Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

[Huskymaniac]

Well I feel the same way towards the bryopsis slowly spreading in my tank. I have a lot of Acros (most are still smaller frags) but not sure what else to do.

anyone with advice on water changes during reef flux dosing?

advice on using UV durning?

I feel you. It's basically a start over once it gets that bad if you can't live with it. You can't do water changes and UV is fine. Will probablly help limit an increase in bacteria from the die off.

 

[Obsessed]

Well gave the Lettuce slug a go and while it did eat some it is a losing battle. Put an order in for Blue Life Reef Flux. Fingers crossed SPS will make it. Have several patches of Bryopsis that are only getting bigger.

Ive read various things... can someone point me in the right direction?

UV - Can this continue to run or should it be shut down?

Skimmer - left on but low to produce no skim mate but to help keep PH up. This is ok to do?

Water changes - I normally do AWC - 3 gal /day on a 240 gal system. I stop this for two weeks then do a 30% correct?

Everything else continue the same while watching Alkalinity and other parameters.

Thanks in advance

Our tanks sound very similar so I’ll just tell you what I did with amazing results and no loss of any SPS.

Large water change before dosing flux for the first time.
Turned UV off for 5 days.
Took skimmer cup off but left it running for 5 days. Put cup back on after 5 days.
Turned my AWC off for 5 days. Turned it back on but on day 7 added one more scoop of the flux. On day 9 added one more scoop of flux and then that was it. I never did a large water change at the end I’m but I do 8g a day in my AWC in a 200g system.

 

[ID-Reefer]

Our tanks sound very similar so I’ll just tell you what I did with amazing results and no loss of any SPS.

Large water change before dosing flux for the first time.
Turned UV off for 5 days.
Took skimmer cup off but left it running for 5 days. Put cup back on after 5 days.
Turned my AWC off for 5 days. Turned it back on but on day 7 added one more scoop of the flux. On day 9 added one more scoop of flux and then that was it. I never did a large water change at the end I’m but I do 8g a day in my AWC in a 200g system.

Did you run carbon after?

 

[ScottB]

Did you run carbon after?

I certainly do. As a fungicide, fluconazole kills stuff we did not even know we had in the system. Some species don't go down without a fight, so I think removing residual stuff is a good safety measure. Just intuition, not science.

 

[Obsessed]

I think it’s a good idea to run carbon after but I myself did not.

 

[Obsessed]

Didn't take too many before and after pics but this kinda shows what I was dealing with before and a video of after.

 

[drawman]

Didn't take too many before and after pics but this kinda shows what I was dealing with before and a video of after.

Gorgeous tank sir!

 

[homer1475]

So after reading this entire thread(3 hours later lol), I've decided to give reef flux a shot for some bryopsis that is spreading very fast!

I've used fluc before many years ago when it was first discovered, and it worked great! But I only had LPS back then. Problem now is I am acro dominated and a little worried about loosing them. More worried about the bryopsis though.

 

[trout]

I have used Fluconazole on two separate occasions different strengths (5 mg/L and 8 mg/L). After both treatments, bryopsis reappeared (one year after the first treatment and two months after the second treatment). My personal conclusion is that this medication does NOT kill the roots of bryopsis embedded in live rock and that it can be used for a temporary relief.

 

[homer1475]

When I used it many years ago now, it completely wiped out my bryopsis. I've been bryopsis free now for about 4 years. Introduced a lobo that I did not notice had it on it's stalk. Fast forward several months and it's starting to take off in my tank.

Pretty sure it will work and did work for me previously. Just not sure how it's going to effect my acros, as I only had LPS back when I first used it.

 

[trout]

When I used it many years ago now, it completely wiped out my bryopsis. I've been bryopsis free now for about 4 years. Introduced a lobo that I did not notice had it on it's stalk. Fast forward several months and it's starting to take off in my tank.

Pretty sure it will work and did work for me previously. Just not sure how it's going to effect my acros, as I only had LPS back when I first used it.

On both occasions, my acroporids were not affected by the medication. I was more concerned with the fish due to skimmer not operating.

