Bryopsis plumosa... Even worse than hair algae!?!

[mtfish]

Hooray, I'm catching Woodstock! Thanks guys, I just think it important to show people that you can win without chemicals.

[Ken]

This thread is alittle encouraging to me, sounds like some of you have beaten this stuff, but from the picts you don't have algea. I HAVE ALGAE!! I have a 110gal with 165 lbs of rock, this stuff took off befor I realized what was happening and now it is everywhere. With that much rock and the way it's stacked it will be almost impossible to remove and clean it without a complete dismantle. I have also had an outbreak of bubble algae. Doing the water changes as much as I can but it looks like I'm still loosing ground. The sand is giving me fits too. Right after a water change it looks ok for about 2 days then it's clumped and turning brown, I asume green algae would be the next color if I left it alone.Then to make matters worse yesterday I found a aiptasia anemone. What else can go wrong? Please don't answer that.
Ken

[lcstorc]

Control the nutrients and control the algae. That is the most important lesson to be learned. Keep at it and you will beat it.

[mtfish]

Thats tough Ken. You do have a much larger scale than I do, but I think the genereal lesson, like lcstorc said, still applies: control the nutrients control the algae. It was tedious at times for me in my tiny tank so I wish you the best of luck

[Witfull]

another part of control is good flow through out the tank. you want the waste to get sucked to the filter not settle. if your rock work is a dense wall with little flow trough and behind it, deterus and uneaten food will settle, decompose increasing nutrients.

increase flow or re-scape tank.

[boozeman]

use cinderblock...great flow~thru

[Witfull]

great idea Booze~hehe

[burning2nd]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

I am rather confused burning2nd. If it is so bad and you know it sends off spores when you remove it, why would you want it in your sump? Maybe I am missing something, but I would go for removal from the system entirely. The same for cyano which does feed off of phosphates and excess food.
Also your suggestions for water changes and decreased feeding are known ways to reduce trates and phosphates so I really think you are doing the same there just in a different way. What phosphate reducing media were you using and did you use a reactor?
Sorry but I am really confused on this one and would like to understand what you are going for.

when i first got it i new nothing about it,

it took me months to figer out that pulling it out only spread it more,
i want it in the sump because its almost inpossabul to remove completly
nope no reactor,

just turn the flow off, and suck it out when no wind in the tank,

other wise as soon as you pull it the spore release, and a few days later the patch will be twice as big,

[burning2nd]

Originally Posted by Ken

This thread is alittle encouraging to me, sounds like some of you have beaten this stuff, but from the picts you don't have algea. I HAVE ALGAE!! I have a 110gal with 165 lbs of rock, this stuff took off befor I realized what was happening and now it is everywhere. With that much rock and the way it's stacked it will be almost impossible to remove and clean it without a complete dismantle. I have also had an outbreak of bubble algae. Doing the water changes as much as I can but it looks like I'm still loosing ground. The sand is giving me fits too. Right after a water change it looks ok for about 2 days then it's clumped and turning brown, I asume green algae would be the next color if I left it alone.Then to make matters worse yesterday I found a aiptasia anemone. What else can go wrong? Please don't answer that.
Ken

ken you can forget about removed it all, its allmost inpossabul,
if you had a little spot, and desturbed it already, its more then likely all over the place now, took me the better part of a year to get rid of it, (while geting it to grow in the sump insted)
Dont bother dismantleing it, cause thats not gonna do, anything short of boiling the life outta the rock isnt gonna do it,

my methiod was just turn off the power heads, let the water get completly stoped,

then put your hand in there slowly, with a tube to suck it out as you pull it,
as you pull it, if you look really carefully, you can see the spore (looks like dust) go up in to the water, but since the siphone is right there sucking water out, its all moveing twards the hose,

that was the only way i could get it out, by removeing the spore makeing it difficult for the algea, to repoduce (with out spore) giveing something else a little less agressive a chance to grow,

you can forget about starveing it out. you will starve your tank out b4 that algea, dissapers,

you can forget about not turning your lights on for a few days, it will come right back as soon as you turn your lights on.


this is the only way i found to get this suff outta there,

and it worked for me,

[burning2nd]

if you look carefully top right corner, its comeing outta the return

and a few small peaces to the left lower corrner, on that rock with the zoo's

[lcstorc]

I wonder what a sea hare would do to it. Might be just the thing to get it out of the tank and fuge (Which I would still recommend.)

[Witfull]

someything to consider,,,something that eats it,,,,will pass spores through its digestive tract, and those spores are partially germinated....fuel to the fire~