Hi Magnessium, bryopsis and more questions...

jbird69 · 08/26/2009, 07:18 PM

I have been raising my mag to try to kill bryopsis.

Here is what is happenning.

Prior to treatment, Mag---1260

1st day following treatment---1300

2nd day---1380

This morning I dosed again the same amount...maybe a little more. I get home from work tonight and did a small dose...maybe 30 ml. I noticed my BTA did not like this dose! Its tentacles turned to spaghetti and its mouth looked huge. Not open but visibly huge. His tentacles usually mostly hide his mouth so this posture was quite alarming. I started looking around and noticed 75% of my bryopsis is GONE! I also noticed my porites has bleached along the top ridge. Polyps still visible but white. All my other corals look AMAZING birdsnest, stylo, acro, monti digi, monti caps, hammer, frogspawn, corcea...the list goes on. They all look excellent...maybe better than ever.

Oh Yeah The BTA only looked like that for about 10 minutes...

I have also been raising my alk and ca as all three of these properties were too low.

I went to the reef calculator website to get an Idea of how much TechM to dose under my specific conditions before I started all this. According to the calculations, I have dosed less than 1/2 the TechM necessary to get my mag from 1260 to 1600.

If you were in my boots, would you...
1. wait and watch for a couple days to see what happens. see if bryopsis continues to die and my livestock looks healthy?

2. continue dosing TechM to try to reach 1600?

3. Do a water change now?

dan223 · 08/26/2009, 08:44 PM

HI again, I would take it easy esp if its working. give it a day then bump up if needed. Once up to 1500 or so I go up a little slower maybe 50ppm per day.
If 75% is dying off now you probably already hit your magic #.

jbird69 · 08/26/2009, 10:24 PM

Sounds very logical. Thanks Dan

bertoni · 08/27/2009, 04:52 PM

I'd wait and watch, and be ready for water changes. A day or two of waiting should let you know what's happening to the animals.

jbird69 · 08/27/2009, 10:36 PM

Thank you Jonathan for the advise.

Something that is bothering me a bit about this process is I am noticing the water stings my skin. Does this seem strange? I have not increased my mg anymore and am just watching it. I have about 25% new water waiting to be used. I am considering doing a water change.... The mg in the salt I use is 1350 which isnt that far from what Im at now. I used up a 16oz bottle of Techm and I am hesitant to buy another one.

I am not positive the difference between hair algae and bryopsis. I still have some hair algae/bryopsis but a good amount of it is gone. Should the GHA go away with the elevated mg as well?

bertoni · 08/28/2009, 12:04 AM

I'm not sure why the water is stinging your skin. Wearing gloves when working in the tank would be a good safety precaution.

The reason that Tech-M kills Bryopsis (if it does kill Bryopsis) isn't clear, and might have to do with an impurity in the product. Many people have elevated the magnesium level of tanks with other products and not had any results. So making predictions is hard.

Wheel of Time · 08/28/2009, 01:55 AM

your skin is stinging because your water is charged with electricity (probably from a power head. buy a titanium probe if it continues...normally this will come and go . Use gfi recepticals and get the probe.

jbird69 · 08/28/2009, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wheel of Time
your skin is stinging because your water is charged with electricity (probably from a power head. buy a titanium probe if it continues...normally this will come and go . Use gfi recepticals and get the probe.

I dont think its stray voltage. I have had that and I know what it feels like. This time my skin continues to sting even a few minutes after being out of the tank. Its possible the jobs I have had lately have rendered a bunch of new little micro cuts on my hands and theyre sensitive to saltwater??

bertoni · 08/28/2009, 02:12 PM

Small cuts are one possibility. Another is that some organism is releasing a compound that irritates your skin.

dan223 · 08/28/2009, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bertoni

The reason that Tech-M kills Bryopsis (if it does kill Bryopsis) isn't clear, and might have to do with an impurity in the product. Many people have elevated the magnesium level of tanks with other products and not had any results. So making predictions is hard.

I used a bulk deicer just plain old mag chloride 2 times with success, I do not believe it has anything to do with tech m. I think people who dont have success is due to not having high enough levels, or a different algae species

dan223 · 08/28/2009, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jbird69

I am not positive the difference between hair algae and bryopsis.

