Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

[TexasTodd]

Scott, thanks for all of this!
Have you tried to deduct for rock mass or just go off of display tank size?
Has anyone tried a half dose first to see if that works?
The meds I ordered showed up today.
I agree there isn't an alternative to trying Fluconazole though.
Todd

 

[ScottB]

Scott, thanks for all of this!
Have you tried to deduct for rock mass or just go off of display tank size?
Has anyone tried a half dose first to see if that works?
The meds I ordered showed up today.
I agree there isn't an alternative to trying Fluconazole though.
Todd

You are welcome. Not sure what good that info does, just hoping somebody with really weird marine biology obessions comes along someday to make some useful sense of this predicament.

As to dosage, I rather crudely subtract 20% for rock/sand etc. Has not hurt me yet.

 

[TexasTodd]

I'm going to start with a half dose and see how it goes. Easy enough to add more a few days in. I don't care if it takes longer to treat and I purchased 2x what I need for a regular dose. Probably start in the next couple of days.

 

[TexasTodd]

I did a WC sucking up as much algae as I could, then pulled as much as I could. Put in a half dose. I'll do another 25-50% on Monday if algae not receding and SPS still look okay. Fingers crossed.

 

[ScottB]

I did a WC sucking up as much algae as I could, then pulled as much as I could. Put in a half dose. I'll do another 25-50% on Monday if algae not receding and SPS still look okay. Fingers crossed.

While unlikely you will get a bad SPS response, if you do, kill the lights right away. Then do your WCs and carbon.

As you proceed through treatment, some tufts may hang on longer than others. Just make sure those areas are getting hit with enough light. The kill process requires good light.

Lastly, if you dose ALK, consumption may fall for a bit so keep an eye on that.

 

[TexasTodd]

So far looking fine except my clam is clammed up. Bryopsis seems a little lighter looking towards the tips in some areas. I wonder why cutting the lights helps if the SPS start to have problems.

I have 90 gallons of saltwater mixed up and ready. If corals look good but algae is still looking strong on Monday I'll do another quarter dose, then again in another three days.

I've been thinking there really isn't a reason one couldn't do a water change during this as long as you dosed enough additional medicine to cover the W/C volume. Might actually be good with having the skimmer off line.

 

[ScottB]

So far looking fine except my clam is clammed up. Bryopsis seems a little lighter looking towards the tips in some areas. I wonder why cutting the lights helps if the SPS start to have problems.

I have 90 gallons of saltwater mixed up and ready. If corals look good but algae is still looking strong on Monday I'll do another quarter dose, then again in another three days.

I've been thinking there really isn't a reason one couldn't do a water change during this as long as you dosed enough additional medicine to cover the W/C volume. Might actually be good with having the skimmer off line.

Yes, it should start to lose some color over the next several days. It will also become much easier to remove and the more you manually remove the better so that the roots get hit with light. The photosynthetic process is crucial for fluc to work properly.

" I wonder why cutting the lights helps if the SPS start to have problems."

When I witnessed an SPS crash during fluconazole, the only SPS parts that kept flesh were shaded areas of the colonies. At least for a while anyway before it was all dead. But nobody turned off the lights.

All that said, the crash was pretty immediate -- within 24 hours it was obvious it was going badly. So I think you should be fine.

 

[TexasTodd]

Those that have done this successfully, what day in did you put your skimmer cup back on? I don't like not running my skimmer!

Seeing good results so far 3 full days in. Definitely taking longer in the less lighted areas.

 

[Fat Walrus]

Is this a daily treatment? Also, where to buy for best bang for the buck? Thanks in advance.

 

[TexasTodd]

It's supposed to be a one time treatment but I did a water change today and added more to account for the WC. I purchased the ReefHD Reef Flux off of Amazon. I think it was $15 for enough to do 100 gallons at full strength. I wasn't too worried about cost versus the stock in my tank. I already could have purchased a ton of this with frags I could have cut from colonies that the Bryopsis damaged.

