Will I never be able to have a macro algae refugium?

[csb123]

Bryopsis the devil weed is back! This is the third time in a year. The first time I got rid of it, I did the standard fluconazole treatment. The treatment killed off about 70% of my chaeto, and I spent the following months dealing with the nutrient spike and a cyano outbreak. I fostered the chaeto back and brought nitrates down with DIY NOPOX. The nutrient and system instability resulted in the loss of smooth skinned acros as well as, surprisingly, all of my birds nest corals.

The devil weed came back a few months later in a few patches. I again treated with fluconazole, but removed my chaeto ahead of time. This time, I did a prolonged treatment, for 3 months adding fluconazole periodically. Again, I kept nitrates down with my diy NOPOX. The tank looks great, the bryopsis is gone, and the acros have really taken off. I got new chaeto from a fellow hobbyist ,it is flourishing and I’m down to a quarter of my NOPOX dose, as of 2 weeks ago.

Yesterday, much to my horror, I spotted a small patch, of the bryopsis! I’m aggressively attacking it with 12% hydrogen peroxide and scrubbing, to treat it locally. But, in my experience, it is only a matter of time before I’ll see other patches pop up. So, I anticipate in the coming months, I’ll be treating the system again with Fluconazole, with the attendant headache of removing chaeto and dealing with the systems instability.

I’m starting to think the bryopsis is going to be a recurrent long term problem. The instability of my system induced by removing and restoring my macro algae refugium sets my tank back for months each time.

Am I doomed to never having a macro algae refugium, and dosing NOPOX, for the years to come?

Thank you in advance for your opinions!
Sean

 

[EmdeReef]

How big is your tank?

I personally don’t think fluconazole is a good long term solution to algae problems. I would only use it to counter severe outbreaks while considering other more permanent solutions.

If your tank is large enough and your stocking permits it, I would consider a foxface and tangs to deal with the problem.

 

[csb123]

I have a Magnificent foxface, a Tomnini tang, a purple tang, a Flametail blenny, as well as 3 Mollymillers who don’t touch the stuff.

 

[csb123]

Bump

To clarify, does the benefits of a macro algae refugium, out weigh the risks of having to deal with pest algae out breaks in the future? Treating pest algae out breaks leads to system instability as outlined above.

 

[Aardvark1134]

Actually a strong running cheato in the sump should help control algae in the main tank. I would suggest either you need a stronger more growth oriented light on your cheato or you need to check your water #s if you are managing to overgrow your display while growing lots of cheato.

 

[csb123]

My tank actually has very little algae in the display. My problem is that when bryopsis takes hold, like valonia, it keeps on going regardless of nutrients or how the chaeto is doing. My chaeto is growing robustly. My nitrate is holding steady at 3 and phosphates at 0.03-0.05.

 

[LesPoissons]

Thats a bi##*. Does it reoccur on the same rocks? If so- scrap the whole rock? Or pull out and do an h202 soak? I would not continue with repeat flucon, it may end up killing the rest of your tank w repeat wipe outs of good bacteria and resetting the tank..If it's entirely independent of cheato growth, I dont think scrapping the fuge will make any difference. It sounds like its present in the tank so only maintenance/removal will keep it at bay. I personally would take some coral loss on "infected" rocks than deal with repeat outbreaks.

 

[csb123]

It tends to sprout up here and there. It is random as to which rock it starts on.

 

[lavoisier]

For fug macro to outperform nuisance algae in the DT you have to have a light source to match the DTs. I use a H380 Halo II LED Algae Grow Light - Kessil and my chaeto grows and nuisance doesn't.

 

[csb123]

I’ll intensify my refugium lighting and see what happens...thanks!