Tech M dosing questions...

[sn4265]

I recently began dosing Tech M to both get my Mg up and for the added benefit of curing my bryopsis. The odd thing here is that in dosing by the instructions my Mg is barely moving. The bottle says to dose 1ml/gallon so I've been dosing about 125ml (4 oz) per day for 4 days in a row now and as of yesterday this had moved my Mg from about 1060ppm to 1140ppm. This seems like a lot of dosing for just a little movement in Mg.

I'm by no means giving up on the dosing as I know that at the very least I need to get my Mg up above 1300ppm and I'm really shooting for more like 1600ppm to kill off the bryopsis. I just ordered a gallon jug last night as I'm already half way thru the bottle I have on hand. I'll be testing Mg again tonight as this has become a daily ritual, and tomorrow I'll be testing all of the params to see if anything else has moved while doing the Tech M dosing.

Anyone else experienced a slow response from Tech M dosing? Should I bump up the amount I'm dosing? Maybe increase by 50% or double? I've also seen some references to tank crashes during/after Tech M dosing, so I'm a little nervous about this also.

Thanks in advance for any input here.

[ReefNation]

Had same struggle and unless they start selling tech m by the drum, I am going to have to try another route to rid bryopsis. Next method is big area for chaeto removal to try and get nitrates to 0.
Best of luck!

[bertoni]

This calculator will give you some idea of the amount you need to dose to change the level:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

It'll take a lot more Tech-M than that.

[sn4265]

Thanks for the reference to the calculator. This looks pretty cool as it should take me about another gallon to get it up to around 1400 or so. Once I'm there, I'll take a look at how things are doing then. At least once I have MG up over 1300 I can start then looking to bring up Ca and Alk.

[benjc]

I had similar issues using a solid Mg supplement. It seemed as if there was something in the tank acting as a Mg sink. Eventually though the Mg started rising. As for the Tech M and bryopsis, I believe the consensus is to boost the Mg levels by 100 pomp per day up to 1600 or so. I.could be wrong though, so I suggest verifying that elsewhere.

[bertoni]

You're welcome!

[Steve175]

Yep. It takes a whole lot of Mg supplement to increase levels. Maintenance at a given level is a more reasonable volume.

[OxfordMick]

So is it ok to double or triple the dose of what is recommended on the instruction? I have similar issue with low Mg in my tank. It is only 1000 ppm.

[sn4265]

I ended up dosing 8 oz per day for like 5 days in a row. On my 120 gal this was moving the Mg about 40ppm per day which seems well within the safe range. Everything in the tank is looking really great right now, including the diatoms that seem to now be fading dramatically. The diatom issue could be due to time and/or the Clear FX that I recently added to the sump though.

[OxfordMick]

Thanks SN4265 for the info. Did you dose it all at one time or do you spread them out? Very glad to know it does not cause any ill effect.

[bertoni]

I would keep the dose to more than 100 ppm in one shot. If I had touchy corals, I might try 50 ppm as a limit.

[jdraider75]

It took me 3 bottles and about 3 Weeks when I started dosing it took the most to get from 1200 to 1300 it just wouldnt move I was dosing morning and night not goin more than 50 ppm per day

[moze229]

IME, with Tech M you don't have to raise your Mag above normal limits. Just dosing it to keep levels in the 1350 range (where I keep mine) seems to be enough. There's some kind of secret elixir in that stuff. You might see some die-off long before you'd expect, which would be good. :)

[sn4265]

Unfortunately, my salt mix (Aquavitro Salinity) is apparently a little light on Mg. I did a 25 gal water change today and my Mg dropped from about 1400 to about 1280. I dosed 8 oz after the test, so this will replenish some, but I'm going to need more than just that. I'm really needing to figure out the DIY Mg mix. Epsom salt is easy enough to find, but the Mag Flakes might be more difficult to find locally this time of year.

[moze229]

Unfortunately, my salt mix (Aquavitro Salinity) is apparently a little light on Mg. I did a 25 gal water change today and my Mg dropped from about 1400 to about 1280. I dosed 8 oz after the test, so this will replenish some, but I'm going to need more than just that. I'm really needing to figure out the DIY Mg mix. Epsom salt is easy enough to find, but the Mag Flakes might be more difficult to find locally this time of year.

Actually, the TechM is expensive but for the amount used compared to Alk and Cal buffers, it's not that bad. It might be cheaper in the long run to change salts though. :) If you are concerned about using only Epson salts as a Mag additive, perhaps you could just go that route until this salt mix runs out. Using strictly Epsom for a short time is likely not a concern. It's over a long course that's a potential problem.

[sn4265]

Actually, this raises one question... Can I simply mix in the Epsom salt and MAG Flakes straight into my fresh saltwater mixing barrel? This would be pretty cool to mix this in directly such that when I do a water change I don't then have to worry about adding to the tank to make up for any drop.

The same question would apply to Ca and Alk. I suppose the additional question would be do I need to mix these up separately in RO/DI water and then add these mixed supplements into the freshly mixed up saltwater barrel?

Thanks in advance.

[alberthiel]

I recently began dosing Tech M to both get my Mg up and for the added benefit of curing my bryopsis. The odd thing here is that in dosing by the instructions my Mg is barely moving. The bottle says to dose 1ml/gallon so I've been dosing about 125ml (4 oz) per day for 4 days in a row now and as of yesterday this had moved my Mg from about 1060ppm to 1140ppm. This seems like a lot of dosing for just a little movement in Mg.