I did a 25 gallon WC today and then added in two capsules more to the system. All good so far.

 

[Fat Walrus]

Is this a daily treatment?

It's supposed to be a one time treatment but I did a water change today and added more to account for the WC. I purchased the ReefHD Reef Flux off of Amazon. I think it was $15 for enough to do 100 gallons at full strength. I wasn't too worried about cost versus the stock in my tank. I already could have purchased a ton of this with frags I could have cut from colonies that the Bryopsis damaged.

I did a 25 gallon WC today and then added in two capsules more to the system. All good so far.

Thanks. I was assuming it was a daily dose like Hydrogen Peroxide. So one treatment for the entire duration until the bryopsis and GHA is all gone or is there a point where a second dose is recommended? Also there seems to be two different dose concentrations, which one has been proven more successful?

 

[TexasTodd]

Still doing well with a half dose probably 98% of Bryopsis is gone. I moved a few things to increase light penetration in some spots. Probably go 14 days instead of 10 since I used the lower dose. I'm 10 days in today.

 

[ScottB]

Still doing well with a half dose probably 98% of Bryopsis is gone. I moved a few things to increase light penetration in some spots. Probably go 14 days instead of 10 since I used the lower dose. I'm 10 days in today.

Good update and a good plan IMO.

 

[Jon F]

This thread is why I love this forum. I bought a favia (sp?) frag for my 4 month old nano (10usg 35ltr) tank, a cheap one to test I could keep them.

After a few days it had some briopsis 'ferns'.

After a couple of weeks and frequent prunings, it was growing fast. Aware of what it was (thanks r2r forum) I looked into it.

I use an online pharmacist for steroids to fight Psoriasis, so added a human 150mg Fluconazole capsule to my order.

Added the content of the capsule to my sw mix on Friday night last week. I do 8ltrs a week WC Saturday morning.

Well, awesome results.

I don't have a before picture, but the 3cm frag in the photo had a 4cm+ ring of healthy briopsis around it, but on day 6 it looks like this...

As you can see (well probably not, photos are shi*) no ring of briopsis. There is a little grey tufty residue to the lower right part.

No obvious effects to the rest of the tank inhabitants (pistol shrimp, peppermint shrimp, damsel, ywm goby, snails, hermits, softies, lps).

F. Y. I. I left everything running that I have. I did not turn off skimmer or UV.

I'll leave the weekly WC to next weekend to give it the 2-3 week treatment

Perams on Wednesday this week (4 days after 150 mg dose) were...

Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 2
Phosphate 0.013
Sal 1.026
Alk 8
Ph 8.27

 

[Acros]

There is a bryopsis explosion in my 2.5 weeks old tank (set up with live rock from the gulf). Does fluconazole affect phytoplankton or copepods? I am dosing phyto daily and was planning to seed with pods mid-week, wondering if I should hold off on that until the bryopsis is dealt with.

 

[TexasTodd]

It didn't seem to affect my pods. I don't think it would affect phyto, but if you're dosing it daily it shouldn't matter.

 

[ScottB]

There is a bryopsis explosion in my 2.5 weeks old tank (set up with live rock from the gulf). Does fluconazole affect phytoplankton or copepods? I am dosing phyto daily and was planning to seed with pods mid-week, wondering if I should hold off on that until the bryopsis is dealt with.

Did you buy that from gulfliverock.com? I have some in a tub right now and I found some stuff I thought was bryopsis. I treated as well. I will get a closer look today under magnification. Did you confirm the ID as bryopsis?

 

[jmichaelh7]

someone create a cure for dinoflagellates

 

[Acros]

Did you buy that from gulfliverock.com? I have some in a tub right now and I found some stuff I thought was bryopsis. I treated as well. I will get a closer look today under magnification. Did you confirm the ID as bryopsis?

Yes I bought it from gulfliverock.com. I could very clearly see fern like filaments. Is there any other way I can confirm the id?

 

[Acros]

Here are couple pictures of the algae.