Bryopsis Cure: My Battle With Bryopsis Using Fluconazole

[ksanfranfan]

to avoid having to read 187 pages trying to learn if there have been refinements to this bryopsis "wonder drug" dosing i have a couple of questions:
exactly how long is the medication period supposed to last? basically i mean when should the skimmer get back in the game and how long from the start of treatment should a person wait to do a water change?

The answers to most common questions can be found on page 1. Here is some of the information from page 1 of the thread. These are the suggested guidelines for treating bryopsis that are still current.


A big thank you to @stevo01 for writting the FAQ for this thread.

Bryopsis Cure FAQ's Sheet

****This treatment seems to work best in well lit areas of the tank. Some people are noticing quicker results by adding light to the shaded areas of their tank.*****




Q: Where do I get Fluconazole?
A: There are many sources online. The most popular/best choice is to purchase the medication in 200MG CAPSULE.

Q: How much Fluconazole do I use?
A: The suggested dose is one SINGLE dose in the amount of 20mg per gallon of water. There are reefers who are experimenting with using 10mg per gallon right now, but none with completing the 1st "round".

Q: Do I do a WC before treatment?
A: Yes. It would be a good idea as the treatment is for 14 days and expect an increase in NO3.

Q: How do I prepare the the medication?
A: I have noticed with the capsules it is very tough opening them without crushing the capsule. This is what I did. Use a razor blade and cut off the rounded end of the large outer half of the capsule. Then you can very easily pour the contents out into a glass of RODI water or tank water. The amount of water doesnt matter, but make it enough to be able to mix the med up. The med isnt very soluble, but mix it up best you can. Preferably dose at night when fish are asleep. Then pour the entire dose into the DT, or sump. Some have put it into their sump socks. I dosed directly into the DT.

Q: How long is the treatment?
A: 14 days.Maybe up to 21 days if you still have GHA present in the tank.

Q: Do I remove my carbon?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I remove my skimmer cup?
A: Its suggested for at least the first few days if not the entire treatment remove your cup. If you pull your cup you may continue to run the skimmer, or turn the skimmer down as to not allow the skim to enter the cup. You do not want to remove the med.

Q: Do I take my ATS offline?
A: Yes. Completely sanitize it, and reintroduce it after all the bryopsis is 100% gone.

Q: Do I take my bio reactor offline?
A: No.

Q: Do I take my GFO offline?
A: No GFO will not remove the meds.It will also help to remove the po4 from dying algae.

Q: Do I continue to dose H2O2?
A: Yes. It will not interact with this med.

Q: Do I continue to dose Vibrant?
A: Yes. This SHOULD not interact this med. It may help to dose Vibrant as it will assist in NO3 export.

Q: Do I continue to dose colors, alk, calcium, and magnesium?
A: Yes.

Q: Should I change my lighting?
A: No.

Q: If I take my carbon reactor, or any other equipment off line/out of the tank, do I just put them back into the system after treatment?
A: No. Do not reintroduce the algae. It would be best to sterilize any equipment and throw away old media for reactors.

Q: Is it ok to take out my chaeto, or other algae's then put back after treatment?
A: No. this may reintroduce the algae. Leave the macros in the tank.

Q: Do I take my carbon reactor offline?
A: Yes.

Q:Should I stop using Purigen during treatment?
A:Yes.

Q: Do I take my UV Sterilizer offline?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I do a WC during treatment?
A: No. Unless it cannot be avoided and a WC needs to be done to save life.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill my chaetomorpha or other beneficial maco's?
A: The treatment has not harmed any macro algae.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.



Q: When do I do a WC?
A: At the end of the full 14 day treatment. After treatment has completed you will go back to your normal running system. Do a WC as your NO3/PO4 levels may be high from a lot of dead algae. Carbon goes back online to remove the medication. Skimmer cups back on.

-Stevo



This treatment has been a huge success.For so many years we have had to deal with this terrible algae. Well now we can finally say that beating Bryopsis is a reality. No more tearing down your tanks. No more endless hours of pulling and picking at this mess. Fluconazole has made the eradication of Bryopsis from our tanks quick,easy and painless.Please let everyone you know in the reefing community about this treatment. The more people who know,the better.

