changed noticeably.

From reading, it seems like wastewater treatment for drugs like this is going toward powdered activated carbon (PAC) combined with some form of ultrafiltration to remove the powdered carbon...then it's incinerated.

GAC is already in pretty common usage, so presumably GAC is ineffective or inadequate for removal. UV and ozone are also common, but have limited effect on most drugs and problematic side-effects in many cases.

 

[Susan Edwards]

The thing I don't like about this is that the length of the treatment causes a disruption in the tank's routine and it may affect its stability.

I am running without skimmer and carbon and I will not clean the glass until the treatment is over

So, how are people doing 2 consecutive treatments?

I put carbon back in etc. for a week or so and then redosed to give tank some time to recover. It took my tank 2 treatments. Even then there were 2 patches under rocks still. I think th ey are actually gone now though. My tank is still algae clear, just some growing on glass which isn't bad enough to remove--I leave it for the snails.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I started a qt for corals. The corals of course came in with loads of algae. And with good lighting, has exploded. It's a newly cycled tank. I just used chemi clean to get rid of the cyano and now am going to kill the algae. It's only a 10 gal, not filled to the top. The caps I have are 200 mg. Do I try to just use half?

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I have read every page of this thread over the last couple weeks. I am battling what I thought was GHA. I am also following the vibrant thread. I was using the vibrant for the gha and I ended up with a cyano outbreak. The vibrant killed off some of the gha but not all. I ended up using chemiclean for the cyano which cleared it up in 2 days no problem. Back to the GHA or what I thought was GHA. I started dosing vibrant only when I did my water changes weekly. No more cyano, my water is crystal clear, glass stays cleaner longer. Even with vibrant, I am getting a lot more of what I thought was GHA. I decided to try peroxide. Two weeks of peroxide dosing and only some small spots have died off. The rest is still growing like crazy. I am starting to think this is not GHA. I have even removed a couple of small rocks to dip in peroxide and scrub clean. Does not touch it. I am thinking I may be dealing with bryopsis. I just ordered fluconazole yesterday and I should have it by the end of the week depending on Canada customs. The back of the rocks are even worse. I've been keeping my lights low hoping that may help and also so I don't have to see it as much.

 

[ReefHD]

Hi everyone we just wanted to make a post in this thread to offer a solution to the questions people have regarding where to get fluconazole.

We have just released Algae Buster, which is an FDA registered fluconazole-based algae treatment. This post in our Sponsor forum has more info, and it will soon be available at retail stores as well as R2R sponsors.

Why choose Algae Buster instead of capsules imported from India on some websites?

1. Algae Buster is inspected and lab tested to be of the highest purity.

2. Imported capsules can be expired, usually contain fillers, can contain other chemicals due to lax regulation, and be of lower quality.

3. It supports the reef economy! Algae Buster is available from R2R sponsors and retail stores, so your purchase helps build the hobby. At Reef HD we are hobbyists who spend some of our paycheck on products from other sponsors, who have employees who spend their money on other sponsors, and we all win

 

[ksanfranfan]

Hi everyone we just wanted to make a post in this thread to offer a solution to the questions people have regarding where to get fluconazole.

We have just released Algae Buster, which is an FDA registered fluconazole-based algae treatment. This post in our Sponsor forum has more info, and it will soon be available at retail stores as well as R2R sponsors.

Why choose Algae Buster instead of capsules imported from India on some websites?

1. Algae Buster is inspected and lab tested to be of the highest purity.

2. Imported capsules can be expired, usually contain fillers, can contain other chemicals due to lax regulation, and be of lower quality.

3. It supports the reef economy! Algae Buster is available from R2R sponsors and retail stores, so your purchase helps build the hobby. At Reef HD we are hobbyists who spend some of our paycheck on products from other sponsors, who have employees who spend their money on other sponsors, and we all win

I have a couple of questions.
Is your product fluconazole or are there other things added in for treating other algaes? In your post it says algae based, which can mean something different from what we've been using, fluconazole.
Also if it is fluconazole, then as we already know throughout this thread and others, fluconazole is has only been shown to eradicate bryopsis, hair algae ( sometimes through a prolonged treatment or repeat treatments), and possibly caulerpa. I think the name of your product might be misleading to people possibly treating for other types of algae such as bubble algae. Is there something in your product that kills other types of algae too?
I'd just like to know a little more information about your product. I checked the link that you provided but didn't see any further information on the product.

 

[ReefHD]

I have a couple of questions.
Is your product fluconazole or are there other things added in for treating other algaes? In your post it says algae based, which can mean something different from what we've been using, fluconazole.
Also if it is fluconazole, then as we already know throughout this thread and others, fluconazole is has only been shown to eradicate bryopsis, hair algae ( sometimes through a prolonged treatment or repeat treatments), and possibly caulerpa. I think the name of your product might be misleading to people possibly treating for other types of algae such as bubble algae. Is there something in your product that kills other types of algae too?
I'd just like to know a little more information about your product. I checked the link that you provided but didn't see any further information on the product.

Thank you for your interest, I am happy to answer any questions. Algae Buster is a pure and lab tested fluconazole treatment with no other ingredients. The label says that it kills Bryopsis & Green Hair Algae, which we feel is a good indicator of the types of algae that can be treated with Algae Buster. There are many other kinds of nuisance algae that can be treated, and we are compiling a list with photos that will be on our website soon.

I would recommend visiting the FAQ on our website at reefhd.com/AlgaeBuster for details, it has more in-depth answers to your questions including Algae Buster not being an effective treatment for Valonia bubble algae species. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to let us know, thanks!

 

[acro-ed]

Hi everyone we just wanted to make a post in this thread to offer a solution to the questions people have regarding where to get fluconazole.