 

[homer1475]

It seems to be a hit or miss with acro's from what I'm reading in this thread. I do have a few named peices I would not like to loose, but if I loose them and kill the bryopsis. I'll be ok with it.

 

[ID-Reefer]

I certainly do. As a fungicide, fluconazole kills stuff we did not even know we had in the system. Some species don't go down without a fight, so I think removing residual stuff is a good safety measure. Just intuition, not science.

How long did you wait till adding carbon?

 

[TexasTodd]

Well, about to try this next week. 210g full blown SPS with some colonies 16"+ diameter and wall to wall. Bryopsis got in somehow a while back but really became a problem after the big Texas freeze and I lost 7 fish that couldn't be removed. It's killed almost my entire Bubble Gum digi colony and is embedded in many others including a large tort. I guess it's a big risk but if it keeps going this way I'll want to take a full break.

 

[ID-Reefer]

Update on my experience... dosed reef flux 10 days ago. Worked wonderfully on my bryopsis - all is gone. Noticed no issues with any fish, nems, LPS, zoas etc. unfortunately I did lose several acros including my biggest colony (green slimer). Several made it but some didn’t. Oddly I also have a couple Monty caps that aren’t looking very good either. Frustrating but it’s part of reefing without a coral QT. I know I’ll be more cautious in the future with new stuff.

 

[TexasTodd]

@ID-Reefer wow, that's a bit scary. Slimers are usually really tough. At what day did the SPS start to die?

 

[ID-Reefer]

@ID-Reefer wow, that's a bit scary. Slimers are usually really tough. At what day did the SPS start to die?

About two days after dosing and some still struggling. I fragged some and the frags didn’t make it either. It’s odd. I’m running carbon now to hopefully stop the problem. Other acros like Oregon tort, stag horns, bill Murray no problem. Lost my Walt Disney this weekend. Ugh.

 

[TexasTodd]

Has anyone tried a half dose? I think I saw a shop mention a low continual dose. With the amount of SPS I have I may try a half dose first. I'm not really worried about the cost of the meds as it's nothing compared to even one colony.

 

[ScottB]

How long did you wait till adding carbon?

Sorry I missed the notification.

2 weeks was enough to get the job done. The a nice WC and carbon was added.

 

[ScottB]

About two days after dosing and some still struggling. I fragged some and the frags didn’t make it either. It’s odd. I’m running carbon now to hopefully stop the problem. Other acros like Oregon tort, stag horns, bill Murray no problem. Lost my Walt Disney this weekend. Ugh.

Generally speaking, if bryopsis manages to spread in a tank, you don't really have many alternatives to fluconazole. Sooner or later it will just take over.

I've never been able to figure out why this sometimes happens to SPS. It is really baffling. I've used it personally four times -- each with at least some SPS if not a lot -- only once did it crash SPS. Actually it crashed a lot of LPS as well. In that instance, there was some nasty paly that was PO'd (but of course survived) and it MAY have had something to do with releasing some toxin. But many others have had SPS crash without paly, so... I dunno. These were either store tanks or client "turnaround" tanks. But my LFS has used it many dozens of times without notable trouble.

Not that it really helps, but this is what I feel like is going on. Fluc is a fungicide. All of our mature tanks have some measure of fungi inhabitants. Fish carry fungi, as do stony corals, sponges, sand, rock pretty much everything. Maybe some tanks just develop a strain that releases bad stuff when attacked by fluconazole while others don't. Many marine fungi are known pathogens for coral and fish. My real point is, I doubt fluconazole DIRECTLY affects SPS or acroporids. Instead, they are poisoned as a secondary effect of another organism's defense mechanism or death.

It is just a guess. I have probably been reading too many abstracts like this one:

"Azole antifungals (fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole) act to prevent the conversion of lanosterol to ergosterol by inhibiting fungal cytochrome P450. Without the protective layer of ergosterol, the cell membrane becomes permeable, leaking intracellular contents.10 Interestingly, the azoles have an antagonistic effect on the polyene antimycotics—they can only bind to ergosterol.11"