Fluconazole and algae

[Sk8r]

Now and again something new comes along in this hobby. This is semi-new. It does work to stop unstoppable algae---and probably any green algae you have, including algae you want, so be warned.

It does not seem to affect the zooxanthellae (photosynthetic elements in corals and such) or bother corals or fish. Experience is largely with experienced hobbyists who do follow instructions pretty well and who also tend to have good equipment like good skimmers, and who are applying this after other methods have failed. So apply that to yourself, and follow instructions, and don't leap to do this without thought and preparation.

Fluconazole kills plant life. Algaes. Probably it would kill your refugium algae, so remove that and put it in strong light with bubbler if you hope to save it. A turf scrubber probably would not fare well with this treatment, either.

If you have blennies or tangs or other algae-dependent fish, this may kill off something they need: be sure they're ok on hand-supplied nori or flake or eating something YOU can supply. Copepods are also, as I recall, dependent on algae, so if you trash the algae, you may take out your pods, and if you have any fish dependent on pods, this is a no-go.

You have to follow instructions precisely. Dose the right amount, do NOT have your water level changing radically (this changes concentrations of everything from salt to trace elements and meds)---so have an autotopoff that works. Hydor SmartLevel makes an inexpensive one that works if you set it up right.

You need to give it time. Wait the full recommended time with your skimmer off (it would froth like mad if you turned it on too early plus possibly mess up your dosage) And when you get down to turning the skimmer back on and WAITING, give it at least 4 weeks. Read the instructions and re-read them at every stage of this operation.

You finish with some major water changes, and if your skimmer is not the best going, do some successive major water changes, like 30% one week, 30% the next, then back to 10% a week. And use ro/di water for making your salt water, or you are just recreating the problem you just fixed.

By the end of it all, a month or so on, hopefully you will have a pretty algae-free tank. I have used it, it worked well, and it is fairly inexpensive compared to other treatments.

Others who have used it, chime in, please.

[davocean]

I just did this treatment myself, which is kind of unusual for me, as I'm normally not a fan of magic bullet type cures, but I have to say, this worked like a charm, and no ill affects whatsoever.

I had bought used rock, and bryopsis came up, fairly severe, and some HA too.
I had scrubbed my rock clean several times and did all the right things to keep it that way, and bry and HA kept coming back.

I followed instructions exactly as sk8r mentioned w/ 30% WC's, pulled all chaeto from fuge, skimmer off 5 days.

All corals and fish fine, even my sensitive magnifica anemone was not phased at all.

$15 for enough to treat my 120g, money well spent!

[Rover88]

Up in the great white North its hard to find fluconazole to use it, but I recently did it myself.

Worked like a charm. I did back to back treatments. It did not 100% eliminate the green hair algae (I'm about 6 weeks, and still going) but it greatly -greatly- reduced the amount of it. I'm talking probably 90% of it gone, and whats left is wispy and very easy to remove by hand or rubs right off with little effort. Before, it clung snug enough that I was able to pick up large rocks by pulling the hair algae! Now it sloughs right off.

I noticed no ill effects, and I still see a lot of my pods dancing around on the glass when I check at night with a flashlight. I don't really have a benchmark for reporting if there is a sustainable level of them or not, as I have no pod eating fish.

My tank is currently fallow (Ich).

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Rover88

Up in the great white North its hard to find fluconazole to use it,

And here I thought it was easier/cheaper to get prescription drugs in Canada...

[Sk8r]

It is sold under the brand name Reeflux. There may be other products.

[mcgyvr]

For the most part it does not effect macroalgaes like chaeto,etc... and those can be left running.. There have been some reports of algae loss but in general most seem to have their macroalgaes uneffected...
As a turf scrubber is typically hair algae that should be taken offline during use..

[Rover88]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

And here I thought it was easier/cheaper to get prescription drugs in Canada...

Given that the number one medical use of it is for treating yeast infections.... Well, I'm going to struggle to convince my doctor I need something like 15 times the recommended dose


But yeah, I found it at BIGSHOW Frags, shipped packaged by the milligram. Only place I could find that offered it without a prescription required!

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Rover88

Given that the number one medical use of it is for treating yeast infections.... Well, I'm going to struggle to convince my doctor I need something like 15 times the recommended dose

maybe start out with "it's like a loaf of bread down there doc"

[Joe0813]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

maybe start out with "it's like a loaf of bread down there doc"

I came across this trying to find a cure to turf algae.........