We have just released Algae Buster, which is an FDA registered fluconazole-based algae treatment. This post in our Sponsor forum has more info, and it will soon be available at retail stores as well as R2R sponsors.

Why choose Algae Buster instead of capsules imported from India on some websites?

1. Algae Buster is inspected and lab tested to be of the highest purity.

2. Imported capsules can be expired, usually contain fillers, can contain other chemicals due to lax regulation, and be of lower quality.

3. It supports the reef economy! Algae Buster is available from R2R sponsors and retail stores, so your purchase helps build the hobby. At Reef HD we are hobbyists who spend some of our paycheck on products from other sponsors, who have employees who spend their money on other sponsors, and we all win

@ReefHD,
I'm glad to see someone came to market with a product to simplify all of this, but I would caution you to thoroughly investigate FIFRA and the labeling of algaecides. The need for EPA registration hinges on "intent" of use, and even though Fluconazole is FDA registered, if it is "intended" as a algaecide it may very well require EPA registration of your specific label. I can't give you "advice" here, but I can tell you that I work as a chemical regulatory manager. I would like to point out that the fines are draconian and they can subpoena all sales records.

My analysis, hypothetically, would say that under 40 CFR 152.6(c)/(d) a "human drug" or "animal drug" is NOT exempt from registration since it is "intended and labelled" for an alternative purpose (as an algaecide). Hypothetically, if I was in such a position as an entrepreneur, I would pull this ASAP until the legal/regulatory bit is properly handled.

I just don't want to see one of our own get "lit up" by the EPA.

Best of luck with this!
-Ed

 

[ReefHD]

@ReefHD,
I'm glad to see someone came to market with a product to simplify all of this, but I would caution you to thoroughly investigate FIFRA and the labeling of algaecides. The need for EPA registration hinges on "intent" of use, and even though Fluconazole is FDA registered, if it is "intended" as a algaecide it may very well require EPA registration of your specific label. I can't give you "advice" here, but I can tell you that I work as a chemical regulatory manager. I would like to point out that the fines are draconian and they can subpoena all sales records.

Through the process of developing Algae Buster we had several attorneys thoroughly research it from all angles including the one you mentioned, and they signed off on it on all fronts. We can't get into the details or all of the filings that were made, but the legal aspect of this product was our top concern, and the largest investment in Algae Buster was the immense legal fees in making sure everything was on the up and up.

 

[acro-ed]

Through the process of developing Algae Buster we had several attorneys thoroughly research it from all angles including the one you mentioned, and they signed off on it on all fronts. We can't get into the details or all of the filings that were made, but the legal aspect of this product was our top concern, and the largest investment in Algae Buster was the immense legal fees in making sure everything was on the up and up.

You might want to have your attorneys also look into ZooMed, Aqua-vet and others who were specifically targeted by the EPA regarding "aquarium use" products making "algae reduction" claims. There's an EPA enforcement alert that explains this in greater depth. There is a reason that there are so few "aquatic use" herbicides/algaecides/PGR's. I have a law degree and do this for a living, so I'm just trying to help. This is a specialized area of law, and a non-specialized attorney may not be well versed in this.

You may want your attorneys to look at your trade name again also, which was registered in 1985 as an EPA algaecide with an entirely different active ingredient (presently inactive reg.). As a trademark issue with the USPTO it is "dead", but using that trade name in this context could be an entirely separate issue.

I'm not trying to "call you out" and I truly do wish you the best of luck with this.

I'm only commenting publicly here for the benefit of the community as a whole. When something in my "lane" looks off and it could impact this hobby I feel compelled to speak up.

I won't speak on this further; I just know there's a lot of interest in bringing products "like this" to market, based in large part on the content of this thread. I can tell you that you are not the only one looking into commercializing this.

I don't have a horse in this race, so to speak, but I am uniquely situated to comment on it.

-Ed

 

[ksanfranfan]

Thank you for your interest, I am happy to answer any questions. Algae Buster is a pure and lab tested fluconazole treatment with no other ingredients. The label says that it kills Bryopsis & Green Hair Algae, which we feel is a good indicator of the types of algae that can be treated with Algae Buster. There are many other kinds of nuisance algae that can be treated, and we are compiling a list with photos that will be on our website soon.

I would recommend visiting the FAQ on our website at reefhd.com/AlgaeBuster for details, it has more in-depth answers to your questions including Algae Buster not being an effective treatment for Valonia bubble algae species. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to let us know, thanks!

I read the faqs section on your site. As far as anyone knows for certain, is that fluconazole has been effective at treating bryopsis, more or less gha ( there are many types, so maybe not all types) and possibly caulerpa.
I still believe that it's misleading to claim that fluconazole treats "many" types of algae. There hasn't been any controlled or laboratory tests performed to know what fluconazole is able and not able to eradicate. Right now we can only go back 3 years when this medication was first discovered by accident to kill certain algae. Up until this year there was still very little experimentation with it. Still at this point it is still an ongoing experiment.
As far as I know, the government agencies still only approve of fluconazole as a treatment for aquatic fish disease. I haven't found anything throughout my research since treatment for bryopsis began that has approval for treating algae.
The process from treatment of this medication in fish is different than what we have been using it for. Know one still has any idea what the short term or long term affects may be.
Being FDA approved or registered isn't always clear cut. Some of the sources that people have used from this treatment provide many other types of medications as well. The ones I've checked into list all of the medications, including fluconazole, as a fish treatment. The retailers I've checked on also have listed their source for the medication as well or its on the packaging. It's the same thing I look for when I want to check a drug for my own personal use, prescribed or not.
I would take acro Eds' advice and maybe look further into things.