Need advice -- Bryposis breakdown...new tank or not?

ps2cho · Dec 26, 2016

After battling Bryopsis for 6 months, I gave up and am slowly breaking down the tank. I am downsizing to a 29 biocube, BUT I want to retain a 40B so I can keep my Kole Tang and Sixline Wrasse. I have literally LBS of bryopsis. Its just unreal I must have got the worst kind of it...either way I'm over it.

Here are the options:

1) Put corals and fish in buckets, remove rocks and sand, remove overflow box and clean it entirely (while trying to not overclean and keep corraline algae on the walls)

2) Throw it entirely away and buy new 40B ($1/gal sale just began)

What do you guys think? I am leaning towards keeping the tank because the coralline algae should keep it keep the SPS for the frag tank. BUT ALL rocks are going into the sun for weeks to sterilize it. I may also bleach it if I have any concerns.

Reefrookie220 · Dec 26, 2016

Pics.

ps2cho · Dec 26, 2016

I removed the worst rock today, so imagine what you see, but even worse...

Reefrookie220 · Dec 26, 2016

Ooh wow, you can peroxide it from the rocks and start fresh that way, just know that any tiny shred of that junk makes it into the new tank you could be facing this same issue again. As far as buying a whole new tank you could just clean the old one, six line will be OK in the 29, may have to get rid of the kole.

Triggreef · Dec 26, 2016

Bryopsis is not a game ender and is fairly easy to eradicate. May be a bit costly but I'm sure cheaper than the amount of livestock you probly lost from letting it go. At this point i would just fight it with full tank peroxide dosing since you have limited livestock anyhow.

Bluefish9 · Dec 26, 2016

I wonder if your rock is leeching something... it kinda has that look.

Do you have a sump? You could load it up with marinepure. Once bacteria is established you could start pulling out your rock from the display.

twilliard · Dec 26, 2016

Yup H2O2 time!

Velcro · Dec 27, 2016

40b isn't big enough for any tang.

ps2cho · Dec 27, 2016

Triggreef said:
Bryopsis is not a game ender and is fairly easy to eradicate. May be a bit costly but I'm sure cheaper than the amount of livestock you probly lost from letting it go. At this point i would just fight it with full tank peroxide dosing since you have limited livestock anyhow.

I haven't tried peroxide yet....I ran Mg up to 2200ppm for 6 weeks and it didn't kill the stuff. It just made it fade to a lighter shade of green...Then I tried 6 weeks of that Vibrant stuff that others have had success with, and zero impact. With the sheer amount though, I think it was probably difficult to believe it would kill it all.

ahiggins · Dec 27, 2016

twilliard said:
Yup H2O2 time!

I second that

Buuuut if you want a more natural alternative. Chestnut cowries. I swear by these guys. They eradicated my bryopsis and are reef safe. Ive had my 2 in the 25 now for a few months and no bryopsis, no coral damage. I know "algae eaters" are hit and miss, kinda like peppermint shrimp, but it was so worth the try. Theyre a little bit on the expensive side, like $20 per snail but seriously....youll love them.
And they only come out at night

Before I got them, I tried peroxide (Im way too scared to use a full dose though), magnesium at 1850 for a month, and a few other critters. before you do a full tank tear down, try them. If it saves you time and money, its worth it IMO.

Griff · Dec 27, 2016

That's kind of what mine looks like. I just started dosing vibrant. I hope it works for me. I'll second the peroxide though. What I will say is I did a peroxide scrub and you'll probably have to do it a few times. If I had more time I know I could eradicate it with peroxide if I had more time. 3 little kids makes it difficult though. My plan is to pull rock again scrub with peroxide but keep dosing vibrant for the small patches that get left behind. Once you do your good scrub continue to pull rock every time you see a patch pop up and scrub only that spot. Good luck!

ahiggins · Dec 27, 2016

One thing regarding Vibrant that Ive found.
I wouldnt use it in a new tank <6 months. Die off of algae results in ammonia which newly established bio systems cant handle all that well.
Just a tidbit

Triggreef · Dec 27, 2016

also worth mentioning, tech m changed their formula and it no longer works for bryopsis.

Never heard of these cowries but that is great if they really work.

Many people have fears about emerald crabs but i keep 10 or 12 in my 40g frag tank and they are bryopsis destroyers. I actually keep bryopsis on one pump that is out of their reach and break some off to feed the crabs time to time.

I keep everything from zoas to acros and never had any issues with the crabs. And I keep A LOT more crabs in my other tanks than what is in my frag tank.

ReefersDirect · Dec 27, 2016

Have you tried some lettuce nudis? I like using them a lot when it comes to bryopsis especially since they're easy to find from my local distributors

httorihanzo · Dec 27, 2016

Sounds like a perfect time for an upgrade!

Seriously dont let it get the best of you. If my option was to clean an entire tank or pay $40 I'd pay the $40 bucks every.single.time. Oh and I 3rd (or 4th?) the Peroxide. H2O2 FTW. I just took out a rock covered in SPS that had a hair algea problem and just squirted the bottle right onto the algea. Let it sit/drain for a bit and threw it right back in. Your milage may vary*

Triggreef · Dec 27, 2016

ReefersDirect said:
Have you tried some lettuce nudis? I like using them a lot when it comes to bryopsis especially since they're easy to find from my local distributors

I never had any luck with these with bryopsis OR hair algae. And I've tried at least a half dozen.

twilliard · Dec 27, 2016

ahiggins said:
I second that
Buuuut if you want a more natural alternative. Chestnut cowries. I swear by these guys. They eradicated my bryopsis and are reef safe. Ive had my 2 in the 25 now for a few months and no bryopsis, no coral damage. I know "algae eaters" are hit and miss, kinda like peppermint shrimp, but it was so worth the try. Theyre a little bit on the expensive side, like $20 per snail but seriously....youll love them.
And they only come out at night
Before I got them, I tried peroxide (Im way too scared to use a full dose though), magnesium at 1850 for a month, and a few other critters. before you do a full tank tear down, try them. If it saves you time and money, its worth it IMO.

Another good one that eats bryopsis for desert.. the sally lightfoot