How do I get rid of Bryopsis Pennata?!?!

[Spencer7]

Waste levels are minuscule, nothing leaching into the water, I've been maintaining high Mg levels with TechM (got rid of the normal, wiry bryopsis, but not this stuff).

 

It's not just on one rock.

 

Sodium Hydroxide? In an all acro tank?

 

40g Tank. Would a lettuce nudi do the trick? Type of urchin? A big chunk of the algae is directly in front of a MP40 (hermits would not be able to get there).

 

Fauna Marin AlgaeX?

 

 

Looks like this (from online)...

http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/SpenceDaFence/media/url_zps47f5b5aa.jpg.html'>

[joy13]

It looks like the same algae I have in my 60 I got several different snails and none of them touched it. Last weekend I got a tiny little tuxedo urchin and it is eating like crazy. I am pretty sure what I have is bryopsis it looks like the last picture you put up. I have hair algae too and the snails take care of that. The growing pains of a new tank, mine will be a year old next month and I have battled all the new tank thing that happen.

[brandon429]

why not lift the affected rocks out and externally treat them so nothing is in tank

[tetraodon]

My friend had the same bryopsis and she dosed kent tech m at 2ml per gallon for a week and 1 ml per gallon for a week and its pretty much knocked out after the first week

[metrokat]

Spencer there is a thread which has a treatment for general algae troubles. 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cap full of peroxide. Mix it into a goo and with a pipette (all pumps off) carefully apply the goo on all affected areas. Leave for 3-5 minutes, you should see bubbling. Then siphon the goo off with the pipette.

 

I did this on a couple of patches of bryopsis 2 weeks ago and have yet to see a comeback. Not saying it won't as only time will tell but so far I am encouraged. I found Kent TechM ineffective. Perhaps because I have an established SPS tank and did not want to hurt my acros.

[Spencer7]

why not lift the affected rocks out and externally treat them so nothing is in tank

My scape is two large pieces of rock (islands) covered in SPS, both islands have the algae.

 

My friend had the same bryopsis and she dosed kent tech m at 2ml per gallon for a week and 1 ml per gallon for a week and its pretty much knocked out after the first week

Wow. That is intense. (120mL a day -> 60mL a day), I would need to get some more TechM

 

Spencer there is a thread which has a treatment for general algae troubles. 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cap full of peroxide. Mix it into a goo and with a pipette (all pumps off) carefully apply the goo on all affected areas. Leave for 3-5 minutes, you should see bubbling. Then siphon the goo off with the pipette.

 

I did this on a couple of patches of bryopsis 2 weeks ago and have yet to see a comeback. Not saying it won't as only time will tell but so far I am encouraged. I found Kent TechM ineffective. Perhaps because I have an established SPS tank and did not want to hurt my acros.

I'll do this. Are you saying you weren't comfortable dosing the extreme amount needed of TechM to make a difference? If so, I agree.

 

My tank is just under a year old. I would say it's established.

 

I got a small tuxedo and it hasn't done anything. I might just chuck five more in there and see what happens.

[afyounie]

I have that stuff in my tank and the 2 turbos I have love it. They mostly just keep it under control since they are so slow. The bryopsis doesn't grow well in other parts of my tank so it doesn't spread, but in the high flow area under one of my powerheads it is so lush and green and flowy. I kinda like it. I see it as something to help consume nitrates. I'm sure once the other macro alga start to outcompete the bryopsis, the stuff will dwindle away. Or the bryopsis will win and the macro alga in the sump will dwindle. Either way, I enjoy it. At least I don't have a cyano problem.

Edit: I guess I like the stuff because it reminds me of fissidens I used to keep in my planted tank. Though this stuff is much easier to keep.

[smiz]

I had that in my tank, the only way to get rid of it is using kents mag (forget exact name). You really have a nuke your tank with mag or it will become resilient to the treatment. I used half a bottle at night and the other half the next day, and it was completely gone the following day. There are more thorough posts about using the kent stuff kicking around here.

