Dealing with lyngbya

[MichaelB]

Apparently so and worked clearing lyngbya interesting!!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/silicate-dosing-for-reef-tanks.1129689/

Yea I've read over it a few time.

Several other posts mentioned

Azithromycin works and actually kills it. It came back with multiple people saying it worked. Requires a prescription but I was able to find some online that doesn't. Will give it a try. If that fails than Silica maybe. Or saying screw it and removing everything that has traces of it from the tank and bleaching it.

From addtional post I saw, it says this stuff gets inside pipes as well and doesn't seem to need direct light to live. So Leads me to consider the antibiotic that. Would treat the entire system. I don't have any fish in the tank just coral and cuc.
I worry about having other alage issues with the Silica dosing. Issues I don't current have. There was also lots of talk about dosing it causing diatoms to bloom as intended but in the aftermath people reported dinos and bad hair alage.

Though just as many people said screw it and just bleached the entire systems.

Just not many indications that anyone actually beat it completely beyond the hints of it with the Azithromycin.

 

[PjFish]

I've been anywhere from 0ppm nitrate with 0.4ppm phosphate 4 months ago to 15 ppm nitrate and 0.09 phosphate currently, zero effect on the lyngbya. Dipping isn't an option since my rock structures are huge, plus these things grow on walls, sand, sump, etc. So I need something systemic. All herbivores I've tried avoid it (trochus, astrea, three species of hermits, three species of urchin, conchs, tangs, blenny, emeralds, turbos, sea hares, etc.), so I'm assuming it's noxious.

Manual removal helps but it always comes back. Anyone here successfully eradicate it systemically?

Hope you got a handle on this by now but if not try a few fuzzy chitons maybe they will have an appetite for Lyngbya! Or those Indo warm water abalone since you’ve tried about every other cuc. Upon reading @H2oplaya update reminded me of chitons grazing ability like urchins scraping the rocks as they graze. I see thousands them in the tide pools at Agate Beach in Bolinas every month or two during minus tides. Duxbury reef located at Agate beach is the largest rock reef on the west coast. Truly an amazing place if you like exploring tide pools. Once down the small path at ocean make sure to venture to the left around the point to access the reef and the stadium size shallow tide pools. Millions of cucs, colorful nudibranch, urchins, anemones, red abalone, baby lobsters and occasional red octopuses...The kicker is the whole area is covered in gorgeous pink coraline algae along with shimmering blue iridescent seaweed dancing in the sunlight..The reef is exposed during minus tides just make sure you keep track of the incoming tide movement otherwise you may get wet on the return!!

 

[Darkxerox]

Haven't updated my journal but I've mostly got it under control. The hydrogen peroxide didn't do anything for existing mats but once I pulled the big parts off of surfaces, it kept it from recolonizing.

I've always been looking for an Indo abalone but never see them for sale. Same for the chitons. I haven't tried money cowries in this tank either, might need to do another group buy.

 

[MichaelB]

Haven't updated my journal but I've mostly got it under control. The hydrogen peroxide didn't do anything for existing mats but once I pulled the big parts off of surfaces, it kept it from recolonizing.

View attachment 78607

I've always been looking for an Indo abalone but never see them for sale. Same for the chitons. I haven't tried money cowries in this tank either, might need to do another group buy.

Id be intrested in one.

I'm gonna preformed a experiment today.

With some of this mess. I will try treating it in smaller containers maybe small powerhead.

I'm thinking peroxide in one, cheminclean in another, and reef flux in the 3rd.

I have a antibiotic callled Azithromycin that some claims actually kills this stuff fast On the way. I will likely test some as well when it arrives.

Most of these have had no lasting effect treating the entire tank. Goals with testing is to see if there is a effect with any of them at higher concentrations. When I doses all of these into the tanks previous I only followed the dosing instructions and they were pretty diluted. So just seeing if concentrated doses may work on individual rocks if they were removed and added to smaller volume of water verse the whole tank.


Ideally because the rocks and crushed coral sre on their way to maturing I would prefer to avoid restarting and using bleach.

Which does.100% work from some of the smaller rocks that I've already bleach and removed from that tank.