[artieg]

Yeah, had a bad reaction in my 200 mixed reef tank. Don't know what the heck happened. But wiped out most sps and lps coral in my tank. If it is of interest, I did this during fallow period. Corals were thriving without fish, oddly enough, but GHA as well, even after nitrates and phosphate down to near zero. Dosed Reeflux, and 3 weeks later GHA, and most corals, were gone. Still trying to figure out WTH happened...

I hate posting this, because could be some other factor, but just putting it out there.

[allendehl]

Well, I have my tank fishless now so I need to find a new entertainment, tho hospital tank promises to be a lot of fun tho.

Have a link for the instructions?

[Daddyrawg]

I am actually on day 8 of my treatment. 90 gal tank 20 gal sump.. I dosed all 10 capsules.. I feel likes its working but very slowly.. still have long strands of hair but seems weaker like how hair looks on someone balding. Not sure how long it takes for it to really show signs of disappearing.. just wondering if by end of wk 2 if I still have hair algae if I should does again?

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Daddyrawg

I am actually on day 8 of my treatment. 90 gal tank 20 gal sump.. I dosed all 10 capsules.. I feel likes its working but very slowly.. still have long strands of hair but seems weaker like how hair looks on someone balding. Not sure how long it takes for it to really show signs of disappearing.. just wondering if by end of wk 2 if I still have hair algae if I should does again?

Give it time to work and don't worry..
It will.. Took a good 2 weeks+ for me and each day it got weaker and weaker/thinner and thinner,etc...

[Daddyrawg]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

Give it time to work and don't worry..
It will.. Took a good 2 weeks+ for me and each day it got weaker and weaker/thinner and thinner,etc...

Thx Mac.. do you know if it speeds up the process if lights were out?

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by Daddyrawg

Thx Mac.. do you know if it speeds up the process if lights were out?

Not having light would certainly effect algae growth to some level or another..
I'd say that if you can (no corals,etc...) then turning light off would be something that would "help" slow/stop the growth process taking even more energy away from the algae..

[Rover88]

Following up on my treatment.

It worked great, I did two back to back runs of Fluconazole.

Pretty much a week after I removed the medication, did a large water change, and ran my skimmer the hair algae came immediately back. So, it definitely does work at getting rid of it! Clearly I have underlying problems causing the growth of hair algae, and my suspicions are phosphate leaching from the old rock that came out of the setup I bought in its entirety.

My nitrates measure around 1ppm, and my phosphate measure 0, but with all the hair algae I have I've no doubt that its eating up the phosphates, and potentially the nitrates.

[Daddyrawg]

Originally Posted by Rover88

Following up on my treatment.

It worked great, I did two back to back runs of Fluconazole.

Pretty much a week after I removed the medication, did a large water change, and ran my skimmer the hair algae came immediately back. So, it definitely does work at getting rid of it! Clearly I have underlying problems causing the growth of hair algae, and my suspicions are phosphate leaching from the old rock that came out of the setup I bought in its entirety.

My nitrates measure around 1ppm, and my phosphate measure 0, but with all the hair algae I have I've no doubt that its eating up the phosphates, and potentially the nitrates.

can you be more specific on what you mean by ran it back to back?

I am thinking I may have to apply a second dose but I am going to wait until after wk 3 if no significant improvement..

[Rover88]

When I purchased my treatment I bought enough to treat twice my tank volume. I put in one half at the beginning, ran it for 2 weeks, then did a large water change, suctioned out as much corpsey hair algae as I could. I still had some left, so I put the other dose in (Probably raising the total amount above the recommended doseage level, as I'm sure I didn't get all of the prior dose out) and ran it another two weeks.

By the end of the four total weeks, there was barely any hair algae left, and was left was wispy few strands here and there barely noticeably unless you were looking. However, here I am about 2 more weeks beyond that point and its back thick like a carpet.

[Emma1234]

Originally Posted by Rover88

When I purchased my treatment I bought enough to treat twice my tank volume. I put in one half at the beginning, ran it for 2 weeks, then did a large water change, suctioned out as much corpsey hair algae as I could. I still had some left, so I put the other dose in (Probably raising the total amount above the recommended doseage level, as I'm sure I didn't get all of the prior dose out) and ran it another two weeks.