Hair algae is single filiments or hairs, briopsis has a stem with hairs coming off of it like a fern leaf only minature.

redfishsc · 08/29/2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dan223
Hair algae is single filiments or hairs, briopsis has a stem with hairs coming off of it like a fern leaf only minature.

Most of them do. Some of them look a lot like any other hair algae.

I have some growing that looks like straight shoots, and at a glance, they don't branch. Until you look REAL close at the ends of them, where they split and have some of the pinnate branching.

I've seen pics in Julian Sprung's book on algae of bryopsis that doesn't even branch off.

jbird69 · 08/29/2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redfishsc
Most of them do. Some of them look a lot like any other hair algae.

I have some growing that looks like straight shoots, and at a glance, they don't branch. Until you look REAL close at the ends of them, where they split and have some of the pinnate branching.

I've seen pics in Julian Sprung's book on algae of bryopsis that doesn't even branch off.

Thanks redfishsc, I am holding off on bringing my mag back down to normal til I am sure the bryopsis is ALL gone. I still have a couple small patches of "something" Tho Im betting its GHA because it seems odd that some bryopsis would survive while the rest melted to nothing.

bertoni · 08/29/2009, 01:26 PM

It's very interesting to read that someone had success with something other than Tech-M. Oh, well, another theory might be biting the dust.

waldomas · 08/29/2009, 07:33 PM

I started with a level of about 1250 and after dosing, had a second reading of 1350. I then followed directions to raise level by 80 parts for each of the next 3 days and tested at 1400. So I did it again for three days and now it seems my level is at 1900! I read that this shouldn't effect anything other than the bryopsis but not even that has changed. My skimmer occationally goes a little nuts but seems to skim the same amount of gunk, just a bit diluted.

I used the Tech M but am now wondering if what I have is bryopsis.
Anyone have a link to some good pics of the stuff? Wonder why my algae hasn't changed. Do I first have to REALLY prune it short for it to work?

The water quality looks and tests great and there is almost NO HA! Its just this d*mned thin and viney on top, green, bushy in spots, irritating to my view, bryopsis?

jbird69 · 08/29/2009, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by waldomas
I started with a level of about 1250 and after dosing, had a second reading of 1350. I then followed directions to raise level by 80 parts for each of the next 3 days and tested at 1400. So I did it again for three days and now it seems my level is at 1900! I read that this shouldn't effect anything other than the bryopsis but not even that has changed. My skimmer occationally goes a little nuts but seems to skim the same amount of gunk, just a bit diluted.

I used the Tech M but am now wondering if what I have is bryopsis.
Anyone have a link to some good pics of the stuff? Wonder why my algae hasn't changed. Do I first have to REALLY prune it short for it to work?

The water quality looks and tests great and there is almost NO HA! Its just this d*mned thin and viney on top, green, bushy in spots, irritating to my view, bryopsis?

http://www.reefland.com/rho/0905/images/derbesia.jpg

If you google bryopsis images youll see that there is a variety of appearances. some of it can definitly be confused with hair algae.

Some people havent had any luck with the magnesium approach. And its possible yours is not bryopsis but some other hair algae. I learned that bryopsis can live on almost no nutrients once it takes a foothold. Meaning you can get 0 readings on nitrates and phosphates, have no other algae problems and bryopsis will still persist. I also learned that bryopsis can occur from low alk levels, which I believe was the case with my tank.

You shouldnt need to prune it. Mine just turned gray and kind of dissolved. Almost reminded me of ash.

