How to remove hair algae from clove polyps?

muzikalmatt · Jan 20, 2022

So I have a nice frag of firecracker clove polyps that have some hair algae growing on their stalks. I'm wondering the best way to try and remove it without harming the corals too much. I was considering removing them and trying peroxide, either applied with a Q-tip or dipping just the base of the corals. Anyone had a similar issue or have any thoughts on how best to tackle this? Below is a picture of how they look.

Sigmund · Jan 20, 2022

Peroxide spray. I have found if u try to manually remove the algae, more likely to just damage the sensitive stalk and polyps.

muzikalmatt · Jan 20, 2022

Sigmund said:
Peroxide spray. I have found if u try to manually remove the algae, more likely to just damage the sensitive stalk and polyps.

Gotcha. I'll try the peroxide first. It's mainly on 2-3 polyp stalks so even if I lose them it's not a huge deal as long as the healthy ones without algae survive.

muzikalmatt · Jan 21, 2022

Bumping to ask another question. When treating the algae on these polyps, I plan on using a Q-tip with peroxide to gently apply it to the affected areas. Should I dilute the peroxide (it's 3%) at all or just use full strength? I know most corals don't take kindly to peroxide so I want to be careful not to kill it. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Porpoise Hork · Jan 21, 2022

Fluconazole treatment may also work depending on the strain of algae. I have used it in the past with decent success at eliminating it.

muzikalmatt · Jan 21, 2022

It looks like green hair algae to me, but I can't say for certain. It's only growing on this one coral frag.

Sean Clark · Jan 21, 2022

The standard 3% hydrogen peroxide will knock it right out. I would just dip the entire frag for 2 minutes and put it back in the tank. 48 hours later that plug will be glowing white. The clove polyps won't skip a beat.

muzikalmatt · Jan 21, 2022

Sean Clark said:
The standard 3% hydrogen peroxide will knock it right out. I would just dip the entire frag for 2 minutes and put it back in the tank. 48 hours later that plug will be glowing white. The clove polyps won't skip a beat.

Awesome! Thank you for the advice! I figured clove polyps were hardier than most, but I wasn't sure if it was safe to fully dip them in peroxide or not. I'll give them a dip tonight and follow up with progress pics in a few days. Thanks again!

Sean Clark · Jan 21, 2022

muzikalmatt said:
Awesome! Thank you for the advice! I figured clove polyps were hardier than most, but I wasn't sure if it was safe to fully dip them in peroxide or not. I'll give them a dip tonight and follow up with progress pics in a few days. Thanks again!

I will go out on a limb here and go as far to say that I think zoas, palythoa, and cloves like a nice H2O2 dip because they always perk up and look great afterwards.

moz71 · Jan 21, 2022

WARNING! Don't go too long with the peroxide dip!!!! I did it for 4 minutes and melted the polyps pretty good. I thought it would be safe for polyps. I dipped zoas and the polyps at same time and zoas were completely unaffected but the polyps melted away. It did recover and eventually grew them backs. I went more like 4 to 5 minutes so i think the 2 minutes mentioned above is a safe zone.

TnFishwater98 · Jan 21, 2022

Sean Clark said:
I will go out on a limb here and go as far to say that I think zoas, palythoa, and cloves like a nice H2O2 dip because they always perk up and look great afterwards.

You can add Acans to that

TnFishwater98 · Jan 21, 2022

moz71 said:
WARNING! Don't go too long with the peroxide dip!!!! I did it for 4 minutes and melted the polyps pretty good. I thought it would be safe for polyps. I dipped zoas and the polyps at same time and zoas were completely unaffected but the polyps melted away. It did recover and eventually grew them backs. I went more like 4 to 5 minutes so i think the 2 minutes mentioned above is a safe zone.

Did you dilute ?

moz71 · Jan 21, 2022

TnFishwater98 said:
Did you dilute ?

I did dilute but I did a 1 part to 3 part water instead of the 1 part to 4 part water! probably a combination of slightly stronger and longer time that caused the issue. I even found someone on youtube afterwards that same thing happened but mine did recover and his just died. In end, I am just suggesting go slower and easier at first and all should be fine. Funny how those zoas just didn't care, fully opened in minutes when back in tank!! lol

Kraig · Jan 21, 2022

I have the exact same issue right now. I dipped for 2 minutes in a 2:1 water(tank)/hydrogen peroxide mixture and it didn't really do anything for the algae growing on the stalks. The clove polyps were pretty mad for a few days but came back and looked great after a few day. Still had the algae though. 2 weeks later I tried just using straight 3% peroxide and applying directly to the stalks (as much as I could fearing I was damaging them). That was this past Saturday. The polyps are just now starting to come back from that. I can still see some algae on some of the stalks still.

I did add fluconazole after that. I'm going to add another dose this weekend. These are in a QT tank and I'm trying my best to get rid of this algae before I move them to the DT.

TnFishwater98 · Jan 21, 2022

moz71 said:
I did dilute but I did a 1 part to 3 part water instead of the 1 part to 4 part water! probably a combination of slightly stronger and longer time that caused the issue. I even found someone on youtube afterwards that same thing happened but mine did recover and his just died. In end, I am just suggesting go slower and easier at first and all should be fine. Funny how those zoas just didn't care, fully opened in minutes when back in tank!! lol

I’ve never dip cloves that’s why I asked

Sean Clark · Jan 21, 2022

moz71 said:
I did dilute but I did a 1 part to 3 part water instead of the 1 part to 4 part water! probably a combination of slightly stronger and longer time that caused the issue. I even found someone on youtube afterwards that same thing happened but mine did recover and his just died. In end, I am just suggesting go slower and easier at first and all should be fine. Funny how those zoas just didn't care, fully opened in minutes when back in tank!! lol

Zoas b like

Kraig · Jan 21, 2022

This was my clove polyps about 2 weeks after the 2:1 2 minute peroxide dip. Its a little hard to tell feom this pic but you can see the algae still on the stalks

Sean Clark · Jan 21, 2022

Kraig said:
This was my clove polyps about 2 weeks after the 2:1 2 minute peroxide dip. Its a little hard to tell feom this pic but you can see the algae still on the stalks

And it's dropping babies.

Kraig · Jan 21, 2022

Sean Clark said:
And it's dropping babies.

Yeah, that little one on the rack was from a dead polyp that had gotten stuck. When I removed the frag last time, that piece stayed behind and within the week started growing a new head. I'd say they are pretty dang hardy.

Sean Clark · Jan 21, 2022

Kraig said:
This was my clove polyps about 2 weeks after the 2:1 2 minute peroxide dip. Its a little hard to tell feom this pic but you can see the algae still on the stalks

I have never seen fluconazole used for algae on stalks before but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Fluconazole takes a while sometimes weeks. Personally I would only do one method at a time fluconazole or h2o2.