[metrokat]

I'll do this. Are you saying you weren't comfortable dosing the extreme amount needed of TechM to make a difference? If so, I agree.

Yes, increasing the magnesium dramatically will have an adverse effect on acros and I am not willing to take that risk. Kent Tech M has an additive that kills the bryopsis I have heard, so using any other magnesium reportedly does not have the same effect.

 

Lettuce nudibranches are bryopsis eaters - that is their specialty diet. However in a regular tank with powerheads they become soup. I know, I have tried.

[BulkRate]

I've tried the baking soda/peroxide goo on a couple patches of what looked to be the start of byropsis 2 months or so ago... incredibly effective (it's gone & hasn't popped back up) but I chickened out and did the treatment in a container of used tank water anyways... with my luck my blood shrimp would have tried to eat the gob of paste if I'd attempted it in-tank.

 

As for stocking lettuce sea slugs (either green Caribbean or brown/orange Pacific ones); they're soup waiting to happen, indeed.

 

Not to mention that the little dudes are positively suicidal - my first climbed up the inside corner of the tank 1" or so above the water line, out the 1/8" air gap and got stranded on the wrong side of the glass lid - resulting in sea slug jerky. Months later the second attempt went on an enterprising hunt to find the one & only tiny gap in the screen I installed inside my Koralia to prevent mulching and got... mulched. They're neat but IME more stressful to keep than fish.

 

Think training a stubborn mandarin onto frozen (took two weeks! ) stressful... just to put in perspective how damn stressful trying to find the little critter and make sure it wasn't stranded/cut up/being eaten every morning/evening got to be.

[Spencer7]

Yes, increasing the magnesium dramatically will have an adverse effect on acros and I am not willing to take that risk. Kent Tech M has an additive that kills the bryopsis I have heard, so using any other magnesium reportedly does not have the same effect.

...I know.

 

 

Sounds like I'll get a bunch of turbos and tuxedos following covering my algae with paste and spiking my Magnesium.

[Acielot]

Bryopsis pennata is what I appear to have also. My turbo does eat the smaller pieces but it doesn't touch the larger tufts.

 

 

After some negative firsthand experience with raising my magnesium levels using tech m I would say just follow Kats advice.

[skimlessinseattle]

If its only on the one rock, i would just cut the affected area off with bone cutters or a chisel, or maybe just cook that rock for a couple of months.

[Spencer7]

Apply multiple batches of Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with Baking Soda at various ratios has been working to Pennata infested areas has been working.

 

1) I've been turning off everything,

2) Moving a few corals (when possible)

3) Using a syringe to spew my toxic solution on the algae

4) Let it sit and bubble for 5 minutes

5) Five gallon WC, focusing specifically on areas where solution was applied

6) Put carbon in the filter sock and finish as if it was a normal WC

 

Over the next two or three days the ends of the bryopsis curled up slightly, turned white, and fell off.

So far, after two sessions of this in a week, the amount of pennata has decreased by 40-50%.

 

I think I can get it all gone in a month.

 

Definitely use this stuff with care though.

[afyounie]

My bryopsis has been dying (sounds like I'm talking about a disease). Kinda sad because it was so pretty watching it wave in the current. Not sure why it has been dying. All my macros have been doing well though, so it looks like the bryopsis has just been outcompeted by the macros. I never did anything to kill the bryopsis off. I just let the tank go about its business and let things equal out. Nitrates are about 10 ppm but I don't mind. The corals are growing fast and look nice. The only problem I'm currently having is that as the bryopsis wilts and dies, its releasing nutrients back into the tank which is causing cyano to develop in my sump in places and dinos are growing all over the decaying bryopsis. The dinos get spread around the tank and cling to things, but not really taking over. I'd say make sure to rip out the dying bryopsis as much as you can to keep from having a spike in phosphates and nitrates. I'm planning to also replace the GFO and siphon out the detritus in my sump when I do my water change today to help reduce the chance that cyano or dinos take over.