08/26/2009, 07:18 PM	#1
jbird69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The beautiful State of Jefferson Posts: 2,752	Hi Magnessium, bryopsis and more questions... I have been raising my mag to try to kill bryopsis. Here is what is happenning. Prior to treatment, Mag---1260 1st day following treatment---1300 2nd day---1380 This morning I dosed again the same amount...maybe a little more. I get home from work tonight and did a small dose...maybe 30 ml. I noticed my BTA did not like this dose! Its tentacles turned to spaghetti and its mouth looked huge. Not open but visibly huge. His tentacles usually mostly hide his mouth so this posture was quite alarming. I started looking around and noticed 75% of my bryopsis is GONE! I also noticed my porites has bleached along the top ridge. Polyps still visible but white. All my other corals look AMAZING birdsnest, stylo, acro, monti digi, monti caps, hammer, frogspawn, corcea...the list goes on. They all look excellent...maybe better than ever. Oh Yeah The BTA only looked like that for about 10 minutes... I have also been raising my alk and ca as all three of these properties were too low. I went to the reef calculator website to get an Idea of how much TechM to dose under my specific conditions before I started all this. According to the calculations, I have dosed less than 1/2 the TechM necessary to get my mag from 1260 to 1600. If you were in my boots, would you... 1. wait and watch for a couple days to see what happens. see if bryopsis continues to die and my livestock looks healthy? 2. continue dosing TechM to try to reach 1600? 3. Do a water change now? __________________ Broke Back Mountain is not a movie, its the pile of dead ninjas in Chuck Norris' back yard

08/26/2009, 10:24 PM	#3
jbird69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The beautiful State of Jefferson Posts: 2,752	Sounds very logical. Thanks Dan __________________ Broke Back Mountain is not a movie, its the pile of dead ninjas in Chuck Norris' back yard

08/27/2009, 04:52 PM	#4
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 68,459	I'd wait and watch, and be ready for water changes. A day or two of waiting should let you know what's happening to the animals. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/27/2009, 10:36 PM	#5
jbird69 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The beautiful State of Jefferson Posts: 2,752	Thank you Jonathan for the advise. Something that is bothering me a bit about this process is I am noticing the water stings my skin. Does this seem strange? I have not increased my mg anymore and am just watching it. I have about 25% new water waiting to be used. I am considering doing a water change.... The mg in the salt I use is 1350 which isnt that far from what Im at now. I used up a 16oz bottle of Techm and I am hesitant to buy another one. I am not positive the difference between hair algae and bryopsis. I still have some hair algae/bryopsis but a good amount of it is gone. Should the GHA go away with the elevated mg as well? __________________ Broke Back Mountain is not a movie, its the pile of dead ninjas in Chuck Norris' back yard

08/28/2009, 12:04 AM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 68,459	I'm not sure why the water is stinging your skin. Wearing gloves when working in the tank would be a good safety precaution. The reason that Tech-M kills Bryopsis (if it does kill Bryopsis) isn't clear, and might have to do with an impurity in the product. Many people have elevated the magnesium level of tanks with other products and not had any results. So making predictions is hard. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/26/2009, 08:44 PM	#2
dan223 Custom User Title Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: WI Posts: 682	HI again, I would take it easy esp if its working. give it a day then bump up if needed. Once up to 1500 or so I go up a little slower maybe 50ppm per day. If 75% is dying off now you probably already hit your magic #.

08/28/2009, 01:55 AM	#7
Wheel of Time Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Weston, CT Posts: 483	your skin is stinging because your water is charged with electricity (probably from a power head. buy a titanium probe if it continues...normally this will come and go . Use gfi recepticals and get the probe. __________________ Seth Current Tank Info: 300g mixed reef

08/28/2009, 02:12 PM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 68,459	Small cuts are one possibility. Another is that some organism is releasing a compound that irritates your skin. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/29/2009, 01:26 PM	#14
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 68,459	It's very interesting to read that someone had success with something other than Tech-M. Oh, well, another theory might be biting the dust. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

08/29/2009, 07:33 PM	#15
waldomas Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: south central Pa. Posts: 775	I started with a level of about 1250 and after dosing, had a second reading of 1350. I then followed directions to raise level by 80 parts for each of the next 3 days and tested at 1400. So I did it again for three days and now it seems my level is at 1900! I read that this shouldn't effect anything other than the bryopsis but not even that has changed. My skimmer occationally goes a little nuts but seems to skim the same amount of gunk, just a bit diluted. I used the Tech M but am now wondering if what I have is bryopsis. Anyone have a link to some good pics of the stuff? Wonder why my algae hasn't changed. Do I first have to REALLY prune it short for it to work? The water quality looks and tests great and there is almost NO HA! Its just this d*mned thin and viney on top, green, bushy in spots, irritating to my view, bryopsis?