What is this and how do I kill it?

ravedood · Apr 28, 2016

Hi guys,

This plant/algae has been slowly taking over my tank and whatever I throw at it does not kill it. I've done the following:

- water changes
- added GFO reactor
- added Carbon
- increased skimming - Vertex 180i
- changed to 10 micron filter socks
- added a refugium
- increased magnesium
- increased alk,
- increased calcium.
- added sea slugs
- added snails
- added crabs
- decreased feeding of fish
- new ATI sunpower t5 fixture with new bulbs
- reduced lighting cycles
- added Algaefix

I dont know what else to do. I have to manually try and rip it out every time a do a water change but it always comes back.

I am thinking of doing a week long blackout period. I guess the last thing to do if that doesn't work is replace all the rock.

Please help!

Reefing Madness · Apr 28, 2016

Bryopsis. Clean water algae
Using Kent Tech M, bring your Mag up to 1600 and keep it there until its dead.

twilliard · Apr 28, 2016

Manually remove as much as you can.
Spot treat the regrowth areas with peroxide
If you stay on top of it then it will be gone in no time.

You can also look into Sally Lightfoot crabs

ravedood · Apr 28, 2016

Ive done the Kent Tech M treatment for weeks. I guess I can try a bit longer. It did kill all my snails.

For the peroxide treatment, how do I that? Do I inject it straight into the water around the problem area or do I take out the rock and dip it in? Do I need to dilute it?

I will buy some Sally Lightfoot crabs today.

Thanks for the help guys

twilliard · Apr 28, 2016

For the rock after manual removal take a syringe and squirt the peroxide on any spots you wish to treat (rock is outside the tank)
Let sit for 5 minutes and then put back into the tank.
Use the standard 3% from most any store.

Reefing Madness · Apr 28, 2016

Its how high you get the dose. Ya gotta keep it up there, if 1600 didn't work, go to 1800.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/hydrogen-peroxide-in-the-reef-tank.72877/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/saving-a-tank-from-bryopsis-outbreak.221649/

FarmerTy · Apr 28, 2016

Doesn't look like bryopsis to me.

ravedood · Apr 28, 2016

FarmerTy what do you think it is?

I have had this same rock and fish for years and all of a sudden it came out of nowhere.

brandon429 · Apr 28, 2016

that is not a hard macro to kill with peroxide. on the giant reefcentral peroxide thread, we have fine documentation of that kill between pages 5-10 somewhere in there. all macros are easy to kill w peroxide, you just factor in the other sensitives in the tank if any and bomb away.

due to peroxide receptivity, id rather have a problem with that macro above than most common invaders I could think of to have in its place. all you do to begin test is not dose the whole tank...lift out a rock, zap targets, let sit in air, rinse off don't remove, and chart the death process over 48 hours to bleach. if that is a desirable response for the rest of the tank, continue. removal treatment kills 98% of it, then when reassembled underwater injections kill the holdouts with no removal, easy

FarmerTy · Apr 28, 2016

ravedood said:
FarmerTy what do you think it is?

I have had this same rock and fish for years and all of a sudden it came out of nowhere.

I don't know but I'm sure someone might chime in. I know there are many species of bryopsis but that doesn't look like any I've seen. I've never seen bryopsis branch as much as your macro algae and the feathers I usually see with bryopsis don't look anything like your specimen. Yours looks more like a puffball than the feather-like projections of bryopsis. I am no macro expert but I just wanted to point out that I don't believe it to be bryopsis.

FarmerTy · Apr 28, 2016

Look into caulerpa verticillata. Does that look like it?

reefwiser · Apr 28, 2016

http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bocas_database/search/species/1706
Looks like caulerpa verticillata to me. The problem you run into with Macro Algaes like caulerpa is that they can grow back by the root. So manually removing it doesn't help long term. Its best to nuke all the rock in the tank.

ravedood · Apr 28, 2016

caulerpa verticillata seems more like my issue. Especially since all the byopsis treatments havent worked. So by nuking the tank do you mean pouring the peroxide into the tank? will that kill my fish and shrimp?

brandon429 · Apr 28, 2016

the steps listed above don't have dumping in tank they are specific order of ops for removal of this invader

ID is not required on this invader because its so easy to just kill and preserve the biosystem, no nuking required. we have literally beat this before, see here (must sift through bunch of pages only downside)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2082359

to save from having to read that whole thread my steps above cover your issue (test rock external, chart loss before whole tank. when test rock complies, do your whole tank as external spot kills to copy what the test rock did exactly, then finally you use underwater injections to hit any growback in the reassembled tank)

the linked thread shows you the sensitive animals that you need to look for in your tank, or just post a whole tank shot here as a pic.

this invader was farmed on purpose although you were trying to lessen it...just didn't know about the peroxide option and how valuable it is to requisite hitchhiker battles

that means when you kill this invader it can never come back despite any nutrient changes etc, it literally requires direct import via no quarantine procedure as its sole cause in reefing. 98% of reef invasions are that mode. 2% come in air/water/contaminations etc

Reefing Madness · Apr 29, 2016

ravedood said:
caulerpa verticillata seems more like my issue. Especially since all the byopsis treatments havent worked. So by nuking the tank do you mean pouring the peroxide into the tank? will that kill my fish and shrimp?

You have the ID correct. I got it wrong.
And I wouldn't nuke the tank, thats just crazy.
Sea hare and fuzzy chiton should eat it up for you. Hermits have been known to go at it also.

ravedood · Jun 15, 2016

Solved! So I was finally able to eradicate every trace of this vial weed that had taken over my tank for over a year. After trying almost everything except replacing all the rock I tried one last thing. I purchased API Algae Fix Marine and followed the directions. After about a month of regularly dosing its all gone. woohoo!

One note: I did not have any SPS in the tank, I only had a few zoa and LPS frags. I also had a few fish, snails and crabs. Nothing perished during the treatment.