I'm by no means giving up on the dosing as I know that at the very least I need to get my Mg up above 1300ppm and I'm really shooting for more like 1600ppm to kill off the bryopsis. I just ordered a gallon jug last night as I'm already half way thru the bottle I have on hand. I'll be testing Mg again tonight as this has become a daily ritual, and tomorrow I'll be testing all of the params to see if anything else has moved while doing the Tech M dosing.

Anyone else experienced a slow response from Tech M dosing? Should I bump up the amount I'm dosing? Maybe increase by 50% or double? I've also seen some references to tank crashes during/after Tech M dosing, so I'm a little nervous about this also.

Thanks in advance for any input here.

What you mention is interesting as in my contacts with some hobbyists I talk to from time to time, this issue was brought up and they did report the same kind of issues (lots needed for very small changes = gets expensive = does not accomplish the goal).

Note though that getting rid of Bryopsis is NOT that easy as I am sure you are aware of.

There are some other methods and when I had a small growth of B. pennata I injected the little cluster with 3% hydrogen peroxide, waited about an hour and did the same, and it turned from green to white/creamish and when i took a pair of tweezers to it, it just came loose without any problem.

I am fortunate that I have only had one "sprig" of it (touch wood), and I have of course no idea how it got in the tank as it was on a rock that was part of the original one (Totoka rock), and had gone through the cycle etc.

But then Bryopsis seems to have a mind of its own and turn up when and where we least expect it.

You may wish to try the H2O2 method but you do really need to inject it in the cluster if that is what you have to kill it off.

Do you know what species you have, as there are quite a few.

Let me know.

[moze229]

Actually, this raises one question... Can I simply mix in the Epsom salt and MAG Flakes straight into my fresh saltwater mixing barrel? This would be pretty cool to mix this in directly such that when I do a water change I don't then have to worry about adding to the tank to make up for any drop.

The same question would apply to Ca and Alk. I suppose the additional question would be do I need to mix these up separately in RO/DI water and then add these mixed supplements into the freshly mixed up saltwater barrel?

Thanks in advance.

You should always match the parameters of your water change water to your tank prior to a water change, so adding these to your fresh mix water is not only ok, it's ideal. Just remember to dose for the mix water - not the entire tank. :)

It's ok to just add them directly to the water. No need to dissolve them in RO first.

Note though that getting rid of Bryopsis is NOT that easy as I am sure you are aware of.

I must have been extremely lucky. Before dosing with Tech M, I tried everything to get rid of it to no avail. I then began reading about peoples' success stories using Tech M to raise Mag in killing Bryopsis. I didn't elevate my levels, I just started using Tech M to raise my tank to NORMAL levels and all of my Bryopsis died within the week. I haven't seen a sprig of it since.

[ShawnKPD]

I have battled Bryopsis for about 8 months then finally gave in and tried the Kent Tech M method. I was very skeptical about dosing this because I have two clams, shrimp, snails, ect... I started off with bottles and quickly realized these bottles were not going to be enough. I purchased the 1 gallon jug and began my dosing.

I have a 90 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump so I estimated my water volume to be about 100 gallons with sand, rock, coral displacement. I tested my Mg twice before I started and both times the test was exactly 1280ppm. I then ended up using 500ml, yes FIVE HUNDRED! And nailed my ppm at 90ppm. So this raised my Mg to ~1370ppm the first day. I tested this using my same Mg kit, just converted because the chart on the test kit does not go that high. The second day I dosed another 500ml and this raised my Mg to 1460ppm. I dosed third day and could not test it, but estimated it to be at 1550ppm.

On the fourth day I started seeing the Bryopsis thinning out! I dosed another 500ml and took it to 1640ppm. The fifth day most of my Bryopsis was gone. The problem I had to figure out then was how fast did the Mg drop per day because I wanted to keep it above 1600 until the Bryopsis was completely gone. So I dosed 250ml the fifth day and on the sixth day all the Bryopsis was gone! I had one small quarter sized patch hanging on to a rock under one of my monti caps so I pulled it off. Now all of the Bryopsis has been gone for a month!

The only thing I did on the seventh or eigth day was turn off all of my pumps, removed my MP40 and flex tubes for my return pipes and cleaned the Bryposis off of them. These pieces still had it hanging on so I didnt want to chance infecting my tank again with it. I soaked the parts in vinegar and cleaned them good.

I want to make a short blog on this with my pictures and post it soon, but finding the time.....

The Kent Tech M worked for me and I did not lose anything. It does however take a whole lot to get it to raise up. This is also not recommended by the manufacture so the instructions on the bottle are not going to help you.

Good Luck

[Steve175]

Similar experience here: been battling an irritating amount of bryposis in my system for 6 months: no real change with HC GFO every 2 weeks, new bulbs, every other day feeding. Mg started at 1450 (frequent RC water changes). Dosed 1ml/gal of Kent Tech M (1.5 liters in a 1500g system) daily for 6 gallons and bryoposis is gone both in DT and QT. I thought it would do nothing and it definitely worked. Mg peaked at 1650 and is slowly coming back down with consumption/water changes. No evidence of any ill effects on corals, inverts, or fish. If you're on the fence: give it a shot (and buy a large quantity of it).