I have this persistent and apparently very hard to kill algae. Several minutes of 3% hydrogen peroxide knocks it back significantly but it eventually comes back. And I can't realistically treat 75 lbs of live rock, loaded with coral with peroxide. Has anyone dealt with this nightmare? I'm about to tear down the tank, frag everything and start over with fresh rock but if there's an alternative option, I'd like to try that first. I added 3 emerald crabs into my 75g tank today in hopes of them helping.
Cladophoropsis??
- Thread starter krausean
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Brew12
Electrical Gru
Have you tried Vibrant from Underwater Creations?? I've used it for a few species of algae. Maybe @UWC (the vendor) knows if it is effective on this stuff.I have this persistent and apparently very hard to kill algae. Several minutes of 3% hydrogen peroxide knocks it back significantly but it eventually comes back. And I can't realistically treat 75 lbs of live rock, loaded with coral with peroxide. Has anyone dealt with this nightmare? I'm about to tear down the tank, frag everything and start over with fresh rock but if there's an alternative option, I'd like to try that first. I added 3 emerald crabs into my 75g tank today in hopes of them helping.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Wow. Did you try Fluconazole? I know it works on Bryopsis very well. Not sure I would have high hopes for it with this stuff though. This looks structurally more like Chaeto and Fluco doesn't do much to it.
I've actually ordered some Fluconazole. I will have to try that and see if it does anything. I agree that it probably won't do much to this stuff. Only one way to find out. Looks like I may end up having to do a full reboot.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
This stuff looks horrible. I was doing some searching and found a guy that had his rock blacked out in a trash can with no light for over 2 months and it didn't kill it. He ended up needing to acid bath the rock.
I got nothing.... other than sorry you have to deal with it!
I've done a fair bit of reading and can't find anything useful either. This crap is the devil. I guess I'll wait and see if anyone else has ever dealt with it and won. Thanks for trying to help.
NCreefguy
Valuable Member
@Jose Mayo Do you have any idea if Fluconazole will kill this algae?
Yes, there are random success stories in the treatment of Cladophoropsis sp with fluconazole but are not consistent with the results obtained against Bryopsis and Derbesia and may be the result of misleading identification.
Regards
Yes, so far there is no safe and effective protocol for eradicating this algae in a reef aquarium, but there are people trying to control it by combining methods. It can be a matter of dosage and time.
Regards
NCreefguy
Valuable Member
@krausean When you run the Fluconazole treatment,let it go as long as you can without performing water changes unless you replace the meds after the wc.Just keep an eye on your nutrient levels.It may end up taking 4-6 weeks to kill(if at all) like some forms of GHA.Definitely keep us updated on how the treatment goes for this type of algae.I'm really hoping it works for you.
Unfortunately, I'm relocating in under a month, so I don't actually have 4-6 weeks to do the fluconazole treatment...
I've decided to frag everything, kill whatever algae I absolutely have to (due to being on LPS skeleton, etc) with peroxide and a toothbrush, start with fresh live rock in a different tank and bleach the Rock I currently have. My biggest fear is that the cladophoropsis will start to show itself again in the new system...time will tell...
NCreefguy
Valuable Member
Good luck with the move. We are going through a move ourselves so I know how that is. You may want to look into giving your rock an acid bath in Muriatic Acid if you're going to start over and reuse the old rock. There are videos posted on the forum here somewhere and if I can find them,I'll link them.
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Thanks. It's definitely a little stressful. The tank will take up an entire day by itself, I'm sure. We're moving 300km away, so keeping my fingers crossed everything makes it through, except for the algae, lol. I've looked into acid bathing rock and it scares the crap out of me, to be honest. I'll tackle all kinds of diy stuff, but I've always drawn the line at muriatic acid...
NCreefguy
Valuable Member
Thank you very much.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Brew12
Electrical Gru
All 3 work just fine, some are more effective at specific targets than others. Vinegar will dissolve more of the rock and remove surface stuff and calcified skeletons. Bleach will do a better job killing bacteria/algae and other softer tissue stuff.
I have some old nasty rock that I left outside for a few months. Right now a piece is sitting in a vinegar bath (about 25% vinegar). I'll leave it there for 2 weeks and then let it spend a day or two in bleach. Then I will rinse it and let it soak in clean rodi for a few days before it goes in my sump for a pod habitat.