Testing by @twilliard will be ongoing to determine a minimum effective dosing plan in the near future.
If you still have any questions about using Fluconazole,don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you to everyone who has been and continues to help and contribute in the thread. R2R has the best reefing community around!!!

NCreefguy

 

[prsnlty]

The answers to most common questions can be found on page 1. Here is some of the information from page 1 of the thread. These are the suggested guidelines for treating bryopsis that are still current.


A big thank you to @stevo01 for writting the FAQ for this thread.

Bryopsis Cure FAQ's Sheet

****This treatment seems to work best in well lit areas of the tank. Some people are noticing quicker results by adding light to the shaded areas of their tank.*****




Q: Where do I get Fluconazole?
A: There are many sources online. The most popular/best choice is to purchase the medication in 200MG CAPSULE.

Q: How much Fluconazole do I use?
A: The suggested dose is one SINGLE dose in the amount of 20mg per gallon of water. There are reefers who are experimenting with using 10mg per gallon right now, but none with completing the 1st "round".

Q: Do I do a WC before treatment?
A: Yes. It would be a good idea as the treatment is for 14 days and expect an increase in NO3.

Q: How do I prepare the the medication?
A: I have noticed with the capsules it is very tough opening them without crushing the capsule. This is what I did. Use a razor blade and cut off the rounded end of the large outer half of the capsule. Then you can very easily pour the contents out into a glass of RODI water or tank water. The amount of water doesnt matter, but make it enough to be able to mix the med up. The med isnt very soluble, but mix it up best you can. Preferably dose at night when fish are asleep. Then pour the entire dose into the DT, or sump. Some have put it into their sump socks. I dosed directly into the DT.

Q: How long is the treatment?
A: 14 days.Maybe up to 21 days if you still have GHA present in the tank.

Q: Do I remove my carbon?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I remove my skimmer cup?
A: Its suggested for at least the first few days if not the entire treatment remove your cup. If you pull your cup you may continue to run the skimmer, or turn the skimmer down as to not allow the skim to enter the cup. You do not want to remove the med.

Q: Do I take my ATS offline?
A: Yes. Completely sanitize it, and reintroduce it after all the bryopsis is 100% gone.

Q: Do I take my bio reactor offline?
A: No.

Q: Do I take my GFO offline?
A: No GFO will not remove the meds.It will also help to remove the po4 from dying algae.

Q: Do I continue to dose H2O2?
A: Yes. It will not interact with this med.

Q: Do I continue to dose Vibrant?
A: Yes. This SHOULD not interact this med. It may help to dose Vibrant as it will assist in NO3 export.

Q: Do I continue to dose colors, alk, calcium, and magnesium?
A: Yes.

Q: Should I change my lighting?
A: No.

Q: If I take my carbon reactor, or any other equipment off line/out of the tank, do I just put them back into the system after treatment?
A: No. Do not reintroduce the algae. It would be best to sterilize any equipment and throw away old media for reactors.

Q: Is it ok to take out my chaeto, or other algae's then put back after treatment?
A: No. this may reintroduce the algae. Leave the macros in the tank.

Q: Do I take my carbon reactor offline?
A: Yes.

Q:Should I stop using Purigen during treatment?
A:Yes.

Q: Do I take my UV Sterilizer offline?
A: Yes.

Q: Do I do a WC during treatment?
A: No. Unless it cannot be avoided and a WC needs to be done to save life.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill my chaetomorpha or other beneficial maco's?
A: The treatment has not harmed any macro algae.

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.



Q: When do I do a WC?
A: At the end of the full 14 day treatment. After treatment has completed you will go back to your normal running system. Do a WC as your NO3/PO4 levels may be high from a lot of dead algae. Carbon goes back online to remove the medication. Skimmer cups back on.

