Note on Bryopsis

[Staghorn]

I had an outbreak of Byopsis last summer that became a real pain in the a--. I did a number of things to get it under control including buying a couple of the nudibranches that eats the stuff. However they disappeared in a few weeks without putting a dent in the problem. Good water husbandry did the most good with just one or two small patches remaining. A couple of months ago I purchased a Royal Urchin (collector urchin). Last week I noticed him right on top of one of the patches of bryopsis. I checked later and the bryopsis was gone. Pink cal. algae is covering the spot. Now he is on the other patch. Thought I would pass this observation along.

[PerryinCA]

You may very well be my hero Stag. I got a long spine urchin....he hasn't touched it. Everytime I think I have my hair in check the damn stuff pulls a 180 on me and bites me in the ass, overgrowing half the tank. I am trying to get some more macro-algae growth in the refugium, but if that doesn't work, I will try a royal urchin.

Thanks for the heads up.

-Perry

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Some call it evolution,
And others call it God.
Each In His Own Tongue (1908)
William Herbert Carruth 1859-1924

[Ninong]

Hey Perry ~

Since Bryopsis is photosynthetic, let's try this: get a piece of plastic window screen material, cut a piece the size of the bryopsis patch, lay it on top of the bryopsis. The bryopsis will probably attach to the underside, it will not receive enought light, and it might die off.

Let me know if it works?

Ninong [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

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Irrational Exuberance!

[reefhead]

does anyone have a macro or other pic of this algea

thanx,

joe

[This message has been edited by reefhead (edited 02-28-2001).]

[Duncan]

Ninong, This seems like a good idea, but alas, it did not help me. You see it is true that the bryopsis is photosynthetic yet there are many who claim that nurtients in the water are infact where the algae derives its main energy. I had a run in with the green nasty last year in my 125. When it was time to set up the new 300 I scrubbed any rocks from the old tank that would be making the trip to the new one. When placing the rock in the new system I made sure that any rock that previously had bryopsis on it was placed toward the bottom. Some pieces were meant to be at the top however and I tried covering the spots where the algae use to be( Just to make sure there was not another outbreak). After two weeks in the dark I took the coverings off in hopes that the problem was solved. And for about two months there were no reoccurances. During this time I tested my water and all was well, especially zero nitrates, and zero phosphates. Then seemingly one day all hell broke loose. The green nasty was back and I was frustrated. I had tried all remedies that I could find and still nothing worked. It was not until purchasing 6 tiny hippo tangs did I see any die off. Within two weeks these little beauties had totally rid my tank of the algae. I have since had no further outbreaks and I chalk it up to the hippos. Whether this will work for others, I dont know. But I can tell you the hair that I pulled from my head during all this is growing back nicely [img]/ubb/wink.gif[/img] HTH

Duncan.

[Staghorn]

Actually, I had kind of given up on getting rid of the stuff after I read how hard it is to defeat. The comforting information that I kept coming across is that it does disappear as mysteriously as it appears. I can say that after 9 months it was getting kind of sick looking. BTW it did not grow where the light was not as bright and I did turn some rock up-side-down. I was just marveling again though how this Royal Urchin has cleaned off almost all of the remaining patches, right down to the pink algae. This urchin doesn't seem to go for the cal. algae although it will carry some loose pieces on its spines. Here is a good site re. Bryopsis http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/classes/...ing99/bryopsis

[icemark]

It was my understanding that the Royals/ Collectors were very rough on the integrity of the rock work and had a tendency to accidentally dump over anything not well secured in the tank.

Is this the case with yours?

Great link BTW
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Play Well

[This message has been edited by icemark (edited 03-01-2001).]

[Staghorn]

Sorry it took so long to reply to the last post. Icemark, I checked out the Royal on a urchin sp. web site and they are probably the best urchin to have in a reef tank. They have soft spines and do not topple /bulldose rock or coral. They are nothing like the long spine urchins I have had in the past. The Royal that I have is not grinding the rock. It is only eating the green algae on the rock and glass. They will collect pieces of loose coralline on its back. I swear, wherever he grazes hair algae off of the rock, it is quickley covered with coralline within a week. I read you can only keep one Royal urchin in a small tank, say 50g or smaller. Supposedly one will kill the other.

[myreef]

I had a bryopsis problem at the end of 99 and I basically had to start my tank over, that's how bad it was. I put all my rocks in 30g garbage cans with saltwater, powehead, and a heater and then bought new rock while the old rock was dying off. It fixed the problem , but what a pain the a$$. Now, if I see any spots I scrape them off and put a small frag over it with glue and it kills it while attaching the frag [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]. But fortunately, it is all in check right now (knocking on wood)!

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MY REEF

[Ironreef]

fwiw the royal urchin will top unsecured corals. Anything in its path it may knock over but to a smaller degree. They will eat all the coralinne also

[TPhillips011]

Anyone got a pic of the Royal Urchin?? I have a client who Ijust picke up and her tanks is a Bryopsis patch. I have scraped everything clean but it just keeps coming back. I wnt to get her some royals!!!

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Todd A Phillips

My 120gallon Reef Tank

[tc3]

I've been using a Royal Urchin in my 58 gal reef for over a year. He does nibble on the coralline algae, but not enough to do any damage. In fact, I've heard that some small pieces that float off from them nibbling, may actually seed new areas for coralline algae to grow. I've had no trouble with him at all, and he's never dislodged anything in the tank.
I had a bryopsis problem over a year ago. I changed my lighting, increased my water flow, increased water changes, etc... It was a very frustrating nuisance! My po4 and no3 levels never seemed out of norm, but when I upgraded my skimmer, all traces of it seemed to disappear. I know photosynthesis fuels the fire, but I believe there must be a higher nutrient level in the water for most forms of algae to flourish.

In the mean time, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't come back to haunt me. I would guess that algae problems are probably one of the biggest reasons people leave this hobby. any thoughts?...


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Ted
"The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step"

[JerseyReef]

I believe the biggest reason people the leave the hobby is frustration. Something goes wrong in their tank and they don't know how to resolve the problem. The problem becomes a major issue and cause a tank die off... out of the hobby...

Without getting off the topic...
Royals do seem to be the lest of the destructive urchins... however they do bulldoze, eat all types of algea (never heard of bryopsis). I know John Rice has been out of the hooby for awhile, did anyone pass this on to him and get his thoughts?



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Mike
jerseyreef@home.com

[Staghorn]

Try this site for a pic and description of Mespilia globulus, also known as Royal, Collector or Tuxedo Urchin.

http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/i...age/tuxedo.htm

The Royal that I have is consistant with what I have read. Mine has not "rasped" the rock of coralline algae like some other urchins. That is not to say they may not scrape off a small amount. I know for a fact mine is eating the Bryopsis and I know it is Bryopsis from checking it out with the articles, pictures and research. Until he does any damaged that would really p--- me off, I am sticking with my assessment as it being the best algae eater in the tank.