By the end of the four total weeks, there was barely any hair algae left, and was left was wispy few strands here and there barely noticeably unless you were looking. However, here I am about 2 more weeks beyond that point and its back thick like a carpet.

That's a bit discouraging.

Could folks tell me if I what I have below seems correct please?

I have a 55 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump.

I bought one bottle of REEF FLUX which has ten capsules. Am I buying the right stuff? Does fluconazole come in bottles of 10 capsules?

The directions say to use one capsule for every ten gallon. So I'd use five or six capsules for my system.

Is this per day?

If its per day then I'd be using one bottle of REEF FLUX every two days.

It seems like, I would have to dose every day for at least a couple of weeks.

So, at a minimum, that would be 7 REEF FLUX over the two week period.

At about $16 per bottle that comes to $112 for a two week treatment.

Does that sound about right or am I off somewhere? Not that expensive, but... not nothing either.

It sounds like artieg had a bad experience with fluconazole. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Thanks!

[Sk8r]

I used it, and after weeks, NO recurrence except a bit the size of a match head. ReefFlux is fluconasole, and it is what I used. Skimmer and filter sock help during process.

[billdogg]

Originally Posted by Emma1234

That's a bit discouraging.

Could folks tell me if I what I have below seems correct please?

I have a 55 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump.

I bought one bottle of REEF FLUX which has ten capsules. Am I buying the right stuff? Does fluconazole come in bottles of 10 capsules?

The directions say to use one capsule for every ten gallon. So I'd use five or six capsules for my system.

Is this per day?

If its per day then I'd be using one bottle of REEF FLUX every two days.

It seems like, I would have to dose every day for at least a couple of weeks.

So, at a minimum, that would be 7 REEF FLUX over the two week period.

At about $16 per bottle that comes to $112 for a two week treatment.

Does that sound about right or am I off somewhere? Not that expensive, but... not nothing either.

It sounds like artieg had a bad experience with fluconazole. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Thanks!

You are confusing yourself. The dosage is for a ONE TIME treatment that will take about two weeks to work it's magic. As others have noted, you might have to repeat the treatment a second time, but if you take care of the root cause(s), you should be able to use it just once. For your 55g tank, I would use 6 capsules per treatment. IMHO, better to slightly over-medicate.

[Emma1234]

Originally Posted by billdogg

You are confusing yourself. The dosage is for a ONE TIME treatment that will take about two weeks to work it's magic. As others have noted, you might have to repeat the treatment a second time, but if you take care of the root cause(s), you should be able to use it just once. For your 55g tank, I would use 6 capsules per treatment. IMHO, better to slightly over-medicate.

Oh I was afraid that might be a dumb question. I bought the automatic top-off as recommended by SKR8. Once I have that I'll give the REEFFLEX a go and provide an update in a couple of weeks. Thanks!

[Sk8r]

Yep, just keep it even salinity and don't do water changes until the treatment time is up. If you still have a tad of algae, just extend the time a few days. You DO have a skimmer, right? It will skim quite a lot of crud out, which is the badness leaving your system.

[Emma1234]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Yep, just keep it even salinity and don't do water changes until the treatment time is up. If you still have a tad of algae, just extend the time a few days. You DO have a skimmer, right? It will skim quite a lot of crud out, which is the badness leaving your system.

I'm checking the post and and am probably just going to ask another dumb question so thanks in advance for your patience

I do have a skimmer, an Eshopps, which I have to clean frequently or else it either overflows or doesn't bubble up to the skimmer cup. I probably should buy another one but money doesn't grow on, you know.

Here goes my potentially stupid question: should the skimmer be on or off in the two weeks after dosing with the REEFFLUX? In the earlier post in this thread it seems to say it should be off. But SKR8's latest seems it should be on. Maybe it should be off during the two weeks following the dose but it will pick up a lot of bad stuff after the two weeks are up.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Finally have a nice weekend here. 80 or so with low humidity. Having a cheers to you all!

[billdogg]

Skimmer off during treatment or you will drown in a sea of foam. Once the treatment is finished, then skim the heck out of your tank to get the decayed HA out of the system before it breaks down and causes a repeat episode.