-Stevo



This treatment has been a huge success.For so many years we have had to deal with this terrible algae. Well now we can finally say that beating Bryopsis is a reality. No more tearing down your tanks. No more endless hours of pulling and picking at this mess. Fluconazole has made the eradication of Bryopsis from our tanks quick,easy and painless.Please let everyone you know in the reefing community about this treatment. The more people who know,the better.

Testing by @twilliard will be ongoing to determine a minimum effective dosing plan in the near future.
If you still have any questions about using Fluconazole,don't hesitate to ask.
Thank you to everyone who has been and continues to help and contribute in the thread. R2R has the best reefing community around!!!

NCreefguy

Thank you [emoji2]

 

[ksanfranfan]

No prob

 

[landlubber]

The answers to most common questions can be found on page 1. Here is some of the information from page 1 of the thread. These are the suggested guidelines for treating bryopsis that are still current.

all i needed to know right there. thanks

 

[that Reef Guy]

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.

What is this Parasitic LPS Algae?

I have never heard of it.

What does it look like?

How do you know if you have it?

 

[prsnlty]

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.

What is this Parasitic LPS Algae?

I have never heard of it.

What does it look like?

How do you know if you have it?

Where did you see/hear this and who gave that answer?

 

[kennedpa]

9 days of treatment. Killed all bryopsis, killed callupra and a wild algae I obtained from a shore, dis not harm dragons breath, and did not harm any inhabitants. Grow out system with all types of corals ~200 pieces SPS/LPS/inverts + fish.

Dose 20mg gallon. Pics on request.

Now holding second treatment dose on hand should it return.

Dosed as original post. Skimmer cup off with carbon off as well as UV turned off on lights.

I would not do this strategy again. If I were to do it again I would not run carbon, delay skimming for 8-10 hours during drug absorption period, and would do daily water changes prior to dose to remove waste from die off days 3-10 of dosing. It is recommended for treatment with this drug to do water changes for other conditions, and I do not believe IMO that it would effect the end result as the drug has been absorbed and you replenish the dose the next day. Biologically speaking a water change is equivalent to liver/kidney funstion in the human body. If someone wants to send me bryopsis I believe this would be the most effective way to treat while maintaining stable nutrient levels in tank where this could be a concern.

Awesome that it works though!!!

 

[kennedpa]

Watch this **** get expensive (more expensive) now!! @fluconazole

235 treating/treated? 15 say failed

93.72% success - with failure likely due to method/dose/wrong identification. Big reef pharma gonna make billions.

 

[litenyaup]

Following this is great info!

 

[prsnlty]

Watch this **** get expensive (more expensive) now!! @fluconazole

235 treating/treated? 15 say failed

93.72% success - with failure likely due to method/dose/wrong identification. Big reef pharma gonna make billions.

Also in the treating category there are some people, I know for sure because they have YouTube channels or I've had conversations with them elsewhere, who had success but have not changed their votes to yes. So in reality the yes numbers should actually read higher had they changed their votes upon completion

 

[prsnlty]

9 days of treatment. Killed all bryopsis, killed callupra and a wild algae I obtained from a shore, dis not harm dragons breath, and did not harm any inhabitants. Grow out system with all types of corals ~200 pieces SPS/LPS/inverts + fish.

Dose 20mg gallon. Pics on request.

Now holding second treatment dose on hand should it return.

Dosed as original post. Skimmer cup off with carbon off as well as UV turned off on lights.

I would not do this strategy again. If I were to do it again I would not run carbon, delay skimming for 8-10 hours during drug absorption period, and would do daily water changes prior to dose to remove waste from die off days 3-10 of dosing. It is recommended for treatment with this drug to do water changes for other conditions, and I do not believe IMO that it would effect the end result as the drug has been absorbed and you replenish the dose the next day. Biologically speaking a water change is equivalent to liver/kidney funstion in the human body. If someone wants to send me bryopsis I believe this would be the most effective way to treat while maintaining stable nutrient levels in tank where this could be a concern.

Awesome that it works though!!!

Thank you for chiming in and letting us know the details of your treatment! Glad it worked If this worked for you, I'm curious why you would not do it again?

