What to do now?

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

I’ve been battling algae for awhile now. The reason I can’t grow sps right Now is because of this algae. I know some of it is hair algae. I’m not sure what the lettuce like stuff is and my lfs says there’s some byropsis mixed in there. I have a tuxedo urchin, handful of snails, and a couple sally light foot crabs. Nitrates are at 10ppm and phosphates are at .1. Biweekly 25% water changes with rodi water. Skimming heavily, two bags of purigen, carbon, gfo reactors, and a cheato reactor (harvested weekly). I don’t know what to do anymore. I was recommended a fluconzanole treatment but I don’t know if that’s a good idea. The tank is 45 gallons so I’m not entirely comfortable with a tang. Any suggestions on what to do now? I’m tired of looking at it...

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

Coral colors are all jacked because I cranked the whites all the way up for pictures...

Hemmdog · Dec 12, 2019

I had the exact same algae combo for awhile. Ulva is the sea lettuce stuff by the way, it’s very difficult to get rid of. I ended up having luck with Vibrant , double dose once a week. The algae stayed for a month and a half then one day all melted away. I stopped dosing vibrant after it disappeared. I’ve been algae free for 6ish months now without dosing vibrant. No ill effects to coral for me, my chaeto stopped growing, but didn’t completely die.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

Hemmdog said:
I had the exact same algae combo for awhile. Ulva is the sea lettuce stuff by the way, it’s very difficult to get rid of. I ended up having luck with Vibrant , double dose once a week. The algae stayed for a month and a half then one day all melted away. I stopped dosing vibrant after it disappeared. I’ve been algae free for 6ish months now without dosing vibrant. No ill effects to coral for me, my chaeto stopped growing, but didn’t completely die.

Anything that eats it?

AllSignsPointToFish · Dec 12, 2019

Too bad it's such a small tank. I'd be a foxface would mow that stuff down. Mine is a monster algae eater!

Hemmdog · Dec 12, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
Anything that eats it?

Lasse on here said camel shrimp eat it, but I couldn’t find any camel shrimp, and they are borderline not reef safe I hear.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

AllSignsPointToFish said:
Too bad it's such a small tank. I'd be a foxface would mow that stuff down. Mine is a monster algae eater!

Would I be good with a juvenile? My dad has a 150 and would be able to take it when it gets too big...

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

Hemmdog said:
Lasse on here said camel shrimp eat it, but I couldn’t find any camel shrimp, and they are borderline not reef safe I hear.

Yeah, I’d like to stay away from camels. I’ve seen how destructive they can be...

AllSignsPointToFish · Dec 12, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
Would I be good with a juvenile? My dad has a 150 and would be able to take it when it gets too big...

Yeah, that would possibly work...if you can fine a juvenile.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 12, 2019

720 Reefer · Dec 12, 2019

I would absolutely try Fluconazole. I had a huge green hair algea outbreak and it cleared it up in about 2 weeks. Started seeing results after a few days. I did not have bryopsis, but from what i have researched, it works even better on bryopsis. I have a wide variety of fish, inverts, softies, LPS, and SPS. None of which showed any negative side affects. Just be sure to go by the recommended dose and be patient. Also remove as much as you can manually and keep your skimmer off for the first 72 hours. After 10-14 days, depending on the results, do about a 20% water change. Hope this helps!

Mikedawg · Dec 12, 2019

+ 1 on Fluconazole

720 Reefer · Dec 12, 2019

alyamaha2005 said:
I would absolutely try Fluconazole. I had a huge green hair algea outbreak and it cleared it up in about 2 weeks. Started seeing results after a few days. I did not have bryopsis, but from what i have researched, it works even better on bryopsis. I have a wide variety of fish, inverts, softies, LPS, and SPS. None of which showed any negative side affects. Just be sure to go by the recommended dose and be patient. Also remove as much as you can manually and keep your skimmer off for the first 72 hours. After 10-14 days, depending on the results, do about a 20% water change. Hope this helps!

You may also want to take your chaeto reactor offline during the 14 days as it will most likely kill it as well.