Many people have had massive die off and their no3/po4 barely increased with die off. Others did. Some pulled what they could before treatment and others didn't bother to. Some ran their skimmers while others either had the cup off or turned off. Everyone's system is different and many handled the process slightly different than another. The instructions on the 1st page are basic guidelines for this reason from what we have learned, being that this treatment is experimental. And because it is experimental we would love everyone's input so we know how it was implemented, what worked for them and did not. It helps us to tighten in a even better plan of action for its use

 

[ksanfranfan]

Q: Will Fluconazole kill the parasitic algae known to burrow through LPS corals?
A: This is currently being researched.

What is this Parasitic LPS Algae?

I have never heard of it.

What does it look like?

How do you know if you have it?

I'm not familiar with that species of algae myself. Maybe it's some type of fungus.
This Q&A and the others are listed on the very first page of this thread. Maybe someone along the way in this thread had some type of fungus or algae that was killing their lps and posted it. It's a long thread now and I've lost track of some information myself.

 

[NCreefguy]

9 days of treatment. Killed all bryopsis, killed callupra and a wild algae I obtained from a shore, dis not harm dragons breath, and did not harm any inhabitants. Grow out system with all types of corals ~200 pieces SPS/LPS/inverts + fish.

Dose 20mg gallon. Pics on request.

Now holding second treatment dose on hand should it return.

Dosed as original post. Skimmer cup off with carbon off as well as UV turned off on lights.

I would not do this strategy again. If I were to do it again I would not run carbon, delay skimming for 8-10 hours during drug absorption period, and would do daily water changes prior to dose to remove waste from die off days 3-10 of dosing. It is recommended for treatment with this drug to do water changes for other conditions, and I do not believe IMO that it would effect the end result as the drug has been absorbed and you replenish the dose the next day. Biologically speaking a water change is equivalent to liver/kidney funstion in the human body. If someone wants to send me bryopsis I believe this would be the most effective way to treat while maintaining stable nutrient levels in tank where this could be a concern.

Awesome that it works though!!!

I think someone early on broke their dose down into several smaller doses but I'm not sure if it worked for them that way. I'll search back through and see if I can find it. It could have been a number of factors as to why it didn't work though and might not have been because they used smaller more frequent doses. We haven't really tried that many different ways of dosing since the initial treatment worked,we kind of stuck to it. It would be great to see someone try breaking it down that way though and have them take pics and document their findings.

 

[NCreefguy]

I'm not familiar with that species of algae myself. Maybe it's some type of fungus.
This Q&A and the others are listed on the very first page of this thread. Maybe someone along the way in this thread had some type of fungus or algae that was killing their lps and posted it. It's a long thread now and I've lost track of some information myself.

I believe that came from @stevo01. Let's see if he can clarify what he was talking about.

 

[stevo01]

Where did you see/hear this and who gave that answer?

I first learned of this from our italian friend, a phd of byological sciences @bios. Bios, do you think Flucanozole would have any impact on this commensale Endolithic algae? Has it been tested? Please and thank you.

This conversation began here. I got to thinking about how bryopsis roots burrow into rock and coral skeleton. Then I thought this is a lot like the Endolithic algae discussuion we had. I am hoping Fluconazole will have the same effect on this algae as Bryopsis and GHA's. Could be an answer to problematic Euphyllias as well as other LPS. We have coral that die on us and we wonder why. Parameters test good, lighting good, flow good, dipped and no bad critters. Well what about
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/euphyllia-eating-fungus.270789/#post-3250222

 

[stevo01]

I believe that came from @stevo01. Let's see if he can clarify what he was talking about.

Thanks for the alert, lets see if the members I mentioned will be able to help.

Also @StrangeDejavu does this torch killing Endolithic algae still exist in your tank?

 

[kennedpa]

Thank you for chiming in and letting us know the details of your treatment! Glad it worked If this worked for you, I'm curious why you would not do it again?

Many people have had massive die off and their no3/po4 barely increased with die off. Others did. Some pulled what they could before treatment and others didn't bother to. Some ran their skimmers while others either had the cup off or turned off. Everyone's system is different and many handled the process slightly different than another. The instructions on the 1st page are basic guidelines for this reason from what we have learned, being that this treatment is experimental. And because it is experimental we would love everyone's input so we know how it was implemented, what worked for them and did not. It helps us to tighten in a even better plan of action for its use

I would absolutely do it again, but with the method in the end of the post. I know the die off isn't the problem, but some of us like to feed heavy and having the cup off will definitely throw it out of balance. Just my two cents and personal preference. There's also more released from death than the things we measure and will never be able to account for, and that's another probably unimportant reason but important for me. I suppose the big point I was getting at is that we likely do not need to be as worried about drug elimination as we are. Yes, it is absolutely light sensitive in the short wavelength spectrum (UV and far blue). In my mind, the ergosterol enzyme it is inhibiting is likely a housekeeping protein in that it's continuously produced. However, I'm convinced that there's enough drug to inhibit it enough in once a day bulk dosing to kill it even if we were to do water changes and skim 16-14 hours a day. I further support this with the fact that others used a much lower dose with success (understanding the caveat to how their system was as far as being able to support bryopsis growth - who knows). Either way, it's awesome this came to the arena!

Additionally, I only pulled one giant mass, I left it all in otherwise to see if this new magic bullet was actually legit.

I think someone early on broke their dose down into several smaller doses but I'm not sure if it worked for them that way. I'll search back through and see if I can find it. It could have been a number of factors as to why it didn't work though and might not have been because they used smaller more frequent doses. We haven't really tried that many different ways of dosing since the initial treatment worked,we kind of stuck to it. It would be great to see someone try breaking it down that way though and have them take pics and document their findings.

I took the initial advice too. If it isn't broke done fix it. Now having experiencing it and having time to think about what if I had to do it again is where my mind is now.

I don't like the idea of several small doses. I wouldn't be able to manage my tank nutrients the way that I personally want to, and by doing that you increase the margin for error. The chance of then not inhibiting enough enzyme with each dose may increase. It all depends on enzyme turnover, where the drug goes (some bind to things and become unavailable for biological purposes), etc. I haven't read this entire thread. Lol. I will, but haven't had the time. So far this is probably the most on point productive thread I've seen here.

My thanks and appreciation to everyone that's apart of it!!!!!

 

[prsnlty]

.....
I don't like the idea of several small doses. I wouldn't be able to manage my tank nutrients the way that I personally want to.....

My thanks and appreciation to everyone that's apart of it!!!!!

That's terrific, that it all worked out for you and are happy with the results Thank you also for elaborating just a little bit more.

Above you stated several small doses ... It is supposed to be one large single dose. So one 200 milligram capsule per 10 gallons of water volume mixed in a cup of tank water dosed ONE time. I'm wondering if you were dozing according to the fish directions that comes with the capsules? That is to be ignored as it's an entirely different treatment using the same medication [emoji12]

... You're welcome

 

[kennedpa]

Please read it one more time in detail. I think you just missed a couple details about what I was saying.

I didn't not dose in multiple small doses. I quoted someone who was talking about someone else who did, and I was just throwing my opinion out there about why I don't agree with that method, and possible reasons that method failed that person.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[kennedpa]

That's terrific, that it all worked out for you and are happy with the results Thank you also for elaborating just a little bit more.

Above you stated several small doses ... It is supposed to be one large single dose. So one 200 milligram capsule per 10 gallons of water volume mixed in a cup of tank water dosed ONE time. I'm wondering if you were dozing according to the fish directions that comes with the capsules? That is to be ignored as it's an entirely different treatment using the same medication [emoji12]

... You're welcome

Forgot to quote.

Please read it one more time in detail. I think you just missed a couple details about what I was saying.

I didn't not dose in multiple small doses. I quoted someone who was talking about someone else who did, and I was just throwing my opinion out there about why I don't agree with that method, and possible reasons that method failed that person.

Thanks for the reply!